Adam Pearce is booked for a trip to the island of relevancy.
Just one hour before SmackDown went on the air, it was announced that Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura, Baron Corbin, Rey Mysterio, and Sami Zayn would face-off in a 5-person Gauntlet Match for the chance to face WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble.
Roman Reigns had been feuding with Kevin Owens, defeating him at both TLC and on the Christmas Day episode of SmackDown, but seemingly removed him from the equation after throwing him off of the ThunderDome stage and through a table on New Year's Day.
Tonight's show began with Roman Reigns calling out Adam Pearce for his decision to give Kevin Owens a match with Jey Uso one week ago. Later in the night, Paul Heyman approached Pearce and informed him that he pulled some strings and had him entered into the evening's main event.
The match began with Rey Mysterio eliminating Sami Zayn. Shinsuke Nakamura would enter next and go on an impressive run, defeating Mysterio, Corbin, and Daniel Bryan. Before facing Pearce, however, Reigns and Uso came to the ring and beat up the former Royal Rumble winner. Reigns told Pearce that SmackDown is his show and that he can do whatever he wants. He proceeded to throw Pearce into the ring where a superkick from Uso awaited him. He was then tossed atop Nakamura, securing him the victory and a title match at the Royal Rumble.
You can find out everything that happened on SmackDown by visiting our live coverage.
The Fightful post-show review with Sean Ross Sapp and Jeremy Lambert can be found here.
