Subscribe
Follow Us
Royal Rumble Results: Seth Rollins wins via disqualification, which leads to Roman Reigns retaining his Universal Championship.
The psychology of this match is so strong. Seth Rollins entered the match in his Shield ring attire, entering from the crowd, using the Shield entrance music, and even calling back to the early days of their careers by bringing out moves they don't really use today anymore. It hits extra hard given that Rollins has been using his betrayal of the Shield to get into the head of Roman Reigns, and the Head of the Table totally sold the emotional damage.
Roman Reigns' frustrations were evident early on in the match, allowing Seth “Freakin” Rollins to take over early. Reigns would be able to grab a breather, but Seth would execute a Shield Power Bomb on Reigns at the announce table, followed up with a Frog Splash in the middle of the ring, getting a two-count. A buckle bomb and a stomp later only led to a two-count – but the crowd reaction says that everyone expected things to end there. Reigns would counter another stomp attempt with a Clothesline from Hell, allowing him the champion to take over the match.
Roman would beat up Seth Rollins on the ground, but Seth would counter with a Triangle Choke. Roman Reigns then countered by lifting Seth off the mat, throwing his challenger to the mat, and then shoulder-first unto the turnbuckle. The fight moves on the outside to the ring, with Seth Rollins being hurled to the timekeeper's area, and then unto the steel steps. Reigns brought Rollins back inside, hits him with a Superman Punch, but only gets a two-count. Frustrated, Reigns would attempt a Spear at Seth, but a desperate Seth was able to counter with a Pedigree. The battered Seth Rollins only managed to get a two-count, after struggling to cover the champion.
Seth would rise to tune up the band, only to be countered by Roman. Reigns would hit another Spear, but struggle to cover. Seth then taunted Roman Reigns with a Shield fist bump, telling him “I love you, I've always loved you.” This frustrates Reigns, visibly losing focus, who then places Seth Rollins in a guillotine. Seth manages to reach out to the ropes, but Reigns would not break the hold, leading to a disqualification.
This was a great opener overall for the Royal Rumble. The psychology was pitch-perfect. The ending is a bit marred for another non-ending, but the emotional win by Seth over Reigns was great storytelling. Seth won the match and the psychological battle, but he didn't win the belt. Reigns' beatdown of Seth Rollins at the end was the cherry on top, showing just how affected Roman was by all of Seth's theatrics. We might get more out of this rivalry moving forward from this pay-per-view, as Seth didn't technically lose to Roman.
