What the WWE has done with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline storyline has been nothing short of remarkable. Between Reigns and his family members in Jey and Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa and his wise man Paul Heyman, they've made WWE television engaging for three years now with this long term storyline. But all good things must come to an end eventually. So, when will The Bloodline storyline end?
Is The Bloodline storyline close to ending?
The Bloodline story has had about every intricate piece of storytelling imaginable, from drama, suspense, love and betrayal. WWE has certainly gotten all their money's worth out of this story, making it not only last longer than anyone expected, but be greater than anyone expected.
The story has taken many turns over three years, where Reigns, who has been the centerpiece behind all of it, has had an unprecedented run as what is now being called the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion. We've seen the story go to what many believe has been its peak thus far in Sami Zayn joining and then being kicked out of The Bloodline, leading eventually to the first night main event of Zayn and Kevin Owens against The Usos for the tag team titles.
We've seen Reigns overcome one opponent after another, some several times, including Bloodline family member, Jey Uso just as of SummerSlam for the second time. Their match on Saturday felt like the storyline was coming full circle given that Reigns and Jey's match back at the 2020 Hell in a Cell was the genesis of The Bloodline storyline. Whether Jey won or not was irrelevant, as most thought he wouldn't to begin with. What seemed to matter was that this story was getting closer to coming to a close, yet with how the match concluded, that may not be the case.
“Bottom of the third. We are just figuring this stuff out,” Paul Heyman told Wrestlezone's Bill Pritchard during the SummerSlam press conference when asked what inning The Bloodline storyline was in after the event. “We haven’t even hit our stride yet. If you want to take the arrogant approach, I’m sure Paul Levesque (Triple H) will tell you all the box office records that have been smashed. Every Friday night when we show up at SmackDown, we’re always told, ‘This is the largest gate of this and the largest gate of that.’ ‘This is the largest premium live event.’ ‘This is the largest WrestleMania.’ Okay, we can sit there and point to what clearly drove all this, and it’s the Bloodline, and when I say the Bloodline, I mean the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns.”
Who knows whether to ever truly trust the wise man Paul Heyman, as he's typically working full time, never easing up on his gimmick. But nonetheless, it's an interesting notion to believe that this storyline is far from over.
WWE wants to stretch out The Bloodline storyline
From what Heyman said about breaking box office records, it would be easy to believe that WWE wants to milk this storyline for all its worth. Since Levesque took over as head of creative, WWE has taken the approach to long form storytelling, making their narratives more drawn out and full of depth and character development. Which, as most fans would probably agree, has been a welcomed surprise in comparison to the storytelling WWE was doing prior, where Vince McMahon would seemingly change things without hesitation, giving no time for stories to fully develop.
But The Bloodline is beginning to enter the territory where things are starting to get overbooked, even a little convoluted. Jimmy Uso's turn on his twin brother Jey to cost him the title at SummerSlam wasn't surprising, as it had been rumored well before the event. However, his turn feels a bit contrived.
How many forms of betrayal will this storyline have when all is said and done? This is pro-wrestling, where betrayal is a natural form of narrative to use, but after three years and already a couple turns by Zayn and The Uso's themselves, this feels like it's starting to run its course now.
NO WAY!!!! 😲😲😲😲😲#TribalCombat #SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/7QtfyEchG9
— WWE (@WWE) August 6, 2023
Time to finish the story
There is still intrigue, however, that's undeniable. Most will be tuning into SmackDown on Friday night hoping to have Jimmy explain why he turned on his brother. The question is where does Reigns now fit into this? If indeed this Bloodline story is just in the “bottom of the third inning” as Heyman spoke, then Reigns is still a primary factor, along with Sikoa. And Sikoa himself, in some form or fashion, is another betrayal just waiting to happen eventually.
Thankfully, this storyline is full of layers and viable characters to make it work still for the time being. However, it just feels as if WWE is trying to stretch it out as far as it can go to where it loses steam in the end as it was overplayed. The feeling also goes that WWE is attempting to prolong this until WrestleMania 40, which is eight months from now. That is, of course, only rumored fan speculation with the hopes of Cody Rhodes facing Reigns in a rematch from this year's WrestleMania, which could ironically not only finish his story, but The Bloodline's as well. Can WWE make this Bloodline story last that long?
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