WWE confirmed last week that a viral infection would force Reigns to miss TLC. Bray Wyatt was unable to wrestle Finn Balor as well for the same reason.
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins called upon Kurt Angle to replace Roman Reigns at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on Sunday night and The Shield may continue to be short-handed in the weeks ahead until Survivor Series.
Beyond Jinder Mahal's prospective cross-promotional match with Brock Lesnar, it's unclear how WWE will fill out the Survivor Series card.
Since it's still one of the traditional "Big Four" shows, fans can probably count on another match featuring The Shield. Not only is Survivor Series perfect for marquee tag matches, Reigns' illness also robbed the WWE Universe of a true Shield reunion.
Of course, WWE may have initially envisioned TLC to be a one-off event for The Shield, with Reigns resuming his singles career and Rollins and Ambrose going back to defending their Raw tag team titles. If that's the case, then the company may be reticent about altering its long-term plans.
Not having Reigns for at least the next few weeks won't exactly help build toward another Shield match, though.
Either way, returning ahead of Survivor Series will allow Reigns to get himself involved in the show—be it as one-third of The Shield or in a headlining singles match.