WWE Royal Rumble 2023: Roman Reigns Solved the KO Problem & Retained His Titles
Roman Reigns retained his Undisputed WWE Universal title against Kevin Owens at Royal Rumble 2023. After the match, Sami Zayn chose KO’s side, and got assaulted by the Bloodline.
Kevin Owens entered the ring first followed by Roman Reigns who came out with Sami Zayn and Paul Heyman. Roman reminds Zayn during the entrance that they get rid of the KO problem today.
Roman Reigns starts things off with a shoulder block. Owens replies with a high elbow, and shoulder drop of his own. He puts Roman into the corner and stomps him before hitting him with the senton.
The fight comes outside the ring. Owens is in control outside and hits Roman with the senton on the floor. They return to the ring and Roman took control by sending KO into the corner. He hits KO with a urinage before getting two-count.
Roman Reigns hits Kevin with several punches before choking him. They have an exchange of punches in the middle of the ring before Roman Reigns hits him with the big boot.
KO sends Roman to the floor and hit him with the frog splash. Then he sends Roman inside the ring to hit him with another frog splash. Ko then goes for a superkick, but it was countered by Roman, and the latter hit a sit-up powerbomb. Roman hits KO with the superman punch but it wasn’t enough to put the Prize Fighter away.
Roman tries to hit the spear but KO avoids it and sends Roman into the ring post. Kevin hit Roman with the superkick followed by the senton, but Roman kicked out. KO gets to the top but slips while trying to hit the moonsault.
Roman Reigns finally manages to connect a spear but KO kicks out. Kevin blocks another spear before Roman sends him to the referee. Owens hit the pop-up powerbomb, but the referee was down and unable to count.
Roman hits Kevin Owens with a low blow and then asks Sami Zayn for a chair. Zayn gives the chair to Roman but seems a bit conflicted. KO counters the chair shot and hits the stunner. Roman counters the pop-up powerbomb into the superman punch and then hits another spear.
However, KO kicks out again. Sami Zayn pleads with KO to stay down before Roman Reigns sends him through the barricade with a spear. Roman then starts slamming Kevin Owens head to the steel steps and Sami Zayn wasn’t able to watch it.
Roman Reigns takes Kevin Owens back to the ring and hits him with the spear to get the pinfall. However, the punishment didn’t stop there.
The Usos and Solo Sikoa enter the ring and Roman tells them to attack Kevin Owens. All three of them take their chance to beat down Kevin before The Usos puts him away with the 1-D.
They put KO in the corner and wrap a chair around his neck before Solo hits him with a hip attack. Paul Heyman brings handcuffs, and they tie Kevin Owens to the rope. The Usos hit KO with a plethora of superkicks before Roman tried to hit him with the chair.
Sami Zayn stopped him and bagged Roman not to do this. Reigns hand the chair to him and tell him to hit KO. Sami Zayn seems a bit conflicted and then he hit Roman Reigns with the chair instead of KO.
Jimmy Uso instantly hit Sami with a superkick, before the Bloodline attacked him. Jey Uso doesn’t like Sami’s betrayal and he left the ring before Roman Reigns batter Sami Zayn with a steel chair.
The Bloodline left Sami in the middle of the ring, and they also took away Sami Zayn’s “The Honorary Uce” t-shirt.
Storyline
Kevin Owens returned before the Survivor Series WarGames and joined team Sheamus for the WarGames match against The Bloodline. During the match, Sami Zayn betrayed Owens to help The Bloodline to win the match.
Kevin Owens continued to feud with the Bloodline for the next few weeks before he partnered with the returning John Cena to take on the team of Sami Zayn & Roman Reigns on the December 30 episode of WWE SmackDown.
Owens won that match by pinning Sami Zayn. The following week on SmackDown, Roman accused Sami for their loss, but he was interrupted by Owens who challenged Roman Reigns to put his titles on the line at Royal Rumble 2023.
It was the third match between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble PPV event. Their previous two matches came at Royal Rumble 2017 and Royal Rumble 2021.
Check here for the complete ongoing results and live updates from WWE Royal Rumble 2023 event.
