Reason Behind the Universal Title Fatal 4-Way Match at WWE Royal Rumble – During the recent SmackDown, the Bloodline’s interference disrupted the triple threat match involving Randy Orton, LA Knight, and AJ Styles, intended to determine Roman Reigns’ next Universal Championship challenger.
Following the match’s disqualification finish, SmackDown General Manager Adam Pearce announced that Reigns would defend his title against all three competitors in a fatal 4-way showdown at WWE Royal Rumble.
Discussions on Wrestling Observer Radio, featuring Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez, touched upon this fatal 4-way encounter. The conversation highlighted WWE’s intention to protect Randy Orton from a loss so early in his return. By including Knight and Styles in the match, it allows WWE to have alternative competitors for Reigns to defeat, preserving Orton for a potential future storyline, possibly leading to a match against Reigns at another premium live event.
Alvarez: “So what they want here is that no one believes anyone’s beating Roman Reigns. And they’re not going to believe this either. But I think the idea is, well, it’s a fatal four-way. You know, maybe somebody will pin somebody else or whatever. So they’re trying to find something.”
Meltzer: “So the actual deal here is that the original idea was Roman and Randy Orton for the Rumble. Essentially, there were parties involved who did not want to beat Randy Orton this early, obviously, you know, and just felt that there’s money to be made with Randy Orton and Roman in a program at some point. But it’s too soon to do it. But LA Knight just got beat at [Crown Jewel] and AJ hasn’t isn’t strong enough. I think AJ was the guy that they probably would have wanted because, you know, Roman can beat him. I mean, I presume AJ is the one, the one that’s going to lose. Maybe not. It could be LA. But the basic gist was that AJ gives them someone they can beat.”
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Reason Behind the Universal Title Fatal 4-Way Match at WWE Royal Rumble
