Roman Reigns' Return To WWE SmackDown This Friday Reportedly Not A One-Off Appearance

Roman Reigns is back. "The Original Tribal Chief" returned to WWE at SummerSlam to help his former foe, Cody Rhodes, defeat Solo Sikoa and The Bloodline to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship. Reigns is set to appear on this week's "WWE SmackDown," and while many fans are expecting the former champion to make a single appearance before returning to his lengthy post-WrestleMania absence, this is reportedly not the case.

According to PWInsider, Reigns is advertised for not this week's "SmackDown," but next week's taping in Orland, Florida, as well. As of this writing, there is no word on what plans are in place for Reigns's role on "SmackDown," but given Sikoa's usurpation of Reigns's throne as "Head of the Table" and Reigns' subsequent actions at SummerSlam, it seems likely he'll be further involved with Sikoa and possibly also with Rhodes — Reigns and Rhodes shared a knowing glance at each other following Reigns's assistance, so it's possible the budding alliance could be explored more.

Prior to last weekend, Reigns hadn't been seen since WrestleMania 40, where he lost the Undisputed WWE title to Rhodes (Reigns had surpassed all but a few records for the longest-reigning champion in the history of WWE's world title). In that time, Sikoa has kicked Jimmy Uso and WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman out of The Bloodline and added former MLW Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu, as well as former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa. Tonga and Fatu have already won the WWE Tag Team Championship.