Roman Reigns is ‘Person Behind Unpopular Decision’ After His Return to WWE on Raw

After suffering through the betrayal to end all betrayals, Roman Reigns spectacularly returned to WWE on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.

Reigns has been absent since facing off against Seth Rollins and CM Punk in the main event of night one of WrestleMania 41 in April. Both Reigns and Punk were betrayed by their long-term ally Paul Heyman during the match, who shockingly aligned with Rollins in the process.

Roman Reigns’ career stats (as of 16/07/25)
Total number of matches	1374
Total number of wins	1003 (73.0%)
Total number of losses	338 (24.6%)
Total number of draws	33 (2.4%)

Since losing the WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania XL in 2024, Reigns has faced further challenges to his supremacy as the Tribal Chief of WWE. The most notable of these challenges came from another now-former ally, Solo Sikoa. Losing his title, several long-term members of The Bloodline, and his ‘Wiseman’ Paul Heyman, Reigns has gone through an identity crisis of sorts.

Having ended Sikoa’s pursuit of Tribal Chief status during Raw’s Netflix debut in January, Reigns adopted the ‘Original Tribal Chief’ moniker, with the former WWE Champion also being referred to as the ‘Only Tribal Chief’. But with his latest return, fans noticed that Reigns has adopted a significant change as he transitions into a new era post-Paul Heyman.

Roman Reigns Change Spotted on Raw

Some aren’t happy, but it’s been revealed that it was Reigns’ choice

A WWE fan’s post on X remarked on another new moniker for Roman Reigns: ‘OTC1’, or ‘Original Tribal Chief 1’. The disgruntled fan stated that the new moniker was redundant as “Original and #1 means the SAME F****** THING!!” It’s safe to say that the new moniker hasn’t gone down well with this particular fan.

The angry post caught the attention of the popular professional wrestling account TC | WrestleVotes, who added to the discourse by stating that the new moniker was “Joe Anoa’i’s idea.” Joe Anoa’i is Reigns’ real name. A number of fans responded to TC | WrestleVotes’ post, voicing their disapproval of the new moniker.

“A rare miss for me. It feels clunky,” wrote one user. “Oof,” echoed another succinctly. Another critical user clearly expected a bit more from Reigns’ return considering he’d been absent for over three months: “Bro is so lazy he’s not even that creative.”

Still, regardless of the ‘Original Tribal Chief 1’ moniker sounding, well, unoriginal, fans were more than happy to see Reigns back on WWE programming.

After prevailing in a chaotic five-man gauntlet, Punk was attacked by Seth Rollins’ stablemates, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. Rollins was absent following a serious knee injury during Saturday Night’s Main Event over the weekend. Positioned to receive one of Reed’s devastating Tsunamis alongside Jey Uso, Reigns’ iconic entrance music hit, much to the delight of the Birmingham, Alabama crowd.

After ejecting Breakker and Reed from the ring, Reigns’ attention turned to Heyman. Reigns appeared to mouth that Heyman had messed up, referring to his WrestleMania 41 betrayal. It seems likely that Reigns’ path to revenge will see him engage further with Rollins’ faction with SummerSlam just three weeks away. As for CM Punk, who pinned Breakker to win the gauntlet match, he is now set to challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship in a monumental clash at the same PLE.