In a surprising turn of events, the original plans for Roman Reigns’ title defense at the Royal Rumble 2024 have been revealed.
There were plans for Roman Reigns to face Randy Orton in a Royal Rumble match. Orton, who had been out of action due to his back injury for almost 18 months, was also written off from WWE programming when Roman Reigns and The Bloodline attacked him back in May 2022.
However, Orton made his return in November at Survivor Series: WarGames, where he teamed up with Cody Rhodes’ squad to defeat The Judgement Day and Drew McIntyre. Following his return, Orton decided to sign with Smackdown, setting his sights on WWE Champion Roman Reigns.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, a singles bout between Roman Reigns and Randy Orton was the original plan WWE had in mind for the Royal Rumble.
Meltzer explained, “The actual deal here is that… the original idea was Roman (Reigns) and Randy Orton for the Rumble. Essentially, there were parties involved who did not want to beat Randy Orton this early and just felt that there’s money to be made with Randy Orton and Roman in a program at some point, but it’s too soon to do it. But LA Knight just got beat and AJ (Styles) isn’t strong enough… I think AJ is the guy they probably would’ve wanted because Roman can beat him. The basic gist was that AJ gives them someone they can beat, LA gives them someone they can beat.”
Following Reigns’ interference on the latest edition of SmackDown during the one contender’s match involving Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and LA Knight, Nick Aldis declared that at the Royal Rumble, Orton, Styles, and Knight are set to face Roman Reigns for his WWE Championship.
Roman Reigns set for massive fatal four-way at Royal Rumble 2024
On the January 5th edition of SmackDown, a huge main event unfolded featuring Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and LA Knight. This match was intended to determine the next challenger for Roman Reigns’ title. However, the bout took an unexpected turn when Roman Reigns and members of The Bloodline interfered, launching an assault on all three competitors.
In the aftermath of the attack, the General Manager of Smackdown, Nick Aldis, disclosed to Paul Heyman a consequential decision. Roman Reigns is set to defend his WWE Championship in a fatal four-way match at the Royal Rumble. The challengers in this high-stakes encounter will include Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and LA Knight.
In an exclusive backstage interview following SmackDown, Paul Heyman conveyed this announcement to Reigns. In response, Reigns issued an order to Heyman, instructing him to rectify the situation.
