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Reported Reason Why Roman Reigns is No Longer Advertised for WWE Shows in June

The OTC promised that he would be sticking around for the summer after he won the World Heavyweight Championship from CM Punk at WrestleMania 42, but he apparently wasn't talking about the entire summer.

Roman Reigns is set to defend his title against his real-life cousin, Jacob Fatu, this Saturday night at WWE Backlash. It will be his first defense since the 'Showcase of the Immortals', and with multiple major events on the calendar for the month of May, this very likely will not be his last.

While Reigns is currently the heavy betting favorite to retain at Backlash, company advertising for the month of June has members of the WWE Universe questioning the status of their Tribal Chief. WWE is no longer promoting The OTC for any shows beyond the May 25 edition of WWE Raw at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Roman Reigns reportedly has no scheduled dates in June

It's too early to say whether Reigns will be on the card for Clash in Italy on Sunday, May 31, but he is not among the nine superstars who are featured on the poster for that show, and Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has provided an interesting update on the following Premium Live Event.

“Regarding Roman Reigns being pulled from June TV dates that were announced, the reason we were told is that he’s not going to be on the Saudi Arabia PPV and thus there was no reason to do the TV’s building that show," Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio. "If he loses the title [at Backlash], of course that would be a change and there will be more to the story. If he retains, that’s probably all it is. But Reigns is no longer scheduled for any television in June.”

if Meltzer's report is accurate, it means that Roman Reigns will be missing out on the entire summer European Tour that will lead up to Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 27.

WWE is pushing forward with that event, despite the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East between the United States and neighboring Iran. Company President Nick Khan recently told a TKO town hall that they are constantly monitoring the situation, and promised that WWE would only send their performers to Riyadh if it was safe to do so.

“We are monitoring with our heads of security internally and with our government affairs folks externally, the situation there,” Khan said. “If U.S. citizens are allowed in at this moment in time, it is declared and deemed safe, we’ll all be going there.”

No reason has been given for why Reigns is apparently set to miss Night of Champions next month. We'll provide more information on the situation as it becomes available.


This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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