As we noted last week, Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman are scheduled to face each other on RAW house shows heading into WrestleMania, and Owens will be facing Sami Zayn at those shows.
Owens vs. Zayn will be for the WWE Universal Championship, although the Wrestling Observer noted that the Reigns vs. Strowman matches will be headlining those shows. While Reigns and Strowman will be wrestling each other at live events, the plan is for Reigns to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania, which was teased during last night’s WWE Royal Rumble.
Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship will take place at the WWE Fastlane pay-per-view on March 5th, with Goldberg winning the title and then defending against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33. As noted last week, neither AJ Styles or Owens are expected to go into WrestleMania as champion according to the Wrestling Observer.
Goldberg does not work WWE live events, so if he were to defeat Owens at Fastlane as scheduled, that would mean that the WWE Universal Championship would not be defended at live events between Fastlane and WrestleMania. That has been the case for the past two WrestleManias as well, as Triple H went into WrestleMania 32 as WWE World Heavyweight Champion and Lesnar did the same at WrestleMania 31, despite either man working a full time house show schedule.
