Roman Reigns hears all of the noise in the WWE Universe whether it’s from those who support him or those who are against him.

There’s no doubt that he is the most divisive figure in the company as he’s pushed as the face of the WWE, but none of that has stopped the 33-year-old from putting in the work, punching the clock night after night.

Here we are again, with Reigns once again on a collision course with Brock Lesnar. The latest chapter in their rivalry takes place at WWE SummerSlam on Sunday, Aug. 19 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, airing live on the WWE Network.

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Reigns will once again look to dethrone “The Beast” and capture the one title that has eluded him over the past six years — the WWE Universal Championship.

There isn’t a lack of stories leading up to the showdown with Lesnar spurring his longtime advocate Paul Heyman as he bullies and mauls everyone around him, only doing what he wants when he wants. That includes a return to the UFC with hopes of holding both the WWE Universal and UFC Heavyweight titles.

Reigns is the one person standing in his way as he hopes to blow up those lofty plans and finally defeat Lesnar and become the champion on “RAW."

Sporting News recently spoke with Reigns about his long rivalry with Lesnar, what it would mean to have the Universal Championship on “RAW” every week, and why he thanks John Cena every chance he sees him.

SPORTING NEWS: You recently went back to your alma mater and unveiled the new Georgia Tech football jerseys. What was it like putting the football gear back?

ROMAN REIGNS: It was a little nerve-wrecking to be honest. I didn't realize when the gig kind of popped up and was offered to me, I was like "yeah, definitely, let's do that." I thought it would be cool and to be able to throw the uniform on and be able to see Tech and the new facilities because they're doing a lot of awesome work there. Their partnership with Adidas is going to be the tip of the iceberg with the business they're going to be able to do through Atlanta. It’s pretty cool.

When I got there, I didn't realize they were so tight. I played football for a long time so for me to totally forget about this, that's how you know this wrestling world is so crazy. I totally forgot about that and when I saw it, I was like "Oh my God, I'm going to look ridiculous." I didn't even take into account that I'm a 33-year-old man getting in a 21-year-old outfit but it ended up being OK. I think the Dad-bod in the football gear wasn't too bad of a look.

It was actually pretty cool to go back and see a few different people and see some of the coaches and meet some of the people at Adidas, all the staff there and everyone that helped out. To be able to mingle with a lot of new alumni, a lot of younger alumni, that's huge for Tech. It's a very old school and it's always set in its traditions but there's a lot of new change and a cool evolution going on there.

SN: When it comes to wrestling, you've been wearing the same gear for a while now. Have you ever thought about changing up your gear?

RR: Not really. I get that a lot. Yeah, a little bit but my vests are totally different. I literally use to wear a regular, 511 little swat vest with, I don't even know what material it was. A little bit thick but nothing with a lot of padding and all this crap. Over the years, if you looked at all the vests that I've had created with the different color schemes and different looks, I've probably had more gear than anybody on our roster. At this point, I've had at least 50 vests made, all the way to different logos to what I wear now.

Pants are pants. (Dean) Ambrose just changed to jeans. Jeans are jeans. I could just undo the straps and it would look just like regular pants that Baron Corbin wears. Seth (Rollins) primarily comes out in the same thing — he just takes his shirt off. My whole glove/gauntlet situation is totally different. I'm pretty secure with what I wear. I don't want to sound bad but at the same time, is it really about the gear? It ain't about how the brother looks or how the girl looks. There is some aesthetics to this but ain't it about the performance? Is it my gear that's making people emote? I don't think so.

SN: You're taking on Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam. This is part of a 3 1/2-year saga that has been going on between yourself and Brock. What has this been like and are you surprised it's lasted this long with the story that's being told not leading up to SummerSlam?

RR: I think it's awesome. We have a lot of critics. A lot of opinions nowadays with social media and everybody being able to connect. People can say whatever they want but I think 20 years from now, if you look at it, the three years, the first one we had (WrestleMania 31), that was a banger. That was two titans going at it. We killed each other. Then we had a couple of multi-man matches mixed throughout then the next one at 'Mania (33).

