Roman Reigns Returns to WWE SmackDown and Finally Comes Face to Face with LA Knight

Roman Reigns returns and confronts John Cena and LA Knight, and the Reigns vs Knight feud has officially begun

John Cena kicked off tonight’s season premiere of WWE SmackDown, and the crowd was ready. Cena hit the ring and introduced the show, but quickly the focus shifted to a returning Roman Reigns, who has been away from SmackDown for a while. Noticeably absent was Jimmy Uso, who came back to the Bloodline after the falling out during Reigns’ absence. Reigns came face to face with Cena in the ring, but Cena threw a curveball at the Tribal Chief, removing himself from challenging Reigns. Cena did however bring in another challenger, and that would be LA Knight, who finally came face to face with Reigns, beginning a feud that will likely result in a match for the Title at some point down the line.

After Reigns got to the ring, he asked for the microphone and said, “John boy. Hollywood. If you gonna open my show, you better do it the right way. Tulsa… acknowledge me!” More Cena chants broke out from the crowd. Reigns said, “You chant for a coward. The man only showed up because I took my leave. And then he had the audacity to come back and convince people to call him the greatest of all time. Now let’s be honest here John, you already know who the GOAT is. It’s the Tribal Chief. Roman Reigns! But we’ve run into this before and we’ve handled it, so we’re going to do it again. Leave, or we’re going to make you leave.”

Cena said, “Lot of energy here tonight. Lot of anticipation for what’s about to happen. WWE’s always unpredictable. With SmackDown you can never tell, and with Roman Reigns and John Cena in the same ring, well, who knows what’s next? I’m about to throw you a curveball. Not here to challenge you. I’m here to acknowledge you. 1138 days you’ve held that Championship, and in my mind no matter what an announcer says, that is the greatest accomplishment of all time, and it is earned. I am not here to challenge you tonight, because I haven’t earned it. But I do know someone who has.”

That kicked off LA Knight’s music, and the crowd erupted. Reigns’ face was confused and intrigued at Knight’s entrance, as Knight’s ascent hit another gear while Reigns was away. The crowd was hyped for Knight, and Reigns became more and more confused.

“Let me talk to ya! You pissing your pants yet? You’re Roman, right? You’re the head of the table, right? Yeah! You’re the Tribal Chief, right? You’re a defending Champion, right? Nah nah! I’ll tell you what you are. Right now you’re a man standing in my way. Oh my God, I’m sorry man. I didn’t even introduce myself,” Knight said. “While you’ve been sitting at home on the couch for the last month and a half and you wear that Gold Title around your waist, some things have changed a little bit. Tell him whose game this is!”

“Alright, I’m very proud of ya. I gave you a couple of months and they say your name now,” Reigns said. “But let’s be honest here. Over 1100 days as Champ. I’ve done things you can never understand in this business. Who the hell do you think you are standing in my ring right now?”

“Talking like that is a good way to get you referred to in the past tense,” Knight said. “I’ll put it like this. I’m the fastest-rising star in SmackDown history. I’m the man who marched right in here and…” Knight was cut off by Jimmy Uso, who came in and attacked Knight, but Knight threw him out of the ring. Reigns didn’t know what to make of Jimmy Uso, and he wasn’t happy with the reaction to Knight either. At that point, Reigns told Sikoa to forget about Cena and to hammer Knight. Sikoa then told Knight they would have a match tonight. Knight welcomed the match and told Sikoa he could come get stomped out, and the Bloodline headed backstage.

What did you think of the introduction to SmackDown? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!