INQUISITR.COM / Sports

WWE News: Roman Reigns Getting Another Universal Title Shot At ‘Royal Rumble’

By Shawn Lealos
Published on: 14:57 PST, Dec 19, 2016

Roman Reigns got a shot at Kevin Owens Universal Championship at Roadblock last night but failed to win the title because Chris Jericho interfered for Owens once again. However, it looks like Roman Reigns is getting another shot at the title. Bleacher Report announced that Roman will face Kevin Owens for the title at the Royal Rumble.

Not only will Roman Reigns get another shot at the Universal Championship but it looks like the WWE found a way to keep Chris Jericho from interfering in the match this time around. After months of Jericho helping Owens retain his title, the WWE introduced a shark cage that will hold Jericho high above the ring during the title match.

This is an old-school gimmick and one that the WWE brought back last month when NXT used it in to keep Precious Paul Ellering from interfering in a match between his tag team, The Authors of Pain, and the team of TM 61. It didn’t stop Ellering from interfering, so there is a chance that Chris Jericho can still interfere against Roman Reigns.

On Monday Night Raw, Mick Foley met up with Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens in the ring to start the show and told them the decision on Owens putting his title on the line against Roman Reigns once again. Then Foley told Jericho that he had to be in the shark cage and if he got into the ring to interfere, he would be fired from the WWE.

Much like Paul Ellering at NXT Takeover: Toronto, Chris Jericho can still interfere without leaving the shark cage and without stepping into the ring, meaning that he can follow Mick Foley’s rules and still cost Roman Reigns the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble.

[Image by WWE]

With that said, this could also just be a red herring for the WWE. If fans believe that Chris Jericho can still interfere, that brings the suspension of belief in the match. If Jericho tries to interfere, and possibly drops a foreign object like Paul Ellering did, there is always a chance Roman Reigns could get it or Seth Rollins could show up to help.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, the WWE rumors for WrestleMania in 2017 sees Roman Reigns battling Braun Strowman at the event. Kevin Owens is most likely to battle Chris Jericho, paying off a year of a well-built angle between the two. The question is whether Kevin Owens is the Universal Champion or if Roman Reigns will win the title.

Roman Reigns was a high favorite to win his match at Roadblock, but right before the event took place, 411mania reported that the odds suddenly changed drastically, with Roman going from a favorite to win to a huge underdog at +400. Whatever happened right before Roadblock started caused Roman to end up the underdog in the match.

[Image by WWE]

Roman Reigns is not expected right now to put his United States Championship on the line again, and that title is stagnating on the shoulder of Roman. The WWE title is losing the prestige that John Cena and Rusev brought to it. Roman is just using it as a prop and is focused on Owens’ title and ignoring his own.

Normally, the individuals involved in world title matches at the Royal Rumble are not involved in the Royal Rumble itself. That means that one of these men will head into WrestleMania without the title.

RELATED WWE REPORTS BY THE INQUISITR

If Roman Reigns is the champion, Braun Strowman needs to be built into a credible world title contender. If Kevin Owens wins, Chris Jericho needs to possibly win the Royal Rumble to get into the WrestleMania main event against Kevin Owens. Regardless, fans will know what Roman Reigns will be doing at WrestleMania right after the Royal Rumble ends.

[Featured Image by WWE]

Share this article: WWE News: Roman Reigns Getting Another Universal Title Shot At ‘Royal Rumble’
royal rumble roman reigns kevin owens
More from Inquisitr