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WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns is set to defend his title against Raw Superstar Seth Rollins at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Jan. 29.
The match had been teased on Friday’s episode of SmackDown Live but was made official Monday.
WWE @WWE
Who will walk out of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoyalRumble?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#RoyalRumble</a> with the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/UniversalTitle?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#UniversalTitle</a>?<a href=”https://twitter.com/WWERomanReigns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@WWERomanReigns</a> defends against <a href=”https://twitter.com/WWERollins?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@WWERollins</a> in a showdown between familiar foes. <a href=”https://t.co/ZAsc8Y1icp”>pic.twitter.com/ZAsc8Y1icp</a>
Rollins spoke about the match before taking on former WWE champion Big E:
WWE @WWE
Are YOU ready for <a href=”https://twitter.com/WWERomanReigns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@WWERomanReigns</a> vs. <a href=”https://twitter.com/WWERollins?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@WWERollins</a> for the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/UniversalTitle?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#UniversalTitle</a> at <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoyalRumble?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#RoyalRumble</a>?!<br><br>Seth “Freakin” Rollins certainly is. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WWERaw</a> <a href=”https://t.co/Qi8udiaTXy”>pic.twitter.com/Qi8udiaTXy</a>
Reigns and Rollins have a long history together. They got their start in the company in 2012 as members of one of the most popular factions in WWE history, The Shield. They held the WWE Tag Team Championships together before Rollins disbanded the group in the summer of 2014 by attacking Reigns and Dean Ambrose, who is now known as Jon Moxley in AEW.
Rollins pinned Reigns to win his first WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 31 after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract during Reigns’ match against Brock Lesnar.
A knee injury to Rollins in 2015 eventually opened the door to Reigns becoming WWE champion. Upon his return the following year, Rollins attacked Reigns and went on to defeat him at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view to win his belt back.
Reigns and Rollins briefly reunited as part of The Shield in 2018.
Reigns has been universal champion for well over a year after winning the title at SummerSlam in 2020. His current Tribal Chief character has received rave reviews both for his promo work and his matches.
Reigns was expected to defend his universal title against Lesnar at the WWE Day 1 pay-per-view event on Jan. 1, but he was pulled from the card on the day of event after testing positive for COVID-19. Lesnar went on to defeat Rollins, Big E, Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley to win E’s WWE title in a result that surprised many. Despite his ongoing feud with Reigns, Lesnar will defend his title against Lashley at the Royal Rumble.
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