Roman Reigns' absence from WWE TV raises alarming questions before Royal Rumble, veteran claims (Exclusive)

We're less than a week away from Royal Rumble, and all fans have witnessed is a large banner of Roman Reigns and not the man himself. This has annoyed veteran writer Vince Russo.

The latest episode of Monday Night RAW emanated from Atlanta and featured several moments built into the Royal Rumble narrative. Paul Heyman appeared to announce Roman Reigns as the cover star for WWE 2K25, and a verbal back-and-forth between Heyman and Drew McIntyre followed it.

During the post-show review on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Legion of RAW, Vince Russo revealed a WWE mistake about not involving its top stars in better angles before Royal Rumble. Ahead of such an important premium live event, Vince Russo would have liked to see some prominent stars like Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, and others wrestle.

Regarding Reigns' absence, Vince Russo couldn't grasp how the promotion could keep its most popular star in recent times away from weekly TV shows. Russo explained:

"I just don't get it [Roman being absent] like, this is the third week of Netflix. Is this the 3rd or the 4th? And you're in Cody's [Rhodes] hometown. Cody is not wrestling. [Seth] Rollins is not wrestling. CM Punk isn't wrestling. Roman Reigns isn't wrestling. Rhea Ripley isn't wrestling. I don't understand it. We were always, man, in 'balls to the walls' mode. Always, man." [From 37:50 onwards]

Reigns will compete in the Royal Rumble match. To no one's surprise, he is one of the favorites to win the high-profile showdown that will see a lot more star power than in recent years.

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