A Roman Reigns Crown Jewel rematch is not expected at the Royal Rumble.
The Tribal Chief’s latest defence of the Undisputed Championship took place at Crown Jewel, where the latest WWE Superstar to try but fail to dethrone Reigns was LA Knight. Much like multiple previous defences of the title, Knight was the victim of interference from The Bloodline.
As seen on subsequent episodes of SmackDown, Knight has made it clear that he was not done with Reigns and would become number one contender again. Beginning by taking his frustrations out on Grayson Waller, The Megastar targeted The Bloodline upon their return. While all signs point to Reigns vs. Knight 2, higher-ups appear to have a different idea.
As reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Knight is not scheduled to face Reigns at the Rumble, which is when Roman Reigns will next defend the title. While some are pushing for Knight, there appears to be someone else marked for that spot:
We were told that as of this time Reigns vs. Knight is not the title match at Rumble. That is Reigns’ next match. There are those who feel it should be Knight in that spot but we were told Levesque has another plan right now.
Recently it was reported by Dave Meltzer that multiple top WWE stars could be Roman Reigns’ Royal Rumble opponent.
WWE Champion Defends Roman Reigns
Along with the fact that virtually every title match finishes in a similar fashion, another common complaint from fans is that Reigns has appeared for fewer dates than ever before. Unless Reigns competes on a non-televised event before the end of the year, the leader of The Bloodline would have had 11 matches in 2023. While some are angry that the top champion is operating on a reduced schedule, a fellow WWE Champion has defended Roman Reign’s part-time schedule.