Roman Reigns doesn’t want to see LA Knight down the road after retaining the World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank, saying Knight “just ran into a better competitor today.”
Reigns spoke with Cathy Kelley for WWE’s Money in the Bank post-show after beating Knight in the opening match from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
Reigns won in just under 27 minutes, finishing Knight with a spear after a pair of Superman Punches, in a match where much of the crowd was behind the challenger. He acknowledged what Knight brought, saying Knight “runs his mouth, but he came in there and he backed it up.” Still, Reigns said, “I don’t want to see him down the road,” and called the match “the prerequisite to get to Monday.”
Kelley asked where his focus goes next, with the 946 and the Money in the Bank contract holder both looming. Reigns said his main priority is recovering, then leaned into the target on his back. “Everybody wants what I have,” he said, describing a title that used to be “second prize” and is now “the number one most coveted prize in the game” because “The Tribal Chief made it that way.”
The question about 946 came minutes after Royce Keys, Bronco Nima and Lucien Price showed up in the crowd to stare Reigns down following the pin. The Usos and Solo Sikoa appeared behind them, and the brawl spilled out of the arena before Jaida Parker drove the 946 away in an SUV. Asked how he protects his family from the group, Reigns said “family’s always a priority,” but added, “God, family, and country, the job, this is number one right now.” The case for 946 as fresh foes for Reigns and the Usos has been building on Raw for weeks.
What Comes Next
The next chapter is Monday’s Raw in Bossier City, Louisiana, where Solo Sikoa and the Usos face Keys, Nima and Price in a six-man tag. Reigns announced on Raw that he would not take part in that match.
Reigns also said he was heading straight to Los Angeles for the Street Fighter premiere. He plays Akuma in the film, which opens in theaters October 16.
On the title side, Penta won the men’s ladder match that followed, and Oba Femi called out Reigns on the same post-show after beating Bronson Reed. Knight, for his part, came out of the loss with support from the top, as Triple H said Knight left Money in the Bank greater than he went in.
