The alliance between Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman became one of the most influential partnerships in modern WWE history, but according to Heyman, the company originally had a different vision for how the pairing would be unveiled.
Speaking on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet (full episode below), Heyman reflected on the early days of what would eventually become the Tribal Chief era, explaining that the original creative plan called for both him and Reigns to return together at SummerSlam 2020 before WWE altered the rollout.
Heyman recalled that discussions even included details as specific as the now-famous couch segments that became a staple of the Tribal Chief character.
“Vince (McMahon) thought the couch was not opulent enough for a character that was then going to end up being called The Tribal Chief,” Heyman said. “I can’t disagree with him but we were in a rush to get that done. Well, the original idea was for us both to return at SummerSlam and then be on TV that Friday and lead into [WWE] Payback that weekend that we built to in the rematch where the title went to The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns. I thought, let Roman return, give that moment to “The Big Dog”, and then that Friday on television, he’s not cooperative in the triple threat, he’s not cooperative with Adam Pearce, you know something’s up but you can’t put your finger on it. Go to him sitting on the couch and Pearce is looking over going, what the f*ck is Heyman doing there?” But you don’t know that Heyman’s sitting there, and at the last second, pull out because Roman says, ‘That’s not a prediction, that’s a spoiler.’”
Heyman went on to explain that the idea was to keep viewers guessing until the final seconds of the segment, creating a shocking reveal that would have immediately raised questions about Reigns’ relationship with Brock Lesnar’s longtime advocate.
“And [then] you [would] see Brock Lesnar’s advocate sitting with Roman Reigns after all these years and I just hit Roman’s tagline of, ‘Believe that,’ and off the air. So for five seconds, you see us together. Did I just see that? You’re rubbing your eyes and you can’t believe what you saw and then that weekend, get the title on Roman and then the next Friday is our first appearance truly together in front of the cameras as a unit, presenting our case as to why this act is a game-changing act, and will create history in WWE.”
The partnership ultimately helped launch Reigns into one of the most successful runs of his career, with the Tribal Chief character dominating WWE programming for years and serving as the foundation for The Bloodline saga.
Today, Reigns is once again leading a version of The Bloodline alongside Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu, while attempting to bring Solo Sikoa back into the fold. Meanwhile, Heyman remains aligned with The Vision faction, which currently features Bron Breakker, Logan Paul and Austin Theory, with Bronson Reed sidelined due to injury.
During the same interview, Paul Heyman spoke about WWE “wasting tremendous opportunity” with current AEW star, going as far as to compare him to CM Punk.
