WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns isn’t afraid to admit that he doesn’t wrestle often.
Reigns has made fewer than 15 in-ring appearances a year since 2023, and hasn’t worked a non-televised match in over three years. But the “OTC” recently explained that his lack of appearances is to protect himself, keeping him safe from getting hurt in low-importance situations.
When asked about the decision to not wrestle on house shows, here’s what Reigns told the Club Shay Shay podcast:
“With my schedule, people will pick on it. But, they don’t remember, from 2012 to 2018 when I was doing 150, 200 shows a year, every single year, just working my ass off … But we’re just at a business model where TV rights are TV rights. There’s just so much money on the line that we got to that point where it’s like, it doesn’t make sense for me to do live events anymore. What if I got hurt? There’s so much money that’s riding on Mondays and Fridays and our PLEs now that I can’t just go out there and wrestle for 4,000, 5,000 [live fans] only, just for those eyes only. Now, I got to conserve it. But those reps, they’re critical.”
Reigns has wrestled seven matches thus far in 2026. All appearances have come as part of Premium Live Event (PLE) broadcasts, except for his Monday Night Raw matchup against Penta last month in Mexico City.
He most recently appeared as part of last weekend’s Money in the Bank broadcast, defending in a 26-minute showing against LA Knight.
