Roman Reigns May Not Return To WWE Alone

Former WWE employee Tommy Carlucci believes Roman Reigns might not return from his hiatus alone.

The OTC fell victim to a massive betrayal from his former Wiseman, Paul Heyman, at WrestleMania 41. The Hall of Famer delivered a low blow to his ex-Tribal Chief to align himself with Seth Rollins.

The following Monday on RAW, CM Punk and Reigns attempted to get revenge on The Visionary and Heyman. However, they were destroyed by the Bron Breakker, who revealed himself to be another member of Rollins’ new faction.

The OTC has since been absent. Meanwhile, Rollins and Heyman recruited another member to their group, Bronson Reed.

While discussing the potential directions for the new Mr. Money in the Bank’s group on The Last Word, former WWE Senior Director of International Television Tommy Carlucci suggested Reigns might return from his hiatus with some backup.

I don’t know where it’s going. I think it’s going to go for a while with this whole Wiseman thing. And maybe Roman Reigns coming back is going to bring some boys with him and start with The Wiseman. I mean, it’s wide open right now. [8:05 onwards]

Roman Reigns is reportedly a target for TKO’s budget cuts

TKO has taken several measures to cut costs in recent months. Multiple WWE Superstars were let go, including Carlito, Sonya Deville, and Carmella.

Recent reports suggested Roman Reigns may also fall victim to the company’s budget cuts. While Hugo Savinovich of Lucha Libre Online pointed out that TKO would not release the former Undisputed WWE Champion, he claimed they want to renegotiate his current $15 million deal.

While they won’t outright release him, he won’t be making $15 million per year anymore…Now, why $15 million? Let me break it down. Roman Reigns’ base salary is $5 million. But then there are add-ons—pay-per-views, video game deals like WWE 2K, promotional appearances, merchandise royalties (he earns 30% on merch, which is huge), and special bonuses like appearances in Saudi Arabia. Plus, he earns a cut from ticket sales. All of this adds up to $15 million a year…. TKO is saying: Roman’s not around full-time. Why are we paying him so much? So, they want to renegotiate.

Tommy Carlucci has also previously predicted that Reigns would have to take a significant pay cut due to TKO’s policy.