Roman Reigns and undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes defeated Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu of The Bloodline in a tag team match at Bad Blood on Saturday.
During the match, Jimmy Uso made his return to WWE programming for the first time since Sikoa kicked him out of The Bloodline in April.
Jimmy came to Reigns' aid after he was distracted by the presence of tag team partners Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa while attempting to execute a Superman punch on Sikoa.
With Sikoa momentarily distracted by his brother, Jimmy, Reigns finished the match with a spear.
After the match, Reigns and Jimmy were on their way out when Rhodes was attacked by all four members of The Bloodline, prompting the two to rush back into the ring and rescue The American Nightmare.
Reigns retrieved the fallen WWE Championship belt following the attack and handed it back to Rhodes just before the lights went out, signaling The Rock's return for the first time since WrestleMania 40.
Reigns and Rhodes were once mortal enemies, and they are just six months removed from facing each other in the main event at The Show of Shows, which Rhodes won to end Reigns' historic title run of over 1,300 days.
Following the loss at WrestleMania, Reigns took several months off, and Sikoa stepped up and named himself the new Tribal Chief of The Bloodline in his absence.
Sikoa kicked his brother, Jimmy Uso, and Paul Heyman out of the group while adding the likes of Tonga, Loa and Fatu. Sikoa also began to make disparaging remarks about Reigns.
All of that led up to Reigns making a surprise return to WWE programming at SummerSlam in August during the main event between Rhodes and Sikoa.
Rather than seeking revenge against The American Nightmare, Reigns attacked Sikoa and made him pay for his hostile takeover of The Bloodline.
Reigns began calling himself The Original Tribal Chief and aimed to take control of the group back from Sikoa, but Fatu viciously attacked him.
Sikoa got his requested WWE Championship rematch against Rhodes on the premiere episode of SmackDown on USA Network last month in a steel cage match, and The American Nightmare was again victorious.
The Bloodline attacked Rhodes afterward, but Reigns again returned and joined forces with The American Nightmare to wipe out the faction.
After that happened, SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis aimed to book a tag team match for Bad Blood, but Rhodes made it clear he was ready to move on from The Bloodline.
However, he interrupted a Reigns promo later in the night and helped him fight off The Bloodline again before signing the contract for a tag team bout against Sikoa and Fatu at Bad Blood.
There were question marks aplenty regarding whether Reigns and Rhodes would be able to co-exist, but they did so long enough on Saturday to get some payback on The Bloodline.
Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below.
Read 2 Comments
Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation