On the latest episode of his podcast ARN, wrestling legend Arn Anderson spoke about Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, the WrestleMania 31 main event, and how much respect he has for the Big Dog despite his constant pushes that the fans rejected. Highlights are below.
Brock Lesnar being the smartest guy in wrestling:
Brock has always been the smartest guy in this business at self promotion, knowing what he’s worth, knowing what he wants and what he brings to the table,” Anderson said. “Having the knowledge that for Vince McMahon if he was going to sit down and say ‘Okay, we’re going to do a police sketch, you tell me what your ideal employee would be, your number one guy period.’ That sketch would be Brock Lesnar. From him being here before and when he left, the first time they were offering him the world. I don’t know specifics but I know it was a bunch and it involved a private plane to travel, all kinds of stuff. He has always been in control of his destiny and he was smart enough to know that not only did WWE want him in the worst way, so did the UFC. He was just sitting in a position for him to go ‘Okay we all know what’s going on here, I know you want me, you know you want me, it’s up to you guys who’s going to get me, who’s going to give me the sweetest deal.’ He pretty much played one against the other and walked out of there with what he wanted.
Lesnar returning to UFC:
He will fight again in the UFC,” Anderson said. “He may say he won’t, but he will. He’s a creature of his own destiny. When he wakes up in the morning Brock does what he wants to do and my hats off to him for that. I don’t know of anybody else but Brock does what Brock wants and you gotta respect that.
The WrestleMania 31 cash-in:
I thought it was creative and a great way to end the show,” Anderson said. “Roman Reigns, what he showed you in that match, got his ass kicked. He kept getting up. Brock Lesnar must have suplexed him 20 times. Every shot across the shoulders with a forearm, every kick in the head, every punch was in there. Both guys were proving a point within a work. They were proving a point to themselves, they were proving a point to each other and they were proving a point to the audience. Thats the way they wanted to structure the match, Roman sold 80% of the match I’d say, but he sold in a way that you never thought that he was just staying down, wasn’t still in the fight and wasn’t trying to win the match. Brock was just dominant, and that’s what Brock does. The reality is, Brock Lesnar is just an animal, he’s a machine. Nobody is going to do anything out there that Brock doesn’t allow to happen. If you told him you needed him bleeding, he’d just run head first into a post, hell I’ve seen it. I don’t think you can hurt the guy, I don’t think he’s ever been hurt and I don’t think you can hurt him. He’s a frickin’ cyborg. If he was bleeding its because he ran head first into something and didn’t put his hands up. I thought by bringing Seth down you created a lot of controversy, didn’t see that coming. It was a way to get a clean finish and something like that, screwing Roman that badly actually helps him. You feel sorry for a guy like that. How many things can you throw at a guy like that? You dumped a pile of rocks and now you’re going to dump the truck on top of him too?
Respect for Roman Reigns:
If you check the history with Roman and when he was with The Shield, the reason he was over is because he was a kickass Samoan,” Anderson said. “If he ever said anything it was ‘Hey, believe that’. And he went out and showed you and it was something to be believed. The build with Roman Reigns was all wrong, sufferin’ succotash will go down as a huge mistake that the guy was made to say. Most of it is not his fault, the way the fans have treated him. Trust me guys, he didn’t come through that curtain without being given direction and he didn’t do these promos without somebody handing him a sheet of paper that it was written on. I’ve seen a different Roman Reigns. Unless you’ve seen those live events like I have and him put under circumstances and see how he turns the audience over the course of 30 minutes, once you’ve seen that you look at him completely different. Nothing but respect for Roman, he continues to be a huge stall-worth for their company and just a hell of a damn workhorse. My hats off to him.
Full comments here. (H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.)