SummerSlam 2023 has come and gone, yet I still can't get a bad taste out of my mouth. Triple H had plenty of reasons behind why certain talent was left off the card, but little to say about Roman Reigns' latest title defense. I'll be candid, it was a low point in this otherwise historic run in modern wrestling for him, and it's giving me pause about how much longer I want to see this story go.
It feels like the WWE is scraping the bottom of the barrel with what's left of this Bloodline storyline. I once had high hopes that this would be an exciting chapter in his run, and now it's slowly turning into what might be the worst part we've seen. We'll dive in below and talk out why I'm certainly less eager to see Roman Reigns at upcoming WWE events.
Jimmy Uso's Betrayal Didn't Make Sense
I might as well start with the elephant in the room, which is what really soured a lot of viewers on the match. Jey Uso had Roman Reigns on the ropes, but a hooded figure pulled him out of the ring before he could seal a victory. The hood came off and it was Jimmy Uso. Jimmy gave his brother a superkick, dumped him back in the ring and walked off. Even Roman was confused by this twist, and I don't blame him because it made zero sense.
The bar for pro wrestling storytelling can be low. Classic tropes where a wrestler's greatest ally inexplicably betrayed them are not new, but seeing the WWE go this route is surprising. Jimmy had no incentive to ruin his brother's chances of winning, especially after the injuries he sustained weeks prior by Reigns.
I would accept this kind of swerve from a mid-carder feud and maybe even the tag-team titles, but this is the biggest arc in the WWE. The Bloodline storylines are taking up, at times, 50% of SmackDown's runtime, and this is the best the writing team could come up with? There were better ways to set up a Jimmy and Jey feud, and it's disappointing that with all the manpower seemingly put into crafting this storyline, this was the idea that made the cut.
The Match Was The Same Cookie-Cutter Formula As Every Title Defense For The Past Year
Stop me if you've heard this one before. After a strong first half of the match, Roman Reigns slowly got overwhelmed by the challenger. There was a back and forth, and despite attempts by Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman to interfere, the challenger was gaining steam. Finally, he landed a massive blow on Reigns, and he was out for the count. The win was all but assured for the challenger, but somehow the ref wasn't looking conscious or the challenger was pulled out of the ring. Reigns regained his senses and won.
If it sounds familiar, it's because it's been the formula of every title defense as far back as Clash At The Castle in 2022. Roman Reigns hasn't had a completely clean title defense in quite some time, which was what made the Tribal Rules stipulation so exciting. This would be a chance to show that the Tribal Chief was still the top dog and could win on his own. Yet despite that, it played out like literally every match we've seen over the past year.
If the idea is that Roman Reigns cannot always win without the support of The Bloodline, the message was received a long time ago. It's now getting to a point where the WWE is firmly establishing Roman Reigns cannot win unless someone interferes, giving him a chance to recover and finish the match. Is that really how the WWE wants its longest-reigning modern champion remembered? I don't mind a few dirty wins here and there, but once he drops these titles, it will be hard in Kayfabe to understand how Reigns will pick up a single victory without a posse behind him.
Realistically, Jey Uso was the easiest way to give Roman Reigns a clean victory that had minimal consequences for either talent. Jey isn't viewed or presented as a main event talent in the singles division, despite all his accolades as a tag-team champion. I can buy he'd put up a good fight, but just like Reigns' match with Logan Paul, the audience went in assuming Reigns would win somewhat easily. This victory made Reigns look as weak as he has ever been, and that's one of the major reasons I see it as a low point in his title reign.
Roman Reigns Is Reportedly Hurt And Looks More Vulnerable Than Ever
News is circulating via Fightful Select that Roman Reigns was reportedly injured during the SummerSlam match, though we haven't heard official confirmation about this from anyone within the WWE. In the worst-case scenario that Roman Reigns is unable to compete for a time, he may be unavailable for major pay-per-views like Survivor Series, and perhaps even more than that.
If Roman Reigns is unavailable to compete for months, and I should stress we don't know if that's the case, he's going to look as vulnerable as he ever was. When he does return, it'll be as a champion who barely won against a member of his own faction he should've read like a book. It'll make it easier from a storytelling perspective to sell if the WWE is planning for him to lose at WrestleMania 40, but be worse if the plan is that he'll remain champion.
It's hard to say which way the WWE will go with Roman Reigns' title reign. As the longest-reigning modern champion in decades, it's possible they want to look back on the 40th Mania as a moment he stood tall. At the same time, one of the most memorable moments of WrestleMania 30 is Brock Lesnar defeating The Undertaker's famous streak. That win skyrocketed Lesnar's career into legend status and led to a decade of dominance in the WWE. Will the same happen to whoever beats Reigns?
If the latter is true, then you want a challenger to beat Roman Reigns at his absolute best. He currently looks incredibly vulnerable, but there's still time to rectify that before WrestleMania 40. Ultimately it'll be on the WWE to try and work its magic, and given how invested they are in this run, I'm sure writers are brainstorming as we speak.
Roman Reigns' title defense at SummerSlam 2023 is available to watch with a Peacock Premium subscription. Of course, viewers can also watch him on SmackDown, which airs on Fox on Fridays starting at 8:00 p.m. ET.
