It’s safe to bet that Roman Reigns has become the cornerstone of WWE in the modern era. The Tribal Chief has unparalleled clout in the business. In a bid to be recognized as the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns subdued Jey Uso in a riveting Hell in a Cell match in 2020. Since then, not just his tribe, but even the WWE Universe acknowledged him as the Tribal Chief. Interestingly, Roman Reigns’ heel character in NXT portended what was coming in the future.
Roman Reigns made his debut in NXT in 2012 as a heel. The future Champion irrefutably looked like he had a hunger to unleash his inner Tribal Chief character.
After making a name in WWE’s developmental territory, Roman Reigns headed to the main roster leading his pack, The Shield. Following the split of The Shield, Roman Reigns rose to prominence as a singles competitor.
Roman Reigns gave a glimpse of his Tribal Chief heel gimmick during his NXT days
In a resurfaced video, Roman Reigns is seen bullying and berating Byron Saxton in the ring. At the time, Byron Saxton was the announcer for NXT.
In the video, while doing a post-match interview, Roman Reigns snatched the mic out of the hands of Byron Saxton. The younger and hungrier future Tribal Chief then proceeded to chase Byron Saxton out of his ring.
lil throwback to NXT Roman Reigns.
We saw Shades of the Tribal Chief (even then)…“I don’t wanna have this conversation again” and bullying poor Bryan Saxton out of “his ring” 😂 pic.twitter.com/pRMKxjNZH4
— ꜱᴀʀᴀʜ ᵐⁱˢˢᵉˢ ʰᵉʳ ᵀʳⁱᵇᵃˡ ᶜʰⁱᵉᶠ (@RoMoxSquad) April 27, 2023
In his scathing promo, he questioned Saxton if he had a problem with him. After being backed into the corner, Saxton submissively left the ring on the order of Roman Reigns.
Fast forward to the present day, Roman Reigns still calls the shots in the WWE ring. Although his “The Big Dog” character was initially rejected by the fans, Roman Reigns became a fan-favorite heel eventually.
Roman Reigns hitting the 1000-day mark as the Universal Champion is not far
Roman Reigns is unquestionably the most successful WWE superstar in the modern era. Having held the Universal Championship for 972+ days, The Tribal Chief has become a tough act to follow. The WWE Undisputed Universal Champion is going to compete next at the Night of Champions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Roman Reigns will hit 1000 days as Universal Champion at Night Of Champions 🎯 pic.twitter.com/QmiTG6OsSF
— WrestlingWorldCC (@WrestlingWCC) April 16, 2023
Interestingly, Roman Reigns will hit the 1000-day mark as the Universal Champion on the same night. At this point, Roman Reigns’ opponent for Night of Champions hasn’t been announced.
Roman Reigns is not scheduled to compete at Backlash. We will have to wait and see who poses Roman Reigns’ title reign a threat at Night of Champions.
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