After losing a game of Tables, Ladders and Chairs and a game of Steel Cage, it seemed that Kevin Owens had used up all his chances in the Universal championship. Fortunately for him, Adam Pearce got on the bad side of Roman Reigns and found himself having to avoid a fight against the WWE champion tonight (Sunday, January 31, 2021) Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) at ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
He achieved this by agreeing to a Last Man Standing fight, then citing an injury that required a replacement. Owens has to be that replacement.
In a curiosity joke, Reigns challenged Owens for the Universal title at the Royal Rumble in 2017 in a no-DQ fight he saw Owens retain.
This time, it was Roman’s turn to withhold.
They had a hell of a physical fight first, with Owens taking some crazy bumps. This included being played from a platform using the table below:
And Reigns running him over with a golf cart:
Later, Owens jumped from a pallet high on a forklift, placing Reigns on a table below. Later, Reigns launched Owens on the stage.
There was a huge fake finish towards the end, with Owens handcuffing Reigns in such a way that he couldn’t get up. The referee went up to 9 and Roman, seeing no other way out, threw him into a bar to stop the count. A new referee appeared after a while, Paul Heyman took off the handcuffs and Reigns put Owens to sleep with a guillotine.
To complete Royal Rumble results and coverage of each game on the card here.