Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumbles Worst To Best
9. Royal Rumble 2023 - Roman Reigns Vs. Kevin Owens
A third Royal Rumble match between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens - KO having retained the Universal Title against Roman in a No DQ bout in 2017, Reigns having retained that same prize over the Canadian in a 2021 Last Man Standing battle - this one is extremely tough to fairly rank.
As a bell-to-bell contest, this 19-minute match was good, featuring solid in-ring work and being a little less plodding than certain other modern-day Roman Reigns outings. When taking into account the post-match angle and wider repercussions of that, all of a sudden you're talking about an all-time moment that could only be reached by this match doing what it did.
Of course, post-match saw the Bloodline put a beating on Kevin Owens, with Sami Zayn hitting the Tribal Chief with a steel chair; a move Zayn knew would result in his own beating, but that he'd chosen to take rather than join the assault on his long-time best friend.
While "cinema" may be an awful phrase that's been ridiculously overused in pro wrestling circles in recent years, the 2023 Royal Rumble PLE served up one of the most stunning, engaging, engrossing, emotional wrestling segments in memory. Sami sold it all perfectly, Jey Uso was majestically conflicted in knowing what Zayn's actions meant, the more cutthroat Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa were quick to start the beatdown, and the battered, handcuffed Owens looked on as the startled Roman regained his composure and launched into his own attack on the Honorary Uce.
As for the Reigns vs. Owens match in and of itself, if you're one of those obsessed with star ratings, it's probably a solid three-out-of-five - maybe a smidge more - but this contest ranks a little higher on this list solely due to how it ushered in one of the greatest "scenes" in Royal Rumble history.