Let's start out with the obvious. Just a couple of weeks ago, there was breaking news from the WWE Network that Roman Reigns had to have emergency surgery, and would be out of action for "several months". Reigns suffered from an incarcerated hernia and had successful surgery to relieve the pain. The timetable given was originally about six weeks; however, later on, it turned in to several months. The uncertainty can make for a surprise return at the Rumble, but only if he's ready. The WWE was able to pull it off with an established star in John Cena with a surprise return to win the Rumble. With someone who has not been at that level yet, that could be too risky to give him that definite push as the face of the company.