The Wrestling World Awaits Roman Reigns’ Return

It is a matter of when, not if.

When Roman Reigns returns to WWE–perhaps as soon as the closing moments of tomorrow’s SummerSlam–he will immediately become the single biggest fan favorite in all of professional wrestling.

“Whenever Roman comes back, that’s going to be lit,” said Jey Uso. “I can’t wait for the return of The Bloodline.”

A long-awaited vision becomes reality the moment Reigns appears back on-screen. Vince McMahon had planned for Reigns to become the face of the promotion. As a babyface, that is about to occur–and in spectacular fashion.

Nine years ago, Roman Reigns was supposed to become the face of WWE when he defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31. Yet that is the inherent problem when manufacturing an organic brand.

The fan base did not want him in that role; despite getting his hand raised from The Rock, Reigns was booed when he won the Royal Rumble. People were disappointed and upset–not the end goal for WWE–when Reigns beat Daniel Bryan at Fastlane, and there was a growing push not to have him win the belt at WrestleMania. Thankfully, Seth Rollins cashed in and won, saving WWE–and Reigns–from the indignity of getting booed as the alleged babyface at the year’s signature event.

Seven years, during a sit-down interview with Paul “Triple H” Levesque, we discussed the conundrum surrounding Reigns–where the company saw him as the next great babyface while overwhelmingly large portions of the crowd continued to boo him.

“If you believe what you believe, and you’re saying, ‘How can they not turn him heel? There is 70 percent of the crowd booing him out of the building?’ If that’s your belief, then isn’t he already the biggest heel we have?” said Levesque. “If 70 percent of that crowd is booing him, then he’s a heel. We’re just presenting him to you in a different way that makes you hate him.”

It took years, and significant pushing from Reigns after he went home near the start of the pandemic, but he eventually turned heel. Beside Paul Heyman, Reigns transformed into the most magnificent villain in all of wrestling.

Now comes the face turn.

If Reigns comes back tonight at SummerSlam, it is going to be the moment those atop WWE always wanted. He will be the number-one babyface in all of pro wrestling, leading WWE to Netflix–and beyond.