Paul Heyman Reveals Which Hollywood Character The Tribal Chief Gimmick Is Based On

During a recent interview with The Associated Press ahead of WrestleMania 39, Paul Heyman revealed that Roman Reigns’ Tribal Chief gimmick is actually inspired by Colonel Kurtz from the 1979 Apocalypse Now film. Heyman said,

“The reason why is because the story is of a soldier so great, he could not be stopped. [Col. Kurtz] goes rogue and takes over this community, becomes their leader, and their end all be all. He then has to live up to being this navigator into the future and has the responsibility and the accountability of living up to those expectations. And at some point, that becomes a burden and makes him resent those with such lofty expectations for the person who positioned himself as their leader. And in that resentment comes this villainous bitterness.”

On WrestleMania 39 (Night Two), Roman Reigns successfully defended the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Cody Rhodes, upsetting the fanbase and shocking the WWE Universe.

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