As you know, Roman Reigns has been on quite the run ever since his return this past February. He has basically had a redemption of sorts and we're about six months into his return and he's yet to get booed the way he used to.
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This is understandable because Reigns has shown some edge to his babyface character and the fact that he isn't competing for world titles at all certainly makes him a lot more likeable in the eyes of fans.
While he deservedly should get back to the title picture in a matter of months, WWE realizes that they've got something incredible going on with him. Despite this, WWE's most popular full-time superstar doesn't have a match on the SummerSlam card - and this is accounting for all the rumours of the different matches he's been scheduled for. Here are a few reasons why Roman Reigns is absent from the WWE SummerSlam 2019 card.
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#5 Much bigger post-SummerSlam plans
Roman Reigns' current storyline is the one that WWE is putting the most effort into. The story has been great because it's a genuinely interesting and refreshing one, even if the entire "mystery attacker" angle has been done time and again.
Moreover, it portrays Roman Reigns in a really good light and he looked incredible coming out of SmackDown when he beat out the information from former Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy.
It seems as though Murphy isn't just going to be a one-off in the story and he could very well be involved in the future in some capacity as well. Ultimately, the goal seems to be a Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan feud and we're completely on board with that. It's just that it'll happen post-Summer.
#4 They're probably going to have another angle during the show
Given that they've been putting so much emphasis on the angle and Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe nor anyone else involved is on the card - it's almost a guarantee that we're going to have another angle of sorts during SummerSlam.
SummerSlam, as you know, has been increasing in length and runtime over the past four years and we're probably set for a five-hour main card, if not more. Given that there are going to be so many matches, there will be a place for them to run the angle on the show.
It's going to be extremely interesting to see how they go about running the angle and whether or not we'll see the likes of Daniel Bryan and Rowan will be involved in any capacity. It's an angle that we believe WWE fans should genuinely be excited about.
#3 The SummerSlam card is stacked in itself
On paper, this year's SummerSlam card itself is packed and stacked at the same time - and this is despite missing many stars on the card and matches that were rumoured being cancelled. Just to put it in perspective, here are some of the marquee matches for SummerSlam this year:
Seth Rollins vs Brock Lesnar - Universal Championship
Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton - WWE Championship
AJ Styles vs Ricochet - United States Championship
Becky Lynch vs Natalya - RAW Women's Championship
Charlotte Flair vs Trish Stratus
Dolph Ziggler vs Goldberg
These are just a few of the ten matches added to the card and it's obvious that there are likely going to be a couple of more matches added to the pre-show - probably including the Intercontinental and Tag Team titles as well.
Given that there are this many matches, it probably didn't make sense for WWE to stuff the card more than it needs to be.
#2 They didn't have enough time to tell the story they wanted to
Perhaps the biggest handicap that WWE did with their scheduling this summer is the fact that they had less than a month between Extreme Rules and WWE SummerSlam 2019. Given that it was only a few weeks apart, WWE really wasn't able to play out storylines as they usually do for the summer.
Even the Roman Reigns angle, for example, happened only a couple of weeks out before SummerSlam. WWE knows that it wouldn't be wise to rush the story and have a Reigns vs Bryan or Reigns vs Buddy Murphy match right away.
While Roman Reigns would obviously add to the starpower of the card, the reality is that the timing wasn't right for them to pull the trigger on a match. Most likely, they felt they can give it the shine and spotlight it deserves after the biggest party of the summer is over.
#1 The Samoa Joe face turn
Speaking from a personal perspective, we must admit that the Samoa Joe face turn is one of the more exciting things to have happened in recent weeks. Fans who followed him from the start of NXT know that he's only had a few months as a babyface in WWE.
Since they decided to go in a new direction with him, it neutralized and invalidated the point of the whole 'Samoan Summit' segment. Perhaps you could say that, or it only added to the current story because it threw fans off as to which direction they were going.
Now, the rumours of a Joe vs Reigns match at SummerSlam is gone and they're most likely going to be aligning together soon. As a result of this change in direction, it likely cancelled WWE's SummerSlam plans for The Big Dog.
Also read: 5 reasons why Samoa Joe is turning babyface