Will Roman Reigns Acknowledge Rhea Ripley? Possible Scenarios for Their Encounter on SmackDown Season Premiere

The Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns has been absent from the television for a long time. He was last seen on August 25, 2023 on SummerSlam where he defended his title against Jey Uso. After coming out victorious, we haven’t seen the star on live television since then. He was also not a part of WWE Fastlane where Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso faced defeat at the hands of John Cena and LA Knight. Reigns might look to reinforce The Bloodline’s place atop the hierarchy of WWE at the Crown Jewel PLE.

Nevertheless, just a day before the Fastlane, Rhea Ripley and Paul Heyman were seen shaking hands and forming a potential alliance. With the return of The Tribal Chief set for the SmackDown season premiere, how will things turn out amidst all the chaos?

Will Roman Reigns “acknowledge” Rhea Ripley?

On the October 6th episode of SmackDown, Rhea Ripley and Paul Heyman were seen having an intense conversation. When Heyman said he needed authorization from The Tribal Chief for her ideas, she said, “Paul acknowledge me”. This came out as she was trying to make her mark in the blue brand as well. Later on in the episode, we saw The Judgment Day helping The Bloodline against John Cena and LA Knight. When it looked like there was no way out for Cena and Knight, Jimmy Uso and Cody Rhodes came running in to help them.

Due to this incident, both the stables now have common enemies. Roman Reigns is known to have a rivalry both with John Cena and Cody Rhodes. On the other hand, he has a special relationship with Jey Uso as he is his brother and former stablemate turned enemy. Ripley despises Rhodes and Jey Uso too, as they have cost her faction the Undisputed Tag Team Championship titles. They had defeated Finn Balor and Damian Priest at the Fastlane. 

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With both of them having common enemies, there is room for the heel factions to ally. But how will the Tribal Chief react if The Eradicator shows up at the SmackDown season premiere? 

Heels go against Heels?

There is a high possibility that Rhea Ripley might show up at the season premiere of SmackDown. The reason is that Roman Reigns will be returning after a long time. She might want to keep her proposal in front of him so that the audience knows what’s in store for the upcoming season. This might also not go as smoothly as it looks. There is a possibility that there will be some amount of verbal and physical confrontation before either party agrees to the terms and conditions of the other.

Apart from that, Reigns and Heyman might not be okay with having JD McDonagh on board. Even though he is not a part of the stable, he is seen tagging along with them most of the time. However, at the Fastlane, he had cost Damian Priest and Finn Balor their titles. Instead of hitting Rhodes, McDonagh had hit Damian Priest with the Money in the Bank briefcase on his injured leg. This made them lose momentum and Rhodes and Uso’s team capitalized on this. How McDonagh will react to this is something to be seen.

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With the possibility of new prospects joining The Bloodline, what do you think will happen after Roman Reigns’s return?