Roman Reigns receives one of the biggest pops in WWE history as he makes unexpected return at SummerSlam

WWE superstar Roman Reigns received one of the biggest pops in years on Saturday night as he made an unexpected, albeit welcome, return at Summerslam.

Reigns, who lost the Undisputed WWE Championship to "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40 in April, has been on an extended break from in-ring action.

In his absence, meanwhile, Solo Sikoa has emerged as the new leader of the Bloodline. In fact, Reigns' cousin has labelled himself the new Tribal Chief.

Sikoa has been pushing for a title shot in recent weeks and on Saturday night, he finally earned himself a shot at the world title in a Bloodline Rules Match against Cody Rhodes.

It was the same match type where Reigns’ historic WWE Championship win came to an end, so some fans had a suspicion that he would return at the Summerslam main event.

And during a pulsating contest that featured cameos from Tama Tonga, Tonga Lao, Kevin Owens and Randy Orton, the man himself made a goosebump-worthy return in Cleveland. Check it out below:

Having received a generational pop from those in attendance, Reigns proceeded to take out Sikoa with a perfectly-executed Superman Punch before delivering his trademark Spear.

As you can see from the footage above, Reigns gave rival Rhodes a look of intent as chants of “holy s—t!” echoed around the 67,000-capacity Cleveland Browns Stadium.

After Roman stared directly into Rhodes' eyes for a solid few seconds, the latter capitalised with a CrossRhodes before pinning Sikoa to retain his WWE Championship.

"That noise was deafening. I've rarely seen a crowd so crazy," said one fan regarding Reigns' return, while another commented: "Biggest pop I’ve ever heard in person. The stadium literally shook."

A third wrote: "Biggest pop since Punk’s return. Roman friggin Reigns with the sickest theme ever. Unreal atmosphere. Season 2 begins."

A fourth added: "The atmosphere feels different when he is around. The aura and star power this man possesses is unmatched."

Hours before the event, Big E dropped a hint over Reigns' return during the SummerSlam kickoff show, saying: "We may see an appearance from somebody we haven’t seen in a long time.”