{"id":111520,"date":"2021-01-16T15:10:19","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T21:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=111520"},"modified":"2021-01-16T15:10:19","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T21:10:19","slug":"reigns-o-meter-117-roman-corners-himself-over-royal-rumble-opponent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/01\/16\/reigns-o-meter-117-roman-corners-himself-over-royal-rumble-opponent\/","title":{"rendered":"REIGNS-O-METER #117: Roman corners himself over Royal Rumble opponent"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3545436394\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Dear reader. I won\u2019t lie to you. A criminal injustice took place on this week\u2019s WWE Smackdown. Roman Reigns, your tribal chief and mine, was in search of a good, clean fight. A good, clean no disqualification fight. Sorry, a good, clean Last Man Standing match. Roman Reigns was trying to improve the product. He was trying to put food on some tables. He was trying to reignite the career of a potential legend.<\/p>\n<p>Truly, there is no respect.<\/p>\n<p>Smackdown this week opened with a recap of last week, with Nakamura getting a chance to shine all over again, before being ignored for the bigger story. We then go to Roman Reigns sitting in a comfy chair. Roman Reigns sitting in a comfy chair is a bit of a theme recently. If I had a graphics guy, I\u2019d be memeing the hell out of that. This week\u2019s comfy chair gets an 8 out of 10.<\/p>\n<p>Paul Heyman talked over the contract provided for Roman\u2019s match at the Royal Rumble. It sounded like filler; the sort of thing that you hear when someone\u2019s jumped in ahead of their queue. It sounded like they were already talking when the camera started rolling. As it turned out, it\u2019s vitally important exposition. Has Paul Heyman ever wasted a second of his life? It doesn\u2019t feel like it.<\/p>\n<p>Roman looked perturbed. He furiously explained to Paul Heyman that this was not acceptable. He said that changes needed to happen. He ranted and raved and threw things too. He does all of this telepathically, of course. Heyman got the message and moved to make changes. As usual, Paul Heyman doing paperwork will be our running thread backstage this week.<\/p>\n<p>Jey Uso is first down to the ring this week. He altered his catchphrase and welcomed us all to the bloodline show. Yes, I have refused to capitalize that. We all know we\u2019re watching The Roman Reigns Show. Jey thinks he\u2019s a big deal. Really, he\u2019s the sidekick to the schoolyard bully. He\u2019s all mouth and no trousers.<\/p>\n<p>Just in case, that\u2019s a very British saying. The feminine variant is all fur coat and no knickers. And people think we\u2019re an overly polite nation.<\/p>\n<p>Jey does volunteer to beat up Oldberg. I\u2019m not sure if they intended that face turn. He then put over Shinsuke Nakamura. Will the push continue after the gauntlet match showing last week? Let\u2019s see, shall we?<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2505744601\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Whoa &#8211; oh &#8211; oh &#8211; ohhh &#8211; ohhh&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Sorry, I got distracted there. Man, that song is catchy.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jey Uso: SmackDown, Jan. 15, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nqgrxQhnSzA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Nakamura is a face now. I know that because WWE\u2019s pre-recorded audio tells me so. He\u2019s not a really big deal though because the audio is only kind of loud. Something else is different, but I can\u2019t put my finger on it.<\/p>\n<p>Shinsuke cut a promo. That\u2019s rare. He kicked Jey in the head and then the WWE played his music again. Things are very different indeed. Something else has changed, but I can\u2019t put my finger on it.<\/p>\n<p>Whoa &#8211; oh &#8211; oh &#8211; oh &#8211; whoa &#8211; whoa&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll figure it out, I\u2019m sure.<\/p>\n<p>A couple of minutes into the match, with Nakamura in the ascendency, Cesaro arrived to back up his buddy. Commentary called them buddies, which naturally makes me suspicious. If you\u2019re a Twitter user you\u2019ll know that suspicious doesn\u2019t quite do justice to the amount of suspicion present on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>In a slightly protected finish, Shinsuke Nakamura took out Jey Uso and shared a hug with his buddy Cesaro. There is definitely nothing bad coming there.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2168823678\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Whoa &#8211; oh &#8211; oh &#8211; oh&#8230; I\u2019ll figure out what else has changed. It\u2019ll come to me in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n<p>Paul Heyman sold Adam Pearce on main eventing the Royal Rumble. He referred to the scrap daddy past. I like that, especially with Smackdown\u2019s daddy standing right there between them. There was a super awkward moment with Heyman talking about Deville\u2019s perfume. She did not seem to like it. Pearce was down with a no DQ match. Roman wasn&#8217;t so we re-run a couple of segments later in the night to make it Last Man Standing.<\/p>\n<p>There is definitely one thing to keep an eye on though. Sitting in the background of one scene was Apollo Crews, the former United States Champion who hasn\u2019t done all that much for the last few months. It sure looked like he was about to do something. Roman Reigns now has a hand in the Intercontinental Championship picture and, of course, Big E. The Big Dog has his fingers in many pies. He\u2019s sure making a lot of enemies right before the Royal Rumble.<\/p>\n<p>Our main event segment started off with some very clever camerawork. As Roman walked down towards the ring, Jey Uso and Paul Heyman were behind, slightly blurred because, let\u2019s face it, they\u2019re not as important as the guy in front. Sorry, The Guy in front. Nearly forgot a piece of branding there. I would never have forgiven myself.<\/p>\n<p>Adam Pearce came down without any music, which is just a bit sad, isn\u2019t it? He felt like a generic create-a-wrestler. He looked very nervous as it was a tense situation. There were less than five minutes left in the show, but Roman still killed some time demanding the chair that Adam Pearce was sitting in. It\u2019s just top class heel work. Quietly, both men signed the contract. Roman described it as the last thing Pearce will ever sign.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pearce declares Owens will challenge Reigns at Royal Rumble: SmackDown, Jan 15, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vRoH1c-457g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Suddenly, we have a smart face and a dumb heel. Not a standard dumb heel, that\u2019s not the Roman way, but an abruptly dumb heel. Having made every move he could, Roman believed he had Pearce cornered. In fact, Roman himself was cornered. Pearce feigned an injury and, as per all that legal jargon we were talking about earlier, he chose Kevin Owens to replace him in the match.<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t beat city hall, Roman. You can\u2019t beat city hall.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK&#8217;S REIGNS-O-METER:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/01\/10\/reigns-o-meter-116-roman-chooses-his-own-number-one-contender-to-face-at-the-royal-rumble-for-the-wwe-universal-championship\/\">REIGNS-O-METER #116: Roman \u201cchooses\u201d his own number one contender to face at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Universal Championship<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-533070729\"><div id=\"pwtor-2690937262\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Dear reader. I won\u2019t lie to you. A criminal injustice took place on this week\u2019s WWE Smackdown. Roman Reigns, your tribal chief and mine, was in search of a good, clean fight. A good, clean <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/01\/16\/reigns-o-meter-117-roman-corners-himself-over-royal-rumble-opponent\/\" title=\"REIGNS-O-METER #117: Roman corners himself over Royal Rumble opponent\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":5725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,4585,27],"tags":[74,72,71,117],"class_list":["post-111520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-reigns-o-meter","category-specialists","tag-roman-reigns","tag-smackdown","tag-wwe","tag-wwe-smackdown"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ReignsRomanWK1_3x2_600-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111523,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111520\/revisions\/111523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}