WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will be defending his Championship at the Royal Rumble PPV at the end of the month.
Last night’s episode of WWE SmackDown would crown a number 1 contender for the title. WWE held a gauntlet match on the show to confirm said contender; Daniel Bryan, King Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, and Rey Mysterio all competed in the bout.
Nakamura seemed to have won the match, eliminating Rey Mysterio, Baron Corbin, and Daniel Bryan. It was then revealed that Paul Heyman had ‘pulled some strings’ to get Adam Pearce added to the match.
Universal Championship
Pearce would actually beat Shinsuke Nakamura. Jey Uso and Roman Reigns would beatdown Nakamura, with Uso also hitting a Superkick to take down Adam Pearce. Uso would then drag Pearce onto Nakamura for him to get the win. Adam Pearce now goes on to the Royal Rumble to challenge for the Universal title.
The way the angle worked was interesting, it gives Shinsuke Nakamura a reason to go after Reigns down the line. Adam Pearce challenging for the Universal Championship is very intriguing; whilst the former independent star could actually go in the ring? It poses an interesting challenge for WWE to put Reigns in a position to either squash or give Pearce the chance to show some offense in the match.
Once again, Reigns proves to be the most exciting and must-see element of WWE programming. The current favourite to win the Royal Rumble is Daniel Bryan, however the chances of Nakamura winning and challenging Reigns for the Universal Championship have gone up exponentially following this week’s SmackDown.
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