Roman Reigns didn’t appear on the January 9th episode of Monday Night Raw but his presence was still felt.
Kevin Owens opened the show but before he could really get into what he wanted to say he was interrupted by JBL who subsequently brought out Baron Corbin. During the exchange, JBL said that Owens had no chance of winning in his match with Reigns at the Royal Rumble on January 28th.
In following up, Corbin said that he was going to win the Royal Rumble match and then head to WrestleMania 39 to defeat Reigns and claim the gold. Corbin also boasted that he was the last man to pin Roman Reigns in a WWE ring, something which is actually true. Although he has tasted defeated via disqualification and in tag team action, Reigns’ shoulders haven’t been pinned to the mat since he lost to Corbin at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs in December 2019.
Roman Reigns Heading For Royal Rumble Showdown
The subject of Reigns’ win-loss record also came up on the January 6th edition of SmackDown. On that occasion Reigns and The Bloodline opened the show and the Tribal Chief attempted to come to terms with his loss alongside Sami Zayn to John Cena and Kevin Owens the week before. To explain away the defeat, Reigns came to a very simple conclusion. As it was Zayn who had been pinned, he hadn’t really lost.
The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion became increasingly irate with Zayn and his popularity before being interrupted by Kevin Owens. This led Owens to lay down a challenge to the champion for the Royal Rumble and the match was confirmed later in the show.
Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens have met at the Royal Rumble with Universal Title on the line on two previous occasions. They most recently battled at the event in a Last Standing Match in 2021.