On Upcoming SmackDown, WWE To Announce Roman Reigns Match For ‘Hell In A Cell’ Card

Roman Reigns is part of the second match that WWE will officially announce for the upcoming Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.

A note to readers: Since it hasn’t been confirmed on WWE.com yet, the details of the Roman Reigns match for WWE’s Hell In A Cell could be considered a spoiler, as it was announced during the SmackDown taping last night.

Since their main event match on this week’s Monday Night Raw ended in a draw (double count-out), what was supposed to be the final match between Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt ended without settling anything. Without revealing anything further about the upcoming episode of Thursday Night SmackDown, Wrestling Inc. reported the second official match for the upcoming HIAC PPV: Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt in a Hell in a Cell Match.

https://instagram.com/p/8M71_5Qhtg/

Ever since the Hell in a Cell Match spawned its own annual eponymous event in 2009, we have seen anywhere from one to three matches on the card being competed inside the giant steel structure. With Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker competing in the cell for the evening’s main event, both Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt will be making their first official appearance inside this particular entrapment.

Although the WWE Universe rejected the idea of Roman Reigns as a main event talent earlier this year, it appears as though WWE wants to try to push The Rock’s cousin again. To that end, in what Rolling Stone declared as potential Match of the Year candidate, Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt headlined Raw on Monday, a spot generally reserved for elite top-tier performers like John Cena or Seth Rollins. While it may seem normal for Reigns and Wyatt to be the central focus of a secondary show like Thursday Night SmackDown, it’s rare to see them closing out an episode of WWE’s flagship program.

But Monday’s main event was being billed as the match to finally put an end to the Roman Reigns/Bray Wyatt feud. Although they first ran into each other during the Wyatt Family/Shield feud a few years ago, the animosity was reignited in June when Bray cost Roman his chance to win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

When Reigns looked for revenge the following month at WWE Battleground, he was foiled by a “surprise” reunion of Bray and former Wyatt Family protege Luke Harper. At SummerSlam in August, Reigns teamed up with former Shield brother Dean Ambrose to defeat Wyatt and Harper in a tag match. Then, last month, Roman and Dean recruited Chris Jericho in a losing effort against the Wyatt Family (now featuring Braun Strowman) at Night of Champions in a six-man tag match.

With all allies for both men back in the locker room, the match between Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt was supposed to be the final chapter of this rivalry — or so the story went. The match was solid and the Reigns/Wyatt story was continued. But as a guy that the WWE wants to make into the next face of the company, was putting Roman Reigns in the main event going to help solve their recent ratings problems?

Whether or not it can be directly attributed to Roman Reigns or not, the ratings for this Monday’s Raw aren’t a good indication. As Wrestling Inc. reported, the episode headlined by Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt drew 3.333 million viewers. That’s a 0.5% decrease from last week’s show, which featured Seth Rollins being attacked by Kane. The show that closed with Roman Reigns was the lowest rated non-Holiday show since Monday Night Raw changed to the 3-hour format in June of 2012.

If this trend doesn’t turn around soon, you can expect to see less of Roman Reigns in the main event, and more of John Cena and the weekly WWE Intercontinental Championship open challenge. This week’s Raw opened with Cena and The New Day (and eventually the Dudley Boyz), and the first hour drew 3.476 million viewers. The final hour of the show, featuring Roman and Bray, only drew 3.188 million.

TONIGHT on @WWE #RAW: @WWERomanReigns faces @WWEBrayWyatt one-on-one LIVE on @USA_Network. pic.twitter.com/scYwLLvWT3

— WWE (@WWE) September 28, 2015

Will putting these two WWE Superstars into one of the most lethal matches the industry has to offer finally settle the score? You can watch Roman Reigns taking on Bray Wyatt in a Hell in a Cell Match at this year’s WWE Hell in a Cell event, available on the WWE Network (or your local pay-per-view provider) on October 25.

[Image credit JP Yim/Getty Images]