WWE Royal Rumble: WWE Universal Championship - Kevin Owens (c) VS Roman Reigns

[Jack-Hammer]

I think it's safe to say that anticipation for this rematch isn't exactly high. While the two of them put on good matches together, a good number of fans just aren't into this match because of the screwy finish Sunday night, they don't want Roman Reigns back in the main event picture right now, they don't want Roman Reigns in the main event picture at all, they just don't like Roman Reigns, they feel he should be defending the United States Championship rather than challenging for the Universal Championship or some combination of any, or all, of the above.

I think the chance of Owens dropping the title before WrestleMania is pretty small and big shows like the Rumble in particular, especially with this year's show being in front of 70,000 people, tend to draw heavily smarky audiences. As a result, Reigns will be at an even more disadvantage, as far as being cheered or booed goes, than he usually is. Still, at least Reigns does get a strong response regardless.

I'd have rather seen this be Owens vs. Rollins with the result being Triple H making his first appearance since Owens became Universal Champion and doing something to screw Rollins over again, thereby setting up their path towards their eventual WrestleMania clash. I hope this is the last we see of Reigns in the main event title picture as I'd rather him be about defending the US title during WrestleMania season and at WrestleMania itself.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

This feud isn't even lukewarm so I don't know why it's still occurring. Add Rollins and Jericho and give Y2J a short reign with the belt. It'll probably help Owens in the long run.

I assume Strowman costs Reigns and this is hardly the same level of intrigue I felt a year ago when Styles was set to debut but I guess I'll take it.

 

[Aeon Mathix]

Disappointing for such a big event. They have rode rematch after rematch on both shows since around Summerslam and it was clear as day that they were just biding time until Mania season starts. I hope Owens beats Reigns clean and then Jericho vs Owens to to Mania for the title. It doesn't sound like a huge match for the biggest show of the year, but it is something to keep both guys busy and with a potential main event of Cena vs Undertaker along with Brock and Goldberg, you don't need too much of an undercard.

I'm not saying Jericho vs Owens would suck by any means, when you look at it on paper for a WrestleMania world title match it doesn't have that "oomph" feeling. I definitely do feel that Jericho deserves a good spot on the Mania card (if he is sticking around) due to him being nearly the only entertaining part of WWE throughout the fall at times.

As for Rollins, I see Triple H costing him the Rumble match to lead to their huge epic fantasy (it's not but Triple H thinks it is and has made us wait this long to get to it) match at WrestleMania. As for Roman, if they were smart, he would slide back in the midcard defending the United States Championship at WrestleMania. Roman vs Braun sounds awful in every way, but I am ok with it being for a midcard title and not one the premier main events. Braun beating him at Mania would be a good thing as well.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The one thing i wouldn't be surprise here and that somehow reigns wins because of jericho's interference backfiring on him. The fact that they are using the shark cage is pretty much the perfect set up for this in my opinion. You have jericho trying to give an illegal object to owens but throws it to far which distract owens and when he turns around gets speared by reigns.

The other option would be to have strowman intefered in the match at the rumble. that way you get owens still the champion and reigns can spin off to another feud going into mania.

Strowman needs a top main event guy to feud with at mania and reigns could be that guy in my opinion. He's good enough now that he could carry Strowman to a good match and you could even have reigns drop the us title to strowman at mania.

 

[roipdh123]

I actually thought they are going to do a triple threat with Owens (C) vs Rollins vs Reigns maybe with Jericho locked in the shrak cage.
It needs to be Owens winning clean here. He must be legitimaized as champ now. There is no other way.

 

[OYDK]

This feud isn't even lukewarm so I don't know why it's still occurring. Add Rollins and Jericho and give Y2J a short reign with the belt. It'll probably help Owens in the long run.

I'm completely with this.

A Fatal 4 Way match at the Rumble would be a hell of a lot better than seeing a Reigns/Owens rematch that I doubt a lot of people really give a shit about. I don't think I'm the only one who let out a huge groan when they announced the rematch for the Rumble and not next week's Raw.

