WWE Suspends Roman Reigns (for Real, It Seems)

In news that might initially sound like the setup for a storyline angle of some sort, WWE today announced that Roman Reigns has been suspended.

The 31-year-old Reigns, whose real name is Joe Anoa'i, will be suspended for 30 days due to a violation of WWE's wellness policy. No specifics were shared beyond that.

Wellness policy violations cover things like drug and steroid use, though it's unclear if either of those was the case here. Amusingly, it's a picture of Reigns that sits atop WWE.com's page explaining the policy.

"I apologize to my family, friends, and fans for my mistake in violating WWE’s wellness policy," Reigns said in a tweet this afternoon. "No excuses. I own it."

Reigns lost the WWE Championship at this week's Money in the Bank event. Raw the next night then set up a match with him, Seth Rollins, and new champion Dean Ambrose for the next PPV, Battleground. That event is scheduled for July 24, just after Reigns's suspension will be up; it's unclear at this point whether or not he'll still be involved in the match. He'll be missing virtually all TV appearances prior to it, which would suggest he's out.

While the suspension seems real enough, with WWE it's never clear what is or is not an angle. Wrestlers are fake-fired at the same frequency that someone replaces a roll of paper towels, and Vince McMahon famously "sold" Raw to Donald Trump at one point--complete with fake press release--which impacted real-world stock prices.

The apology seems to indicate this is a legitimate suspension, but it remains to be seen if it ends up being used as part of a future storyline.