WWE announces Roman Reigns’ long-awaited SmackDown return en route to next year’s Royal Rumble

Putting his vacation on the back-burner, The Tribal Chief is set to run errands shortly on the blue brand.

WWE announces Roman Reigns’ long-awaited SmackDown return en route to next year’s Royal Rumble

Roman Reigns [via- WWE]

Usually, December is an off-season for WWE. However, with the recent exploits of CM Punk and Randy Orton returning, the company seems hellbent on closing the year on a high. To add to the cause, they’ve now confirmed Roman Reigns‘ upcoming television appearances as well. Having said that, The Tribal Chief will mark his return in just a couple of weeks.

Reigns is currently advertised to appear on three different occasions before the Royal Rumble. The dates include the December 15th SmackDown edition in Green Bay. It’s believed to be a double taping, as WWE might not air a live episode of SmackDown that close to Christmas on December 22nd. It could mean Reigns may have to pull double duty in Wisconsin.

YouTube video

FS Video

Apart from that, The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion will travel to Canada for the New Year’s edition of SmackDown at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Last but not least, Roman will appear on January 19th SmackDown, emanating from the State Farms Arena in Atlanta. It could be his last appearance before a rumored title defense at the Royal Rumble.

Reigns last appeared on WWE television at Crown Jewel. At the namesake event, he successfully retained his title against LA Knight. For some reason, 2022 has been an interesting year for The Head of the Table. He only competed in five televised matches in the said period.

And by the looks of it, the number is going to stay the same. The WWE Universe would hope to get more of Roman Reigns in 2024. At least, the start seems promising, with The Tribal Chief lined up to score a brace of appearances in January if not more.

Who could Roman Reigns target upon his SmackDown return?

Closing in on 1200 days as the World Champion, Roman Reigns might have someone waiting for him on SmackDown. On this week’s Raw, 14-time World Champion Randy Orton affirmed that he’s got a receipt ready for every Bloodline member.

Roman Reigns and Randy Orton
Roman Reigns and Randy Orton [via- Wrestle Ops on X]

Whether he likes it or not, The Tribal Chief has caught The Viper’s ire. Also, made official by WWE, Randy Orton will appear on tomorrow’s SmackDown in Brooklyn. He would probably have to weather the initial storm in the form of Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso.

After only keeping The Island of Relevancy’s gatekeepers at bay, Randy could hope to get to the final boss. If not this week, The Apex Predator would come face-to-face to Roman Reigns in Wisconsin. The upcoming weeks on SmackDown are going to be must-see.

In case you missed it: