Kevin Owens

Roman Reigns defeated Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match at the 2021 WWE Royal Rumble on Sunday to retain the Universal Championship.

The two men explored the entire Tropicana Field throughout the match, continually raising the stakes in order to put the other away. At one point, The Tribal Chief drove a golf cart into KO, who shortly after that delivered a Senton Bomb from a forklift.

Reigns was on the verge of defeat after Owens handcuffed him to the bottom of a lighting rig by the entrance. Before the referee could complete the 10-count, the champion slammed him into another rig. Paul Heyman also arrived to get the titleholder loose from the handcuffs.

Upon regaining his bearings, Reigns applied the Guillotine Choke to Owens. The challenger was taken out and unable to get to his feet.

The pair have been at odds for some time, and Sunday's match marked the second consecutive pay-per-view in which they did battle with the title on the line.

The Tribal Chief beat KO back at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December with some help from Jey Uso, but Owens didn't go quietly and continued to go after Reigns in pursuit of the belt.

That led to a rematch on SmackDown inside a steel cage on Christmas Day, but Reigns again came away victorious, which could have marked the end of their rivalry.

The passionate and driven KO continued to be a thorn in his side, though, which led to Reigns and Uso orchestrating a brutal beatdown of him the following week that resulted in him getting thrown off a platform and through some tables.

While KO was on the shelf, WWE official Adam Pearce set up a Gauntlet match to determine Reigns' opponent at the Royal Rumble. The Tribal Chief didn't like the decision being taken out of his hands, so he forced Pearce into the match.

The universal champion ensured the official would win by attacking Shinsuke Nakamura, which seemingly set the table for Reigns vs. Pearce at the Rumble.

However, after Pearce signed the contract for the match, he began limping and said he wouldn't be cleared to compete. He said he found a suitable replacement, which led to Owens returning and signing it instead.

Reigns made Pearce pay by attacking him during the January 22 edition of SmackDown, but KO made the save and put a hurting on the titleholder by hitting him with a Stunner and powerbombing him through the announce table.

Owens seemed to have a fighting chance entering the Royal Rumble since the Last Man Standing stipulation was right in his wheelhouse, but Reigns managed to pull through and is now in line to enter WrestleMania 37 on April 10-11 as the universal champion.

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The Royal Rumble is one of the most important wrestling pay-per-views of the year, but not every Superstar participating in the event will come out a winner.

WWE has a funny way of making even the most popular performers look like chumps if it helps build one of its hand-chosen Superstars.

While top athletes like Drew McIntyre and Bianca Belair will leave Sunday's show as the biggest winners of the night, other bona fide draws like Kevin Owens and AJ Styles will find themselves gaining little from the January PPV.

Here are the biggest predicted winners and losers for the 2021 Royal Rumble.

Winner: Drew McIntyre

As WWE champion, Drew McIntyre's run has been plagued by the lack of fans and excitement in the product. With that said, the Scottish Psychopath has been excellent in his role and has made the most of his opportunities.

At the Royal Rumble, McIntyre will retain his title against a legend.

Whether or not wrestling fans like Goldberg, there is no doubt about the impact he had on the business. As one of the biggest stars of the Monday Night War and a box office draw, Goldberg putting over McIntyre would be a massive boost for the champion.

The match should be a short showcase of what makes Goldberg so much fun to watch, followed by the sudden explosiveness and dominance McIntyre showed against Brock Lesnar. If the champion retains the title, he will be the night's biggest winner.

Loser: Kevin Owens

There are few Superstars on the WWE roster with as much pure talent on the mic or in the ring as Kevin Owens, but his job at the Royal Rumble will be to make Roman Reigns look like a viable world champion.

Instead of using Owens to make others look good, it should be his time to shine.

Owens is almost certainly going to put on a great Last Man Standing match with Reigns, but it will be all for naught, as he will take another loss and lose even more credibility with casual wrestling fans.

From the defeat against Goldberg for the Universal Championship in 2017 to his recent losses against Reigns, putting Owens out as prey again is a slap in the face to the amount of work he has put in throughout his career.

Winner: Bianca Belair

As one of the most talented all-around performers on the roster regardless of gender, it's time for Bianca Belair to realize her potential and win the 2021 Royal Rumble.

After registering the joint-most eliminations during last year's 30-woman Battle Royal, WWE Creative needs to pull the trigger and book Belair to walk away from Sunday's PPV with the biggest win of her life.

Not only would a victory at the Royal Rumble cement her place at the top of the women's division for casual wrestling fans, but it would also set up possible dream matches against Asuka on Raw or Sasha Banks on SmackDown.

Belair winning is best for business.

Loser: AJ Styles

Despite being arguably the best in-ring worker in the business and one of the most entertaining characters in WWE, AJ Styles has been involved in storylines that make little to no sense since his jump to Raw in October.

Styles has been synonymous with the 30-man Battle Royal since he made his debut at the show in 2016, but he doesn't look to have a clear path to WrestleMania. If he doesn't build a marquee feud during the match, this will be a missed opportunity.

While there is still a chance WWE pulls out a Hail Mary and has Styles eliminate Edge or someone of that ilk to set up a major storyline, there is also a distinct chance Styles will just be caught by Omos and then dumped unceremoniously.

For more wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics or catch the latest episode in the player above (some language NSFW).

Friday night's episode of WWE SmackDown, headlined by a brawl involving universal champion Roman Reigns, Adam Pearce and Kevin Owens, saw its ratings improve compared to last week. 

According to Showbuzz Daily, SmackDown averaged 2.282 million viewers in the overnight ratings during its two-hour broadcast on Fox. That is up from last week's 2.153 million. SmackDown also did a 0.6 rating in the 18-49-year-old demographic, which was tied for No. 2 on the night.

SmackDown opened with a confrontation between Reigns and Pearce, who got out of his scheduled Royal Rumble match against Reigns last week by saying he wasn't medically cleared and subsequently replacing himself with Kevin Owens.

After Pearce disrespected Paul Heyman, Reigns implored Heyman to do something about it. Heyman obliged by challenging Pearce to a match in the main event of SmackDown, and Pearce accepted.

It all turned out to be a ruse, as Heyman pretended to trip on the steps while entering the ring for the match, which led to Reigns stepping in and brutally attacking Pearce. Owens eventually made the save, however, and SmackDown went off the air with KO powerbombing The Tribal Chief through the announce table.

SmackDown also featured a surprisingly entertaining match between SmackDown women's champion Sasha Banks and Carmella's sommelier, Reginald. While Banks won the match by submission, Reginald drew on his background as a Cirque du Soleil performer and did some impressive acrobatics.

There was also an Intercontinental Championship match on SmackDown pitting Big E against Apollo Crews, but there was not a definitive finish.

In the middle of the match, Sami Zayn ran in and hit Crews with a Helluva Kick. He then hit Big E with a Helluva Kick after the bell as well.

Zayn had handcuffed himself to the barricade and was sitting on the ramp throughout the show before getting involved in the match and getting some revenge on the man who beat him for the IC title, Big E, and the man who helped make it happen, Crews.

Also on SmackDown, Asuka and Charlotte Flair beat The Riott Squad, Cesaro defeated Dolph Ziggler, King Corbin beat Dominik Mysterio and Bianca Belair defeated Bayley in an entertaining obstacle course challenge, only for Bayley to attack her afterward.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).