After a few chaotic weeks on SmackDown between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens, it all came down to a Last Man Standing Match at the Royal Rumble for the Universal Championship. Adam Pearce successfully got Owens into this spot after several contract shenanigans, and now it was time for Owens to do his part and put down Reigns. Owens was out first, then Roman Reigns hit the driveway with Paul Heyman by his side, though no Jey Uso was interesting enough.
Owens attacked Reigns right, but Reigns poured out a Superman Punch and knocked Owens down shortly afterwards. Owens got up and dodged a spear from Reigns with a big kick, then hit Reigns with a pop-up powerbomb, but Reigns got to his feet at 4 counts.
Reigns then caught Owens, but Owens got up and threw Reigns into the ring post. Reigns turned it over, though, tossing Owen’s shoulder into the steel steps first. Reigns followed with a spear that threw him hard to the ground.
Reigns waited for Owens to get up, then picked up the steel steps and slammed them into Owens. He picked them up again and punched Owens in the face, dropping him to the ground. Reigns then hit him again with the stairs, sending Owens down one more time. Owens got up and kicked Reigns in the face, knocking him down and knocking the stairs out of his hands.
Owens slapped Reigns’ face against the stairs three times and then tossed him several times against the LED screens. Reigns got up and Owens hit him with his face against more LED screens first, then kicked him in the face. Owens then went to pick up the steel steps and hit them against Reigns, putting him on top of the loadout list.
Owens climbed up and grabbed a chair, but Reigns punched him in the eye. Reigns hit Owens with a chair to the ribs, but Owens fought back. They would trade attacks until Owens hit Reins in the face with a huge kick, then grabbed a chair and hit Reigns in the knees and legs, followed by a blow to Reigns’ back. Reigns returned the favor with several attacks that hurt Owns and then Reigns tried to push Owens to the edge, but Owens stunned him and sent him to the edge instead. Reigns hit Owens with a Superman Punch and threw Owens into the tables, breaking them in two.
Still, Owens got up on time. However, Owens felt the pain and went backstage for some unknown reason. He walked on until he came across the training ring backstage. Suddenly, Reigns came through in a golf cart, bumped into Owens, and the collision resulted in a broken windshield.
Owens lay down, but got up on the count of 9, and Reigns then thrust him down on him. Owens got up again on the count of 8, and before Reigns could attack him again, Owens hit him with a pop-up power that bombarded him into the table. Owens then climbed upstairs and splashed Reigns, breaking the table. Reigns barely made it to 9, and his legs were spaghetti at this point.
Owens sent Reigns down again, then picked up a ladder. Owens slammed the ladder into Reigns’ face and left it on top of a table. Owens then got into a forklift and lifted a pallet. He then lifted the palette and climbed on top, jumped and hit a senton on Reigns and smashed the table underneath. The referee started the count and Owens got up, and Reigns got up on the count of 9, but quickly felt over.
Owens kept dragging Reigns into the concession area, and Reigns bled in a few places. Owens again dragged Reigns into the ring area and the referee started the count again. Reigns would beat it, but then turn the tables and smash Owens through the LED screen. He almost got counted down, but he rolled off the podium and got to his feet, beating the count to 9.
Roman then pulled out a pair of handcuffs and tried to secure Owens, but Owens stopped and hit Reigns against a light pole. Owens then captivated the light structure. He was about to be counted out, but Reigns knocked the umpire into the post and knocked him out before he could count him.
He then hit Owens with a low blow, dropping him to the ground, and then Heyman came out to take the handcuffs off, but a new umpire came out and started counting. After a while (a long stretch where the umpire actually stopped counting because it was taking so long) Heyman managed to get Reigns out, and once he did, he immediately went on to apply a guillotine to Owens, who looked bland.
The umpire started counting, and that’s all she wrote for Owens.
Here’s the full map for the Royal Rumble:
WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Goldberg
WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens (Last Man Standing)
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Asuka & Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
Men’s Royal Rumble: Daniel Bryan, Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Otis, The Miz, Jey Uso, Cesaro, Jeff Hardy, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura, Big E, John Morrison, Sheamus, Mustafa Ali, Edge, TBA
Royal Rumble for Women: Nia Jax, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Beliar, Bayley, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Peyton Royce, Alexa Bliss, Shayna Baszler, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, Tamina, TBA
What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments and as always, you can talk to me about anything about WWE on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!