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“I Can’t Go Further”: Paul Heyman Reveals the Moment WWE Broke Roman Reigns’ Spirit Before He Became ‘The Tribal Chief’

Published Jun 10, 2023 | 11:00 AM EDT

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Path to the top is often not easy. The current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns is not an exception to this norm. Arguably the most polarising wrestler in the modern era of pro wrestling started his iconic run in the company back in 2012. His singles run as a baby face from 2014 to 2020 was specifically significant in terms of his strong positioning and booking. He racked up numerous championships and wins and embarked on an all-time run. But never got the adulation of fans or experts.

But after turning heel, he continues to sit at the top of the food chain and commands respect from fans. However, it could all remain a mere daydream for him if he didn’t survive a creative crisis phase just before the pandemic period.

Paul Heyman disclosed Roman Reigns’ creative blackout phase

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In the early months of 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak took the world by storm and professional wrestling couldn’t escape the consequences as well. Although WWE didn’t stop running their shows, they failed to include all the massive stars in those programs. Among some of the absent stars, Roman Reigns was the pivotal one.

USA Today via Reuters

Recently, Heyman exposed the real reason for his absence. It was not merely because he wanted to safeguard himself from the virus. According to the Wise Man, Roman was creatively unsatisfied back then, which added to his reluctance to show up.

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Speaking on Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin, the special counsel of the Head of the Table addressed the headspace of Reigns during his break. Tracing his struggle with the storylines, Heyman noted, ”The feud-rivalry story with Baron Corbin over dog food, and the infamous ‘suffering succotash’ promo, had weighed on him enough to where he said, ‘I’ve had enough. I’ve reached the cap. I can’t go any further as the Big Dog,”

However, thankfully, that disappointing phase was short-lived and Reigns managed to bounce back sooner than expected, making his way to record books with his 1000-day plus title reign. ”Reigns would eventually come back as a villain, soon calling himself “The Tribal Chief” and kicking off the era of The Bloodline,” Paul added.

Since his return to WWE as a heel, Reigns has dominated WWE’s landscape alongside The Bloodline. He has won both the Universal and WWE Championship titles, headlined WrestleMania three years in a row, and defeated a number of challengers along the way. His current run as ‘The Tribal Chief’ puts him among some of the greatest names in WWE history.

Speaking of the current saga of The Bloodline, the story is becoming more enticing day by day.

Recent developments in the epic Bloodline saga

Recently, a big Bloodline crack came to light at Night of Champions when Jimmy Uso betrayed his Tribal Chief, costing him the tag team gold against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Reigns’ issues with his cousins traced back to WrestleMania 39 when the twin brothers fell short to retain the titles at WrestleMania 39.

Since then, they recorded a series of failures and some unacceptable deeds and gestures. It made their dispute with the Tribal Chief even more intense, resulting in a final backlash of Jimmy Uso at the stage of Night of Champions last month.

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Now the wrestling world wonders about the move of Jey Uso. While Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa hinted at Jey’s unbroken loyalty to the Head of the Table, the recent development suggests a potential match at Money in The Bank between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa vs The Usos.

However, since nothing is official yet, we better wait for WWE to confirm the next hook regarding this intriguing storyline.

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Watch the story: WWE Legend Rikishi Opens Up About His Son’s Fight Triggered By Roman Reigns

What’s your take on Roman Reigns’ giving up his face persona amidst some creative frustration? Let us know in the comments.

Written by:

Shreya Nag

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Shreya Nag is a WWE writer at EssentiallySports, whose love for the sport began when she saw Cody Rhodes win the Royal Rumble in 2023. Since then, she has been an ardent fan of Rhodes and the world of pro wrestling. Shreya's writing combines her passion for the sport with her writing abilities, which she uses to provide readers with a nuanced analysis of WWE superstars.
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Edited by:

Sherjeel Malik