At WWE SummerSlam, Roman Reigns retained his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in a Tribal Combat match against his cousin, Jey Uso. The closing moments of the match say Jey’s real-life brother, Jimmy, return from injury and, cloaked in all-black clothing, attack his tag team partner from behind on the outside, setting him up for defeat at the hands of Reigns. On Smackdown, Jimmy tried to explain his actions by saying he did not want to see his brother corrupted by power like Reigns has become, and therefore did not want to see him win the title of Tribal Chief.
These are just the latest twists in the ongoing saga that is The Bloodline family drama, but it does not appear that any of the latest storyline developments will culminate in a match, or matches, at WWE Payback on September 2 in Pittsburgh. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Reigns is not currently scheduled to compete on the card and that the company will likely be holding off on doing Jimmy versus Jey Uso until a more significant premium live event.
The report does not make any reference to Solo Sikoa or Paul Heyman’s possible involvement on the card, but it is possible the newest Bloodline member competes in order to give The Bloodline some presence on the show. Sikoa’s last televised WWE TV match took place on the August 4 episode of Smackdown, where he lost to Jey in singles action.
While The Bloodline may not be in marquee action, the same does not appear to be said for two of WWE’s most popular female competitors. After battling to a double count-out this past Monday night on Raw, Adam Pearce declared that, at some point, Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus would face off inside a steel cage. A package aired on this week’s episode of WWE Main Event, available on Hulu, advertising the bout as going down at WWE Payback, but there has not been any other confirmation from WWE that it is taking place then.