5 Possible “Plan Bs” WWE Should Consider For Roman Reigns

WWE.com

The wrestling world got quite a jolt Saturday when it learned that WWE superstar Roman Reigns was rushed to a hospital and had emergency surgery to repair an incarcerated hernia. According to WWE.com, Reigns had a pre-existing hernia, but it had become extremely painful, and a loop of his small intestine was caught in the hernia sac (hence the “incarcerated” part of the injury). Reigns is expected to need four to six weeks of recovery time before he can begin physical activity again, which means he might not return to the squared circle for another month after that, depending on how long it takes for him to get back into ring shape.
WWE’s front office is probably collectively breathing a cautious sigh of relief knowing that the Royal Rumble – the official kickoff to the road to WrestleMania – is still four months out. Had Reigns’ injury been more serious or occurred closer to WrestleMania season, plans for the biggest show of the year would be drastically altered.
Still, it bears noting that WWE is presumably banking on Reigns being “the guy” at WrestleMania XXXI next March and really doesn’t have much in the way of a fallback option – unless we’re counting John Cena as the hero understudy. And while it’s entirely possible that Roman could be back in the ring by December (assuming six weeks recovery and four more for physical training), keep in mind that WWE delayed stripping Daniel Bryan of the title because they thought he could recover quickly from his neck surgery. That didn’t quite work out for the company.
Given Reigns’ subsequent shelving and the unpredictability that is recovery from an injury, let’s explore some “Plan B” options for WWE in the event that Roman is not able to return to the ring in time to headline WrestleMania XXXI. (But at the same time, let’s hope that his recovery goes smoothly and he’s back to competing again in short order.)