Roman Reigns Destroys Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn In Masterful Main Event

Roman Reigns destroyed Sami Zayn after beating Kevin Owens to retain the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship. In one of the most heated post-match angles in recent memory, The Bloodline laid waste to Kevin Owens after Reigns’ brutal victory—which included a spear through the barricade.

After putting a stop to the beatdown of Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns instructed Sami Zayn to hit Owens with a steel chair. Zayn hesitated, before ultimately hitting Roman Reigns in one of the biggest pops you’ll ever hear. Reigns responded with a destruction of Sami Zayn, one which Jey Uso defiantly walked out on. While leaving Owens and Zayn in their wake, a furious Alamodome chanted “F—k you Roman!”

Whether or not Roman Reigns would win this match was never in doubt. Kevin Owens himself didn’t seem to believe he had a chance. On WWE Raw XXX, the go-home Raw for Royal Rumble, Owens gave fans his words that he would “try” to dethrone Reigns.

After suffering multiple losses to Reigns in world championship matches in the past, Owens was one of the least-compelling opponents for Reigns from a competitive standpoint. Owens’ ties to Sami Zayn, however, made the match intriguing from a storyline standpoint. This dynamic played into the finish as Sami Zayn pleaded with Kevin Owens to “stay down” as Reigns brutalized the challenger in the climactic moments.

Zayn and Owens’ real-life history as best friends served as the vehicle for Zayn’s ongoing tensions with The Bloodline. During the main event of SmackDown this past Friday, Owens was in position to strike Zayn with a steel chair, but instead he continued to warn Zayn that the Bloodline would inevitably turn on the Honorary Uce. To many fans, the selling point of this match wasn’t whether or not Kevin Owens would win—that was never a possibility—but rather how WWE advances the Bloodline story to reunite Owens and Zayn.

Things figure to continue to look up for Owens and Zayn with the Elimination Chamber on deck. The February 18 pay-per-view emanates from Owen and Zayn’s home country of Montreal Quebec Canada. Zayn will emerge as the most likely challenger for Roman Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. With Zayn and Owens back together, it’ll be interesting to see if Zayn can pull off the upset, or if Reigns beats another hometown favorite in Zayn, like he did Drew McIntyre at WWE Clash at the Castle.

Even with a growing movement behind Sami Zayn as a disrupter to Roman Reigns’ dynasty, and Jey Uso seemingly siding with Sami, the stars are aligning for Zayn and Owens to team up against The Usos at WrestleMania 39.

On a night where Sami Zayn was not even in the Royal Rumble, amid speculation that fans would turn on Cody Rhodes if he won over Zayn, Zayn did not need the Rumble to create one of the most memorable segments in WWE history.