Roman Reigns Retains WWE Titles at Royal Rumble, Sami Zayn Betrays Champion to Rile Up Crowd

Roman Reigns defends WWE titles at Royal Rumble ( Getty Images )

Roman Reigns Maintains WWE Power with Title Defenses Against Kevin Owens at Royal Rumble But Loses Allies from The Bloodline Post-Match.

Reigns, with support from Sami Zayn and Paul Heyman, battled Owens in a high-stakes match. He executed several Superman Punches and Spears, including a move that sent Owens through a barricade. Reigns ultimately secured the victory with a three-count pin, but his post-match aggression may have cost him allies from The Bloodline.

Following Reigns’ successful championship defense, Jimmy and Jey Uso, and Solo Sikoa came out to celebrate. The faction then proceeded to attack Owens, with the Usos placing a chair around his neck and Sikoa charging toward him.

Paul Heyman further escalated the situation by bringing out handcuffs, which were used to tie Owens to the ring ropes. The Usos delivered multiple superkicks to Owens and Reigns was about to hit him with a chair, until Zayn, who has a long-standing relationship with Owens, intervened and pleaded with Reigns to stop.

Roman Reigns defends WWE titles at Royal Rumble ( Getty Images ) — LILLE, FRANCE – MAY 09: Roman Reigns fights against Bray (L) during WWE Live 2017 at Zenith Arena on May 9, 2017 in Lille, France. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

Zayn argued that such actions were beneath Reigns and that he did not need to resort to them, as he is better than that.

Reigns offered Zayn the chance to join The Bloodline. However, Zayn surprised Reigns and the crowd by attacking him with a chair, eliciting a huge reaction from the audience at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

During the celebration of Reigns’ successful championship defense, tensions rose within The Bloodline faction as Jey Uso ran out of the ring and backstage after Zayn turned against Reigns and hit him with a chair. The rest of The Bloodline members, Jimmy and Solo Sikoa, then attacked Zayn as the crowd at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, expressed their discontent with Reigns with a loud chant of “F—you Roman!” This latest development adds to the ongoing conflicts within The Bloodline, which has dominated the WWE for the past two years.

The Bloodline continued their assault on Zayn until they grew fatigued. Afterward, the faction left the ring and walked down the aisle, but now face a new problem.