Roman Reigns is back in WWE and is in incredible shape following his first in-ring outing for months at Bad Blood.
Prior to Saturday’s chaotic event, Reigns hadn’t competed in the ring since the memorable ending to WrestleMania XL back in April.
The Return of Roman Reigns to the ring came in Saturday’s Bad Blood main eventWWE
Having teamed with The Rock to defeat Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a tag team match on the first night of the spectacle, Reigns fell to Rhodes on the second night and lost his Undisputed Universal WWE Championship.
His run with the goal stretched to more than 1,300 days, WWE citing it as the fourth longest in history, leaving many to question what would come next when Reigns took an extended leave of absence.
The multi-time former world champion effectively vanished after WrestleMania, but resurfaced in early August at SummerSlam to confront his former protégé and family member Solo Sikoa, who’d taken on the position as de facto leader of the Bloodline in his absence.
Reigns and the ‘new’ Bloodline have been feuding ever since, making unlikely allies in the form of the Tribal Chief and Rhodes, who collaborated at Bad Blood in the tag team main event.
Six months on from their titanic Mania tussle, they paired up to meet Jacob Fatu and Siko, eventually coming out on top in a blistering affair, the aftermath of which saw the returns of Jimmy Uso and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
Uso, who’d bitterly opposed his cousin in the lead up to WrestleMania, ended his own six-month exile from WWE to give aid to Reigns in overcoming Sikoa, his brother, leaving the pair of them in an emotional post-match embrace.
That soon left the stage clear for the emergence of The Rock, who loomed large in the entrance way, staring down Reigns in the ring and giving a heavy hint that he himself had returned to sort out the ‘b******* that had gone on since last appearance – also at WrestleMania.
Reigns himself appeared fairly nonplussed by the megastar’s arrival. Having picked up a win in his first match back on Saturday, he launched into the new week with a vow on social media.
Posting a picture of himself seemingly taken backstage at the WWE event, he fills the frame with his shredded physique, Reigns having for a long time been renowned for his incredible conditioning and endurance.
Sitting alongside the chiselled image of the 39-year-old were the words: “We’re just getting started,” a forward nod to what appears to be an inevitable collision with The Rock at November’s Survivor Series.
WWEJimmy Uso and Reigns were reunited at the end of Bad Blood[/caption]
Roman Reigns was in incredible shape after his first WWE match in over half a yearX/Romanreigns
In response to the photo, many fans ‘acknowledged’ the star in recognition of his trademark demand, while another joked: “Put a shirt on man, nobody wants to see this.”
Another simply said: “Shredded,” while a further user added: “Who’s waiting for The Rock Vs Roman Match??”
The convergence of so many top stars to the ring heading into Survivor Series is adding to WWE’s considerable momentum.
2024 so far has seen Rock’s double return, packed shows across North America, Europe and beyond, and the announcement of a $5bn switch to Netlfix come the New Year.
