Kevin Owens defeated Roman Reigns Sunday night at the Royal Rumble to retain the WWE Universal Championship with Chris Jericho suspended above the ring in a shark cage.
Owens received a helping hand from Braun Strowman, who interfered and attacked Reigns. After hitting Reigns with a chokeslam on to the German announce table. From there, Strowman power-slammed Reigns through a table propped up against a turnbuckle:
With Reigns incapacitated, Owens had little trouble securing the pinfall. WWE shared a replay of Jericho's celebration in the shark cage:
Will Pruett of Pro Wrestling Dot Net praised Owens and Reigns for their in-ring work:
Former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas thought Strowman's involvement carried big implications for the Royal Rumble match:
Reigns' first title shot against KO came at Roadblock: End of the Line in December, but he was stymied when Jericho interfered and hit Owens with a Codebreaker, which resulted in The Big Dog losing by disqualification and leaving the pay-per-view without the belt.
That led to Raw general manager Mick Foley booking a unique rematch with Y2J trapped in a cage to prevent him from getting involved.
While that prospect seemingly terrified Jericho, he and Owens made the most of the build toward the Royal Rumble by doing everything possible to throw Reigns off his game.
That included a two-on-one handicap match on Raw in which the former Shield powerhouse was forced to put the United States championship on the line.
Jericho scored the pinfall in that match to win the U.S. title for the first time, and as evidenced by this video courtesy of WWE's official Twitter account, he and Owens were brimming with confidence after that triumph:
Although the odds were stacked against Reigns in that match, the win gave Owens a great deal of momentum entering perhaps his most difficult title defense to date.
His confidence was apparent during the handicap match, as he made it clear who he believed was the face of Monday Night Raw, via WWE Universe:
Despite that, Owens seemingly entered the Royal Rumble in a tough spot since he was not used to putting his title on the line without Jericho serving as an ace in the hole.
The Prizefighter is resourceful nonetheless, and his penchant for pulling out all the stops needed to win big matches still arguably gave him the upper hand. Granted, Strowman may have acted in his own self-interest when interfering on Owens' behalf.
Sunday's match was significant since it may well have decided who will defend the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 33 in April.
Although the title could conceivably change hands at Fastlane in March, it stands to reason that WWE could already have its plans in place.
If that much is true, Owens is set to be in a featured matchup at the Showcase of Immortals for the first time in his career.
KO has emerged as one of WWE's top heels during his time on the main roster, and his victory over Reigns cemented the fact that the company's decision-makers are pleased with the job he has done as champion thus far.
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