Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens (Last Man Standing Match)
Following a surprise move by WWE Official Adam Pearce, Universal Champion Roman Reigns will once again go head to head with Kevin Owens at Royal Rumble in a Last Man Standing Match.
Week after week, Reigns has engineered a steady stream of mayhem on Friday Night SmackDown, with Owens standing as one of the single toughest elements of resistance against The Head of the Table. The brutal rivalry included a vicious TLC Match and a savage Steel Cage showdown, both of which saw Jey Uso help his cousin to controversial victories. Then, on the Jan. 1 edition of the blue brand, Reigns once again attacked Owens and threw him off a high ledge and through a table at the WWE ThunderDome.
With Owens out of the way, Reigns turned his attention to WWE Official Adam Pearce. Angered that Pearce interfered in his issues with KO, The Big Dog and Paul Heyman engineered his placement in a Gauntlet Match that would determine who would challenge Reigns for his title at Royal Rumble. During the bout, Reigns and Uso interceded to make sure Pearce was the winner.
Moments after The Big Dog and the WWE Official signed the contract for their match, though, Pearce made the remark that he had been waiting all night for Reigns to sign the contract. Then, as he walked up the ramp, he started to limp, as an “old knee injury" conveniently began to "creep up," one that would prevent him from competing against The Head of the Table at the Jan. 31 pay-per-view.
However, since he was armed with the authority to choose a suitable replacement if one member of a main event is injured and could not compete, Pearce announced that he was doing just that. As a result, the returning Owens will now challenge Reigns for the Universal Title at Royal Rumble in a Last Man Standing Match!
More determined than even to unseat the Universal Champion, will the resilient Owens finally overcome The Head of the Table? Don’t miss Royal Rumble, Sunday, Jan. 31, beginning at 7 ET/4 PT, streaming live on the award-winning WWE Network!
