Kevin Owens To Face Roman Reigns At WWE Royal Rumble 2021

WWE News - Kevin Owens Replaces Adam Pearce To Face Roman Reigns At WWE Royal Rumble 2021!

by Andrew Pollard
Adam Pearce Kevin Owens WWE SmackDown
WWE.com

For those predicting that WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Adam Pearce would not take place at this month’s Royal Rumble PPV, consider yourselves correct.

The most latest offering for WWE’s blue brand saw several swerves before it was finally announced that it would be Kevin Owens – not “Scrap Daddy” Pearce – who’ll be facing SmackDown’s resident High Chief at the Rumble.

As SmackDown started off, Paul Heyman revealed to Pearce that his Universal Championship match would be contested under No DQ rules. After Heyman then consulted Reigns about this, the Big Dog demanded that the match was changed up to be a Last Man Standing affair.

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With SmackDown coming to a close, Adam Pearce joined Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman and Jey Uso in the ring for your classic WWE contract signing – but there was a twist in the tale.

Pearce did indeed sign the contract, but the former NWA World Champion tweaked his knee as he made his way back up the ramp. Citing his inability to compete at the Royal Rumble, Pearce introduced Kevin Owens as his Rumble replacement.

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Given how good their past encounters has been, Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing effort certainly has the potential to steal the show come the Royal Rumble PPV.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.