Roman Reigns is headling into what WWE is calling the biggest WrestleMania match of all time this Sunday. “The Head of the Table” will put his Universal Championship on the line against WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a title unification match. Given Reigns’ dominant reign with the gold, it’s easy to forget how his career drastically changed two years ago.
At the time, “The Big Dog” was set to face Goldberg in a high-profile match at WWE WrestleMania 36, but he opted out of the show due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He took a few months off before he ultimately returned at WWE SummerSlam 2020. From there, he aligned with Paul Heyman, became “The Tribal Chief”, and the rest is history.
In an interview with Marc Raimondi of ESPN, Reigns looked back on his decision to sit out of WrestleMania in 2020. He explained that he believes he made the “very smart choice”, given the circumstances.
“We didn’t have enough information [about COVID-19],” said Reigns. “We didn’t have a proper protocol for protection. I think I made the very smart choice in stepping back and kind of game planning and figuring this thing out and seeing where it went.”
The reigning Universal Champion then noted that he got comfortable during his hiatus, as he and his family moved into a “compound” that had everything Reigns needed. Given his previous success and his ability to save money, he needed to come back with a bang.
“It has to be groundbreaking,” Reigns said. “It has to be history-making.”
When conceptualizing “The Tribal Chief” character, Reigns described how he envisioned ultimate power, both in his matches and his perception.
“I just kept going back to ‘power,'” Reigns said. “I just want to be viewed as the most powerful superstar of all time, when it comes to WWE and sports entertainment. I just really wanted to convey this portrait of strength. Almost like a Mafia-style power. Not only is it respect, but they fear me.”
Raimondi’s story notes that Reigns and Paul Heyman both came up with the character, and they wanted to make sure they had the freedom to create the story as they saw fit.
“Reigns and Heyman said they might not have returned to WWE unless they were given permission by WWE CEO Vince McMahon to execute this story in a mostly unscripted fashion,” wrote Raimondi.
Finally, Reigns emphasized the importance of this relatively unique liberty; whereas many WWE stars work with the writing team, Reigns was determined to make the character the best it could be by connecting to it on a personal level. He acknowledged that he does have a writer, he doesn’t always use what they come up with.
“I just knew if I’m gonna make this what it needs to be, I have to be able to connect to it,” Reigns said. “And nobody can really write that for me. I have a writer and they do put stuff on paper. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I want to use it and/or even want to look at it. So, it just depends. A lot of times I will read it, and if I’m not into it, then I’m just not into it. And I’ve gotta make it mine. ”
Reigns’ “Tribal Chief” character is widely considered to be one of the most compelling aspects of WWE TV today, and it has helped him reach new heights.
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