Plus, they could go the route of having Jericho win the strap which adds a completely new element to the Owens/Jericho Mania program (if this is the direction they're heading). Owens can win it back at Mania, Jericho could take time off as I'm sure he's going to do afterwards, and Owens could move on with HHH by his side.

As for if this match is big enough for Mania, the story alone makes it Mania worthy. This has been one of the better angles of the year and having it culminate in a World title match at Mania would be poetic, even if it's not one of the big 4 main events.

 

[ShinChan]

As said above, this feud isn't even lukewarm.

Roman Reigns shouldn't be continuously booked in main event scene. I would've liked him to have US Title feud with someone like Sami Zayn or Braun Strowman.

And Kevin Owens Vs. Jericho would've been a better choice for this event. I agree with the notion of it being a fatal four way for Universal Title.

We can get a split between Jericho and Kevin Owens. Plus, Triple H again screws Rollins and we finally get overdue end of this feud. Reigns can move onto Strowman, Zayn or a NxT call-up in form of Samoa Joe or Tye Dillinger.

 

[kadroan]

I think it's safe to say that anticipation for this rematch isn't exactly high. While the two of them put on good matches together, a good number of fans just aren't into this match because of the screwy finish Sunday night, they don't want Roman Reigns back in the main event picture right now, they don't want Roman Reigns in the main event picture at all, they just don't like Roman Reigns, they feel he should be defending the United States Championship rather than challenging for the Universal Championship or some combination of any, or all, of the above.

I think the chance of Owens dropping the title before WrestleMania is pretty small and big shows like the Rumble in particular, especially with this year's show being in front of 70,000 people, tend to draw heavily smarky audiences. As a result, Reigns will be at an even more disadvantage, as far as being cheered or booed goes, than he usually is. Still, at least Reigns does get a strong response regardless.

I'd have rather seen this be Owens vs. Rollins with the result being Triple H making his first appearance since Owens became Universal Champion and doing something to screw Rollins over again, thereby setting up their path towards their eventual WrestleMania clash. I hope this is the last we see of Reigns in the main event title picture as I'd rather him be about defending the US title during WrestleMania season and at WrestleMania itself.

I agree. I hated they put Reigns back in the main event picture while US champ. I think fans would have bought into Reigns as a main eventer again if he was a fighting US champion like Cena was.

It wasn't his fault his feud with Rusev sucked but they could have found somebody for Reigns to face at Roadblock like Sami Zayn.

Owens vs. Rollins would have made much more sense especially since he got the win over Jericho at Roadblock or they could have did a fatal four way/triple threat so we don't have a repeat of the bromance we had to sit through with Reigns and Ambrose.

I assume we'll get Owens vs. Rollins for the title on the RAW after RR and HHH returns and costs Rollins the match to get WM season kicked off. I think Strowman costs Reigns the match just to get Reigns out of the main event picture and have Owens win since Jericho can't help.

 

[kadroan]

This feud isn't even lukewarm so I don't know why it's still occurring. Add Rollins and Jericho and give Y2J a short reign with the belt. It'll probably help Owens in the long run.

I assume Strowman costs Reigns and this is hardly the same level of intrigue I felt a year ago when Styles was set to debut but I guess I'll take it.

They should have had Jericho beat Reigns for the US title just to add some much needed buzz for Reigns vs. Owens.

But yeah I expect Strowman to go after Reigns after he finishes off Zayn easily at RR. It just sucks it'll be predictable.

 

[ShinChan]

They should have had Jericho beat Reigns for the US title just to add some much needed buzz for Reigns vs. Owens.

But yeah I expect Strowman to go after Reigns after he finishes off Zayn easily at RR. It just sucks it'll be predictable.

Jericho and Owens as US and Universal champions could be good since it adds another layer to their friendship. Jericho could eventually turn on Owens after he loses the US title so as to blame him for the title loss.

I too see Reigns' next feud being against either Sami Zayn or Braun Strowman. There's no other viable choice. The feud against Rusev has been done.

