This is Paul Heyman's INCREDIBLE explanation of how the Roman Reigns 'Tribal Chief' character was created, including the movie that he told Roman to watch for inspiration: "The character of Roman Reigns as the Tribal Chief, by way of example, is inspired by Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now. When we first started talking about the presentation of the Tribal Chief, I had Roman Reigns watch Apocalypse Now multiple times, because to me, that was the heart and soul of the character of the Tribal Chief - a warrior so great that he conquered his own island. We call it the Island of Relevancy. "Someone who now, all the natives, which is the WWE Universe, all the fans, all the performers on the roster, look to for guidance because he's the top star. In Apocalypse Now, Brando presented himself as a pseudo God. We call it a Tribal Chief. "And then, as everyone relies on Kurtz, Brando in Apocalypse Now, on this island for guidance, for wisdom, for substance, for food, for shelter, ‘you will lead us to the promised land, to the Island of Relevancy' - he feels the burden of the responsibility, of the obligation, of the accountability, to be the leader of all these people. And he resents them so much that when Martin Sheen kills them and opens up the book, Kurtz had written 'drop the bomb, kill them all'. "Because he resented those that looked to him for the guidance that he wanted to give them in the beginning and then that obligation became too much for him to bear. And that's where they villainry of Roman Reigns comes in, because he sits there and he says 'acknowledge me as your Tribal Chief', and once you acknowledge him, he just looks at you and says "someone else I’m responsible for'." (2024 Barrett Sports Media Summit)
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