4 AEW stars who have publicly acknowledged the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is arguably the biggest name in the realm of wrestling right now. He has been on an upward spiral for the past few years ever since transitioning as the Tribal Chief. His reign as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion is one of the greatest in wrestling history.
Roman is the most discussed figure within the WWE Universe. Such is his popularity that AEW stars have also doffed their caps to the Head of the Table. Let's take a look at some All Elite stars who publicly acknowledged the Tribal Chief.
#1 Chris Jericho isn't surprised at Roman Reigns' success as Tribal Chief
Chris Jericho is undoubtedly one of the greatest in the craft of wrestling and has accomplished a great deal in his entire career. He was one of the wrestlers who established AEW and became its first World champion.
Moreover, Y2J also had a great run in WWE, where he had a feud with Roman Reigns as a face. During his interview on Keepin' it 100 with Konnan, Jericho said he was not surprised to see Reigns thrive in his Tribal Chief character:
"You know what Roman is? I always said this and he’s doing it now, if you just drop the f**king script and just let him be him, and that’s what he’s doing now, obviously with a heelish slant, which is great. When he eventually turns babyface he’ll be even bigger than he is now, because he’s just a cool, cool guy. And now they’re letting him do all this stuff and it doesn’t surprise me that he’s killing it, because he’s that type of performer,” [H/T Sportskeeda]
Chris Jericho approves of heel Roman Reigns pic.twitter.com/BatefSOGaF
#2 MJF pays his respects to the Tribal Chief
MJF turned out to be one of the greatest stars produced by AEW. He solidified himself as a top guy in the promotion by becoming the AEW World Champion. Moreover, The Devil showed nothing but respect when asked about the Tribal Chief while talking on Rasslin':
"I think Roman Reigns is a hell of a performer, he really is. I think he's absolutely incredible. Am I better than him on the mic and in the ring? Sure. But I'm not gonna go out of my way and talk about him because I respect him. I respect what he does. I respect the hard work that goes into putting out that product that is WWE," [H/T Sportskeeda]
I would book a major forbidden door style Wrestlemania match between the two biggest heels in professional wrestling today Roman Reigns vs. MJF #dreammatch #wwevsaew #MJF #RomanReigns #aewvswwe #betterthanyouandyouknowit #acknowledgeme #prowrestling #WrestlingCommunity #WWE #AEW pic.twitter.com/jwhof1cyCp" target="_blank" title="tweet-url" rel="noopener noreferrer">pic.twitter.com/jwhof1cyCp twitter.com/TheEnduringIco…
Furthermore, MJF once also claimed that Roman is the face of his company (WWE) while he is the face of his company (AEW). He teased joining the Stamford-based promotion someday on multiple occasions.
#3 Kenny Omega thinks Roman Reigns should be number 1
In 2021, PWI listed the top 500 wrestlers in which Kenny Omega was ranked Number 1, and The Head of the Table ended up second. However, Omega didn't quite agree with him being No.1 as he admitted on the PWI podcast there were other names including Roman, who could've been No.1:
"I don’t think I was number one by far. I think the best part about this year, especially, is you could have went in multiple directions and no one would be disappointed. I feel that, up until his unfortunate injury, number one could have been Will Ospreay. Number one could have easily been Shingo Takagi. Number one could have easily been Roman Reigns,” [H/T Sportskeeda]
Kenny Omega Vs Roman Reigns would do otherworldly numbers pic.twitter.com/vsdemoLrcm twitter.com/theenduringico…
#4 Matt Hardy claimed Roman Reigns is the wrestler of the year
Current AEW star Matt Hardy also acknowledged the Tribal Chief after enjoying his amazing work in 2022. Hardy claimed Reigns is his choice for WWE's Wrestler of the Year despite him not wrestling much while talking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast:
“I know he hasn’t wrestled a lot, but his work has been superior, has been above and beyond, and h im heading The Bloodline, turning it into a main event act, they really are the franchise of the WWE. Roman Reigns is the franchise player. He’s just the nucleus of WWE right now and he’s just done a tremendous job.” [H/T SportzWiki]
“He’s so smooth, he’s so handsome, he’s so charismatic and he really does have an amazing package.
The stuff he’s doing currently with him and The Usos, I mean I can’t put that over enough.”
- Matt Hardy on Roman Reigns
(via Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy) pic.twitter.com/NL3XlBrM0F
The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion has cemented his status as a top draw in the wrestling business and has also earned the respect of the wrestling world.