WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns underwent a major character transformation late last year. Thanks to his successful run as a heel, Reigns is (ironically) the face of the company. He's one of the best villains in the wrestling industry. According to "The Tribal Chief" himself, his heel persona stems from his genuine desire to be better than everybody else.
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Roman Reigns shocked the world when he made his WWE return at SummerSlam, and he turned heel when he joined forces with Paul Heyman. "The Big Dog" then reclaimed his WWE Universal Championship by defeating Braun Strowman and The Fiend at WWE Payback shortly after his return. Since this victory, Reigns has dominated WWE SmackDown.
During a recent interview with Ryan Satin of FOX Sports, Roman Reigns talked about his heel character. "The Tribal Chief" revealed that he has always wanted to be the best.
"Yeah, I watched a couple of the shows. I did not follow it thoroughly. I tried to use as much of the time to be with my family and just really focus in and be present here at home, but on a few of the shows that I saw, I was just like, "Man, this is trash." Like, you know what I mean? And that’s me, from the very top, thinking this because I always want to be way better than everybody else. This is no disrespect to what they were doing. They were busting their ass working really hard."
Roman Reigns also spent most of his time off with his family, and he admitted that he was not impressed with the WWE shows that he watched. His appearance on WWE SmackDown makes the show more buzzworthy, and the blue brand's ratings reflect his star power.
Roman Reigns on what he envisioned for his new character
While Roman Reigns was away, he used his free time to develop his character. "The Big Dog" wanted to reach new heights, so he sought to portray a more believable character. In the interview, Reigns explained that he focused on the emotions that he conveys in the ring.
"But, for me, I was like, 'Man, I just know when it’s time to pull my trigger, I know exactly what I want to do.' I know exactly the kind of stories I want to tell and the different tools I want to utilize in order to connect with our crowd, our audience that’s watching at home. But, I knew it was all based off of emotion. I knew I had to be emotionally connected to what I was doing to be able to wear the skin of the character that I’m trying to convey to our audience. So that was the most important thing [because] I could completely focus in and concentrate 100% on what I was trying to do and the emotions that I was trying to convey throughout my narratives."
Roman Reigns' hard work and his dedication to his heel character has paid off. "The Tribal Chief" is undoubtedly a walking goldmine, and he's having the best run of his career right now.