Roman Reigns in AEW

AEW All In Texas and Roman Reigns returning to Monday Night Raw both happened in the same week. That got me thinking... what if Reigns debuted in AEW instead? Here is my stab at booking a Roman Reigns run in AEW, spanning from now until the end of the year. 

I am writing this on August 1st, so the latest episode of Dynamite saw Hangman Adam Page defeat Jon Moxley in a rematch to their All In AEW World Championship match. This match saw Darby Allin getting involved, with a storyline developing on the next day's episode of Collision. The only piece of TV I am going to rewrite is from Collision - I am going to have Claudio replace Moxley in his segments with Darby (the backstage and rafters attack). Moxley doesn’t appear on the show, in fact Moxley disappears from the weekly programming altogether. The rest of The Deathriders stories take place in the background of this, so to quickly go into that - the group continue to lose over the upcoming months and question their past actions, setting the stage for an eventual face turn. 

Our story officially starts at Forbidden Door, where Hiroshi Tanahashi is scheduled to have his last match in the UK against an undetermined opponent. Let’s turn this into an open challenge, answered by the one and only Roman Reigns. Due to trademarks and legal nonsense, Reigns makes his debut in AEW as Joe Anoai. Anoai hits Tanahashi with his signature spear to pick up the win after an old school style match built on the spectacle and shock of WWE's Roman Reigns in an AEW ring.

In the following episode of Dynamite, Anoai addresses the AEW crowd. He name drops WWE and The Rock, saying everything he does is for his family. Bringing up “The Final Boss”, Anoai explains that because of Dwayne being so powerful within that company, he feels he will never be the true “head of the table”. Therefore he has come to AEW to claim this company as his own and prove he’s the biggest and most powerful in his family - without needing any of their help. Anoai ensures the fans it is in AEW's mutual interest, as this company is leagues below what he is used to. He doubles down on the idea that he “comes from better, so he is better,” referencing both his wrestling lineage and his time in WWE. His promo is interrupted by Samoa Joe, who welcomes his Samoan cousin to AEW. After a verbal exchange and a pun about who the real "Samoa Joe" is, a challenge for All Out is set.

The match at All Out is hard hitting, maybe the hardest hitting of Anoai’s career. The two hit each other with every big samoan move possible, from Umaga’s Spike to Yokozuna’s Banzai Drop. Samoa Joe even hits Anoai with a People’s Elbow, but really lays it in when he drops the elbow down. During the closing moments of the match, a masked man attacks Samoa Joe to help Anoai pick up the win. The masked man reveals himself to be a returning Hook, turning on his stablemate. 

On Dynamite, Hook explains how he also comes from a famous wrestling heritage and it’s time he takes things to the next level in the name of his own family’s legacy - something he believes Anoai could be a vehicle for. On the Collision that follows, Anoai attacks Okada and makes it clear he is eyeing for the AEW Unified Championship. The next week, he lays out a promo stating that seeing the Don Callis Family holding unified belts was an image that looked all too familiar. Anoai lays out the challenge, which Okada accepts - making a match for the AEW Unified Championship at Wrestledream official. 

We fast forward a little bit, and the match at Wrestledream is underway - when eventually we get to the end match shenanigans. Hook provides a distraction for Anoai to get a cheap shot and a quick pin, but Okada kicks out. This prompts Don Callis to bring out Lance Archer, Kyle Fletcher, Josh Alexander, and Hechicero - all members of the family. Fletcher and Alexander grab Hook at one side of the ring, while Archer and Hechicero are at the other end to cover both sides. Suddenly, two masked men appear through the crowd and superkick Fletcher and Alexander to save Hook. As Hechicero takes a step to go help his stable members, Lance Archer turns on his family to lay him out from behind. The masked men reveal themselves to be Matt and Nick Jackson, the former EVPs. Okada, in the confusion of what is happening, turns around to eat a huge spear from Anoai and takes the pin. Anoai, Archer, Hook, and The Bucks stand tall together in the ring with Anoai holding his new title.

