WWE SmackDown: 5 Biggest news stories - Roman Reigns gets tricked, huge alliance for Apollo Crews? (January 15, 2021)

#1: Adam Pearce outsmarted Roman Reigns; Reigns is now set to face Kevin Owens at WWE Royal Rumble 2021

"That's gonna be the last contract you'll ever sign." 😳#SmackDown @WWERomanReigns @ScrapDaddyAP pic.twitter.com/DKiiJtDmIo

— WWE (@WWE) January 16, 2021

Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman influenced the Gauntlet match to target Adam Pearce on last week's WWE SmackDown. The WWE official won the match despite his own reservations, and Pearce was set to face Reigns at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view this year.

Throughout this week's SmackDown, Reigns remained adamant that he won't let Pearce weasel his way out from their upcoming match. As mentioned in the previous slide, Reigns still exercised his power on the Blue brand by calling the shots to book a Last Man Standing match stipulation against Pearce.

However, the WWE official had an ace up his sleeve this whole time. In his contract signing segment with Roman Reigns at the end of the episode, Adam Pearce allowed Reigns to spin the situation in his own favor.

After the proceedings were done, Pearce suddenly started to limp while walking up the ramp. The twist came when Pearce said that he had been afflicted with an old 'injury', which meant that the card is always subject to change in situations like this one.

Being a WWE official, Pearce had the authority to announce his own replacement, who turned out to be Kevin Owens. Owens signed the contract to make his Last Man Standing match against Roman Reigns official at the Royal Rumble event.

WAIT A MINUTE! It's going to be @FightOwensFight and @WWERomanReigns at #RoyalRumble! pic.twitter.com/Cel7q7m3an

— WWE (@WWE) January 16, 2021

Many fans were already on board with Adam Pearce vs. Roman Reigns, as it made sense from the perspective of Reigns' authority on SmackDown. Several others opposed that idea last week. The fans who opposed that idea are somewhat happy with Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble, while the other half are now disappointed.

Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns does feel a bit repetitive, but it is mostly a great idea because of the pre-established chemistry and history between Reigns and Owens. In the end, all that matters is that WWE did a good job in making the transition from Pearce vs. Reigns to Owens vs. Reigns this week. All Superstars involved in this scenario were at the top of their game in terms of acting performances as well.

Do catch SK Wrestling experts Rick Ucchino and Denise Salcedo as they share their thoughts on all that went down during last night's WWE SmackDown in the video linked above.