From the start, Paul Heyman knew Roman Reigns was special.
By now, “The Tribal Chief” and his Special Counsel have been paired together for the better part of two years; since they joined forces in 2020, they’ve been unstoppable, other than a brief separation at the end of 2021 and the beginning of this year. After a temporary reunion with Brock Lesnar, the former “Advocate” switched sides and aligned with Reigns again because he believes in “The Head of the Table.”
This confidence somewhat dates back more than three decades, to the first time Heyman met the three-year-old boy who would become Reigns. During an appearance on the Battleground Podcast, the former ECW boss recalled meeting Reigns at a Continental Wrestling Federation show many years ago. Reigns’ father, Sika Anoa’i of the Wild Samoans, brought him to the event, and Heyman immediately knew the boy was special because he had unmatched charisma.
“Sika brought with him to the show his three-year-old son who’s now known as Roman Reigns,” said Heyman. “And he introduced me to his son, and what stood out about his son to me was that in a locker room filled with future WWE Hall of Famers, future WWE Champions, future WWE main-eventers, like I’ll throw one name at you, Sid, Sid Justice/Sid Vicious, was in that locker room. A locker room filled with people like that, filled with people like Yokozuna, Roman Reigns had more charisma at three years old than everybody in that locker room combined.”
“All the oxygen in the room went straight to him. He’s three years old, he’s holding his father’s hands, and yet when he just made a motion like he got something to eat or whatever it was, everybody in the room turned their head and noticed him. It was the damndest thing. He had a charisma at three that could not be denied.”
Greatness.#SmackDown @WWERomanReigns @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/qla7JfQh2P
— WWE (@WWE) March 5, 2022
To elaborate, Heyman stated that Reigns had the “it” factor, even when he was three years old; his confidence and his swagger stood above the rest, even in a room full of renowned wrestlers.
“You just knew this three-year-old was gonna grow into being a star,” said Heyman. “He just had it. He had the ‘it’ factor. At three years old, when he walked back to his father across the locker room, he had swag in this step. He had a confidence at three years old that 30-year-old men in their physical prime did not have that same swagger.”
The Special Counsel then described how Reigns is living his destiny, as he was born to be “The Tribal Chief” has has become.
“The Samoans sent out into the world the prodigal son,” said Heyman. “I mean Roman Reigns was born to be ‘The Tribal Chief’. This is exactly where he was destined to be from day one.”
Through his role alongside Reigns, Heyman has helped the powerhouse evolve into one of the top stars in the wrestling world. He’ll accompany “The Head of the Table” to the ring for his Winner Take All Championship Unification match against WWE Champion Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38.
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