 

[kadroan]

Jericho and Owens as US and Universal champions could be good since it adds another layer to their friendship. Jericho could eventually turn on Owens after he loses the US title so as to blame him for the title loss.

I too see Reigns' next feud being against either Sami Zayn or Braun Strowman. There's no other viable choice. The feud against Rusev has been done.

I don't see Reigns losing the US title anytime soon since he didn't lose it back to Rusev or lost it to Jericho. He should have a lazy US title reign like Ambrose.

 

[ShinChan]

I don't see Reigns losing the US title anytime soon since he didn't lose it back to Rusev or lost it to Jericho. He should have a lazy US title reign like Ambrose.

Most important thing is that Reigns needs to be away from main event even if it's for a while. He's the midcard champion and needs to establish it just like Cena did with US title. Instead of this, he's main eventing the Universal Champion. There was something logical in John Cena Vs Seth Rollins at Summerslam last year which isn't the case here. Both were established champions unlike now.

 

[#hamler]

I think it's safe to say that anticipation for this rematch isn't exactly high.

This feud isn't even lukewarm so I don't know why it's still occurring.

Disappointing for such a big event.

That. All that. 100%.

Both Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens have put on quality matches with each other. Even their match at Roadblock was surprisingly decent. I just don't see enough chemistry with these two to headline such a big event like the Royal Rumble. Even with the shark cage suspended above the ring, the excitement just isn't there. I agree with others, adding Rollins or even Jericho to the match itself will add a bit of enthusiasm going into one of the biggest events of the year. Jericho/Owens for the WWE Title at Mania is far better than just about any other match WWE can come up with for Reigns. I'm going for Owens here but I'll add more as this lackluster feud progresses going into the Rumble.

 

[Navi]

I said on another thread that this match just doesn't have the big match feel to it that the Styles/Cena match does. It's not because of who's involved, just the fact that we've seen Reigns/Owens a dozen times now. Basically this feud which should never have started in the first place, has been driven into the ground. Why it's a one of the headliner's for the second biggest PPV of the year is beyond me.

Also I find it ridiculous that you have the only two men's singles champion's on RAW fighting it out for the Universal Title. Why Reigns hasn't got something going with Strowman or Zayn for the US title is another aspect that is a bit backward. Think back to when Cena held the US title, his US Open Challenge each week usually turned into the match of the night, and he elevated the US title to the same level as the Universal title. Since he dropped it to Del Rio, it's lost all it's prestige.

If they has wanted to keep Reigns in the main event picture they should never have had him go over Rusev to begin with. And why Rollins isn't pissed off royally with Owens is mind boggling. When the Shield broke up, Ambrose went after Rollins, and that's what Rollins should be doing now, going after Owens. Stephanie should be throwing up all sorts of roadblocks to stop him getting at him, considering her husband is the one who picked Owens over Rollins to hand the title too.

I don't know if it's lazy booking or if creative even exists at all on RAW, but the whole thing seems to be ass backward. I'm afraid the only thing interesting about this match will be the shenanigans of Jericho locked in a cage 20 feet above the ring. It's sad that it's come down to that.

 

[CH David]

Nobody cares about this. Well some people do but not much. KO lost his killer edge and now he's just a joker with Jericho. While it's entertaining, it's not what he should be doing. And Roman. Fucking Roman. Just turn the guy heel, let him get booed and eat it up. Owens should win this and go into WM with the title. Jericho vs. Owens at Mania. Make it happen!

 

[Psykohurricane55]

With the rumor that going around about the goldberg/lesnar match not happening at mania and maybe have goldberg face roman reigns instead, I could see goldberg winning the rumble and reigns winning the championship.

The Jericho/owens feud doesn't really needs the belt anyway and with jericho leaving soon, you will have to fast track the break up. So this is a good starting point to do the break up. Have owens blame jericho for the lost and then you set up a triple threat match at fastlane for the title which would further along the break up when jericho loses the match which means that he cost owens the belt again and you have do the match.

