Roman Reigns retains Undisputed title over Sami Zayn at WWE Elimination Chamber

In a match that featured a raucous Montreal crowd, two referee bumps, and appearances by both Kevin Owens and The Usos, Roman Reigns retained the WWE Undisputed Universal title by defeating Sami Zayn at Saturday’s Elimination Chamber. 

Zayn was looking for his first WWE Championship while Reigns’ multi-year run at the top of WWE continues. He now moves on to defend against Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles.

For Zayn, his path to Los Angeles will likely be by Owens’ side but how they get there isn’t yet clear.

Reigns picked up the win after multiple chair shots and a spear to Zayn.

As expected, the atmosphere in Zayn’s hometown for the match, and especially at the start, was unlike anything WWE has experienced in quite some time. After the bell rang, the two just stared at each other as the crowd got louder and louder with chants like “F**k you, Roman.”

It only grew as the match went on which included Reigns talking to Zayn’s wife and his family that were sitting at ringside. Reigns played to the crowd throughout the match, both soaking in the atmosphere and taking time to antagonize the fans.

Zayn had his moments, hitting a sunset power bomb for a close near fall and later countering a Superman punch with an exploder suplex. However, Reigns countered a helluva kick attempt with a Superman punch for a near fall.

Zayn nearly had the match won, landing another exploder suplex, followed by his own Superman punch followed by the helluva kick for another near fall. Zayn had another opening when Reigns ran through the ringside barricade followed by Zayn quickly getting him back in the ring and getting another near fall after a blue thunder bomb.

The first referee bump came when he was crushed in the corner, followed by a Zayn helluva kick and a visual pinfall on Reigns. That sequence led to Jimmy Uso running in and delivering three superkicks and a frog splash. A second referee entered the fray and counted a close near fall to the chagrin of Paul Heyman and Uso.

Reigns had another close pinfall as he connected on a spear after Zayn helluva kicked Uso off the apron. Later, the second official was taken out of the match following an accidental Reigns Superman punch.

Heyman then gave a chair to Reigns which led to the reappearance of Jey Uso. He and Reigns stared each other down and Reigns then handed him a chair to finish Zayn off in a scene reminiscent of the end of the Royal Rumble. Uso teased hitting Reigns and after the two argued, Reigns facepalmed him and questioned why he was hesitating. Uso then got speared by Zayn after Reigns moved out of the way and was out of action the rest of the way.

Multiple chair shots followed to Zayn and after a spear, the first official got back in the match to count the pin to give Reigns the win.

After the match, Jimmy Uso got back into things and attacked Zayn, leading to Kevin Owens coming out. As Jimmy Uso went out to meet him, Owens threw him into the barricade. He then delivered a spear and stunner to Reigns before delivering another stunner to Jimmy Uso and then a pop-up power bomb through the announce table.

Owens then began stalking Reigns back inside the ring with a chair, leading to Heyman punching Owens’ back to distract him. Owens then gave him a stunner and after deliberating, he stepped out of the way to allow Zayn to hit one more helluva kick. 

Zayn then stared at Owens who stared back at him going to the back as the show came to an end. The next stage in their post-Bloodline relationship is expected to lead into WrestleMania as the assumption is that they will challenge The Usos for the Tag Team titles.