Jon Moxley Talks Vince McMahon Making Roman Reigns Say "Suffering Succotash" In WWE Promo

Jon Moxley did an in-depth interview on The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast to talk about his time in WWE, Vince McMahon, and numerous other topics. Moxley spoke at length about his longtime stablemate and someone he often drove with, Roman Reigns.

Moxley was asked about the polarizing fan response to Roman Reigns, something John Cena also dealt with for much of his WWE career. He noted it was a response WWE was looking to change, despite fans constantly pushing back again.

"I think they definitely, probably hoped that it stopped, when he was in The Shield, everybody loved him, he was the hottest thing, but was booked like a monster," Moxley said. "But as soon as [the fans] realized [he was the guy], then they all decided before hand they were going to turn on him because they don't like that, for whatever reason. I think Cena did that first and Roman walked into it. They were like, 'Oh, it's the Cena thing, again.'"

With how Reigns has been portrayed over the years, Moxley was asked if WWE had done it a different way would more fans have cheered him on? Moxley called back to 2015 when Reigns had to say "suffering succotash" in one of his promos (video below), something Reigns tried to get cut out.

"Vince had him say 'suffering succotash,' ya know what I mean?' Moxley began. "I remember that day. You think he wanted to say that? No. He went in there and came out and was like, 'He wants me to say suffering succotash,' and I remember kind of laughing like, 'Dude, you can't say that.' He's like, 'He wants me to say it. Is there a cool way to say it?' I'm like, 'What if you looked at the camera and said, well, that wasn't easy to say,' or something, I don't know.

"His personality is so great, he's such a great dude," Moxley continued. "Everybody loves him, he's the move lovable guy in the world. He's the guy everybody gravitates to in the locker room. Just his natural charisma, but they don't let him be himself. They try to make him?years ago, he was trying to be what they wanted."

Moxley continued about his strong connection with Reigns and how despite there being times when Moxley should have been "the guy," it wasn't something he would let sour their relationship.

"I'm really glad he is legit one of my best friends because we would ride in the car?even when we were in competition, so to speak, because I love him so much that I couldn't resent him or anything," Moxley said. "If he was a guy that I wasn't friends with or I hated, I would probably resent the hell out of him. Because there were many times when I felt like I had a stronger connection with the audience than him, but it didn't matter. He's my best friend, so it would have never come between us."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.