Seth Rollins Talks Roman Reigns' Schedule; WWE Rumors on Carlito and Drew McIntyre

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Rollins Criticizes Reigns' Part-Time Schedule

Seth Rollins has perhaps been the hardest-working person in WWE since winning the World Heavyweight Championship in May, and it isn't lost on him that he is picking up some of the slack created by WWE universal champion Roman Reigns not appearing on television on a weekly basis.

During an appearance on Out of Character with Ryan Satin (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Rollins took some shots at The Tribal Chief for leaving a void by not being on WWE programming every week:

"If Roman was doing what I'm doing there wouldn't really be a need for a secondary championship, there wouldn't be a need for another World Heavyweight Championship on Raw, because we would have somebody who was doing those things. And like you said, it would give direction to the characters of the show, it would give direction to the show itself, but because of the route he has chosen and what he wants to do with his schedule and his title reign is not what I'm doing, somebody's gotta fill that void.

"We did our best with the U.S. Championship for a while to do that, but it never really felt like a World Heavyweight Championship, so there's gotta be that person, that spot for everyone to get to and try and fight for, and I'm very happy to be that carrot that's dangling there. And I think it's a good thing, and again if Roman was doing all this stuff and defending the title all over the place, then we wouldn't have all these problems."

Reigns has been world champion for over 1,000 days and is reaching the one-year mark, making it one of the greatest runs in WWE history.

To this day, the storyline involving Reigns and The Bloodline remains the most compelling thing in wrestling, and part of the reason for its longevity may be the fact that Reigns isn't constantly on SmackDown.

Reigns' scheduled has allowed things to breathe and simmer, and WWE has done a good job of building off of the big moments he has been involved in.

Rollins' title reign has already been markedly different, as he has had several title defenses and is a weekly staple on Raw, and that is a good thing for WWE in that it has allowed the company to present its two different world titles in entirely contrasting ways.

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Reported Reason for Carlito's Delayed WWE Return

WWE is reportedly waiting for the right moment for Carlito's return to the company in an effort to maximize impact.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), the initial expectation was that Carlito would return during last week's SmackDown at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but WWE did not want him to be overshadowed by the huge Bloodline segment that played out on the show.

Carlito was reportedly seen flying to Pittsburgh over the weekend, which is where WWE's medical team is located. That could be a sign that Carlito was receiving a physical examination in order to make his WWE signing official, although that was not confirmed.

The 44-year-old Carlito made his WWE main roster debut in 2004, and he enjoyed a great deal of success during his initial run with the company from 2004 to 2010.

Prior to getting released, Carlito won the United States, Intercontinental and WWE Tag Team Championships one time each.

After spending over a decade wrestling in Puerto Rico and on the independent scene, Carlito returned to WWE as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble in 2021.

More recently, Carlito showed up at Backlash in Puerto Rico two months ago, helping Bad Bunny defeat Damian Priest in a San Juan Street Fight.

Carlito looked to be in phenomenal shape and received a massive reaction from his home crowd, which may have set the wheels in motion in terms of WWE wanting to bring him back on a more permanent basis.

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Why McIntyre Is Set to Miss Raw Next Week

Drew McIntyre reportedly won't be on Raw next week due to another commitment.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), McIntyre secured an outside project through WWE, and he will be filming his role next week.

Per PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson, the project is a movie called The Killer's Game, and it also stars WWE legend Batista, as well as iconic rapper Ice Cube.

After being off television for a few months after WrestleMania 39, McIntyre returned at Money in the Bank in London earlier this month by confronting intercontinental champion Gunther after his successful title defense against Matt Riddle.

On Monday's Raw, McIntyre and Riddle teamed up in a winning effort against Imperium's Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci.

After the match, Riddle divulged that he has a title rematch against Gunther next week on Raw, and McIntyre advised him to be careful since he would be away on "company business."

McIntyre has consistently been among WWE's top stars since returning to the company in 2017, having held the NXT Championship once and WWE Championship twice, along with winning the 2020 men's Royal Rumble match.

WWE seems to be positioning him for an IC title match against Gunther at SummerSlam, which has a chance to be the most entertaining and hard-hitting bout on the entire card.

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