As Roman Reigns officially rebrands his on-screen persona to “OTC1” (Original Tribal Chief One), his cousin, WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi, has proposed a more divine moniker for the returning superstar: “God Mode.”
Speaking on a recent edition of his “Off The Top” podcast, Rikishi discussed the major impact of Reigns’ return to WWE programming. He emphasized that the positive crowd reaction is proof of Reigns’ value to the business and that his influence extends beyond just wrestling, making any “part-timer” criticism irrelevant.
“And man, Roman brings that vibe no matter how long he’s gone or absent, like they like to say, right? Because I’m sure there’s other businesses that Roman has just besides wrestling… but you can tell how happy people are. And that’s the main thing, is entertainment,” Rikishi said. “But I’ll tell you who’s really happy… TKO, WWE, and Netflix. Because at the end of the day, the numbers don’t lie.”
While WWE has rolled out official “OTC1” merchandise to mark this new chapter, Rikishi believes a different name better captures his cousin’s status. He also questioned the decision to place Reigns in a tag team match at SummerSlam, where Reigns is scheduled to team with Jey Uso against Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed.
“Do I think God Mode needs to be in a tag? No, I don’t. God Mode stands alone. That’s his new name, what I’m gonna call him. God Mode… Because he’s good for business, he’s the one that makes things happen,” Rikishi stated. “He’s the one that opens up opportunity, not only for the company but for everybody that’s on this roster during this ride of Roman Reigns’ time. Man, y’all making money and y’all should be thanking him. So for God Mode, God Mode is featured. When God walks through, he don’t walk with a posse. He can, it’d be alright, but he don’t need it in my book.”
The SummerSlam match marks Reigns’ first televised bout since WrestleMania and stems from a storyline betrayal by his former advisor, Paul Heyman, who now manages Breakker and Reed.