Roman Reigns pinned Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Title, but that wasn’t even half of the story.
Heading into the match Honorary Uce Sami Zayn had been put on the spot after barely keeping his place in The Bloodline on Raw. Reigns promised Zayn that he would face a final test, and it was a test that he would fail, much to the delight of the crowd.
Sami Zayn Turns On Roman Reigns
During the World Title match, Kevin Owens gave as good as he got but it wasn’t quite enough, two brutal collisions with the steel stairs and yet another Spear were enough to keep him down for the count. However, the drama was just beginning.
During the match, Reigns asked Zayn for a chair with the referee down, and Zayn obliged eventually and somewhat reluctantly.
Once the match was over the entire Bloodline headed to the ring and proceeded to put a beatdown on Owens as Zayn was forced to watch on. As the attack continued, Zayn looked increasingly uncomfortable. With Owens almost motionless he was handcuffed to the ropes and The Usos reigned down a series of Superkicks before the Tribal Chief grabbed a chair.
Reigns looked to be about to hit Owens but Zayn stepped in and tried to talk him out of it. At this, Reigns handed Zayn the chair and ordered him to do it. A visibly shaken Zayn was beyond conflicted as he tried to choose between his former best friend and his new family.
After several teases and with tears in his eyes, Zayn smashed the chair into the chiseled back of Roman Reigns to the kind of ovation usually reserved for Steve Austin.
The rest of The Bloodline looked on completely stunned before Zayn was also attacked. Although there was one man who couldn’t follow through. For all that Zayn was conflicted, so was Jey Uso. Jey stood in the corner unable to get involved, eventually leaving the ring as tears rolled down his face to another huge roar from the crowd.
The show might have gone off the air with Zayn and Owens beaten and broken, but in the eyes of the crowd, there was only one winner.
Sami Zayn.