At this year's WrestleMania, Cody Rhodes finally dethroned Roman Reigns to become Undisputed WWE Champion. We haven't seen the Head of the Table since, leading to Solo Sikoa taking over The Bloodline and naming himself "Tribal Chief."
SummerSlam was headlined by Rhodes battling Sikoa in a "Bloodline Rules" match and, in the closing moments, Reigns made his shocking WWE return to Superman Punch and Spear Solo.
It was an obvious babyface turn which set the stage for Reigns to finally become the beloved good guy WWE hoped he'd be a decade ago.
Talking at the SummerSlam post-show press conference, the American Nightmare broke his silence on the return of WWE's "Original Tribal Chief."
"I don’t want to fill the room with positive platitudes and hot air about the real ‘Tribal Chief’ Roman Reigns returning. But without a doubt, that probably would have gone a different way; I probably wouldn’t be sitting here with the North Star of the industry had it not been for Roman Reigns. So he’s certainly...I’ve got quite a list of people who I owe one. I might owe him more than one."
"Again, no love loss. That’s as much a shoot as it gets. There’s a unique relationship, I suppose. I haven’t seen or spoken to him since WrestleMania. I think the WWE fans, wrestling fans, the WWE Universe, they wanted him, and SummerSlam delivered and gave him, and that I’m always very happy about."
As for whether a rematch could happen, Rhodes chose his words carefully. Many fans are hoping he and Reigns will become a new version of the Mega Powers, teaming up to do battle with Solo's Bloodline (who, we're pretty sure, are reporting to The Rock).
"I don’t know. Roman Reigns is entitled to not just a rematch. I mean, Roman Reigns held this title for so long that match it has to happen, and it’s one of those where, to a degree, it’s rather, you know, you’re not supposed to say this when you’re a babyface, but it’s rather scary the idea I’ve been in there twice with them, and brother hits hard. So the idea of that is there to do."
"I don’t know if anyone saw, but I was tapping the title like this because I know there’s a third one somewhere down the line. I know I’m not his friend, and he didn’t do that for me. He did that because of what’s happened with The Bloodline and Solo I think that’s something to stay tuned for probably on Smackdown in a sense of what happens with The Bloodline. The Bloodline has been the anchor of WWE for some time."
You can watch the full SummerSlam post-show press conference in the video below.