Vince McMahon Objected to Roman Reigns Being Called As “The Tribal Chief” in WWE

The former WWE CEO and Chairman wanted to retain 'The Big Dog' nickname for Roman Reigns despite his heel turn in 2020.

Vince McMahon Objected to Roman Reigns Being Called As “The Tribal Chief” in WWE

Vince McMahon wasn't in favor of 'Tribal Chief' nickname for Roman Reigns [via- WWE]

Roman Reigns aligning himself with Paul Heyman to go on an unstoppable run in WWE will forever be remembered as one of the most important heel turns in the company’s history. The OTC’s former special counsel talked about the origins of the ‘Tribal Chief’ gimmick and Vince McMahon not liking the name at first.

Heyman revealed during his latest conversation with Chris Van Vliet that McMahon initially objected to Reigns being called the tribal chief on WWE television. The former company CEO would’ve preferred retaining the ‘Big Dog’ nickname for Reigns and addressing Heyman as his advocate.

‘The Wiseman’ wasn’t high on being called the advocate of Roman Reigns due to Heyman having already played that role for Brock Lesnar for years. Heyman tried getting it across McMahon that both he and Reigns should present themselves with revamped identities.

Heyman implored McMahon to pull the trigger on his suggestions as he envisioned it to have as much of a seismic shift to the landscape of WWE as The Undertaker had when he transitioned to ‘The American Badass’ from being ‘The Deadman’. ‘The Oracle’ stressed that it was a totally different character for Reigns and he couldn’t have played it earlier.

It’s simply because Reigns had to weather a few storms in his career to put himself in a position where he was fit to be the tribal chief. Heyman also revealed that the brainchild of the tribal chief came from Marlon Brando‘s portrayal of Kurtz in the 1979 war-action movie Apocalypse Now.

Earlier in the interview, the 60-year-old wrestling veteran disclosed that the original plan for the reveal of his pairing with Reigns was at SummerSlam 2020. However, Paul Heyman wanted to put the audience on a cliffhanger by having it done on the SmackDown succeeding The OTC’s return at SummerSlam.

Those five seconds of screen time with Heyman sitting beside Reigns on a couch with Adam Pearce also in the frame were way more effective from the audience’s standpoint. Speaking of the couch they sat on, Vince McMahon didn’t like it, as he thought it wasn’t opulent enough to hold up to the stature of the character arc they were about to put Roman Reigns on.

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Paul Heyman stresses on long-term booking while backing Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes III for this year

Paul Heyman seems to be an ardent believer in long-term booking in pro wrestling. In the aforementioned conversation, ‘The Wiseman’ talked about being more interested to know what the WWE landscape looks like the year after WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia. He would want to know the potential opponents for top-tier talent at the subsequent WrestleMania in 2028.

Paul Heyman would do Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes III in 2026
Paul Heyman would do Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes III in 2026 [via- Cageside Seats]

Because if they map that out in advance, it makes “SaudiMania” much easier to plan. ‘The Mad Genius’ stressed knowing what they’re building towards in the future rather than fixating on short-term planning. He later talked about doing the trilogy match between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes at this year’s Crown Jewel.

That, according to Heyman, would automatically make the said PLE one of the biggest shows of the year in terms of both the ticket sales and the grandeur of the event.

It’s worth noting that Heyman clarified in the beginning that he’s not in charge of those decisions at all. But the primary facie man in charge of WWE creative, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, reportedly scrapped the idea of doing Reigns vs. Rhodes at this year’s WrestleMania based on audience fatigue.

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