A new piece of WWE merchandise inspired by Bronson Reed’s ongoing feud with Roman Reigns was briefly pulled from WWE Shop after sparking legal concerns — but the “Tribal Thief” shirt is back with a slight alteration.
The original design, which went on sale shortly after Reed stole Reigns’ shoes on television, featured the words Tribal Thief alongside a pair of Nike-style sneakers draped around the logo. However, the shirt was quickly taken down, existing orders were cancelled, and a modified version — without the shoes — was later re-released.
Appearing on the Battleground podcast, Reed confirmed that the change was due to copyright issues. “Well, it is still there. It’s still available, but it’s altered,” Reed explained. “You can still buy it, but there was some copyright infringement stuff there that they had to remove the shoes, which is fair enough. I get it.”
The former Intercontinental Champion admitted he was hoping for a compromise, suggesting WWE could have simply replaced the design with generic footwear to preserve the concept. “I personally was hoping that they’ll just put on some generic shoes,” Reed said. “You know, that’s the whole thing — I was walking around with people’s shoes around my neck. 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.”
No more shoes on Bronson Reed’s Tribal Thief shirt. WWE got that call from Nike 😂 https://t.co/38Qdb1LBR3 pic.twitter.com/myYuHxPFJO
— Sole Retriever (@SoleRetriever) August 29, 2025
The storyline between Reed and Reigns has become one of WWE’s most entertaining ongoing feuds, highlighted by Reed mocking “The Tribal Chief” and escalating tensions ahead of their upcoming Street Fight at Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia on October 11. The t-shirt incident, while minor, has only added more attention to Reed’s antics — and fans continue to rally behind the “Tribal Thief” persona as the rivalry heats up.
