After losing the Undisputed WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes on the second night of WrestleMania XL, Roman Reigns left to take a break before returning at SummerSlam.
During his absence, Solo Sikoa transitioned from being Reigns’ enforcer to being the new Tribal Chief, with the intention of making Sikoa the major faction leader before facing Reigns. After telling Paul Heyman Reigns that he was never coming back, Sikoa laid out Heyman after Heyman refused to acknowledge him as his Tribal Chief on June 28th, 2024, at Madison Square Garden.
Heyman hasn’t been on WWE TV since the attack. However, he mentioned his absence while speaking at the NYC Fanatics Fest.
Heyman said, โI donโt even think weโre in the third inning yet, and now that you see the emergence of Solo and Jacob Fatu and the Tongas and the fact that they are a real threat. The first time a real threat to Roman Reignsโ dominance to Roman Reigns sitting at the โHead of the Tableโ to Roman Reigns being the top star to Roman Reigns actually being the โTribal Chief.โ How many stories can we tell from the position that weโre in now? You donโt know what Jimmy Uso stance on this is. You donโt know what Jey Uso stance on this is. You donโt know if or when โThe Wise Manโ will return. You donโt know who else Solo may or may not have in his back pocket ready to debut. You donโt know what our moves, what Roman Reignsโs moves, what my moves, what anybodyโs moves can be. All you know is that Roman Reigns is back. Heโs back to reclaim the title of โTribal Chiefโ from Solo, and Solo has so much backup right now that Romanโs in deep, deep, deep trouble.โ
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)