Major name backstage for Roman Reigns' return on WWE SmackDown confirmed by Hall of Famer; details emotional reunion with Bloodline legend

Roman Reigns returned on the latest edition of SmackDown without any former members of The Bloodline. A WWE Hall of Famer recently confirmed that a top name was present backstage at the season premiere of the blue brand. That would be Rob Van Dam.

Paul Heyman has been absent from SmackDown since Solo Sikoa's Bloodline unleashed an attack on him and laid him out with a powerbomb through the announce table. Roman Reigns returned at SummerSlam 2024 but did not have The Wiseman by his side.

The season premiere of SmackDown saw The Original Tribal Chief return once again a few weeks after Solo Sikoa's Bloodline laid him out. He appeared without Paul Heyman by his side once again.

While speaking on his 1 Of A Kind podcast, Rob Van Dam spoke about his appearance on the blue brand along with his wife, Katie Forbes. The 53-year-old went on to state that he met Paul Heyman backstage on the show and had a nice long chat with him.

"RVD just pops up wherever he feels like. That's part of being the whole effing show. It was an invite that happened not with a lot of notice at all. It was awesome to be there, 25-year anniversary I believe for SmackDown. Katie came because one, she loves WWE, and two, she loves RVD. So, it was cool to have her by my side as well, otherwise I would have had my arm around Teddy Long or something. It was cool to see everybody. Talked to Mr. Paul Heyman for quite a while, got to hang out, and always good to see him. He's obviously one of my closer friends there, but, yeah, it was a good vibe," Rob Van Dam said. [H/T WrestlingINC]

Heyman may have been present to work on the storyline involving Reigns and The Bloodline. The confirmation of his presence backstage could signal a potential return of The Wiseman to work with Roman again.

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Roman Reigns has an unlikely partner for WWE Bad Blood 2024

Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship for the first time in his career at WrestleMania XL. The loss took out The Head of the Table from active competition for several months.

Reigns returned at SummerSlam 2024 to attack Solo Sikoa and helped Rhodes retain his title at the show. He did so once again on the latest edition of SmackDown, this time saving The American Nightmare from a post-match beatdown.

Later on SmackDown, the two WWE Superstars agreed to work together to take on Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu in a tag team match at Bad Blood 2024. The unlikely team will have a lot on its plate as the other two members of Sikoa's faction, namely Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa, will likely interfere in the contest to attack Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes.