MVP questions Roman Reigns’ mainstream crossover on Marking Out podcast, rejects ‘industry plant’ claims
Former WWE United States Champion MVP, on the latest edition of his Marking Out podcast, said he doubted Roman Reigns’ mainstream crossover appeal and dismissed claims that Reigns was an “industry plant.” He contrasted Reigns’ recognition with the household status of earlier wrestling stars while also acknowledging Reigns’ drawing power within pro wrestling.
MVP said he could “maybe see what he’s talking about only insofar as traditionally the biggest stars that we’ve had in wrestling have had, like, a mainstream crossover appeal. John Cena. Like, you don’t have to watch wrestling to know John Cena. The Rock, Stone Cold. These were the guys, the man. And their fame transcended beyond pro wrestling.” He added that the numbers inside wrestling differ for Reigns, and said he might be mistaken but believes “roughly six or seven out of every 10 people would recognize stars such as John Cena, The Rock, or Hulk Hogan.”
MVP elaborated on that point with a street-test example: “You walk down the street and ask 10 people, do you know John Cena? Six or seven of them are gonna say yeah. Walk down the street and ask 10 people, do you know Stone Cold Steve Austin? Do you know The Rock? Do you know Hulk Hogan? Yeah, they know, I don’t know if Roman Reigns has that same mainstream crossover appeal.”
Drawing a distinction between mainstream recognition and box-office-style drawing within WWE, MVP argued Reigns still moves numbers for the promotion, saying: “If you do a show in some location and it’s a WWE show and Roman Reigns is not on the card and you sell, I don’t know, 20,000 tickets, if you add ‘Roman Reigns will be’ you’re going to sell another 5,000 tickets.”
On the industry-plant allegations and commentary from Conrad Thompson, MVP said: “So I disagree very strongly with Conrad. The industry plant, I think that’s absolutely ridiculous. Is that for being pushed by the office? Every star is pushed by the office. Every star is, as they like to say, crammed down your throat. That’s how you become a star. Perhaps maybe it took a little longer for him to catch on, but I don’t think you can deny now his star power in wrestling. And I will bet a dollar we’re dying that at some point Roman is going to go the way of The Rock and become a movie star. He’s got the presence, the good looks, the charisma. Like Roman Reigns will be an actor. I know he will be a television star. He is that dude.”
Following Reigns’ title defence against Penta on the September 14 edition of Monday Night Raw in Mexico City, Reigns was attacked by LA Knight as the show went off the air and was taken out with a BFT. Reigns then cut a promo via his social media announcing a showdown between the two at Money in the Bank; WWE later confirmed the match, making it Reigns’ fifth title defence for the event.
The 2026 edition of Money in the Bank is set for October 10, 2026, at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.