Roman Reigns will defend his World Heavyweight Championship for the second time since dethroning CM Punk at WrestleMania this weekend in Italy, facing Jacob Fatu in a rematch of their Backlash clash. But this time it will be Tribal Combat.

Tribal Combat has been a stipulation exclusively wrestled by Reigns, first in 2023 as he defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against Jey Uso, and then Solo Sikoa in January last year, with his status as “Tribal Chief” of the Bloodline also on the line. So if Fatu was to win then he would take both the World Heavyweight title and leadership of the family, while it has been said by Reigns that, upon his victory, Fatu will have to fall in line and serve him moving forward.

The poll put to Wrestling Inc. staff reflects a belief that he will be continuing as a lackey in the Bloodline, 86% voting for Reigns to retain the title and extend his Tribal Combat record to 3-0. Just 14% see Fatu taking the title from Reigns, and perhaps that’s because in the past six years only one man has proven capable of beating him with a world title on the line. Perhaps it’s also because Reigns got the win over Fatu previously having been able to bend the rules. Those rules will now be stripped entirely in a gimmick that has always favored the champion.

Written by Max Everett