Roman Reigns Was Pulled From June Raw Dates Because He Is Not Appearing at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia

The mystery behind Roman Reigns being removed from four consecutive June WWE Raw episodes has been explained by Dave Meltzer — and the reason is straightforward. Reigns is not scheduled to appear at Night of Champions on June 27 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, making the June television appearances that would typically build toward that event unnecessary.

“Regarding Roman Reigns being pulled from June TV dates that were announced, the reason we were told is that he’s not going to be on the Saudi Arabia PPV and thus there was no reason to do the TVs building that show. If he loses the title next week, of course that would be a change and there will be more to the story. If he retains, that’s probably all it is. But Reigns is no longer scheduled for any television in June,” Meltzer wrote. Reigns has been removed from the June 1 Raw in Turin, June 8 in Paris, June 15 in Baltimore, and June 22 in London, while remaining scheduled for the May 11 Raw in Knoxville — the night after Backlash.

Reigns Promised to Appear All Summer After WrestleMania 42 Making the June Absence Noteworthy

The development is notable given that Reigns explicitly told fans at the WrestleMania 42 Night Two post-show that he would not be a part-timer during his World Heavyweight Championship reign and would be appearing throughout the summer. His absence from all four June Raw dates — even if explained by the Saudi Arabia scheduling — represents a significant gap in that commitment. Reigns defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Jacob Fatu at WWE Backlash on May 9 in Tampa.