Fresh Feuds for Roman Reigns Return From WWE WrestleMania 41 Hiatus

Roman Reigns' return to WWE TV is imminent, though there's no telling who he'll be targeting or what he'll have in store for fans exactly.

The former WWE and Universal champion was last seen on the post-WrestleMania edition of Raw in late April when he and CM Punk were bested by Seth Rollins and his new cohort Bron Breakker. This was also two days removed from Reigns being betrayed by Paul Heyman following a five-year partnership.

It'd be easy to assume that Reigns would want revenge immediately upon his return, specifically on his longtime rival Rollins. However, with that being a WrestleMania-worthy encounter, it'd make more sense for Reigns to be busy with someone else during SummerSlam season instead.

Moreover, it'll be important for him to be slotted in something different as opposed to running it back with Solo Sikoa by linking up with Jacob Fatu or reuniting with The Usos. It's high time The Tribal Chief fly solo and navigate the trecherous waters of WWE on his own for the foreseeable future.

The following are five fresh feuds for Roman Reigns coming off his WrestleMania 41 hiatus.

Bron Breakker

If Reigns does instantly rekindle his rivalry with Rollins once he resurfaces on WWE TV, he should first set his sights on the rest of Rollins' stable and work his way through the ranks, starting with Bron Breakker.

Reigns vs. Breakker is an extremely intriguing match regardless, but it's become an inevitable encounter with Breakker now associated with Rollins. That's a bout best saved for a major stage such as SummerSlam.

Aside from Breakker helping Rollins lay out Reigns on the post-WrestleMania Raw, the only other interaction they've had so far came in the men's Royal Rumble match earlier this year. It was an explosive sequence that ultimately saw Reigns reign supreme by eliminating Breakker.

Their quick clash provided a small taste of what a future feud would look like—and it was exciting.

Breakker has been racking up wins since WrestleMania 41 but is ready to be elevated to that next level. A rivalry with Reigns would certainly accomplish that, especially if Breakker scores a win over The Tribal Chief at some point.

Bronson Reed

If WWE would rather hold off on Reigns vs. Breakker for later down the line (potentially once Breakker becomes a full-fledged headliner and they're waging war over a world championship), Bronson Reed would be a perfectly acceptable opponent for Reigns sometime this summer.

Reed has always been an underrated prospect. It wasn't until he sidelined Rollins with several Tsunami Splashes on last year's post-SummerSlam Raw that he truly broke out as a one-man wrecking machine. He went on to have a fun feud with Braun Strowman, score a win over Rollins on Raw and take part in the WarGames main-event that November at Survivor Series.

Although he got injured at the worst possible time, he had no issue regaining his momentum by returning at Saturday Night's Main Event in May and aligning with his former foe. He, Breakker and Rollins have been a dominant force on Raw ever since and it's resulted in Reed receiving his biggest push to date.

Similar to Breakker, Reed could use a singles storyline to further establish his credibility, and working with Reigns would put him in yet another position of prominence on television. The match itself would also guarantee to be great after how well they worked together in the aforementioned WarGames match.

CM Punk

As previously noted, Reigns' last appearance on WWE TV on the post-WrestleMania Raw saw both him and CM Punk laid out at the hands of Rollins and Breakker with Paul Heyman orchestrating the attack.

Thus, there's no reason to think that he and Punk will go back to being enemies anytime soon, but they do have unfinished business from WrestleMania season that WWE needs to revisit eventually.

Punk and Reigns reluctantly teamed up for WarGames at Survivor Series and were successful against The New Bloodline. They then became bitter rivals when Punk revealed that his “favor” from Heyman would be Heyman accompanying him to the ring for Night 1 main-event at WrestleMania 41.

They now have a common foe in Heyman, having been betrayed by the mastermind behind ECW at The Show of Shows, but a formal one-on-one match between them at SummerSlam isn't completely out of the question, either.

Although Punk is still tied up with Rollins at the moment, Punk vs. Reigns is very much an appealing possibility for SummerSlam should WWE go in that direction. They can finally determine who the superior Superstar is once and for all before forging an alliance to eliminate Rollins and his henchmen.

Karrion Kross

Karrion Kross has been underutilized by WWE for the better part of his return run over the last three years, yet the groundswell of support he's been receiving from fans this year is gradually becoming too much for the higher-ups to ignore.

Before serving as the devil on the shoulder of Sami Zayn, Kross' last major feud would have been with Drew McIntyre in late 2022. It was around that same time that he teased going after The Bloodline, but the seeds planted during that period never ended up amounting to anything.

Kross' recent rivalry with Zayn has at least seen him featured on Raw a bit more, even if only in brief backstage segments and a clean loss at Night of Champions. The idea should be to have him beat Zayn in a rematch soon before climbing up the card.

It isn't realistic to assume that WWE would pair him off with Reigns for a storyline, but it would be a compelling dynamic and a fitting feud to reintroduce Reigns. Kross can attempt to play mind games with him and make him a more vulnerable character in the process.

Kross continuing to target Zayn and Reigns returning to come to his aid would be a simple set-up for a SummerSlam match between the two.

Gunther

Gunther has battled and beaten many top talent WWE has to offer with Reigns being one of the biggest exceptions so far.

Amazingly, they've never crossed paths and have wisely been kept apart for the past three years since Gunther originally arrived on the main roster. Gunther dominated the Intercontinental Championship scene and later captured the World Heavyweight Championship while Reigns was always occupied with the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship followed by The Bloodline.

With Gunther once again the World Heavyweight champ, Reigns could be gunning for his gold by SummerSlam.

Gunther will have his hands full with Goldberg at Saturday Night's Main Event, but his status for SummerSlam isn't certain. A Triple Threat with Rollins and Punk is possible, but they should be finishing their feud in a singles match while Gunther gets a high-profile title defense elsewhere on the card.

If Reigns priorities having a championship back in his possession and John Cena is busy with Cody Rhodes, Gunther automatically becomes his most likely opponent with the bout being an undeniable attraction for WWE's biggest party of the summer.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.