One match into his new pro wrestling career and Junior dos Santos is already calling out WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
Friday, Junior dos Santos made his pro wrestling debut in a six-man-tag match on AEW Rampage. Although “Cigano” was put through a table as part of his initiation process, his team ultimately got the W with the assist from MMA’s own Jorge Masvidal and Paige VanZant. dos Santos is now taking it upon himself to play booker for his next bout, which he hopes to be a cross-promotional showdown with WWE’s Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns.
The impetus behind this call-out stems from a recent interview Reigns had with Complex.com, where the WWE star dismissed CM Punk as an exciting in-ring opponent. In the process, he threw the entire AEW roster under the bus.
“That’s not going to elevate me at all,” Reigns said of a match against Punk. “He’s older now. I haven’t really seen a full match. I’ve seen a clip or two. And to me, a step or two has been lost. Then also, he got his whooped in the UFC. I don’t think anybody really believes someone 200 pounds soaking wet with no explosive bone in their body could ever really do anything to me. I’m 6’3”, 265 pounds, a legitimate athlete who can throw some weight around and has been on the gridiron at the highest level. D1. All ACC…
“So, I mean, when it comes down to it, I’ll throw him and pretty much the rest of that roster out the club no problem. They’re just little brothers, you know?”
Junior dos Santos Wants A Piece Of Roman Reigns
Junior dos Santos was among the readers of Reigns’ interview, and he took issue with what the “Head of the Table” had to say. Rather than debating him about his opinion, JDS would much rather see him back up his words.
“Hey @WWERomanReigns I heard your interview. Please send the address of this club you will throw me and my little brothers out of #AEW,” dos Santos’ tweet reads.
In other words, to paraphrase the great Khabib Nurmagomedov, dos Santos wants Reigns to ‘send him location.’ Should Reigns oblige, the Head of the Table will play host to someone who, unlike the 0-2 CM Punk, was able to capture UFC championship gold.
Reigns will be out of the country this week, however, as he will be defending his WWE Universal Championship at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia. His opponent? Another former UFC heavyweight champion: Brock Lesnar. When the Head of the Table returns home, it sounds like JDS would love nothing more than to give him a very inhospitable acknowledgment.