Written by Jesse Singer
Roman Reigns made a tremendous return to WWE at SummerSlam in Cleveland, Ohio. Reigns strategically interfered during the Undisputed WWE Championship match between Cody Rhodes and Solo Sikoa. As Rhodes and Sikoa lay helpless in the ring, the Titantron lit up with “HEAD OF THE TABLE” and Reigns’ latest orchestral theme blasted. Reigns was immediately met with huge applause from the crowd in Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Within seconds of entering the ring, Reigns hit Sikoa with a powerful Superman punch. The crowd roared with him as he set Sikoa up for a vicious spear. To many fans’ shock, though, Reigns left Rhodes unscathed, allowing him to get the win over Sikoa. Despite Reigns’ hatred towards Rhodes for ending his historic streak as champion at ‘Mania, they both have a common enemy as of now.
If you noticed Reigns’ new graphic tee at SummerSlam, you may have wondered what the letters “OTC” stand for. Fans quickly theorized that it’s an acronym meaning “Original Tribal Chief.” This is a poke at Sikoa who has been claiming he’s the Tribal Chief ever since Reigns lost his championship to Rhodes at WrestleMania XL. In the words of Sikoa, “losing has consequences,” and apparently those consequences mean that in Reigns’ four-month absence, Sikoa would cosplay as The Tribal Chief and create a cheap, off-brand version of The Bloodline.
Reigns’ attack on Sikoa is likely leading to them finally having a one-on-one match. Neither one of them currently holds the Undisputed WWE Championship, so this would be a match purely for bragging rights and to crown the true Tribal Chief of The Bloodline. If you’ve been following The Bloodline story for a while, you may remember that at some point fans were chanting Solo’s name during The Bloodline segments on Friday Night Smackdown and were rooting for him to turn face. There was potential for a Reigns and Sikoa championship match months ago, but unfortunately for the fans, it never came to fruition.
Now that it seems Reigns is turning baby face, I just don’t think Sikoa is a strong enough heel for them to have a meaningful singles match. There would probably be multiple Bloodline interferences, as it has become quite common, and honestly, I think wrestling fans are getting a bit sick of it.
I believe WWE’s bigger plan is to have a giant brawl between the original and the new Bloodline. This could be a WarGames match similar to the one at Survivor Series 2022. The main issue though is that Reigns has basically cut ties with his cousins The Usos and he would need someone to fill Solo’s spot. Reigns’ character would need a huge change for the Usos to forgive him and rejoin The Bloodline. Sami Zayn could also join back with The Bloodline as he was once the “Honorary Uce.” That would still leave one spot open for a fifth WarGames member. Maybe we see The Rock return to help his cousins. The new Bloodline team would consist of Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, Jacob Fatu and likely a fifth Samoan (or Tongan) member.
As it pertains to Cody Rhodes, I don’t think the fans are ever going to get a Reigns versus Rhodes trilogy. If this were to ever happen it would probably not be for years down the line. Is it possible though that we see Cody Rhodes team up with the Bloodline after all the hell they have put him through? With Reigns as a baby face, it could certainly be possible. Heck, anything is possible in WWE nowadays!
I don’t mind seeing Reigns and Rhodes teaming up together, as long as they don’t have a match for the tag-team championships. Now that would just be downright terrible.
It feels very strange to witness Roman Reigns without a championship since winning the Universal Championship back in 2020 and holding the championship for a historic 1,316 days. However, if WWE decides to put another championship around his waist that just might be the wrong move. I don’t think they plan on going this route but you never know.
A match that fans may be more open-minded to witnessing now could be Reigns versus The Rock. A baby face Reigns and a heel Rock could be a five-star match. WWE had planned to have Reigns versus The Rock for WrestleMania XL but it quickly backfired as fans demanded Cody challenge Reigns for the championship instead. Now that Reigns is no longer champion, I don’t see why fans would not want to see him challenge his cousin The Rock at next year’s WrestleMania. It doesn’t look like Reigns is trying to retire just yet, he still has quite a few years of wrestling in him. Either way, we might as well get to see him wrestle The Final Boss with no championship involved.
