WWE's The Bloodline Saga Has Finally Run Out of Gas
The Bloodline is over five years removed from its formation, and yet it feels as if WWE's obsession with the storyline hasn't waned whatsoever.
That's despite The Bloodline being as bland and as boring in November 2025 as it's ever been, and there's nothing the company can do creatively that would make the act interesting again.
Along with Triple H taking the reins from Vince McMahon and WWE's merger with TKO, Roman Reigns played a pivotal role in the recent boom period for the promotion as undisputed WWE universal champion.
The Tribal Chief held the gold for nearly four years and was involved in several must-see stories that translated into big business on the attendance front as well as mainstream relevance, merchandise and more.
Raw is now on Netflix, Saturday Night's Main Event was revived as a quarterly special on NBC (before becoming Peacock-exclusive) and plenty of pop culture celebrities and athletes wanted in on the fun.
That isn't to say WWE isn't still enjoying success to some degree, but a dip in viewership and attendance numbers has clearly been a cause for concern for fans and officials alike.
That hasn't stopped WWE overrelying on Reigns and the remnants of the faction as prominently featured focal points on Raw and SmackDown. But it's time WWE woke up to the reality that the Bloodline saga has run out of gas.
Roman Reigns and The Usos Already Completed Their Character Arcs as a Unit
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The Bloodline worked so well as a main event attraction for as long as it did because of WWE's ability to tell individual stories with everyone involved and give fans a reason to invest in them.
Roman Reigns' heel turn was masterfully executed, but just as compelling was Jey Uso being forced to join his cousin after failing to defeat him for the Universal Championship in late 2020. That ultimately led to Jey breaking away from The Bloodline and becoming the popular singles star he is today.
The best story WWE could have told after The Tribal Chief finally lost all of his hardware was him reuniting with Jey and acknowledging everything he's achieved on his own. That happened heading into Survivor Series 2024, culminating in Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn and CM Punk beating Solo Sikoa's new Bloodline in WarGames.
Fast-forward a year, and Reigns and The Usos are again teasing tension with one another on Raw. Jey adopting a more aggressive edge is refreshing, but him having to prove himself to Reigns has been done before, as well as The Usos going their separate ways.
It's been the top angle on Raw for the last two months and virtually nothing significant has stemmed from it, beyond a potential team-up in WarGames against The Vision. WWE experimenting with Jey as a main event wrestler has run its course for the time being, and Jimmy should be nowhere near the world title picture, either.
The Usos should be a full-fledged tandem again while Reigns focuses on his own feuds and character development.
The MFTs Are Much Less Interesting Bloodline with Minimal Character Development
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Raw revolving around Roman Reigns and The Usos has been enough of an issue, but the state of SmackDown has been far worse with The MFTs being a primary focal point for the past several months.
It was evident by the end of 2024 that, despite WWE's best efforts, Solo Sikoa was simply not cut out to be a leader.
His version of The Bloodline with Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and Jacob Fatu paled in comparison to previous iterations, and Reigns beating Sikoa to essentially end The Bloodline on Raw's Netflix premiere at the onset of 2025 should have served as the climax of the story.
Instead, Sikoa recruited more members into his ranks, including JC Mateo (a.k.a. Jeff Cobb) and Talla Tonga (a.k.a. Hikuleo). Fatu eventually being exiled was the best thing for him, but it resulted in Sikoa having an inferior faction with five total members that don't pose any sort of a threat.
Their recent repackaging—complete with face paint—hasn't made much of a difference to their presentation and overall aura. They've been stuck in midcard purgatory with their sights set on the United States Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship. Not a single match they've had has been memorable in the slightest.
Fatu, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rey Fenix, The Motor City Machine Guns and others all being stuck in the MFT vortex has hurt their respective stocks considerably. The stable's lack of character development and abysmal booking further damage whatever value the Bloodline name has left.
