At WrestleMania earlier this year, Roman Reigns' 1,316-day reign as Undisputed WWE Champion ended when Cody Rhodes finished his story. The Head of the Table went missing after the Show of Shows, allowing Solo Sikoa to form a formidable new Bloodline comprised of himself, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Jacob Fatu.
Reigns, the "Original Tribal Chief," returned at SummerSlam as a red-hot babyface and it's clear that there are still a lot of places for this Bloodline drama to go (especially with Roman on a collision course with his family members).
Talking to Newsweek, the Wiseman, Paul Heyman, opened up on how Reigns - who now finds himself without a world title - will evolve as this storyline develops.
"Up until [SummerSlam 2024], you have never seen Roman Reigns in an extended piece of business on television and not be the champion," Heyman started. "He has been the champion this entire run. The entire Bloodline story has been with Roman Reigns as champion."
"We are now in a new era of the Bloodline story with Roman Reigns as not the champion. How does he correct that? How does he take back the name of The Tribal Chief? Who is the Head of the Table, Solo or Roman Reigns?" Heyman continued. "Jimmy is not here. Jey is not here. The Wiseman is not back yet. How does Roman Reigns deal with those on his own?"
"Is this a revenge yarn like an old spaghetti western where one man goes back, cleans up the village, and gets his revenge?" he mused. "Or it is a revenge yarn where he can't do it by himself, even if he has to? What are the twists and turns that happen then?"
Heyman is currently absent from WWE following an attack by Solo and his new Bloodline. We'd imagine he'll eventually join Reigns in a babyface role, though there's been speculation that Roman will now go it alone...which potentially means Heyman will find a new client.
A reunion with CM Punk is one possibility, though there are those eager to see him paired up with Bron Breakker too. For now, though, he seems focused on The Bloodline
"We have a long road ahead of us," Heyman added. "All I can say is, for me, how I see the trajectory of it and the many ways we can go about it, it's going to be fascinating and will hopefully put our past four years of work to shame."