More details on Roman Reigns being pulled from June WWE dates | Exclusive
Dave Meltzer has provided new details on what led to Roman Reigns being pulled from several television dates in June.
Reigns had originally been advertised for all episodes of Raw in June leading to the Night of Champions PLE in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 27. He was later removed from advertising for those events, and Meltzer reported in Sunday’s Daily Update that the change was made because Reigns is not going to be on the June 27 PLE, so he will not be on the Raws leading up to the show.
In Friday’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer provided further details, writing that Reigns was only advertised for the shows in June because WWE does not always have its plans mapped out that far ahead of time and some stars are advertised who won’t end up appearing on the shows.
Meltzer wrote:
“When they do the ads say two months out unless it ‘s Mania they don’t have the plans fully mapped out. It was noted that sometimes Punk, who is on most but not all shows, would be advertised at first until they get closer to the day and then if it’s a show he’s not on, when they get the creative down or a show he’ll miss, then they’ll pull him.“
Regarding Reigns, Meltzer continued:
“Now, if he does lose the title to Fatu, there would be a story but multiple people just said it was dates he probably shouldn’t have been listed on to begin with as they weren’t final, and he was removed very quickly from the advertising of those dates.”
Regarding speculation that Reigns was asked to take a pay cut, Meltzer wrote:
“Reigns is literally just about the last person in the company who would have been asked to take a pay cut.”
“Reigns will remain on Raw most weeks through the end of May because he’s doing Backlash and then the Clash in Italy, but he’s off Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia so won’t be on the TV leading to that. He’ll be back on in July building to SummerSlam as things stand right now.”
The full edition of today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter is available here for subscribers.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.