Other Superstars Could Benefit from The Bloodline's Exposure
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With all of the television time WWE has devoted to the Bloodline saga over the years, countless other Superstars could benefit from receiving that same amount of exposure, let alone a fraction of it.
The Bloodline has helped elevate a number of names since its inception, not just themselves. Sami Zayn went from being a directionless undercard competitor to a world championship-caliber character thanks to the time he spent with the group in 2022-23, and Cody Rhodes was cemented as the face of the franchise after feuding with and beating Roman Reigns in 2024.
However, WWE continuing to feature them so prominently and consistently has come at the expense of the rest of the roster.
There's only so much television time to go around on Raw and SmackDown, and several stars are barely booked from week to week while The Bloodline dominates the mix. Reigns and The Usos are undoubtedly draws, but there's a way to spotlight them and simultaneously give others an opportunity to get over with the audience.
WWE should be looking for its next big breakout star or storyline to carry it into the future, not relying as heavily on an angle that hasn't produced anything worthwhile in what feels like forever.
WWE Missed the Boat on Biggest Bloodline Bout It Could Have Booked
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After Roman Reigns decisively defeated Solo Sikoa in Tribal Combat on Raw's Netflix premiere in January, the only intriguing direction The Bloodline could have gone in at that point without finishing up entirely would have been for The Tribal Chief and The Rock to collide at WrestleMania 41.
For years, Reigns vs. Rock was a fabled fantasy match that many thought would never come to fruition due to the latter's infrequent appearances on WWE TV in the late 2010s and early 2020s. However, his 2024 return and alliance with Reigns in the leadup to WrestleMania 40 gave fans hope it could be in the cards after all.
Reigns and Rock accidentally coming to blows during their tag team match on Night 1 of WrestleMania 40 wisely laid the groundwork for what should have been a massive bout between them on The Grandest Stage of Them All the following year.
Rock subsequently disappeared from programming, but in his absence, Reigns resurfaced as a beloved anti-hero hunting down Solo Sikoa and his new Bloodline.
Whether Rock was revealed as the ultimate leader of The Bloodline or not, Reigns vs. The Great One was the matchup that made the most sense for WrestleMania 41 earlier this year. That first episode of Raw on Netflix should have been where they kicked off the build, but instead they embraced in a hug after Reigns beat Sikoa in anticlimactic fashion.
Reigns went on to face CM Punk and Seth Rollins in a Triple Threat at 'Mania, while Rock (in storyline) was credited with orchestrating John Cena's epic heel turn and betrayal of Cody Rhodes at Elimination Chamber on March 1. He has not been seen on WWE TV since then.
It isn't impossible for WWE to revisit Reigns vs. Rock when WrestleMania is back in Las Vegas next April or at a future installment of The Show of Shows, but it doesn't look likely, nor would it be anywhere near as appealing as it once was.
There's No Clear Endgame
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Perhaps the most alarming worry with The Bloodline among fans is that there's no clear endgame to anything they're involved with at the moment.
Jey Uso fell short of winning the vacant World Heavyweight Championship at Saturday Night's Main Event. As one of WWE's most popular performers, there's little to be gained from him going heel, but he also doesn't belong in the main event mix for the foreseeable future.
If his ongoing issues with Roman Reigns are leading to another one-on-one outing between them, Jey would need to win after already losing to Reigns three times since 2020. There are much more exciting opponents The OTC could and should be facing at WrestleMania 42, and it's doubtful Reigns vs. Jey happens anywhere before then.
On the SmackDown side of things, Solo Sikoa and The MFTs just seem to exist without a greater goal or purpose. Sikoa has hinted at wanting to reclaim the United States Championship and capturing the WWE Tag Team Championship, but both would be a step backward for the blue brand as a whole.
On both Raw and SmackDown, The Bloodline are victims of Triple H's formulaic booking, wrestling in matches that don't matter or accomplish anything long-term.
The sooner WWE comes to the realization the Bloodline era is over, the better off all of them will be and the company can move forward without them firmly at the forefront.
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.
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