Roman Reigns Goes Sneaker Shopping With Complex

What's wrong with everyone? I'm Joe from the

complex

. We're in Miami at Soulfly with the WWE Universal Champion. Roman Reigns. Are you going to do some

sneaker

shopping

today? Let's see what he feels and what he doesn't. And then, hopefully, he'll buy some

sneaker

s. Let's do it. Let's be Romans. I grew up as an athlete, you know, senior defensive tackle. I want to know, like in high school and college, if they were training sneakers or casual off-the-field sneakers. I think a little of both. Anyway, man, it was just hard because when I was 15 I was already a 15.

Okay, yeah, I mean, you know, I went through the whole clown-feeding phase and back then, you know, in the early 2000s, late 90s, we didn't have all the different apps and the internet and stuff like that, so literally my mom would have to call East Bay, we would have the magazine, yeah, yeah, I don't know who did it, like someone got us the East Bay subscription and at first we started doing it. and we heard no, many said no, those are available, we don't have them, we would have to have three or four different selections, but like the second or third choice, I would get the ones I wanted, but that's how they were. a tough size, they weren't the ones, yeah, that's the funny thing, although East Bay used to come up and we used to flip through the magazine and the brochure to buy sneakers.

Another thing I want to talk about is like if you're a football player signature sneakers the bo jacksons the dion sanders you know we marshall fox are actually here what signature athlete sneakers did you like growing up there's a little bit of everything um you know I mean Jordan obviously everyone likes that that's like a culture thing except the Griffeys and it's weird because we were talking before but I think people need to respect a lot more Griffy, right, he said, I don't know, maybe it's just the classic shoe of my age group, but yeah, just the athlete and who. he was and like within the game in the United States, I feel like in sports and I think his sneaker also transcended in 2017, you have a fight with Braun Strowman and you fight in the Nike special forces booth and people went crazy online for that. like, oh, Roman wears sneakers and it's like a boot-sneaker hybrid.

Did you expect the talk to be like this? Do you remember that fight and how it felt to fight? uh so no I didn't expect you to know all the sneaker heads came out and really, you know, I see that and we talk about it, but the main thing for me is that, like the normal boots that I wear, they go up a little bit plus, you know, they're like an eight. inches nine inches that

goes

up, as you know, right below the calf, yeah, so I had to put on anklets and let you know to make it work for me for the performance, but man, they felt good, yeah, they were lighter, the sole was a lot more, a little more cushioning, those Nike boots are nice too because I wear them, but man, the white ones, yeah, I think that's a classic style that will be, you know, I don't think it'll ever go out of style. .

Roman February 2019, obviously it's a great moment, you come back to Raw, you announce that the leukemia is in remission and you're wearing Jordans, obviously the sneakers are a secondary part of the story, but speaking of that moment, I think it speaks to how we use sneakers. usa, give us confidence, did you feel any of that in that moment, man, I mean, in a lot of ways, I felt so much confidence and so much gratitude, I guess in that moment, man, it was special and I was able to get into it, but it'd probably take too much Time to explain all the emotions, um, but yeah, man, I'm serious, I think it was one of those situations where I was able to break out of the Roman character and just be Joe and that's why I saw myself the way I was, because that was Jordan wearing, you know, probably using uh, the force, yeah, just wearing, you know, a casual style for the most part, you know, like a Roman character, especially before, I kind of stayed in uniform. and the boots and things like that, but you know from that moment that, you know, I took off that character's armor and exposed, you know, the real me, and gave him a piece of me, I love that and you have recently you have a lot of sneakers sports, is there any that stands out?

Is your favorite? um, I mean a lot, I mean, when it comes to the Jordans, I like the fours, the classic 11s, even here like, uh, think six rounds, six rings, yeah, man, like that. that there's a newer pair where, if you're listening, there's a newer pair, okay, and I think it's like this is all red and this is black and then I think it's a white soul. but there's something about this red layer down here, it's fresh, okay, and it's sold out at Nike, so I was looking for, I think I'm like the goat app or something, but maybe my people will make it easy. for publishing it because we'll put it on, we'll put it on Fox, okay Roman, you come from a family with a long history in wrestling but also big sneaker heads, the uses and The Rock has his deal with Under Armour, who In the family of that lineage, do you think they have the best set of shoes? my cousin, yeah, those definitely, you know, they have a good selection, they've been rocking a lot for a long time, dwayne, I mean, he's got his own.

You know the fight is fixed with him, yeah, you know it's a different story, he's doing his own thing at Under Armor, but I mean the diversity and the throwbacks, and I think you know connect with the shoe culture um, I think I'm the guy, okay, you know what I mean, you know, and the proof is that every Friday, yeah, I mean this is the first time I've worn them, but I don't think they were, they made them. I put it on TV like it was my Instagram, but I used them for a purpose the other day, so I got it.

There are a lot of sneakerheads in the locker room. Kofi Kingston. Shane McMahon. Is he competitive in the locker room? Have you noticed? you get every Friday or how well they did, they've definitely realized um, no, I wouldn't say competitive, but respect, okay, you know what I mean, because there might be some competition here and there, especially for guys Like Kofi. I mean it's a different level because it's within acting and it's part of his team and you know it's something he competes in, but I think you know the way I use it. I think it's all love because people want to see you. everyone wants to see a nice fresh pair of jays, you know, every time I think about anyone who's in this world or has this, you know, love for kicking, it's all, it's all love when they see them, definitely Well, we talk about everything. now it's the easy part browsing the shelves seeing where you're going to take home that's the best part here let's do it lots of kids so we have to dress them let's do this here let's do the royals down there they can match.

Yo yeah oh man yeah I gotta see this girl thing here we go man that's my wife's favorite color here so let's get this right and then they have girl written all over it let's do this here same, so since they are about to release, I have to have these right here, but I want to get some that I want to add to my collection. I want something that stands out. You have something in the back for a 15. I think we can make you something size 15. You're a clown size, yeah, so any of these will work for you.

I had these 50 on the back, please let me know. Yes, I have something for the holidays here. Christmas, I'll check them out, I got you bro, so your total for everything is 15 51. and 50 cents, it's all set, thanks for everything, let me back you up, we'll get you out of here, thanks man, all these nice presents, here we go , so the champion came out ahead. Thank you very much for taking the time. Yeah man, thanks for having me, make sure to catch them every Friday night on Smackdown and headlining Wrestlemania on April 10th and 11th. Thanks again.

I thank your brother, let me help you.