So, while I don't see reigns winning the belt as a big deal, if the direction is really reigns vs goldberg for mania, I would make sense for reigns to be champion at mania.

 

[ShinChan]

Nobody cares about this. Well some people do but not much. KO lost his killer edge and now he's just a joker with Jericho. While it's entertaining, it's not what he should be doing. And Roman. Fucking Roman. Just turn the guy heel, let him get booed and eat it up. Owens should win this and go into WM with the title. Jericho vs. Owens at Mania. Make it happen!

The Universal Championship hasn't been booked as the ultimate title on the Raw brand. It's more of a midcard title. Not because Owens holds it but because of par booking. Unlike on Smackdown Live, the main story of Raw doesn't have Owens on top. Losing to midcard champion multiple times hasn't done any favours too. Maybe a face Jericho could add credibility to a heel Owens.

Reigns' heel turn is highly overdue but Vince has Reigns as a hero only.

 

[ShinChan]

Since Roman Reigns has lost the US Title to Chris Jericho, this increases the chances of him winning the Universal Title.

Still, I hope that he doesn't get the Universal Title yet. He's getting better crowd reactions now but the time hasn't come for him to be the Universal Champion.

Owens as well as Styles should keep the title until Wrestlemania 33.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

this bring a whole new dimension for the jericho/owens feud now, because you could have owens lose the belt to reigns at the rumble because jericho can't interfered, then you go with owens being jealous of jericho because jericho is us champion and he's the one that has to help jericho retain.

has for roman, again i say it again why not pair him with goldberg at mania for the title since goldberg is sticking around, you don't need to do the lesnar/goldberg rematch right away, and it would help reigns look like a bad Ass if he can go toe to toe with goldberg.

 

[Navi]

Nobody cares about this. Well some people do but not much. KO lost his killer edge and now he's just a joker with Jericho. While it's entertaining, it's not what he should be doing. And Roman. Fucking Roman. Just turn the guy heel, let him get booed and eat it up. Owens should win this and go into WM with the title. Jericho vs. Owens at Mania. Make it happen!

Not a lot of interest in this match it would appear. Since losing the US title to Jericho it would seem likely that Reigns will be a four time champion heading into Mania. So again the WWE have gone against the fans and put Reigns firmly back into the title scene. Like he never really left it.

With the rumor that going around about the goldberg/lesnar match not happening at mania and maybe have goldberg face roman reigns instead, I could see goldberg winning the rumble and reigns winning the championship.

Where was it reported that Goldberg/Lesnar wasn't going to happen. I can't find anything to confirm that? If it is the case though, why would Goldberg win the Rumble, I thought the only reason he was back was to face Lesnar at Mania. Not interested in any other match he's in to be honest.

So, while I don't see reigns winning the belt as a big deal, if the direction is really reigns vs goldberg for mania, I would make sense for reigns to be champion at mania.

A lot of fans would see it as a big deal. This will be the third Mania that Reigns will be headlining. I just don't really think the guy deserves it. We're at the beginning of 2017 and Reigns is still at the same point in his career as he was 2 years ago.

I read an article on him the other day and the author was correct about one thing. While Reigns gets the same mixed reactions that Cena does, he is getting them much earlier in his career than Cena did. Cena was an established star and had been for a long time before fans grew tired of the Superman gimmick. Reigns isn't nearly at Cena's level, and if they do turn him heel then the fans who cheer him now will boo him, the ones who boo him may cheer him. I don't know if he will ever get the kind of reaction the WWE wants.

Vince sticking his head in the sand has damaged Reigns and I don't know if even after all this time it can be repaired, heel turn or not.

 

[ShinChan]

Man, this match was very good. I didn't have much expectations for it but it easily exceeded all my expectations.

The No DQ stipulation did a lot of favours to this match. The brutality required in a No DQ match was there and that spot with bunch of chairs was damn awesome. What's more interesting is how WWE protected both Owens and Reigns while giving more exposure to Braun Strowman at the end of the match.

Not a classic but a damn good match.