WWE has dealt with a part-time Tribal Chief for nearly two years now. Following his victory at WWE WrestleMania 38 against Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns left his full-time WWE schedule in the rear view. Now holding two world championships, Reigns began to only wrestle at the biggest WWE premium live events, meaning B-shows like WWE Backlash and WWE Fastlane did not host an Undisputed WWE Universal Title match. Beyond that, Reigns would only appear on WWE TV for the episodes of WWE SmackDown that built towards the big events. This meant that after successful defenses at WWE SummerSlam and WWE Crown Jewel, Reigns went away.
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Roman Reigns Returns to WWE SmackDown on December 15th
Acknowledgment time returns in two weeks.
WWE announced three new WWE SmackDown dates for Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns: December 15th, January 5th, and January 19th. The first of the three is seemingly set to be Reigns’s final WWE televised appearance of 2023.
Reigns is expected to defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WWE Royal Rumble on January 27th, 2024. Looking towards fresh opponents, the only two main-event talent left for Reigns to face on this run are AJ Styles and Randy Orton. Seeds for either feud have already been planted. Styles was written off of television with a storyline injury after being attacked by The Bloodline, and the kayfabe reason for Orton’s legitimate back injury was an assault at the hands of Reigns’s stablemates.
Reigns has not competed since WWE Crown Jewel, where he retained his title against LA Knight. He has wrestled just 11 matches total in 2023, four of which were at non-televised live events. All of Reigns’s on-camera bouts have come on premium live events. Barring any unforeseen additions to his wrestling schedule, Reigns will end 2023 with just nine defenses of the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
WWE SmackDown returns to television this Friday, December 1st, airing at 8 PM ET on FOX.
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Via WWE and @megastarvibez
