Paul Heyman recently spoke with Eat Sleep Podcast Repeat, where he discussed Roman Reigns. He also talked about The Tribal Chief’s upcoming Survivor Series opponent, Big E.
“I was very complimentary towards Big E, and I still am. Big E needs to break away from The New Day, the same way Roman Reigns broke away from The Shield,” Heyman claimed. “Roman Reigns became such a megastar that The Shield could not contain Roman Reigns’ stardom any further and Big E needs to take that same approach regarding King Woods, and Kofi Kingston, and The New Day.”
Heyman is currently paired with the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. Them being together took fans by surprise at first, but Paul believes they were destined for this.
“I think we were always destined to be paired together,” Heyman admitted. “I have known Roman Reigns since he was in diapers, when his father, Sika of the Wild Samoans, brought him to an event in Panama City, Florida as part of the Continental Wrestling Federation in 1988. A lot of people may remember that The Shield, of which Roman Reigns was the dominant member, debuted in WWE at Survivor Series, 2012. Brought in by Paul Heyman to protect the WWE Title reign of the, then champion, CM Punk. CM Punk was associated with Paul Heyman at the time in the middle of a 434-day reign as WWE Champion.
“So, since Roman Reigns’ debut on the main roster, this has been in the works,” Heyman claimed. “There were multiple times that we crossed paths along the way, leading to the historical grouping of us together and eventually along with his cousins, The Usos.”
When it comes to the character that Roman is working right now, Heyman believes it had to take him so long to reach this point. He stressed that the Universal Champion has been paying his dues in front of the fans.
“Nothing changed. This is just the evolution of a persona. The whole knock against the Tribal Chief, the Head of the Table, the end all, be all was, ‘oh, it’s been made so easy for him.’ that’s such ‘B.S,’” Heyman stated. “The man has paid his dues in front of the entire WWE Universe, multiverse, metaverse, look at the dues the man has paid. Look at the trials and tribulations the man has gone through.
“He wasn’t ready to be the Tribal Chief in 2012, or 2013, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, or 19. It took eight years on the main roster, it took that long for Roman Reigns to be seasoned, to be grizzled, to have scars on his face, to take some beatings, to have a surgery or two,” he said. “To suffer the ligament tears or tendon rips and broken bones and cuts and lacerations and all that goes with global travel on a 250 day-a-year schedule for him to rise to the occasion and become the Tribal Chief. I don’t think it took him this long to find himself. I think he paid his dues in front of everybody.”
