Since he vacated the Universal title last fall to take a hiatus from WWE to get treatment for leukemia, Roman Reigns has not held a championship.
A year without a belt wouldn’t be that big a deal for most Superstars, especially ones who were out four months working to put their cancer back into remission. But this is The Big Dog we’re talking about here. The man main evented four straight WrestleManias, and the perception that Vince McMahon wanted to “make Roman look strong” at every opportunity led to a massive fan backlash against the company and performer.
Combined with the leukemia revelation, some time away from WWE’s title scenes has changed many people’s attitudes about Reigns. And with SmackDown settling in on Fox, it may be time for Big Uce to start to ease his way back into contention.
He’ll start tomorrow night (Fri., Oct. 18) when he challenges Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental title.
It was set-up on Twitter with some Draft banter, and kind of got sexy?
Nakamura-san & I were eligible to be drafted together & got picked in the 3rd round by #Smackdown.
— Sami Zayn (@SamiZayn) October 17, 2019
Imagine being able to get a generation-defining performer AND the Intercontinental Champion together in one pick & still deciding to pick The Big D Roman Reigns first. Unreal. - SZ
⁉️Are we talking about same thing?
— Shinsuke Nakamura (@ShinsukeN) October 17, 2019
If the Big Dog wants to play, I ’ll allow him to come into #MyYard with #treats https://t.co/dcttC8xJE2
Nak & Sami get The Big D in Indianapolis tomorrow. Will Roman leave with a treat for the first time since last October?