While this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown was largely about Universal Champion Roman Reigns returning from COVID-19 so he could be confronted by WWE Champion Brock Lesnar (and Paul Heyman), it eventually got around to the fact that Reigns doesn’t have an opponent for Royal Rumble.
Sure, we’re still eventually getting to the planned Day 1 main event but Lesnar is already scheduled to defend his title against Bobby Lashley on Jan. 29, 2022, in St. Louis.
What about Reigns? As it turns out, Adam Pearce was tasked with finding an opponent for him. He was told it could be anyone. He went about that process, we saw nothing of what it entailed, and then, to close this week’s SmackDown, we saw the camera pan from Reigns to the surprise reveal.
Here’s the updated Royal Rumble match card:
-Men’s Royal Rumble
-Women’s Royal Rumble
-WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
-Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
-Raw Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Winner of Bianca Belair vs. Doudrop vs. Liv Morgan
-Edge & Beth Phoenix vs. The Miz & Maryse
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