Roman Reigns may have looked the part of Akuma, but looking like the iconic Street Fighter villain was only half the battle. The WWE World Heavyweight Champion has now opened up about the demanding preparation behind the role, revealing that learning how to move like a martial artist proved to be far more challenging than simply maintaining his physique.
Speaking with Men’s Health, Reigns explained that he got lucky in one respect. Akuma’s muscular, bodybuilder-like appearance already matched the way he normally trains, so he didn’t have to completely reinvent himself physically.
“Well, I got lucky because Akuma, his physique is kind of bodybuilder-esque. He’s a big brother, so he’s very muscular. Yeah, thank goodness, you know. But that helped me out to kind of stay in my regimen.”
The real adjustment came once the martial arts training began. Instead of simply lifting weights, Reigns suddenly had to combine strength, flexibility and body control in ways he’d never experienced before.
“But when you add in the martial arts, when you add in those different disciplines, the fighting disciplines, and being able to, you know, have your legs in a sumo squat, but then you can pop up on your toes and then also hit a, you know, a unique pose with your arms. There’s so much isometric work in that. There’s so much just that body control, almost like a ballerina type of work.”
On top of that, Reigns had to learn the basics of moving like an actual martial artist rather than a professional wrestler. The entire experience had to be crammed into a relatively short period of time.
“So going through that training and going through those just different martial arts techniques and just basics too, just like learning how to move like a ninja and, like, slide your feet and the footwork. It was pretty extensive, and I didn’t have much time, you know.”
Despite spending years performing athletic feats in WWE, Reigns admitted he had almost no real martial arts experience before landing the role.
“I did like two days of taekwondo when I was little. I quit that stuff early, and I never looked back.”
He joked that his closest connection to martial arts growing up was watching Bruce Lee movies with his cousins.
“I was always a big fan of Bruce Lee. You know, me and my cousins always watched all the martial arts films and Bruce Lee movies.”
Actually going through the training gave Reigns a completely different appreciation for what martial artists do. He said holding the proper stances and maintaining the right posture reminded him much more of Pilates or yoga than traditional weight training.
“But I never understood exactly how hard it is and to be able to hold those poses. I mean, it’s very much like Pilates and yoga-ish, the way you have to be able to hold your body and then, like, hold that posture in order to, like, keep that authenticity for each discipline.”
Reigns did say his WWE background helped bridge the gap because wrestling and martial arts share certain physical similarities. Even so, he walked away with a whole new level of respect for actors and martial artists who make that kind of movement look effortless on screen.
“There was a lot of parallels for me to be able to transition. Yeah. I mean, they’re obviously different, being the different things that you’re asked to perform within wrestling and martial arts, but I think the physical disciplines have that… they’re a little bit adjacent to each other to where it wasn’t as big of a gap for me to try to figure out.
You know, Jason Statham and all these other guys, you know, Chuck Norris, all these other guys that were able to do all these stunts and do all these movies and films and have it just be so good. It really just put so much respect, you know. I tip my cap to them because it’s not easy. It really isn’t.”
For Reigns, getting Akuma right wasn’t just about having the right physique. He believes audiences immediately notice when someone looks the part but can’t move like the character they’re supposed to be playing.
“Well, for me, I think the crossover is huge because we want to look like we can save the world. But once you start moving, you don’t want to look like, ‘This isn’t the guy for the part,’ you know?”
He added that the same philosophy applies in WWE because wrestlers don’t have stunt doubles to rely on. Ultimately, Reigns believes both pieces have to come together
“So, there’s that fine balance, especially within wrestling because we have to do all of our own stunts, essentially. Like, nobody’s going to sub in there. They’re not going to bring in Nico for me. I have to be able to do this stuff. So, there’s that fine balance of you want to look that part. You want the product to be on par with what, you know, the illustration was or whatever you’re trying to, you know, showcase or imitate.
But if that movement there, that physicality, that athleticism is not there, it will take people out. They won’t be able to get lost. There will be no escapism. They won’t be able to get lost in it.
So, I think it’s one—it has to be cohesive. Yeah. You have to have both of them for sure. Otherwise, there’s holes in the game.”
Reigns’ portrayal of Akuma will hit the big screen when Street Fighter arrives in theaters on October 16, and based on his comments, it sounds like he put in far more than a bodybuilding workout to bring one of gaming’s most iconic villains to life.
Are you more excited to see Roman Reigns as Akuma after hearing about the work he put into the role? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
