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WWE Draft 2016: The Roman Reigns Problem

By Carl Gac

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Taking a look at the problems for the WWE Draft, after Roman Reigns’ Wellness Policy violation.

June 19, 2016. Money in the Bank pay-per-view.

Dean Ambrose wins the Money in the Bank match, then cashes in and pins Seth Rollins to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Moments earlier Rollins had pinned Roman Reigns to become a two time WWE Champion. In the space of around 5 minutes all three former Shield members have held the biggest title the WWE has to offer.

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June 20, 2016. Monday Night Raw.

Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns face each other in a match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship. The match ends in a double count out, but both men end up gaining a title match with Ambrose at Battleground in July.

June 21, 2016.

WWE posts this on twitter:

Yes that’s right. WWE has suspended one of their most important men on the card, for his first violation of the Wellness Policy. Whether WWE knew about the violation before Reigns lost his title, or whether he lost his title because of it, is still unclear. One thing that is clear is that the whole episode must have thrown a massive spanner in the works for the WWE.

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On this past week’s episode of Raw, with many fans wondering how the whole saga would be explained, Seth Rollins basically stood in the ring and told the truth. Not many people would have expected that.

In around three weeks time we will see the return of the brand extension and the WWE Draft, which will see the men and women on the WWE roster split between Raw and SmackDown and in essence be competing brands again. The Draft will take place on the July 19 episode of the newly live SmackDown, but what happens to Roman Reigns?

Reigns’ 30 days are up on July 21, only three days before the aforementioned triple threat match for Ambrose’s WWE Championship. Reigns will still be suspended when the draft takes place. How do you place Reigns on one brand or the other, when he technically not meant to be part of the show?

With Reigns being such a big deal for the WWE, regardless of what fans think of him he’s nothing less than a main eventer, he simply has to be involved in some way on the Draft. But if he is included does that not simply make a mockery of the entire Wellness Programme? Is there a way of still having Reigns be part of the title match at Battleground, but not actually be assigned to either Raw or SmackDown? I’m here to tell you yes.

Reigns lost the title to Rollins, but then saw Rollins immediately lose the title to Ambrose. Both challengers technically have the right to a rematch, but it’s Reigns that needs to win the belt back at Battleground. If only days earlier Rollins has been drafted to one brand, and Ambrose to another then we have the unique situation where we don’t know where the title will end up following Battleground.

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Reigns makes his big return at the PPV, wins the title but was never drafted to either Raw or SmackDown. He leaves the arena with the belt in his hands, as Michael Cole tells us we have no idea where the champion will turn up. With the companies biggest title being held by a man who is apparently not affiliated with either of the newly drafted brands, we end up with a situation where  the General Managers of both shows, whoever they end up being, are fighting to sign up the Champion to their show.

One massive thing that needs to happen with the returning Reigns, is he has to return as a fully fledged heel. When Ambrose stood in the ring on Raw the night after MITB, Reigns congratulated his “brother”. In this match at Battleground he needs to destroy Ambrose as well as Rollins, totally taking out his frustrations on both of his former Shield buddies.

The crowd will boo Reigns regardless of his actions, so why not actually give them reason to do that, other than the fact he’s the chosen one. With Reigns holding the belt, and having nowhere to call home, he can play both shows off against each other. Turning up on both Raw and SmackDown and destroying Rollins and Ambrose for a couple of weeks, will draw the ire of the fans even more.

WWE can use a massively negative situation and turn it to their advantage on a monumental scale. One day they want the fans to actually cheer Reigns as the WWE Champion, until he has a really successful heel run as Champion that is never going to happen. Use the lessons of the past to make a great future for the WWE and it’s main title for the current generation.

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