Going by the happenings on Smackdown, the opponent for Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble 2021 has been confirmed. Adam Pearce has become the new number-one contender to WWE Universal Champion in a strange turn of events. WWE hosted a Gauntlet Match to determine Reigns’ opponent for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in the main event match of the show.
Participants announced for the Gauntlet were Shinsuke Nakamura, Daniel Bryan, Sami Zayn, King Baron Corbin, Adam Pearce, and Rey Mysterio. Shinsuke Nakamura lasted the original 5-man Gauntlet match also surviving Mysterio, Zayn, King Corbin, and Daniel Bryan. It was supposed to be Nakamura to compete against Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble 2021.
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Reigns and Jey Uso then came down to the ring and delivered a beatdown on Nakamura. Uso then super kicked Pearce and placed him on top of Nakamura urging the referee to complete the three count. Paul Heyman informed that he pulled some strings to insert Pearce into the Gauntlet as the final competitor. Pearce was then declared the winner of the Gauntlet match and Reigns’ opponent at the upcoming Royal Rumble 2021 pay-per-view event.
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Speaking of the upcoming show, Bianca Belair and Bayley are now official for the 30-Woman Rumble Match at the WWE Royal Rumble 2021 pay-per-view. A backstage segment on Smackdown was shown where Belair was confirmed for the Women’s Rumble Match.
Before she could speak about the match, Bayley interrupted and also declared her spot in the match. Thus the two superstars continued their feud with some verbal jabs.
WWE later released a post-SmackDown clip of the latest Alpha Academy training session with Chad Gable getting Otis ready for the Rumble match. Thus, Otis has become official for the 30-man over-the-top-rope battle.
WWE Royal Rumble 2021 Match Card
Royal Rumble 2021 pay-per-view will take place on January 31 from the ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The updated card for the show stands as follows,
WWE Title Match
Bill Goldberg vs. Drew McIntyre (c)
30-Man Royal Rumble Match
Daniel Bryan, WWE United States Champion Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Otis, 26 Superstars TBA
Winner earns a title shot at WrestleMania 37
30-Woman Royal Rumble Match
Nia Jax, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Bianca Belair, 26 Superstars TBA
Winner earns a title shot at WrestleMania 37
