Few WWE superstars command such draw and attention that they’re given special contracts that they only ever compete at a Premium Live Event and appear in the shows leading up to them. Throughout history, the names that first come to mind that get this treatment are The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. In recent years, however, Roman Reigns has thrown himself into the same conversation, much to the chagrin of fans who’d like to see him defend his title more.
Most recently, Roman Reigns took a short break after winning against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39. Since then, Reigns has made regular appearances albeit very few matches where he’s competed, unlike Seth Rollins, who criticized his former stablemate for not defending the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship belt more often.
With Reigns putting his position as The Head of the Table and the aforementioned title belt on the line at SummerSlam on August 5, it appears fans are going to have to make do with this appearance for a little while.
According to Xero news, WWE’s upcoming PLE events are as follows:
- Payback – September 2
- Fastlane – October 7
- Crown Jewel – November 4
- Survivor Series – November 25
The same source claims that Roman Reigns isn’t advertised for either event, especially Payback. This suggests that Reigns is planning to take a sabbatical, at least from wrestling, until Crown Jewel on November 4, which he’s expected to headline once again.
Unfortunately, this leak serves as a spoiler for what’s going to happen at the Ford Field next Saturday.
Unless this leaked WWE PLE schedule isn’t real, Roman Reigns’ match at Crown Jewel won’t make as much sense unless he won against Jey Uso. Not to mention, what of Cody Rhodes? If Jey pins Reigns at SummerSlam, what happens to his story? Will it forever remain uncompleted? Or, is he going to move on and face whoever will hold the title belts next?
Of course, we can’t discount the possibility that Reigns might still lose at SummerSlam and not drop his belts because of a technicality.
Then again, it’s easier to imagine a scenario where The Rock, as per the earlier rumors, helps out Reigns only for the Great One to turn on his cousin after the match.
Given that The Rock was rumored to appear in the WWE late last year and in the lead-up to and at WrestleMania 39, this could be one of the few positives to come out of the current ongoing strike by SAG-AFTRA.
Ultimately, only the WWE and Triple H know what their plans are for Roman Reigns at SummerSlam and beyond. At this point, fans are so invested in The Bloodline storyline that they’ll go ahead and tune in to every episode of Friday Night SmackDown just to find out if the internal strife among family members has been resolved yet or not.
But, if Reigns does take a break, we’re curious to see how the WWE will leave The Head of the Table-sized hole left by his absence for at least a month.