Say what you want — by the end of it, if you go back and watch the physicality, you can say whatever you want. Oh, there's a lot of suplexes. But it's Brock Lesnar. He's a big ol' giant, cornfed wrestler that throws bodies around. With blood all over the canvas, I thought it was a pretty good story and a good, physical contest.

Then the third one, singles-wise, was in Saudi Arabia and I speared the guy through the freaking cage. It was the craziest action sequence other than Titus (O'Neil) about sliding back to America. I thought that was a pretty good contest as well. I think in due time, on top of what he's doing with bouncing between UFC, there's nobody like him. We literally have another one that is the top name in Ronda Rousey and you don't hear her floating with the idea of getting back in that Octagon but Brock Lesnar is ready to step in there tomorrow if you'd let him. I think he's — not to sound like Paul (Heyman) — he's a once-in-a-lifetime athlete and for me to have this awesome rivalry with him over the past three years, I think it's a huge defining mark for my career and it definitely was a launching pad coming from 2015.

SN: How important would it be to have the Universal Championship back on television every week if you win it at SummerSlam? That's something that has been talked about in the sense that with Brock being champion and his lighter schedule, that championship is not a part of "RAW" every week.

RR: It's killing us. It's killing us. It makes for better storytelling. It would be a better product. It would be a better show. When you have the diamond that everybody's chasing, it gives everybody a GPS of where they are and where they're trying to be. Not only that, it's a driving force for live events. It’s a driving force for our Friday, Saturday and Sunday (non-televised events) when we don't have a network special or a pay-per-view. It's important to have that thing hanging up in the locker room in a tiny town in South Dakota on a Friday when people are not motivated. A young talent comes in and says the champ's in here and the title is hanging up. I want that. It motivates people in some many different regards and that's what we need.

I'm to the point where I've won a bunch of different championships and the only reason I want that championship is because I haven't won it and I want it on this roster. I want it at our shows. I want it in every town because it's going to make everybody better.

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SN: You mentioned Brock and UFC. What do you think his future is? Do you want to see him fight in UFC or would you rather he stay in the WWE?

RR: To be honest, at this point I'd love to see him just go fight in UFC because that's where it seems his passion and where his focus is right now. We have a protocol here. We have a certain schedule and there's a certain rhythm that makes this whole business work and, right now, I think he's throwing us out of whack a little bit. Is it great exposure to crossover? Absolutely. We love having a big star like Brock Lesnar but, at the end of the day, sports entertainment has to look out for itself. We have to continue to do our business and continue to put on our show. I just feel like it would be a lot better served with that Universal Championship in someone's hands like myself.

SN: We've seen the various promos from both sides between yourself and Brock leading up to the match. The backstage promo you did last week I thought was especially good. There was a lot made of last year when you worked with John Cena and the back and forth, in-ring promos you did with one another. What did you take from that experience to where you are now when it comes to promos?

RR: I think Cena did me a huge favor. He busted my ass and made me step up and that's the game. You have to take the next step. If you're climbing the ladder, you have to reach the next rung and Cena was that guy. That's an important part, the mic work, the stick, and I thought I was able to step up. I thought I was able to take my punches and throw a few back and I thought I grew very quickly in the following weeks to all the way when we closed that rivalry out. But that's the whole object of the game, of being on top. You have to make everybody step up and that's what Cena made me do.

I'm still learning, I'm still finding my voice and still playing with different things, finding different emotions and different ways to connect and how to make it real to myself. I think anytime I can, I always thank him for that because without those growing pains, without those maturity steps, I don't think I'd be able to be where I'm at and then also I wouldn't be on the path of where I'm trying to go and grow to.

Brian Fritz can be reached at btrfritz@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianFritz and listen to his Between The Ropes podcast on iTunes.