Roman Reigns is expected to be absent from WWE television for approximately four weeks, according to a report from Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. His time away is to accommodate filming for his role as the villain Akuma in the upcoming live-action Street Fighter movie. The on-screen explanation for his absence is a storyline injury sustained from an attack at Clash in Paris.
The angle took place after Reigns defeated The Vision’s Bronson Reed in the opening match of the event. Following his victory, Reigns was attacked by both Reed and his stablemate, Bron Breakker. The assault saw Breakker deliver two Spears, one of which sent Reigns through the announce table, while Reed followed up with multiple Tsunami splashes. The segment concluded with Reigns being carried out of the arena on a stretcher.
This injury write-off was reportedly a change from a previous plan. An initial attempt to write Reigns off television occurred on the August 4 episode of Monday Night Raw, where he was attacked by Seth Rollins, Breakker, and Reed. However, the decision was later made for Reigns to compete at Clash in Paris, making the post-match beatdown the definitive reason for his upcoming hiatus.
Reigns is the second major WWE star to take time off for the Street Fighter production. Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes has also been away from programming recently to film his role as Guile. Rhodes is currently expected to be back by September 20, which is the date of WWE’s next premium live event, Wretslepalooza.
While Meltzer has provided a timeline for Reigns’ absence, WWE has announced that an official update on his storyline condition will be delivered on tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw.