Roman Reigns to return after 48 days on WWE SmackDown? All you need to know

WWE SmackDown has been missing Roman Reigns for a while now since his injury was announced. However, it seems like his absence will finally end in a few weeks en route to WrestleMania 41.

Fans last saw Roman Reigns in action at the 2025 Royal Rumble. He entered the 16th spot and spent over 30 minutes before being eliminated by CM Punk. However, his participation didn't end after being eliminated, as he got involved in a brawl with Seth Rollins and The Best in the World at ringside.

On the following RAW episode, it was announced that the OTC would be out of action following an injury he sustained during the exchange. While it was initially implied that he might miss WrestleMania 41, his return to WWE SmackDown was finally announced.

On WWE's X (formerly Twitter), it was announced that Roman Reigns will appear on the March 21 and 28 episodes of WWE SmackDown. The former will be held at the Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy, and the latter at The O2 in London, England.

With WrestleMania 41 getting closer, it will be interesting to see if The Tribal Chief's appearance will land him a spot at The Show of Shows. He might even get involved in The Rock's business following his return last week on WWE SmackDown.

What can Roman Reigns do if he returns to WWE Elimination Chamber?

Although The Tribal Chief was announced to be returning on SmackDown in March, there's still a possibility he might return at the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event this weekend. CM Punk and Seth Rollins will be part of the titular match while The Final Boss will be confronting Cody Rhodes again. As per Sam Roberts, The Head of the Table might confront his cousin at the upcoming PLE.

In a recent Notsam Wrestling podcast, the wrestling analyst wondered if Rhodes and The Rock's segment could set up a WrestleMania match between The Final Boss and the OTC. Roberts shared that Roman might return at the PLE and initially tease going after Cody at 'Mania, only to call out his cousin:

"Nobody told The Final Boss [that] there's only one Tribal Chief," Sam Roberts believes Roman Reigns could tease going after Cody Rhodes but end up going after The Rock. "That's when you realize Roman is in there to get The Rock away from Cody Rhodes."

It will be interesting to see what Roman Reigns will do on his WWE Smackdown return next month.