When Bronson Reed was released from WWE during the Covid-19 pandemic, he had a decision to make about his future.

Would he sign a long-term deal with a domestic promotion like AEW or Impact in order to rebuild his stock and establish his abilities in long-term storylines? Or would he embrace becoming an independent mercenary who goes from town to town wrecking stuff as a wrestler-for-hire?

Well, as it turns out, Reed more or less decided to split the difference and sign up to become a member of New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he worked matches in Japan, moonlighted in Impact, and even led a faction that lives on in The Mighty Don't Kneel, a group founded by Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls that now features Bad Dude Tito, Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, and Zack Sabre Jr, who leads the group as of January 2023.

Discussing his time in New Japan and his signature bout from the run, a G1 Climax victory over Kazuchika Okada on Busted Open Radio, Reed explained that his efforts against the “Rainmaker” played a big role in returning to WWE, as Paul “Triple H” Levesque was watching the match from back in Titan Towers.

“I got in the ring with [Kazuchika] Okada, who I think is one of the best guys in the world and we went 25 minutes, 27 minutes, twice,” Bronson Reed said via Wrestling Inc. “I was like, ‘[If] I can do this, main event in Tokyo, like, I can main event anywhere in the world. And I think Triple H [WWE's Chief Content Officer] saw that. He watched those matches and I think that was, you know, a little bit of a factor of me coming back as well.”

Considering WWE has long been interested in signing Okada away from NJPW, it's not surprising that WWE's CCO was watching the G1 to scout the “Rainmaker.” Still, if that match played into Reed's return to WWE, then good on him for securing the deal, as he truly was able to have his cake and eat it too.

Bronson Reed hears your “Meat” chants and loves them.

Elsewhere in his conversation with Busted Open Radio, Bronson Reed was asked about fans chanting “meat” during his matches in reference to his big wrestling body.

While some performers may be self-conscious about these reactions or even use them as a motivator to get shredded Gunther-style, Reed actually embraces it, as he's nothing if not a mark for the big boys of the past like Vader.

“I feel like this is something that the fans right now really want to see. It’s sort of been coined ‘Monday Night Meat,'” Bronson Reed said via Fightful. “So there’s a few of us on the Monday Night Raw roster. There’s myself, there’s Ivar, there’s Gunther, who you could throw in there as super heavyweight. There’s Otis. There’s a lot of meat to be slapped on Mondays, and I’m trying to reign that division. Big men slapping meat. I’ve let my fans know that they’re now meatheads. That’s what I call my fans, all Meatheads. But yeah, last night was a good test for myself. As I said, I want to be the king of that division. Ivar is up there with me. Even just walking around, doing things one that is not an easy experience for guys this big. So to get in there and have someone that’s matched my size and trying to do the things that I try to do to smaller guys is really a test of my will.”

Asked if he feels as though WWE could maybe take a page from the long-defunct cruiserweight division and build up a “heavymeats” division for RAW‘s super heavyweight performers, Reed noted that there is enough talent around to make it work, though he'd be fine if the “World Heavyweight Champion” had to actually live up to that moniker too.

“I definitely think there’s enough interest there,” Reed noted. “I said, even back when 205 Live started, there should be a 305 Live. We have enough super heavyweights that are exciting to do some sort of division like that. But in the same aspect, I don’t want to be pigeon-her into being just a super heavyweight guy. I think, in my personal opinion, it’s time for people that are world heavyweight champions to be heavyweight champions and eat some sandwiches. That’s where I’m taking it.”

And last but not least, Reed was asked about his recent match with Ivar, who has become his rival over the past few weeks spread over multiple matches and brands. While Reed doesn't like Ivar for obvious reasons, he did note that their match was a “locker room sellout” and that he's down to keep wrestling matches if the fans are into it.

“Funnily enough, it was a locker room sellout, that match. I think there’s enough moments in that match where the guys backstage are actually ‘ooh-ing’ and ‘ah-ing’ for things. So whenever I’m in a match that’s a locker room sellout, I’m like okay, that’s a thumbs up for me because the boys like it. But the office liked it as well. I think it’s something we’re gonna get to see more of, especially on Monday nights. Fridays, I’m not too sure about. I think SmackDown now is getting a bit more cruiserweight-heavy, so there might be a bit of a competition of the cruiserweights on Fridays and the super heavy’s on Mondays and see who can outdo each other.”

Is “Big” Bronson Reed about to usher in a new super heavyweights revival on RAW? Maybe yes, maybe no, but for that to happen, he'd need to do something of note to become a performer of prominence, which will be hard to do now that CM Punk is on the Red Brand and Gunther is a seemingly unbeatable IC Champion.