Seth Rollins was the first challenger of the new year to step up to take on Roman Reigns for his WWE Universal Title just weeks after Reigns set the record of the longest-reigning champion in the history of the title at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.
Rollins trolled Reigns before the bout even started by coming out to The Shield entrance music and even through the crowd while wearing his old gear. The match started off with Seth in control including him hitting a powerbomb through a table. Seth hit the buckle bomb then the stomp for a near fall. Reigns went for a spear, but Rollins reversed it into a pedigree for a near fall.
Reigns put him in the guillotine choke and Seth grabbed the rope, but Reigns didn’t break the hold so Reigns was DQ’d, but retained. Post-match, Reigns grabbed a chair and attacked Rollins with it.
The match was made official on the January 7th edition of SmackDown as Rollins was revealed as the next challenger. There was a storyline where Adam Pearce said WWE management informed him that he needed to choose Reigns’ Royal Rumble opponent before the end of the night and the show ended with Rollins going into Reigns’ locker room where he was just laughing.
Rollins is still a member of the Raw roster and was involved in the fatal five-way match at Day 1 where Brock Lesnar pinned Big E to win the WWE Championship. WWE is still moving forward with its plans for Lesnar and Reigns to face off again at WrestleMania 38.