Roman Reigns appears to be WWE’s biggest crossover name for AAA moving forward, but exactly when and where he’ll make his first appearance remains a mystery.
The closing moments of the August 3 episode of WWE Raw fueled speculation after AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio was shown approaching Reigns backstage, teasing some type of future involvement between “The Tribal Chief” and the promotion.
Speaking on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio at F4WOnline.com, Dave Meltzer said he has been told Reigns is not currently scheduled for either AAA x NXT Heatwave in Edinburg, Texas, on August 30 or TripleMania 34 Night 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on September 11.
“Well, obviously they’re gonna put him on a show,” Meltzer stated. “Now, what I can tell you is it is not going to be the MGM Grand show. My two first picks were the MGM Grand show or the show in Edinburg, Texas, which goes against All In, because those made sense as far as they’re the next two upcoming.”
He continued, “I only know that he is not on the Texas show, and he’s not on the MGM Grand show.”
Meltzer went on to speculate that WWE and AAA could instead save Reigns for the upcoming Worlds Collide event in Chicago, noting that pairing him with CM Punk on the card would make sense given the circumstances.
“It could be Chicago because that’s a big one. They’re running the Allstate Arena. I figured Punk would work that show. I didn’t figure Roman would work that show, but they might. And I’m sure Punk will. I’m not sure, but I certainly expect Punk will work the show. Maybe they want Roman to work the show.”
He also pointed to the event’s direct competition with AEW’s pay-per-view in the same city as another reason WWE could stack the card.
“It is head-to-head with AEW’s pay-per-view in the same city. Obviously, they’re gonna do some sort of a special on it, whether it be YouTube or elsewhere, Netflix, something somewhere. Probably YouTube.”
“The big thing is that they’re gonna go head-to-head with the AEW pay-per-view in the same city, and they want to draw a bigger crowd, and they probably will. They’re in the Allstate Arena and AEW’s in the NOW Arena, so they’re in a bigger arena to begin with. They’re a little bit ahead in ticket sales, even though it’s not a pay-per-view going against a pay-per-view.”
While Meltzer stressed he has not been told Reigns is scheduled for Worlds Collide, he believes the appearance would make sense if WWE wants to maximize interest in the event.
“But CM Punk in Chicago is gonna draw. That’s just the reality of the situation. And you add Roman, you know. But I don’t know that. Like I said, I don’t know Roman is on that show. It would make sense for him to be on that show.”
