WWE

Roman Reigns Claims He’s Saving WWE After ‘They’ Begged Him to Return

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Matt Black | Last updated Feb 6, 2026 8:03 PM ET

The OTC, Roman Reigns, returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble and wasted no time establishing his road to WrestleMania 42.

Roman Reigns entered the Men's Rumble matchup as the 26th entrant and went on to win the match and punch his ticket to the Showcase of the Immortals. Two days later on Raw, Reigns declared that he would challenge CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 42.

WWE's official YouTube channel followed Roman Reigns in Saudi Arabia ahead of his Royal Rumble return in the form of a vlog. When exiting the plane, Reigns made the following declaration.

"They begged me to come back," Roman Reigns said smugly. "They said, 'Save us.' So I said, 'Okay.'"

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Later on in the stadium, The OTC spoke about how everyone in the WWE talks s---, and you have to figure out a way to deal with it. Reigns states you can't be in WWE for a long time and have thin skin and believes he's better at it than anybody else, making it clear he thinks he's earned his spot in the company to say what he wants and no one handed his position to him.

"When you've been here, and you've done what I've done, you've built that equity to share your opinion," Reigns said. "The s--- that I think and the s--- I say matters, you know what I mean? And I earned that. Nobody gave it to me. I had to take it. It wasn't easy.

"That's what everybody thinks. It was not easy when I got here. John Cena, Randy Orton, Big Show, Kane, sweetheart, but still. I had to pry this s--- from the grips of the veterans. Nobody else did it but me. I can say what I want."

Roman Reigns WrestleMania 42 plans have reportedly changed multiple times

Roman Reigns is on a collision course with CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 42. But that wasn't always the plan.

According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Roman's original plan for this year's show would have seen him going one-on-one with Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship.

At the same time, Cody Rhodes would be defending the WWE Championship against CM Punk. However, Rollins' injury at Crown Jewel drastically altered the company's plans.

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After Seth went down with an injury, plans changed to CM Punk and Bron Breakker for the World Championship, while Rhodes would defend against Reigns. But Drew McIntyre and Rhodes pushed for Triple H to change the title last month, a decision made 48 hours before the match.

This change put The OTC on the outside looking in when it came to the title picture at WrestleMania 42. After this happened, the decision was made to scrap Breakker's Rumble win, which eventually went to Reigns.

Unless something unforeseen takes place, it appears that Reigns and Punk will headline night two of WrestleMania 42.

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

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