Paul Heyman Offers Insight Into Roman Reigns’ Presentation
“It was the final step away from The Shield”
May 12, 2021
When Roman Reigns put his WWE Universal Title on the line against Daniel Bryan on the April 30 edition of SmackDown, there was something very different about The Tribal Chief; his theme music.
Replacing Roman’s version of The SHIELD theme, it was the last piece of the puzzle in the Head of the Table’s heel turn, and according to Paul Heyman, it was what Roman needed to finally put The SHIELD to bed.
Speaking to Complex, Heyman said the following;
“It was the final step away from The Shield. That’s what it was. One of the things that Roman Reigns and I spoke about, with all final decisions being Roman Reigns’. I am Special Counsel to the Tribal Chief, and that’s not just a public persona on television. Behind the scenes, I’m Special Counsel to the Tribal Chief. And one of the many things that we were both desirous of, A. Change the mannerisms. B. Change the presentation. C. Change the hairstyle. D. Change the look.
“He took off the vest, and rightfully so. He changed the music. It was time to change the music. That was The Shield’s theme. Now it’s evolved. Now it’s Roman Reigns’ theme. Now it has nothing to do with The Shield or the members of The Shield. It has evolved. It’s better. We’re not resting on what it was. We are invoking the future. We’re not reminding you of the past. With respect to the past, we’re bringing it forward.”
Heyman continued, “Everything about the Roman Reigns presentation needs to circle around Roman Reigns. If you watch Peaky Blinders, everything revolves around how it affects Tommy Shelby. If you had watched the Sopranos, no matter what the side storylines were, it always ended up, how does this affect Tony Soprano? And that’s a central character in any kind of entertainment presentation. And that’s Roman Reigns. So, when it’s the debut of his new music, and there is a certain swagger that Roman Reigns has walking out to the ring, isn’t it incumbent upon all those around him to be in step with that persona so that we are presenting a united front, so that I am simply an extension of the swagger with which Roman Reigns approaches the squared circle.”
