Roman Reigns is reportedly off Money in the Bank 2022

Roman Reigns’ new contract with WWE calls for a lot fewer dates, particularly when it comes to house shows and smaller scale pay-per-view (PPV) events.

The undisputed WWE Universal champion already missed this month’s Hell in a Cell event. He was originally scheduled to defend the title at Money in the Bank on July 2, perhaps against Matt Riddle, but plans for the card went up in smoke when the venue for the event was changed from Allegiant Stadium to a smaller arena. In the aftermath of that decision, Reigns and several other top WWE stars were suddenly removed from the advertising for Money in the Bank.

Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso now reports that Reigns won’t be wrestling at Money in the Bank in Las Vegas:

“...the initial plan was for Reigns to wrestle at WWE’s three upcoming stadium shows against Riddle, Orton, and McIntyre. Those matches were never announced, but plans changed once Money in the Bank was moved from Allegiant Stadium to the indoor MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The expected slate of opponents for Reigns hasn’t changed, but he currently is no longer scheduled to work Money in the Bank.”

WWE television has been building to a title match between Reigns and Riddle. But Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer confirmed that Roman’s first title defense on PPV will be against Randy Orton on July 30 at SummerSlam 2022:

July 30th is his first pay-per-view championship match. He may do a television match before then. If he wrestles Riddle, it’ll be on TV, it won’t be on pay-per-view. At least that’s the plan right now. The plan is still Orton for July 30th.

Meltzer added that the Reigns vs. Riddle match isn’t a lock to happen:

I was told it will not be a pay-per-view match if they do it. And it’s not 100 percent that they will.

Part-timer Reigns became the undisputed WWE Universal champion on April 3 and has yet to defend the gold on TV or PPV since that date.