Roman Reigns was not present on this past episode of Monday Night Raw. He was included in the preview article of WWE Raw on the official website teasing that he might be attending the show to continue the Intercontinental Championship open challenge. But, making the speculations right, he did not show up.
The hint was there since WWE.com did not enlist the franchise player at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. Even the venue itself did not advertise him to sell the tickets giving a clear indication of it. But, since he is the prime star on the show, his absence certainly needs an explanation.
We have not received any address from the company regarding this absence, till date. In the meantime, some of the reports surfaced on the internet suggests that Roman Reigns will miss multiple shows in the upcoming weekend. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave an update about The Big Dog missing the live events hosted by the WWE Raw brand.
It forced the WWE creative team to shuffle the matches to a big extent. Roman Reigns was being advertised in most of the main event contests which will get rescheduled, for sure. It is to be noted that another trust-worthy superstar, Dean Ambrose will also miss a lot of actions due to an elbow injury. So, this is going to create a major headache for the officials.
Previous live events were supposed to see matches that would feature The Shield trio to headline numerous shows. Later, With Roman’s absence, it was changed to Braun Strowman vs Samoa Joe and The Shield (Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins) vs The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro). Now, with Ambrose being out of action, as well, it is likely that more alterations will happen on the match card.
For now, Roman Reigns is being advertised to come back on the Christmas edition of Monday Night Raw. He is also expected to appear at the Madison Square Garden show on the very next night. We are supposed to see a rematch between him and John Cena on that night to headline the show, whereas, the IC title open challenge will continue on Raw.