Roman Reigns Breaks Silence Following WWE WrestleMania 40 Loss

Roman Reigns is no longer Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. The Tribal Chief was defeated by Cody Rhodes in the main event of WWE WrestleMania 40, a result that ended his reign as titleholder at a historic 1,316 days. After referee Charles Robinson counted the 1-2-3, Reigns was essentially nowhere to be seen, as WWE cameras put all the focus on Rhodes celebrating with his newly-won championship. Fan footage captured Reigns slowly retreating up the ramp, sharing an embrace with manager Paul Heyman before disappearing to the backstage area. Reigns was notably absent from WWE Monday Night Raw the following night.

Roman Reigns Teases Next Move Following WrestleMania Loss

The work begins again.

Taking to social media, Roman Reigns broke his silence following his WWE WrestleMania 40 loss. Reigns shared a silent video of himself walking on his treadmill. He began by staring solemnly down at the ground before slowly bringing his attention to the camera and sharing a sinister grin.

“Yesterday I mourned,” Reigns wrote in the caption. “Today is Day 1.”

When Will Roman Reigns Return to WWE TV?

Reigns’s immediate WWE future is unclear. Even before his WWE WrestleMania 40 loss, Reigns was not featured on any premium live event posters for WWE’s upcoming summer shows including WWE Backlash, WWE Clash at the Castle, and WWE Money in the Bank. This suggests that Reigns will be absent from WWE programming until at least WWE SummerSlam in August, but his training video indicates that he is already actively working towards his next program.

“It’s not completing the story. It’s just getting to the end of this chapter, because he’s gonna go on a whole new story now that is going to blow people’s minds,” WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque teased regarding Reigns’s next moves. “I know he’s going to take it to a whole other level. I can’t tell you how much respect I have for Roman Reigns.”

When he returns, Reigns has three natural programs waiting for him. He and new Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes now sit at one apiece, and WWE will likely complete the trilogy before long. Reigns and Seth Rollins have feuded on and off for a decade, yet Reigns has never gotten a decisive victory over him. Reigns’s inability to move past Rollins’s turn on him from 2014 is what cost him the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Then there’s Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. While Reigns and Rock operated as a cohesive unit on WWE WrestleMania 40 Night 1, both men gave each other the cold shoulder after WWE WrestleMania 40 Night 2’s main event concluded.