WWE Creative Pitch Quirky Tweak For Roman Reigns Return (WWE News)
Attention, WWE fans: Tribal Chief One is currently coming in to land.
WrestleVotes Radio's Backstage Pass is reporting that WWE's creative team continue to weigh up tweaking things for Roman Reigns once he returns to television. The current plan is to call Roman either "Tribal Chief One" or "OTC1" when he does begin to show back up on episodes of Raw and/or SmackDown.
Reigns has been referred to as both the 'Tribal Chief' and 'Head Of The Table' since switching gimmicks back in 2020. Since then, he's enjoyed unrivalled success as one of the top heels in the biz, but did turn babyface long before this latest sabbatical. That 2020 change radically altered the man's fortunes - he'd been struggling to convince fans that he was everything Vince McMahon said he was since breaking free of The Shield and embarking on a singles run in 2014.
Becoming 'Chief' changed that in a hurry.
Now, it looks like Roman is set for some change yet again. This time, admittedly, it's fairly minor, but some fans have had fun pointing out that 'Tribal Chief One' makes Reigns sound like aircraft rather than a pro wrestler. Well, he does fly through the air when hitting those Superman punches!
It's worth pointing out that this might have something to do with Solo Sikoa putting together a Bloodline offshoot including JC Mateo, Tonga Loa and newcomer Hukuleo/Talla Tonga. Solo has been quick to suggest that his group isn't a Bloodline retread, but it pretty much is. Nobody is fooled.
Perhaps Roman will feud with Sikoa and pals all over again.
Reigns Expected To Work SummerSlam 2025 Program
That raises an interesting point. Currently, Reigns is slated to return in time for SummerSlam 2025 on 2-3 August. Obviously, there isn't a lot of TV time to play around with before reaching that PLE. There's still time for WWE to map things out, but they'd need to be fairly fast with it if they wanted to garnish a Roman match with some proper build heading into New Jersey's weekender.
2025's version will be the first 2-night SummerSlam in history, so Triple H and his creative nucleus will be seeking all the star power they can get their hands on. Bringing Reigns back into the fold would certainly help. The question is: Exactly who does 'OTC1' face on either the Saturday or Sunday nights?
Again, Solo is a possibility, but so is Seth Rollins. The 'Architect' currently holds WWE's Money In The Bank briefcase, and there's plenty of unfinished business between both guys considering what happened at WrestleMania 41. There, Roman's longtime manager Paul Heyman turned on his 'Tribal Chief' to side with Seth.
WWE better get moving.