WWE News: Update on Roman Reigns' Return to WWE

2014 has been a pretty great year in the WWE.

Arguably the biggest WrestleMania of all time saw the legendary Streak emphatically shattered, and Daniel Bryan sealed his legacy there, winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the feel-good moment of the year.

Add to that the long-awaited launch of the WWE Network, as well as the rise of the WWE Performance Center and NXT, and it’s clear to see that the company has put some fantastic work into ensuring this would be a year to remember.

But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. An unfortunate pair of injuries threatened to derail the WWE’s plans just as business was picking up.

First, the aforementioned Bryan was sidelined while at the very peak of his career. Six months later, the former champ remains inactive due to a complicated neck injury.

Bryan’s absence left the main event wide open, prompting Roman Reigns, a relative newcomer, to get his chance to shine. One cruel twist later, though, and the former Shield member’s push was forced to take a rain check when an unexpected hernia surgery put him on the shelf back in September.

But according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via Marc Middleton of WrestlingInc), we may be seeing Reigns back in a WWE ring as early as next month: "Regarding Roman Reigns' return, he is still expected back before Christmas and will be working the Royal Rumble but he is possible for TLC in December. Reigns won't be rushed back because that would put WWE's big WrestleMania 31 plans for him in jeopardy."

Though Reigns has begun to divide opinion—particularly amongst the Internet Wrestling Community—this must be viewed as good news. The big man had a one-way ticket to the top, and adding that kind of growing star power to an already excellent roster can only be a positive.

But what else can we take from this story?

We’ve got to assume that the “big WrestleMania 31 plans” are a showdown with Brock Lesnar, who will likely still be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion by then. Some fans had speculated that Reigns’ injury could have hijacked his main event push, but it would seem that this is not the case.

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

Nonetheless, for Reigns to pick up from where he left off, the company needs to handle his return well.

So how exactly does it do that?

The article mentions that a TLC return next month may be possible. That would likely involve a throwaway match, put together with the sole purpose of building up Reigns after his lengthy hiatus. It’s a move that we’ve seen from the WWE before—CM Punk at Payback 2013, Lesnar at the Royal Rumble back in January—so that’s certainly a possibility.

But if the WWE is worried about bringing him back too soon, the company may be better off sticking with the original plan of a return at the Rumble next year, which raises more questions.

Does it plug his return like it did with Batista, hyping him up in exchange for the element of surprise? Or does it keep his return quiet and have him make an unexpected comeback in the Rumble match itself?

The fan in me wants to say the latter—Rumble returns are amongst the best around, capable of creating moments unlike any other. But realistically, I’d imagine Reigns’ return will be heavily publicised. Reigns needs to be built as strongly as possible once WrestleMania season is underway, and it will be easier to do that with more TV time.

And though TLC may still be a little too soon, it’s an encouraging sign for the injured star that there’s talk of a return ahead of schedule.

But what do you guys make of this? When do you envisage seeing Reigns return? And do you think he’ll go on to challenge for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31?

Please feel free to comment below with your thoughts on this one, and let me know if you have any opinions on any of the other issues mentioned in the article.