What’s Next For Roman Reigns After His Long-Awaited WWE Return?

At SummerSlam 2024, the jaws of WWE fans dropped as they witnessed the return of ‘The Tribal Chief’ Roman Reigns. Reigns hadn’t been seen since WrestleMania 40 when he lost the Undisputed WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes.

Roman returned during the main event of SummerSlam, where Cody was defending his title against the former Enforcer turned Tribal Chief Solo Sikoa. Instead of attacking the man who took his title, Reigns turned his attention to his cousin and hit him with a Superman punch followed by a spear, letting the world know that there was only one true Tribal Chief. With this long-awaited return finally happening, there is speculation as to what will happen next for Roman Reigns.

One-on-One Against Solo Sikoa

The first path the WWE will likely take following this major return is to have Roman Reigns face off against Solo Sikoa to determine who the real Head of the Table is. Reigns has come back to the company with a new tagline, OTC, which stands for Original Tribal Chief. In recent weeks, Solo has shown heavy disrespect towards Reigns, and will likely pay for it in a one-on-one match.

This match could very well happen at Bad Blood 2024, given the nature of the Premium Live Event. It would likely see interference from the new Bloodline that Solo has built in recent months, which includes the likes of Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa. That means there might be chances of a reunion with the original Bloodline, which featured Roman Reigns and The Usos.

Reuniting With The Usos

This new babyface run for Roman Reigns will likely lead to him reuniting with both Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso. Jimmy Uso had been by Roman’s side heading into WrestleMania 40 and was kicked out of The Bloodline by Solo Sikoa on the Smackdown after WrestleMania, and he hasn’t been seen since. Given that he and Reigns were on the same side before both their departures, it makes perfect sense for Jimmy to return to help his cousin fight off this new faction.

As for Jey Uso, he left The Bloodline in the summer of 2023 as he was officially tired of being manipulated by Roman Reigns for years. This resulted in the two facing off at SummerSlam 2023, which ended in Reigns retaining his championship. After this match, Jey Uso has been anti-Reigns and anti-Bloodline and even faced off against Jimmy at WrestleMania 40 in a match where he was victorious. This means that it will take much more convincing to get the superstar to rejoin The Bloodline, though it does seem inevitable.

Bloodline vs Bloodline

If the original Bloodline reunites, it will likely lead to a Bloodline versus Bloodline WarGames match at Survivor Series 2024. This will also probably see Sami Zayn rejoin his former faction members, as he was a key member of The Bloodline until he left the group at Royal Rumble 2023 after he realized by was being manipulated by Roman Reigns. He has maintained a friendship with Jey Uso on Raw, so it seems probable that if one of them helps Reigns, the other will join them.

Survivor Series: WarGames will be hosted in Vancouver this year, and it will be the third straight WarGames-themed Survivor Series event. There has been speculation on names such as Hikuleo and Zilla Fatu possibly debuting soon, so they could be added to this match. This show could also see the return of none other than The Rock.

Roman Reigns vs. The Rock At WrestleMania 41?

The Rock could likely either team up with the new Bloodline at Survivor Series or make his highly-anticipated return after the match, attacking Roman Reigns to set up a WrestleMania 41 match. This is certainly the direction that the WWE is headed, and considering that The Rock has cleared his schedule for the foreseeable future, this return seems to be coming very soon.

It was originally the main-event match scheduled for WrestleMania 40, but plans were quickly changed after fans made it clear that wanted Cody Rhodes to win the Undisputed WWE Championship. The two were supposed to face off at this year’s Mania to determine who the real Tribal Chief was, which they will likely do next year considering the storyline that has been built ever since The Rock’s original return.

Final Thoughts

This Roman Reigns babyface one will be the first since WrestleMania 37, though this time there will be many more fans behind his side. It seems clear that the story that has been built up for the past year will lead to a clash at WrestleMania 41, which will see the two biggest names in the Anoa’i Family take each other on for the first time.