Roman Reigns was written off TV at the WWE Royal Rumble and the reason for his absence has been revealed.
The Royal Rumble did not go the way that Reigns had intended. Entering the match for the first time in 5 years, the OTC hoped to emerge victorious 10 years on from his previous victory.
Unfortunately for Reigns, his night did not go according to plan as he was dumped out of the ring by CM Punk while attempting to eliminate Seth Rollins. With Punk eliminated shortly after, tensions boiled over between all 3. Following a brawl between Reigns, Punk and Rollins at ringside, order was briefly restored before Rollins delivered a stomp onto Reigns on the steel steps. On the next episode of Raw, Michael Cole provided the update that Roman Reigns would be out of action for the foreseeable future.
As reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the angle was done to write Reigns off TV so he would not factor into the Elimination Chamber match as he is not scheduled to win:
“They did a storyline injury angle with Rollins curb stomping Reigns on the steps and they announced Reigns would be out of action indefinitely. This was to keep Reigns out of the Chamber since he wasn’t winning it anyway and thus would have to be pinned, and WWE never has its top faces (Rhodes or Reigns) lose via pin unless there is a major storyline reason directly stemming from the pin to do so.”
What’s Planned For Roman Reigns At WrestleMania 41?
Although Reigns will miss Elimination Chamber, The Head of the Table will be a part of Elimination Chamber in Las Vegas in April. According to a previous report, Reigns is set to be part of a huge match at WrestleMania 41.