On The Battleground podcast, Bronson Reed addressed the story behind his popular “Tribal Thief” t-shirt and explained why the original design was altered shortly after its release on WWE Shop.
The nickname “The Tribal Thief” was given to Reed by Paul Heyman and was accompanied by a t-shirt that featured Reed’s logo with a pair of shoes hanging from it, a reference to his on-screen gimmick of stealing his opponents’ footwear. The shirt was a hit with fans, but the design was quickly changed.
Reed confirmed that the change was due to a copyright issue. “It is still there, still available, but it’s altered,” he explained. “There was some copyright infringement stuff there that they had to remove the shoes, which is fair enough, I get it”.
The new version of the shirt on WWE Shop features only the “Tribal Thief” logo, without the signature shoes. Reed said he was personally hoping for a different solution. “I personally was hoping that they’ll just put on some generic shoes,” he said. “That’s the whole thing was, I was walking around with people’s shoes around my neck, but they just decided to keep it as the Tribal Thief logo. So if I have my way, I’ll make sure that the shirt hopefully can come back out with the shoes on it”.
During the interview, Reed also discussed his enjoyment of being a “bad influence” on a younger generation of fans who have embraced his character and his “Tsunami” finishing move.
“I’m happy to be a bad influence,” he said. “I’ve had it a lot in the last year or so, where I get people telling me their kids are jumping off of their couches and landing on them and start hitting a tsunami… It makes me happy to know that kids are jumping on their parents”.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Battleground podcast with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
