WWE Spotlight: Roman Reigns’ ascension to Tribal Chief status examined through career ups and downs

Roman Reigns is undoubtedly one of the greatest wrestlers in WWE history and a guaranteed future Hall of Famer. From his days as the Shield’s muscle to the current Bloodline leader status, it proves that ‘The Big Dog’ was made to rule the number 1 wrestling promotion throughout his long career.

The Head of the Table is set to defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against ‘The American Nightmare’ Cody Rhodes at the main event of WrestleMania 40. According to WWE, The Tribal Chief is standing at 1311 days as champion and he is far from done.

Roman Reigns’ WWE fame: How did he become Tribal Chief?

Roman Reigns, also known as Leati Joseph Anoaʻi, is the current and longest-reigning WWE Universal Champion in his second reign and the current WWE Champion in his fourth reign, Roman is the fourth-longest world title holder in WWE and the first longest title holder in the modern era. In recent times, the superstar teamed up with his cousin ‘The Final Boss’ The Rock to cement his continued reign and rule the promotion.

In 2014, Roman Reigns was the heel wrestler under the Shield faction and after the stable was disbanded, he transitioned his persona to an anti-hero type character. However, everything changed in August 2020 at SummerSlam, during which Reigns made his big comeback after a long hiatus and he went on to become the Universal Champion at Payback, starting his long reign.

Before becoming the champion, he abruptly turned and quite surprisingly teamed up with Paul Heyman, who was assigned as Roman’s special counsel. Right after that, the 38-year-old star started referring to himself as The Tribal Chief, bringing forth a new era for the modern professional wrestling world.

When did Roman Reigns start wrestling?

Roman Reigns’s career in WWE saw a gradual rise at a moderate pace from his NXT era, to his time with Shield, his reign after Shield, and currently as the Tribal Chief. The six-time world champion signed his first contract with WWE in 2010. Before that, he tried his luck in the NFL but after consecutive failures, he decided to retire from football. After that, he made his televised debut in August 2010 under the name Roman Leakee. In 2012, at WWE’s developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW, now NXT) Reigns met his future faction members Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins for the first time.

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‘The Big Dog’ made his first main roster debut on November 18, 2012, at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event, where Shield made their first entrance to attack Ryback during his championship match against CM Punk. After Shield was dissolved, Roman started his solo run and even went on to win a Royal Rumble match and even a title in a short span of a few years.

The real change began in 2020 when Roman defeated defending champions The Fiend and Braun Strowman in a No Holds Barred Triple Threat match. His persona was made a heel and WWE fans loved the change. The Acknowledged One brought his Anoaʻi family tradition and declared himself as The Tribal Chief and the Head of the Table.

In the same year, the Champ went on to pursue his nephews, Jimmy and Jey Uso. Both brothers clashed a few times with The Tribal Chief but during their match at Hell in a Cell on October 25, Roman emerged victorious, which, as per tradition, was acknowledged by the Usos. Later on, Solo Sikoa, another Anoa’i member, joined the faction and quite recently, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, the newest board member of TKO, joined hands with his cousin to increase their family influence in the wrestling world.

According to rumors, Roman’s upcoming match at WrestleMania 40 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is stuck on his 999th win in his 14-year career, and if he were to win the match against Cody, then that would become his 1000th win. Some fans are speculating that Rhodes will be the person who will finally dethrone Reigns and ‘Finish his Story’, while others claim that The Rock will betray his cousin to become the new Head of the table.

What do you think about Roman Reigns’ ascension to The Tribal Chief status? Let us know your thoughts on it in the comment section below!