Roman Reigns sealed an epic return to WWE at SummerSlam to step up to Solo Sikoa and threaten an all-out Bloodline war.
The impressive comeback for the multi-time former world champion ends an exile of sorts, having not featured on screen in WWE since his crushing WrestleMania loss to Rhodes.
Rhodes snared what was then the Undisputed Universal title from the Tribal Chief, ending an historic title reign of 1,316 days and sending Reigns packing.
That ended a red-hot storyline that, from Rhodes perspective, stretched over the better part of two years, latterly featuring The Rock as a bitter build to Mania continued.
In more recent months, the build to a Reigns return has been steadily ramped up thanks to Sikoa declaring himself the new Tribal Chief in his absence, challenging his cousin to dethrone him.
More established as a heel – wrestling term for a bad guy character on screen – during his long run as champ, the thunderous reaction Reigns received in Cleveland seemed to have firmly cemented him as a fan favourite.
Reacting on X to the incredible scenes, former WWE star Cameron Grimes summed it up perfectly, saying: “Is that an earthquake?! Nope just big Uce is back!”
Another added of the star’s return to take out Solo and cost him the title: “Roman just gave Solo a Superman [Punch] and Spear. This man is a god to these people right now.”
A third would say: “Roman Reigns is back!!!! I’d be lying if I didn’t shed a few tears of joy just now! I have missed him way too freaking much!”
Sikoa had largely dominated Rhodes during the main event of SummerSlam.
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Fending off the odd rally from the champ, Sikoa dished out the vast majority of the punishment and repeatedly badmouthed his opponent throughout, having initially taken to the ring alone to face the challenge of battling for the title.
Just as Rhodes had momentarily looked to have the challenger in jeopardy, Bloodline members Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa rushed the ring to attack Rhodes, which then drew out a returning Kevin Owens and Randy Orton to help, the duo having been seen off by the pack of wolves in previous weeks.
With that quartet distracted, Jacob Fatu then struck to attack Rhodes, leading to Reigns’ music hitting to a tremendous ovation from the crowd who chanted: ‘Holy s***!’ and ‘Thank you, Roman!’
Though not confirmed, it seems likely that Reigns, having aided Rhodes in retaining his gold at SummerSlam, will lead a revival of the original Bloodline in an attempt to claw back dominance from Sikoa and the newly assembled clan.
Elsewhere at SummerSlam, Rhea Ripley failed in her attempts to snare back the Women’s World Championship after suffering a serious shoulder injury mid-match which left fans horrified.
Logan Paul also suffered a shock defeat, losing his United States Championship to LA Knight in a chaotic match that saw rapper MGK get involved, ultimately costing pal Paul.