WWE’s Bloodline Civil War Storyline and Cinematic Era Explained for Casual Fans (2024)

Despite its larger-than-life characters and over-the-top melodrama, professional wrestling has never been viewed in the same light as standard television programming. Everyone knows it is scripted, rather than a traditional sporting event, but it will continue to get snubbed at the Emmys because it just doesn't properly fit into any of the categories. No matter how popular WWE becomes, pro wrestling is still viewed as low-brow and simplistic. After all, what could be so interesting about grown men fighting in tights, as parodied on the South Park episode "W.T.F."?

Casual fans with that mindset would be astonished to discover the shift in storytelling that has dominated WWE programming over the past few years. WWE's Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque, better known by his ring name Triple H, explained it best by stating WWE is not a sport, but a movie or TV show about a sport. Now, more than ever, stories in WWE have layers and depth that are more akin to major franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Game of Thrones. There are still simple show-to-show plots, sure, but at the core of this new "cinema era" is The Bloodline Saga — an epic tale of a wrestling family's dynasty, treachery in the quest for glory and power, and drama that blurs the line between reality and fiction. If anything is going to draw in the casual audience, it is this angle, but to jump on board right now would be confusing to new viewers. To help catch you up, here is a breakdown of what you need to know about The Bloodline's history and where this storyline is going next.

The Rise of Roman Reigns: From The Shield to The Bloodline's Tribal Chief

The central figure of The Bloodline Saga is Roman Reigns (real name Leati Joseph Anoa'i), who you may recognize from a few appearances in movies such as . That film briefly showcased some of his Samoan history as he teamed up with his cousin, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, but it didn't even scratch the surface of what was to come, as The Bloodline wouldn't officially form for another two years. But the seeds had been planted long before then, starting with Reigns' debut on the WWE main roster in 2012 as part of a three-man group known as The Shield, alongside Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, pictured above. They destroyed everyone in their path and quickly became one of the most dominant and popular factions ever. In no time, Reigns was positioned to be the next big star of the industry, so it was time for them to split up, with Rollins turning on Reigns by hitting him in the back with a steel chair — an incredibly important marker in this story.

Fans saw through WWE's strategy of making Reigns the face of the company and rejected it. Other babyfaces (heroic characters) were more popular fan favorites at the time, but WWE continued to "shove Reigns down their throats," as fans would complain. Ironically, WWE's attempts to have Reigns inherit the "top guy" throne from the previous era's franchise player, John Cena, resulted in the same problems Cena suffered from, with mixed reactions from the crowd and loud boos instead of packed arenas gleefully cheering him like previous icons of other eras, such as Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin. In spite of winning nearly every accolade, championship, and record imaginable — and, in many ways, directly as a result of this preferential treatment over all others — fans refused to embrace Reigns as the intended main protagonist.

Reigns was popular, but fans only ever really gave him his flowers when it seemed he might have to retire in 2018 to focus on treating his leukemia. After going into remission and returning several months later, fans quickly turned on him again. Since he was immunocompromised, Reigns was then forced to skip out of another WrestleMania main event and title win during the COVID-19 lockdown. Eventually, Reigns returned to action at WWE Payback 2020 and won the top prize of the WWE Universal Championship again, but things would be different this time. In front of an empty arena, after years of seeking approval from the crowd, Reigns had turned heel (villainous) by aligning himself with one of the most despicable managers in wrestling history, Paul Heyman, who had previously been the advocate for Reigns' primary antagonist, Brock Lesnar. Reigns would adopt a cold, calculating, mobster-like gimmick in a massive character shift, taking on the persona of The Tribal Chief. This is when The Bloodline story officially began.

Wrestling Has More Than One Royal Family

Unlike when he was part of an equal trio in The Shield, The Bloodline was formed with Reigns positioned as its undisputed leader — a testament to his growing ego. Unlike The Von Erich family in The Iron Claw having a true patriarch as explored, Reigns would dub himself The Head of the Table. The idea was that he was providing not only for the legendary Anoa'i family, but his importance to WWE was tantamount to him being the reason every employee in the entire company had food on their table, too. Not only did this not sit well with other wrestlers looking to win the WWE Championship, it also wasn't well-received by every family member, either. Early on, Reigns forced loyalty onto his cousins, Jimmy and Jey (The Usos), by beating them down into submission and demanding they bow to him as their Tribal Chief. This would expand into Reigns adopting a simple catchphrase he would say to his teammates, opponents, and fans in attendance: "Acknowledge me." Nearly 10 years since his initial push, Reigns was still seeking approval.

The Anoa'i family would indeed fall in line, though. The Usos would bring in their younger brother, Solo Sikoa, to help bolster their ranks. Their father, Rikishi, as well as other retired members of the biggest wrestling family in history, would support Reigns, who was adorned by his own father Sika and uncle Afa (The Wild Samoans, featured characters in Johnson's semi-biographical series Young Rock) with the ceremonial Ula Fala necklace to indicate his status as The Tribal Chief. With this backing, Reigns continued to amass power, ruling over the entire company for well over a record 1,000 days and merging both world titles into the Undisputed WWE Championship. He seemed all but unstoppable.

