Original Roman Reigns HIAC Plans, Bryan's WWE Writing Role, AEW-Pac Update

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

Reigns Reportedly Had Different Match Plans for HIAC

Roman Reigns beat Jey Uso in a Hell in a Cell I Quit match at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view last month to retain the Universal Championship, but that reportedly wasn't WWE's initial plan.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Reigns was originally supposed to defend the title in a Fatal 4-Way match against "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman and one other Superstar.

WWE did seem to be gearing up for a Reigns vs. Wyatt feud after Reigns beat Wyatt and Strowman at Payback to win the Universal Championship, but it was dropped when Wyatt and Strowman were both moved from SmackDown to Raw as part of the WWE draft.

Reigns successfully defended the title against Strowman on Braun's final SmackDown appearance before going to Raw, but there was no resolution to what looked like a budding rivalry between Reigns and Wyatt.

While Reigns vs. The Fiend would have been interesting, it is fair to say that Reigns vs. Uso has blown just about everything else in wrestling out of the water over the past couple of months.

Reigns beat Jey at Clash of Champions when his brother, Jimmy Uso, threw in the towel. Then, Reigns made Jey say "I quit" at Hell in a Cell by locking Jimmy in a guillotine choke.

The Tribal Chief laid down the gauntlet after that and forced Jey to choose between falling in line or leaving the family, and Jey chose the former last week when he brutally attacked Daniel Bryan on Reigns' behalf.

WWE can always go back to Reigns vs. The Fiend at some point down the line, but Reigns vs. Jey Uso was huge in terms of setting up an important storyline that figures to continue playing out for many months to come.

Bryan's Reported Goal as WWE Writer

Daniel Bryan is reportedly using his position on the SmackDown writing team for the betterment of the entire roster.

According to Meltzer (h/t Upton), Bryan has been part of SmackDown creative for quite some time and has the goal of getting as many people over as he possibly can.

Meltzer noted that Bryan's mentality is the opposite of prior generations since most who acted as a wrestler and booker at the same time in the past in wrestling promotions across the country and the world tended to use their power and influence to put themselves in the top spot.

It is already clear that Bryan isn't doing that. After taking several months off to be with his wife and their newborn child, Bryan returned a few weeks ago and had his first major match since returning last week on SmackDown.

Bryan faced Uso in a qualifying match for SmackDown's Survivor Series elimination team, and Bryan took a clean loss.

After the match, Uso destroyed Bryan at the behest of Reigns, which resulted in Bryan getting taken away on a gurney.

In addition to helping Jey get over as a ruthless heel, Bryan set the stage for a potential big-time feud if the plan is for him to go after Reigns and the Universal Championship when he returns.

While that would result in Bryan being in a big spot, he would likely put Reigns over in that scenario as well and add to the impressive resume that Reigns has been building.

Bryan is deserving of being on top and winning a world title at any given time, but his unselfishness and willingness to help others is what truly makes him an asset for WWE.

Update on Pac's Situation in AEW

After being off AEW programming for roughly eight months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pac returned on Wednesday's episode of Dynamite.

While Pac wasn't there live at Dynamite, AEW showed a vignette of the British star, and it was strongly suggested that he had become unhinged after being in isolation for so long.

It is unclear when Pac will return in the flesh, but Meltzer (h/t Upton) noted that the continuation of the pandemic puts both AEW and Pac in a tough spot.

Per Meltzer, Pac can be brought to the United States, but whenever he returns to the United Kingdom, he will be obligated to quarantine for two weeks.

If Pac plans to go back and forth regularly, he may have to wait until the pandemic weakens. Otherwise, Pac would likely have to set up shop in the United States until the quarantine requirement is dropped.

The fact that AEW aired a vignette suggests there are immediate plans in place for him, and his return would provide a huge boost to the roster and the promotion overall.

Pac is one of the best all-around performers AEW has to offer and he would give AEW another legitimate main eventer, which is something that benefits any wrestling company.

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