Roman Reigns labelled a heel internally after Solo Sikoa refuses to rejoin Bloodline on Raw

Roman Reigns returned to Monday Night Raw on August 17 in Buffalo, New York, where Solo Sikoa refused to rejoin the Bloodline and instead spiked Reigns before teaming with LA Knight to attack Reigns and the Usos.

Earlier in the episode, Jey Uso defeated Solo Sikoa in a match that carried the stipulation that a loss would force Solo back into the Bloodline; Jimmy Uso assisted Jey to secure the pin, setting up Solo’s expected return in Roman Reigns’ presence. The segment rekindled debate among fans over Reigns’ on-screen alignment after moments in the show presented him with mixed traits.

When Solo defied the order to rejoin and instead spiked Reigns, he then joined LA Knight in taking out both Usos and Reigns. The arena reaction to that moment was loud enough that the report noted the crowd treated Reigns as the babyface at that instant, while the group identified as The OTC acted like a heel in Buffalo.

A new report from False Finish states that, internally, Roman Reigns is now listed as a heel. The False Finish post reads: "World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns is listed as a heel internally pic.twitter.com/BWso2cYjUy," and the outlet did not specify whether the internal designation changed this week on Raw or at an earlier point.

The article recalls that Reigns’ initial heel turn as the Tribal Chief began in mid-2020 and led to a multi-year dominant championship run. It adds that Reigns’ run altered narrative presentation within WWE and had a sizable impact on the promotion’s trajectory.

On the storyline front, Reigns is expected to respond to the betrayal and the attack by Solo and Knight on upcoming programming. He is scheduled to defend the World title on the September 14 edition of Raw in Mexico City against the winner of the ongoing tournament to determine the number one contender, and an earlier report has suggested a possible match with LA Knight at Money in the Bank.

Next week’s Raw will feature the semi-final matches of the number one contender tournament, and Roman Reigns is set to defend the World title on the September 14 Raw in Mexico City.