WWE News: Roman Reigns Loses WWE United States Championship In ‘Raw’ Handicap Match
WWE icon Chris Jericho has claimed another prize to add to his glittering resume after capturing the WWE United States Championship for the first time on Monday’s WWE Raw.
Y2J teamed up with his best friend Kevin Owens to take on the now-former champion Roman Reigns in a handicap match that WWE announced at the end of last week.
The match took place at the beginning of Raw, but quickly ended when Braun Strowman attacked Reigns, allowing Jericho and Owens to beat him down, as ProWrestling.net reported. Seth Rollins ran out to even the odds a little, attacking Owens and Jericho with a steel chair. Reigns and Rollins then worked together to hit Strowman with the chair and send him to ringside.
After the match was thrown out, Stephanie McMahon insisted that the WWE would hold true to its word and that there would be a proper United States title match later in the show.
The three men then battled once more in the main event. The competitors brawled before the match, with Reigns fighting Jericho inside a shark cage that was on the stage. Owens helped Jericho fight out of the tight spot, and the duo rammed Reigns into the ring steps before the second WWE United States Championship match of the night officially began.
Later on in the match, the competitors fought at ringside. Owens attempted to powerbomb Reigns, but the champion backdropped the prizefighter instead and nailed Jericho with a Superman Punch. When Reigns tried to get back into the ring, Owens held him by the leg, and Jericho delivered his signature Codebreaker as Reigns was between the ropes.
Owens then powerbombed Reigns onto the ring apron, setting up Jericho to deliver another Codebreaker inside the ring to win the United States Championship for the first time in his career. The new champion and his buddy Owens celebrated as the show went off the air.
Later this month, Reigns will challenge Owens for the WWE Universal Championship at the 2017 WWE Royal Rumble. Jericho will be suspended above the ring in a shark cage, supposedly to ensure he does not interfere in the match. However, as longtime wrestling fans will know, placing an opponent’s manager (or in this case, best friend) in a cage above the ring doesn’t always help a competitor.
Just two months ago, at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic were contested between the Authors of Pain and TM-61. The Authors of Pain’s manager, Paul Ellering, was suspended in a cage, though dropped a chain to the ring for the Authors of Pain to presumably use. That didn’t go to plan, as the chain ended up in the crowd, but it’s proof positive that the shark cage doesn’t completely prevent interference.
Rumors had suggested that Reigns would retain his United States title and go on to win the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble to become a double champion, or conversely that he would lose it, making his path to the Raw top title a little less murky. Obviously, the latter transpired.
Elsewhere on WWE Raw, Seth Rollins and The Undertaker both confirmed that they will be participating in this year’s Royal Rumble match, with the winner facing either the WWE Universal Champion or the WWE Champion at WrestleMania 33.
Rollins and Strowman fought to a double countout, Jack Gallagher pinned Drew Gulak, Big Cass defeated Jinder Mahal (with Shawn Michaels delivering a Sweet Chin Music to Mahal’s running buddy Rusev). Also on Raw, Neville beat Lince Dorado, Sheamus pinned Luke Gallows, Charlotte and Nia Jax beat Bayley and Sasha Banks, and Kofi Kingston pinned Titus O’Neil.
After the show ended, The Undertaker returned to chokeslam Owens and Jericho.
However, Raw was once again about the Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho show, as the superfriends added more gold in the form of the WWE United States Championship to their list of accomplishments.
[Featured Image by WWE]
