WWE May Have Subtly Confirmed Roman Reigns' Next Opponent And It Is Not Who You Think

The ending of last night's Monday Night RAW followed up phenomenally on the shocking conclusion to Night One of SummerSlam. Top names like CM Punk, LA Knight, and Roman Reigns continued not just their conflict with Seth Rollins, Bronson Reed, Bron Breakker, and Paul Heyman, but also did so among themselves.

The babyfaces' massive egos continue to work to their detriment as Seth Rollins exploits the fact that they just can't seem to work together cohesively. Rollins now being World Heavyweight Champion only divides them all further because The Architect has got what everyone wants, but for themselves.

This week's RAW left us with more questions than answers. With Roman Reigns not having taken a vacation post-SummerSlam–a pleasant surprise indeed–unless tonight's beatdown is what may cause another extended absence (let's not jinx this), one of the questions with a clearer, if surprising answer may have been answered last night. So, who will be Roman Reigns' next opponent?

Following the devastating Tsunamis he delivered last night on RAW, the answer has to be "Big" Bronson Reed. The Auszilla is someone who may have been perceived as a rather far-fetched and underwhelming opponent for Roman Reigns until a few weeks ago, and certainly the least exciting matchup for Reigns in his conflict with The Vision.

Now, Reed is literally and figuratively not just a massive mountain for Reigns to climb, but an exciting one too.

Reed stealing Roman Reigns' wrestling boots last week on RAW was a brilliant way to send a subtle message that The Vision, and The Auszilla in particular, wants Reigns gone. But this time, not just for a few months. Rather than Reigns being gone for a little while before he makes another earth-shattering return, The Vision wants him gone for good.

Bronson Reed, in particular, also implied that he is not coming just for Reigns, but for his spot. Reed, as is apparent, thinks he can fill The Tribal Chief's boots. When he hung Reigns' boots around his neck at SummerSlam, he made it clear that he wants Roman Reigns to indeed hang them up himself, or in clearer terms, retire.

Following his assault on The Head of the Table last night, Bronson Reed, having been dubbed "The Tribal Thief" by Paul Heyman earlier in the night, once again stole Reigns' boots.

The Oracle, in the opening segment on RAW, had also dubbed the act of Reed wearing Reigns' boots around his neck at SummerSlam as adorning the "Shoelafala," an obvious and rather ingenious play on the word "Ulafala." It is the traditional Samoan necklace that has been at the center of The Bloodline saga and Roman Reigns' post-2020 run as The Tribal Chief.

While The Wiseman continues to weave wizardry with words, Reed continues to fill his wardrobe with amazing sneakers. Even if he can't fill Reigns' boots, those sneakers would surely fetch quite a bit of cash on an e-commerce platform, especially if marketed as collectible items previously worn by Roman Reigns.

Reed, though, would regret not getting his hands on the amazing pair of sneakers Reigns wore at SummerSlam–an undeniably fire fit.

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Roman Reigns may be out of action again for a while, but that's the perfect setup for a Reed-Reigns match

The beatdown Roman Reigns suffered last night had a lot of parallels to the one he suffered on the post-WrestleMania edition of RAW. The former Undisputed WWE Universal Champion came out to combat Seth Rollins only AFTER CM Punk had been decimated by The Vision (that's The Tribal Chief for you).

Just as we thought the conquering babyface was about to one-up his archnemesis, he was outplayed, outsmarted, and outnumbered courtesy of Rollins' goons.

Last night was the first time Rollins and Reigns came face-to-face since the RAW after 'Mania, and the vicious assault that had followed that confrontation had written The Tribal Chief out of action for months. Precedent suggests that tonight may very well have been another injury angle to write Roman Reigns off TV, especially considering Reigns' upcoming movie project.

However, even when he goes off TV and obviously does eventually come back to another monstrous pop, it would make sense for Reigns to go after The Tribal Thief for all the reasons delineated above. Moreover, it would be huge for Bronson and elevate him to newer heights.

From the other lens, the Reed-Reigns conflict could be The Auszilla's well-deserved moment in the limelight, while also serving as a stepping stone (more like a megalith) for Roman Reigns, who could then proceed to wrestle Bron Breakker and/or Seth Rollins in potentially massive matches. After having beaten Bronson Reed, it would then make sense for the OTC to take the rare loss.