Roman Reigns to Return to WWE on Raw, Team with The Shield in Tag Team Match

WWE announced Monday that Roman Reigns will return to the ring on Raw after a viral infection sidelined him for nearly a month.  

Reigns will team with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose in a six-man tag against The Miz, Cesaro and Sheamus.

Reigns was originally scheduled to team with Rollins and Ambrose in a reunion of The Shield at TLC against The Miz, Braun Strowman, Sheamus, Cesaro and Kane, but things were thrown into disarray just two days before the pay-per-view.

WWE announced that both Reigns and Bray Wyatt were dealing with "medical issues" resulting in their being replaced on the card.

In place of Reigns, Raw general manager and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle competed in his first WWE match in 11 years and turned in a winning effort alongside Rollins and Ambrose.

There were plenty of question marks regarding Reigns' status and recovery timetable since WWE didn't publicly announce the exact nature of his illness.

Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that the illness was viral, adding that The Big Dog was expected to make his return prior to the Nov. 19 Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Prior to Reigns' missing time with an illness, there was talk regarding whether The Shield would have another match together as a unit at Survivor Series in addition to its bout at TLC.

It is difficult to say what the original plans called for, but it was announced the night after TLC that Raw Tag Team champions Rollins and Ambrose would face SmackDown Tag Team champions The Usos at Survivor Series due to the brand warfare theme of the show.

With Raw somewhat weakened because multiple Superstars were suffering from illnesses, SmackDown Live struck on the episode of Raw following TLC.

The red brand was under siege with SmackDown Superstars raiding the backstage area and beating down every Raw Superstar in their path.

That put Raw in a vulnerable situation, especially since it was unclear if its top star would be back in time for Survivor Series.

Now that Reigns has returned, however, Raw looks far stronger and prepared to handle whatever SmackDown throws in its direction.

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