Every Roman Reigns WWE Universal Title Defence Ranked In Order Of Greatness
26. Vs Randy Orton, AJ Styles & LA Knight (Royal Rumble 2024)
Another sign the reign was categorically nearer the beginning than the end, a Royal Rumble undercard match squeezed the last juice from some midcard fruit and served more to set up other peoples' WrestleMania matches than Roman's own.
While not exactly a passenger in the match, his deliberate and methodical pacing didn't belong in the decidedly undercooking effort. With Randy Orton's red hot November return starting to cool and AJ Styles' heel turn not exactly lighting the world on fire in its' place, it fell to LA Knight who himself had already been beaten in the last major 'Tribal Chief' match before this PLE. On a night Cody Rhodes main evented and promised to finish his story at the Champion's expense, this match proved why it had to happen.
Of note - the one chance at a Orton singles match was lost with the conversion of that original plan into this multi-man. But your mileage may vary on what exactly never came to be, particularly in light of the lack of excitement attached to this multi-man.