Tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown started things off in a big way, and it didn’t take long for WWE to make a major Championship match official for Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble is one of WWE’s biggest events of the year, so you knew a few Titles would be on the line in some form or fashion. What wasn’t known was if Roman Reigns would end up defending his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship there, but that will thankfully be the case, as tonight a match between Reigns and Kevin Owens for the Championship was made official by WWE and Adam Pearce.
It all unfolded after Reigns went off on Sami Zayn for the loss against Kevin Owens and John Cena at last week’s SmackDown. He was in Zayn’s face and irate when Owens came out and took his attention away from the Honorary Uce, telling Reigns that he had a KO problem of his own admission and that he should set out to fix it.
Owens said he should do it in a match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. Reigns said that was fine and he just wanted to be rid of Owens, and that he just wanted him to leave. Owens said he would leave but not for long, and then he hit Zayn with a parting jab for being in Roman’s pocket.
Now Reigns will face Owens for the Championship, and while Reigns emerged victorious from their last battle, Owens did some damage to the Tribal Chief in those match-ups, and he will likely follow suit at the Royal Rumble. Reigns won’t pull any punches either though and knows he has to put Owens away.
What remains to be seen is how Zayn will play into all this. Zayn has been hesitant to fully turn on Owens, even stopping The Bloodline from hitting Owens with a weapon when he was vulnerable. He’ll have to show and prove he is in the Bloodline’s corner next week too, as he will face Owens in a one-on-one match to put that issue to rest.
Are you excited for the match? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!