SmackDown Roster Faces Crisis As Roman Reigns Makes Fewer Appearances

Roman Reigns is now set to make fewer appearances for WWE. The terms of his new deal mean that the only men’s world champion in the company won’t be a regular on weekly TV and monthly premium live events. Roman will still be around for big builds and storylines, but his absence leaves the SmackDown roster with a depth crisis.

Dave Meltzer discussed the situation on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio. Roman Reigns isn’t scheduled for the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. The lack of depth after the top of the card becomes very apparent once Reigns is removed from the equation.

“But, it’s still a weird one that you unify a title and then have a guy, not on pay-per-views. It is very strange to do it that way. I don’t know what they’re going to do for Chicago. I guess they’re just going to do a Hell in a Cell match, right?

I don’t know who will be in it. Or, maybe there will be multiple ones. Maybe that’s where Seth and Cody come in, in Hell in a Cell. Is there anybody else? You look at that SmackDown roster and you take Roman Reigns out of the mix, I mean, I don’t even know what you do at house shows. If you have a weekend where you have two house shows a night instead of one, what do you really have? Even with the singular house shows where you can use guys from both brands, the top match that they’re advertising now for the house shows once Reigns stops going on house shows is Seth and Cody.

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It’s not a ton of depth on the SmackDown side. The number one champion would be Ricochet, I suppose, but the star is Drew. But then, who would Drew wrestle? Sheamus? Corbin? It’s not a lot of depth.”

Fans will have to wait and see if WWE can elevate anyone from the lower card to step up. There should be plenty of opportunities available for the events without Roman Reigns. With the rise of streaming and guaranteed money from their Peacock deal, WWE brass isn’t under much pressure to put on the best shows every time out.

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Transcription by Ringside News