Roman Reigns’ Royal Rumble opponent changed on WWE SmackDown

Archie Blade | 16/01/2021
Roman Reigns’ Royal Rumble opponent changed on WWE SmackDown

Roman Reigns’ Royal Rumble opponent changed on WWE SmackDown. The Tribal Chief was scheduled to face Adam Pearce but that changed tonight.

Roman Reigns is currently on a power trip. Not only did he get Paul Heyman to insert Adam Pearce, a WWE official, into a match but he also managed to ensure that Pearce would come out on top so he could lay his hands on him at Royal Rumble.

Also read: Shawn Michaels challenges Andrew Flintoff to a Wrestling showdown at NXT UK

A match against a retired Pearce would also be an easier defence considering the pedigree of opponents he has made recently. Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan and most recently Shinsuke Nakamura have all been wronged by the Tribal Chief and are gunning for the title for personal glory and revenge.

Roman Reigns’ Royal Rumble opponent changed on WWE SmackDown

It has been speculated for a while that Roman Reigns vs Adam Pearce will not be the final match on the card. That proved to be true with Pearce pulling out of the match tonight. Reigns and Pearce sat down for a contract signing. After the Universal Champion signed the contract, Pearce left the ring with a limp.

The WWE official claimed that he didn’t think he would be medically cleared for their match and since this was a standard WWE contract, the card was subject to change. He then introduced his replacement who happened to be Kevin Owens!


With the way the story was going, many believed that Nakamura was being groomed for a shot at the title. The speculation for a long time however, has been Owens and it would make sense for him to have a final go at the Universal Champion considering he was screwed out of a win in their last two matches.

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Post Edited By: Archie Blade
Adam Pearce Kevin Owens roman reigns

About the author

Archie Blade

Archie is a WWE and UFC Editor/Author at the SportsRush. Like most combat sports enthusiasts, his passion for watching people fight began with WWE when he witnessed a young Brock Lesnar massacre Hulk Hogan back in 2002. This very passion soon branched out to boxing and mixed martial arts. Over the years he fell in love with the theatrics that preceded the bell and the poetic carnage that followed after. Each bruise a story to tell, each wound a song of struggle, his greatest desire is to be there to witness it all. His favorite wrestler is Shawn Michaels and he believes that GSP is the greatest to ever step foot inside the octagon. Apart from wrestling, he is also fond of poetry and music.

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