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Did Roman Reigns’ Failed Wellness Test Force WWE To Re-Script Money In The Bank?

It was made public knowledge yesterday that Roman Reigns had been suspended by WWE after his first violation of their wellness policy. Roman will now sit out a 30 day suspension and return to WWE just two days before he faces Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose in the long awaited triple threat match at Battleground.

Whilst the set up from Money in the Bank does look like it ties together nicely so that the WWE Universe finally have the triple threat match they have wanted for the past two years, it is thought that WWE re-scripted the main event of Money in the Bank when it was made apparent that Roman Reigns had failed the wellness test.

It would have made a lot of sense for WWE to continue to back Roman Reigns heading into SummerSlam and allow him to keep the title, especially since Rollins is still not considered to be at the peak of full fitness following his injury.

Many predicted that Roman would retain his title at the event and walk into the biggest party of the summer in around eight weeks time with his reign still intact, but sadly this wasn’t meant to be. Dave Meltzer has already reported that WWE were made aware of this situation before Money in the Bank and could have easily reshuffled the show.

It is thought that the clean loss to Seth Rollins was his real punishment because it now means both Rollins and Reigns are joint number one contenders. It also means that the triple threat match that has already been announced for Battleground will probably not see Reigns regain the title since he has now put himself in a negative light with many people surrounding WWE.

This could also mean that Ambrose was never supposed to win the title in the first place, maybe he was supposed to win the briefcase earlier in the night and then continue to tease a cash-in on Roman in the coming weeks, but WWE could have had to pull him in at the last minute because they literally had no other choice.

As already stated Rollins is not at his best yet and there was no way WWE could allow Reigns to take the title with him whilst he was suspended, add that to the fact that WWE were aware that they definitely could not vacate the title again because it would be the third time in the title’s short history and only the second time since November.

This means that it is likely that Dean Ambrose was given very little notice about his impeding title win and this could be why it came as such a surprise to the WWE Universe. Much of the time WWE is still changing plans throughout the show so it wouldn’t be unheard of for Ambrose to have only found out merely hours before it happened.

Reigns other punishment will likely be the fact that if Seth Rollins wins the triple threat match in just over a month’s time, then he will become a three time World Champion and equal Roman’s current record with the title.

Although this all points negatively towards Roman, one good thing that did come out of that night is the fact that he is no longer the shortest reigning champion in the short history of the unified belt after Ambrose managed to defeat Rollins in record time to ensure his reign was around two minutes shorter than Roman’s record setting five minute 15 second reign from Survivor Series last year.

Many Ambrose fans dispute the fact that he was a last resort in the match and he could easily have won the match on his own merits, but the evidence speaks for itself and whether or not he won it based on his ability or the fact that he was WWE’s only option the main thing is the fact that Ambrose is the Champion.

Not only is Ambrose the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but he is the first former member of The Shield to become a triple crown champion in WWE and he has also managed to boost the ratings for Raw in his first day as Champion, so it seems regardless of the way that he became Champion, Ambrose is doing a fine job of it so far.

Phillipa Hopwood

I'm a freelance wrestling writer, sports journalism graduate and trainee wrestler. I write for many other sites including Sky Sports and even run my own wrestling promotion. It's nice to stay busy. My Twitter is @SCFC_WWE :D

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Phillipa Hopwood

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