Trick Williams already has WrestleMania on his mind for this Sunday, but he's also looking past it to the match he wants most.
The SmackDown star appeared on The Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor ahead of his United States Championship match against Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 42. Asked who he ultimately wants to share the grandest stage with, he didn't hesitate.
If I want to be in the business and I say I want to be the best of all time, I got to see the best of all time. And right now that's Roman Reigns.
Measuring Himself Against the Top
It's a telling answer from a competitor who treats the WWE roster the same way he once treated SEC defenses. Williams isn't interested in a feel-good showcase. He wants the benchmark.
Roman Reigns spent more than three years as Tribal Chief atop SmackDown and remains the standard most main-event hopefuls measure themselves against. For Williams, who hasn't even had his first WrestleMania match yet, naming Reigns as the dream opponent is the same mindset that pushed him from a Hampton scholarship to a walk-on slot under Steve Spurrier.
He framed the competitive pull this way:
The competitive drive hasn't changed since my days in the SEC. It just evolved. I no longer play for stats. I play for the roar of the crowd.
Trick Williams To Face Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 42
Before any Reigns conversation becomes real, Williams has work to do. Sunday will mark his first WrestleMania match and his first singles PPV match on the main roster, with the United States Championship on the line against an eight-time WrestleMania veteran.
If he gets through Zayn, the path toward the kind of opponent he's already calling out gets a lot clearer.
