Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal Announced for WWE Money in the Bank 2018

Jinder Mahal and Roman Reigns will face off in a singles match at Money in the Bank on June 17, WWE announced Monday.

Reigns teamed up with Seth Rollins to beat Mahal and Kevin Owens on Raw. Mahal attacked Reigns and Rollins with a steel chair after the match, which left Raw general manager Kurt Angle no choice but to make Mahal vs. Reigns for Money in the Bank:

Pitting Reigns against Mahal isn't a compelling matchup, but it's a necessary step after what has been a brutal past few months for The Big Dog.

He lost to universal champion Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 34 and in a rematch at the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view less than a month later. Neither match was all that well-received, which led to Reigns getting an overwhelmingly negative reaction as he beat Samoa Joe to close out Backlash on May 6.

Including Reigns in the Money in the Bank ladder match would have been a mistake, because he almost certainly would have overshadowed everyone else in the ring. Not to mention, he's at a point in his career where he doesn't need the MITB briefcase to get a world title shot.

Simply taking Reigns out of the Universal Championship picture for a few months is the best thing WWE could have done, though it's probably not going to change the way many in the WWE Universe view him in the long run.