On WWE Friday Night SmackDown, top star Roman Reigns isn’t the only one celebrating his comeback. Several storyline twists and turns keep people talking
The wrestling league WWE has kicked off the hot phase ahead of the traditional winter event Royal Rumble – and linked the comeback of its figurehead Roman Reigns with some surprising twists.
On the latest edition of the TV show Friday Night SmackDown, the “Undisputed Universal Champion”, who has been reigning for almost three and a half years, made his first appearance since defending his title against LA Knight in November.
As expected, WWE set up a match against the freshly returned Randy Orton, who challenged the “Tribal Chief” in a fierce duel. At the same time, the promotion also continued other storylines. Including another comeback at the end of the show, which led to an unexpected twist.
WWE SmackDown: Roman Reigns honors Solo Sikoa
The return of Reigns framed the show, offering another key moment besides the confrontation with Orton: Reigns announced for the first time who he would officially see as 2 and the “heir apparent” in his Bloodline clan.
As WWE fans following the storyline closely could guess, his choice was Solo Sikoa, who the promotion is building into an upcoming main eventer, most recently with a dominant victory over legend John Cena at the Saudi Arabia show Crown Jewel.
Reigns’ now acknowledged Sikoa as the “Tribal Prince” and the “next Tribal Chief” of the family – to the visible irritation of Sikoa’s big brother Jimmy Uso, who had obviously assumed that he would be his uncle’s first favorite.
The resulting tensions are apparently at the center of the next subplot involving the Mafia family – after Jimmy’s twin brother challenged Jey Reigns’ for Tribal Chief in the summer and was betrayed by Jimmy in the process.AJ Styles returns – and goes after LA Knight
At the end of the show, there was a match between Jimmy Uso and the new, old Bloodline rival Orton. Orton won it when Uso was distracted by LA Knight stopping Sikoa from an unfair interference.
A brawl ensued between Orton and Knight and the Bloodline, with an old acquaintance joining in at the end: the returning AJ Styles after a lengthy injury layoff, taken out by Reigns’ clan according to the script.
Styles caused the Bloodline to retreat, but then provided a final twist: for reasons that remain a mystery at first, he went after Knight and knocked him out with a Forearm.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED @AJStylesOrg just took out @RealLAKnight in front of @RandyOrton and TheBloodline! WHY SmackDown pic.twitter.com/S4MnPMC6nR
– WWE (@WWE) December 16, 2023
It looks like the returnee and the shooting star will now be feuding against each other