On Dynamite, The Bucks explain they’ve had enough dealing with the aftermath of losing their EVP status and they are going to help Anoai take over the company so they can reposition themselves back as authority figures. Lance Archer explains that he feels Anoai can do a lot more for his career than Callis can - questioning why a “family” would play favorites, mentioning Callis helping Okada and Fletcher in singles title pursuits but not himself. Archers lays out a challenge for the TNT Championship against Fletcher. The Bucks and Hook lay out a challenge for the AEW World Trios Championships against The Opps. Both challenges are accepted throughout the night and set for the Worlds End PPV. During this segment, they officially dub themselves “The Sovereign Guard”.

In the main event, Hangman Page defends and retains his title against Dustin Rhodes - continuing his “I defend against people who deserve it” run. Hangman takes to the mic after the match to thank the crowd for their love and support, he is attacked by none other than Joe Anoai (shocker, right?). Anoai completely lays Hangman out and grabs the mic, stating that being Unified Champion isn’t enough… he wants to be Undisputed.  

Over the next few episodes, the following major points happen: The Sovereign Guard lay havoc to anyone until Hangman agrees to the match - which he eventually does, but under special terms. Hangman explains that he feels it is important to have two separate top titles for the hard working wrestlers of AEW to fight for, while also expressing that he has no desire to be a tyrant like Anoai wants to be. He states if Anoai wins, he gets both belts. But if Hangman wins, Anoai vacates his Unified Championship belt and is unable to ever compete for it again. Anoai begrudgingly agrees but still shows massive confidence. Over the weeks, The Sovereign Guard beat down The Opps to weaken them ahead of their title match. 

Boom - The Worlds End PPV has The Sovereign Guard picking up both the TNT and the Trios Championships en route to the main event. Post trios match, Archer assists in beating down Powerhouse Hobbs and Shibata to leave them broken and injured (Samoa Joe is held back and forced to watch as his team is torn apart). The night looks like it belongs to Anoai.

The main event gets rolling. After a lengthy back and forth, there is a classic ref bump. Hangman attempts a Buckshot Lariat, to which Anoai side steps - pulling the ref with him, who takes the full force of the finisher. Archer and Hook make their way to the ring to capitalize but just before they enter the ring, Samoa Joe heads down the entrance ramp to attempt a save. Archer and Hook double back up the ramp, as The Bucks come from behind, and the numbers game gives them the advantage to beat Samoa Joe down. 

As this is happening, Hangman is setting a distracted Anoai up for a Buckshot Lariat. Hangman hits it as Anoai turns around, but the move is side swept. Anoai counters with his first ever Superman Punch in AEW, nailing it perfectly. Anoai gets in one of the corners to set up for a spear, signaling the end of the match - when he is pulled out of the ring by a man in a big black hoodie, who quickly reveals himself to be a returning Jon Moxley. 

As The Sovereign Guard get involved to interfere with this attack, Claudio and Wheeler Yuta appear from the crowd to help Moxley. They are joined by a recovering Samoa Joe to even the odds against The Sovereign Guard, as they brawl ringside and up the entrance ramp. Anoai rolls back into the ring to eat a Buckshot Lariat, as a new ref counts the three for Hangman Adam Page to retain his title. 

This pretty much ends the main story but let’s just quickly hit the “motives” and “fall out”. Moxley's entire heel title run was based on “you don’t truly want this like I do”, so him coming to stop Anoai from taking that title fits with this core character trait. Anoai wants the title simply for power and leverage, something that pisses Moxley off. Combine that with what I said at the start about The Deathriders starting to show remorse for their actions, a face turn (or at the least, a tweener) had its seeds planted along the way. And obviously the history between Mox and Anoai from The Shield days goes without saying.

I personally want Dynamite and Collision to have two separate rosters, so a tournament (Tony's favorite!) for the Unified Championship is used to showcase who will be in the main event scene for the show. The tournament is won by Scorpio Sky, showing the success of Skyflight. (I know I’m getting a little off topic here haha).

Anoai and The Sovereign Guard stay on Dynamite, where they feud with The Deathriders for a stretch of a couple PPVs. Hangman Adam Page moves on to continue using his title run to showcase the best of AEW, getting into a feud with MJF (who has been dealing with the Hurt Syndicate for the majority of this story).

 So what did you think? A little too much, too quick? Or high drama for an electric beginning to a Roman Reigns AEW run?