The biggest threat to his throne was Cody Rhodes, who will be featured in the upcoming reboot of The Naked Gun. Rhodes, no stranger to the pressures of being from his own wrestling family dynasty to the point that his entrance music starts off stating this section's subheading, had left WWE to help form All Elite Wrestling, but returned from AEW with a mission in mind to win that WWE Championship to honor his late father, Dusty Rhodes. Dusty had never officially won the title, despite his legendary status, and Cody was determined to overcome every obstacle to achieve this accolade for his family. His returning feud was with Seth Rollins, leading to him even wrestling with a torn pectoral in one of WWE's most brutal matches, Hell in a Cell. Rhodes would go on to win the 2023 Royal Rumble to earn a shot at Reigns for WrestleMania 39, only to fail due to interference from a cheating Solo Sikoa.

Fast-forward one year later, Rhodes once again won the 2024 Royal Rumble and earned a title opportunity for WrestleMania XL. But at the same time, Dwayne Johnson had joined the board of directors for TKO — the merger of WWE and UFC that had been announced the day of Rhodes losing to Reigns the previous year. Johnson was finally willing to put Hollywood aside and pay off the long-teased Reigns vs. Rock dream match that had been talked about for years, going back even to the 2015 Royal Rumble, when The Rock was booed trying to endorse Reigns (that year's winner) as the top face of the company. In a real life clash of bad timing, this almost turned into The Rock taking that spot from Rhodes, but fans were not having it and started the #WeWantCody trend to support their preferred challenger to, as the catchphrase had become, "finish the story."

To pivot and try to have both attractions, The Rock would turn heel, acknowledge Reigns as his Tribal Chief, and fight alongside Reigns for a double main event for WrestleMania XL. Reigns and The Rock teamed up against Rhodes and Seth Rollins, of all people, who had since become a long-standing babyface and now ally of Rhodes through a common enemy in Reigns. This set up a Bloodline Rules match for the second night of WrestleMania XL, which was so steeped in lore that only fans for decades could possibly know all the references. To put it simply, Rollins would bring back his Shield entrance and ring attire to mess with Reigns' mind and distract him with a chair shot of his own for revenge, while other adversaries of The Bloodline and even old enemies of The Rock like Peacemaker's John Cena and The Undertaker would step in to help Rhodes overcome Reigns to finally become champion and fulfill his family's quest. Disgraced, Reigns would disappear, setting up the next phase of the saga, dubbed by fans as The Bloodline's "civil war."

The Fall of Roman Reigns Will Allow Him To Rise From the Ashes of The Bloodline

In WWE, the story never ends. This is what Triple H said to those who were upset at Rhodes not winning his first title match. While that part of the story did conclude the next year, it also always evolves and continues. Now, with Rhodes as champion, Reigns missing, and Jey Uso having left The Bloodline months prior due to its toxicity, the tale shifted to Sikoa turning on his other brother, Jimmy Uso, and excommunicating both him and Heyman from the group. Declaring himself the new Tribal Chief, Sikoa then brought in three new members of The Bloodline in Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Jacob Fatu to be his own backup followers. Family drama can be a common theme in wrestling, but never has it reached this level.

Wearing the same Ula Fala necklace, Sikoa's lust for power saw him challenge Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at the second-biggest show of the year, WWE SummerSlam, in another Bloodline Rules match. Once again, both The Bloodline and Rhodes had their supporters to fight alongside them, but this time, Sikoa was taken out by a returning Reigns, who decided to go after his cousin instead of his old rival in Rhodes. Referring to himself as The Original Tribal Chief, though he does still want to get his title back, Reigns is currently more focused on getting revenge on Sikoa for trying to usurp his leadership position within the Anoa'i family, House of the Dragon style.

With the way WWE has been telling these stories, coupled with a general idea of how professional wrestling unfolds, Reigns and Sikoa will undoubtedly clash over this Tribal Chief moniker for the next few months. Come the WWE Survivor Series event on November 30, there will be almost assuredly be a WarGames match (not to be confused with the upcoming War Game film) wherein Sikoa's team of followers will face Reigns and his allies — likely a reluctant Rhodes, The Usos, and Sami Zayn (a former honorary member of The Bloodline turned hero) — in an intense two-ringed steel cage fight. Here is where we'll also likely see the return of The Rock, who will assert his authority as the legitimately recognized High Chief of the Anoa'i family in real life, and "Final Boss," as he declared himself earlier this year, to turn on Reigns and assert himself as the true leader of The Bloodline.

As referenced in Johnson's television series Young Rock Season 2, Episode 5 "What Business?", a young Reigns was shown wanting to wrestle The Rock, who responded that "a match that big can only happen at WrestleMania." By the time WWE reaches WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas in April 2025, this slow burn of a story will come full circle once more with The Rock vs. Roman Reigns as a headliner. It will settle The Bloodline civil war, loop back to their younger days, honor decades of the Anoa'i family's history, and should finally be the moment where Reigns can be fully embraced by audiences as the definitive top babyface of the company.

However, while this will be the climax of a roughly 13-year story, another chapter will start again the next night. Just as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues expanding well after Avengers: Endgame and is has the possibility of a soft reset, this new era of storytelling in WWE keeps continuity in perpetuity and the homework as a viewer pays off with each future reference. Real life events become canon, there is more nuance to the old school "good versus evil" approach, and you never know what twists are coming next. But the more invested you become, the more rewarded you will be as a fan.

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