WWE reportedly has long-term plans in place for Roman Reigns to face Jacob Fatu, which is why they have been kept apart thus far.
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), WWE is building toward a big showdown between Reigns and Fatu, and that is part of the reason why Fatu is being kept off WWE programming right now.
Meltzer noted that WWE is having Fatu “completely avoid” Reigns and doesn’t want him to bump for The Original Tribal Chief, unlike the other Bloodline members in Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa.
At SummerSlam, Reigns appeared for the first time since dropping the WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40.
During Reigns’ absence, Sikoa appointed himself as Tribal Chief and took some major shots at Reigns, so Roman responded by spearing Sikoa and costing him in his WWE title match against Rhodes at SummerSlam.
Fatu made a sizable impact during the match as well, hitting Rhodes with a splash through the announce table. However, Fatu appeared to injure his leg and didn’t get involved again, as he watched from outside the ring while Reigns took out Solo.
It remains unclear if Fatu was actually injured or just selling the effects of the move, but PWInsider Elite (h/t Mukherjee) reported that there are no internal concerns about Fatu’s health in WWE, and he is expected to return to in-ring action by the end of August.
Meltzer suggested that WWE wants to do Reigns vs. Sikoa before getting to Reigns vs. Fatu, meaning there should be plenty of time for Fatu to get healed up and ready to face Reigns.
