Massive unexpected challenger announced for Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble

Universal Champion Roman Reigns is all set to defend the title against his former Shield brother Seth Rollins at the upcoming WWE Royal Rumble 2022.

This week on Friday Night SmackDown, Adam Pearce was seen discussing with Sonya Deville backstage that higher management had instructed him to choose Roman Reigns' opponent for the Royal Rumble.

Adam Pearce then confronted The Tribal Chief who claimed that he has beaten everyone on the SmackDown roster, asking the WWE official to leave and choose whoever he wanted.

😮#SmackDown @WWERomanReigns @WWERollins pic.twitter.com/luRLozWoPt

— WWE (@WWE) January 8, 2022

Following the main event, Reigns got a knock on his locker room door backstage as Seth Rollins came in. SmackDown went off the air with The Tribal Chief confusingly watching his former ally as the latter laughed.

WWE has now made it official that Seth Rollins will be challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble 2022.

Roman Reigns received another massive challenge on SmackDown

Universal Champion Roman Reigns returned and kicked off this week's Friday Night SmackDown after recovering from COVID-19. He was soon interrupted by his long-time rival and current WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, who came out to the ring with Paul Heyman.

After taking some shots at Reigns, Lesnar proposed that they should give the fans what they want - Champion vs. Champion. The Tribal Chief stated that while he likes the idea, it's not his idea.

Following this, WWE teased tensions between Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar as the former ended up distracting Lesnar, leading to Roman Reigns delivering a Superman punch to the WWE Champion.

The speculations and rumors seem to be true as WWE is teasing a champion vs. champion showdown between the two heavyweights at WrestleMania 38.

acKNoWledGE mEEe#SmackDown @BrockLesnar @WWERomanReigns @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/RmQx7XXmjC

— WWE (@WWE) January 8, 2022

But before that, Roman Reigns needs to defend his title against Seth Rollins at Royal Rumble. As for Brock Lesnar, he'll be defending the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley at the pay-per-view.