Roman Reigns will face Adam Pearce again at next week’s SmackDown.
It was announced in an announcement during NFL coverage on FOX this afternoon that champion Universal Roman Reigns will face new number one contender, WWE officer Adam Pearce. A match between the two for the Royal Rumble was made official.
Reigns confronted Pearce on this week’s SmackDown, upset that Pearce had a fight between Kevin Owens and Jey Uso on last week’s show. Reigns hinted that Pearce wanted to take on the challenge later in the show that would determine Reigns’ next challenger. Pearce denied that. Paul Heyman later told Pearce backstage that he pulled some sticks and put him in the game. Pearce ended up winning the gauntlet fight after Reigns and Uso attacked Shinsuke Nakamura and ordered Pearce to cover him. He obeyed, becoming the new number one contender.
From the closing angle of the show, a match between Nakamura and Uso is also being made for next week’s show.