Roman Reigns’ WWE Character Gets Brutally Called Out

Roman Reigns’ previous “The Big Dog” persona drew criticism during his WWE run. The character was positioned differently before his 2020 transformation. In mid-2020, Reigns debuted “The Tribal Chief,” beginning a major shift in presentation.

A former WWE star has now shared his thoughts on Reigns’ earlier character and creative direction. Speaking on his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, Hardy said,

“I do think some of the creative he had was real bad. Like you said, the dog food thing, especially for a character that is meant to be very serious and be like a main eventer, the top guy, the draw, the sell. He had his moments where it was good. But I do think there were a lot of times he was saddled with some bad creative. Maybe even bad lines.”

“That isn’t what you need out of that guy. His job isn’t humor relief. His job is to go out there and be this good-looking, hot guy that all the chicks love. And then all the dudes are like, ‘This guy’s badass because he can kick anybody’s a**. That’s what you need to believe. You don’t need him going out there and doing stand-up comedy.”

WWE Hall Of Famer Comments On How He Perfected Reigns’ Persona

Paul Heyman recently appeared on the “Six Feet Under” podcast. During the chat, Heyman reflected on how he was responsible for making Reigns comfortable as The Tribal Chief. The WWE Hall of Famer said,

“When Roman and I first got put together, we would talk on the phone. And at times, just out of the blue in the middle of a conversation talking about, ‘How does your lawn look today?’ completely off topic I’d say, ‘What did you have for breakfast today?’ ‘Oh this many eggs, bowl of oatmeal.’ ‘Great, what did the Tribal Chief have?’ And I’d want him to talk to me as the Tribal Chief, and not just for a promo like for five minutes. Talk to me for a while, spend a half hour on the phone with me as the Tribal Chief, do small talk with me as the Tribal Chief. ‘Did the Tribal Chief take his kids to school today? Did the Tribal Chief pick his kids up from school today?’”

“He just learns how to walk in the skin of that character so much that he’s just as comfortable being ‘The Tribal Chief’ Roman Reigns as he is being Joe Anoa’i. Once you have that comfort level of understanding who that person is, then you can switch it on, and hopefully afterwards, switch it off. But that you can switch it on in your pursuit of greatness because you truly understand who that character is.”