This Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown opened with the Trial of the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns.
This segment was the follow-up from this past Saturday’s Money in the Bank PLE when The Usos beat Undisputed WWE Universal Champion and Solo Sikoa in the Bloodline Civil War match.
The segment went nearly 40 minutes long, with Reigns hitting a low blow to Jey after teasing he would make him the next Tribal Chief. A brawl broke out with the show later ending with Jey challenging Reigns to a match.
Pwinsider.com reports the segment ran longer than originally planned, leading to “a ripple effect where later segments had their time cut to fit the FOX broadcast.”
The report noted the AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross bout was originally set to go longer than it actually did, while one source believed Asuka’s segment went faster than originally planned.
The same source believed there may have been other segments with time cut as well.
