Major hint, family ties - 4 signs Rikishi is controlling The Bloodline on WWE SmackDown

Roman Reigns' loss at WrestleMania has blown The Bloodline apart. Jimmy Uso was kicked out of the family last week and wasn't seen on WWE SmackDown as Solo Sikoa introduced the newest member.

Tama Tonga then went on to assault Kevin Owens inside and outside of the arena, after crashing his car into the former World Champion as he arrived for the show.

Several pieces are slowly becoming clear and it seems that there are now a number of signs that WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi is the man controlling The Bloodline in Reigns' absence.

#4. Rikishi wanted Jey Uso to win at WrestleMania

This is an interesting point because Rikishi was backing Jey Uso to defeat his brother Jimmy in their match at WrestleMania. This means that he already had a dislike for Jimmy and it could have been his idea to kick him out of The Bloodline.

Whilst The Usos are his children, Rikishi has commented several times about how important The Bloodline is both on-screen and in real life and he wouldn't have allowed personal feelings to get in the way of business.

#3. Recent update

Rikishi has followed the Bloodline story over the past few years and has always commented on updates to the storyline. Last night on WWE SmackDown after Tama Tonga was added to the group, Rikishi sent out a message on his Instagram where he talked about The Bloodline being a "timeline worldwide."

Rikishi has been teasing making his return for several months and if The Rock is busy and Roman Reigns is absent, he is the one member of the family who could be available to make the decisions if needed.

#2. Deja Vu

Last night on WWE SmackDown, Tama Tonga drove his car into Kevin Owens in the parking lot in what was a scene reminiscent of the time that Rikishi mowed down Steve Austin in the parking lot.

Many fans have made the connection between the moment that Rikishi later insisted he did for The Rock and the current storyline, which could be a tease surrounding who is behind the new Bloodline. Rikishi always appears to be online during SmackDown so could give the orders over the phone.

#1. Family ties

Rikishi is Solo Sikoa's father, so who else would be able to convince him to turn on his own brother and kick him out of The Bloodline? Rikishi was at WrestleMania and would have seen Jimmy Uso come up short and decided that it was time for him to leave the group.

Whilst the recent events surrounding The Bloodline have been quite surprising, it's clear that whoever is behind it wants an unstoppable team and holds a grudge against Reigns for losing the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Rikishi stated a few weeks ago that he didn't think Rhodes would win at WrestleMania which could have annoyed him because that meant he was wrong.