Why did Roman Reigns withdraw from the 2024 WWE Draft? Exploring potential reasons

“The Tribal Chief” was originally listed in the Draft pool

Roman Reigns is one of the greatest professional wrestlers of the modern era, he has been in the company for over a decade and has been a top star of the company throughout his journey. He is a nine time champion in WWE which involves six world championship reigns.

Reigns has been in the prime of his career for the last three and a half years as a heel and set a number of monumental records. He reached great milestones with his title reign, making it the fourth longest title reign of all time. 

At WrestleMania 40 in the main event of the match, Roman Reigns defended his title against Cody Rhodes, where Roman lost his title to end his 1316 days reign. Roman was not seen then, and it was reported that Roman is filming a “heist comedy” with Eddie Murphy, Keke Palmer, and Pete Davidson. In the meantime, Roman was featured in the Draft pool but was pulled out before the Draft began.

Why was Roman Reigns not in WWE Draft 2024?

Roman Reigns was featured in the 2024 WWE Draft Night 1 eligible Superstars pool. However there was a rumor that Reigns has withdrawn his eligibility status from the WWE Draft. During the opening of the April 26, 2024 episode, Roman’s Wiseman Paul Heyman was interviewed backstage and was asked about the rumors. 

Heyman agreed that Roman has voluntarily removed himself from the Draft, saying that he doesn’t want to hog for the #1 spot as he would not be returning to the company in the foreseeable future. He also said that Reigns would only show up, once he decides it is the time.

Heyman also noted the importance of being the #1 pick and recalled Roman was the #1 pick in the last two drafts since the pandemic.

Paul Heyman says Roman Reigns is withdrawing and won’t be eligible for the WWE Draft.#SmackDown #WweDraft pic.twitter.com/BmEqgiwRvD

— Nav (@Navtreaks) April 27, 2024

As Roman got withdrawn from the Draft, ‘The EST’ Bianca Belair became the #1 Draft pick of this year’s Superstar Shakeup and she got retained on the SmackDown brand. On the other side, The Bloodline without Roman Reigns (Solo Sikoa, Paul Heyman & Tama Tonga) got drafted in the Third Round as the 11th pick to the SmackDown roster. The former Bloodline member, Jey Uso was Drafted to Raw as the second pick in the very first round.

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