Randy Orton Confronts Roman Reigns on WWE SmackDown, Challenges for Title at Royal Rumble

Randy Orton confronts Roman Reigns on WWE SmackDown and then challenges Reigns for the Undisputed Title at Royal Rumble

By Matthew Aguilar

Roman Reigns made his return to WWE SmackDown tonight after a lengthy absence, and he got right to business, crowning Solo Sikoa as the next in line to be the Tribal Chief. The big moment was crashed by Randy Orton, who revealed last week that he would be signing exclusively with SmackDown. Orton told Reigns he took 18 months from him and now he'll be looking to get payback and take that Title from Reigns, and Orton challenged Reigns to a Championship match at the Royal Rumble. Reigns balked at the challenge and said Orton hadn't earned it but was left a little flustered when Orton nearly hit him with an RKO.

Reigns started things out with his usual introduction but then quickly segued to business. "Alright, alright, shut your mouths now. I'm a fair Tribal Chief. When someone's doing good, we let em know. When someone's doing bad, we smash them, but not tonight," Reigns said. "Tonight, it's about one man. He's sacrificed everything he could over the past year or so. This man understands what family means. This man understands what it means to keep this family at the top of the mountain. If anything happens to me this man will hopefully step up. He's the next in line."

Chants for Randy Orton started, which displeased Reigns. "No this ain't for Randy Orton, hell no! This man is going to be responsible for this bloodline. This is the next Tribal Heir. The next Tribal Chief. Jimmy, join me in congratulating your brother...Solo," Reigns said. Jimmy had to quickly put on a smile since he thought he was going to be the next Tribal Chief, and then Reigns hugged Sikoa, but then Orion's music hit and the Viper came out to the ring.

"For 18 months I have been thinking of this moment right here. I've been thinking of what I'm gonna do. What I'm gonna say, but you know what Roman? The only thing I need to say to you is that I'm coming for ya," Orton said. "You took 18 months from me so I'm going to take everything away from you, and I don't care which one of your family members I have to go through to get the job done the fact of the matter is this big dawg. It starts tonight and ends at the Royal Rumble because I am challenging you for the WWE Championship."

After cheers from the crowd, Reigns said, "From the sound of the fans, it sounds like you deserve it. What did you say, 18 months you've been thinking about this? I haven't thought about you at all! You've been gone for 18 months. You haven't done anything to earn this opportunity, so you don't deserve this opportunity, so you can go back to the end of the line where you belong. Everyone wants to get down with the Tribal Chief and just show up and get the opportunity, and that's not how it works."

"How about you do what you do, tap into that big head of yours, and listen to the voices in your head. This ain't 2002 anymore. I'm levels above everybody else. Those voices are telling you to run, get out of the ring, and do not mess with this Tribal Chief," Reigns said. Orton fired back, saying "You have evolved for the better. You are no longer just a historical Champion. You sir are a legend. Now, I've changed too. I've changed too. I have evolved, but the one thing Randy Orton will always and forever be is a legend killer."

Then Orton nearly hit Reigns with an RKO, and Sikoa and Jimmy got in front of him. "You know you said you haven't been thinking about me, but maybe you should. Hold on, I'm getting something from the voices in my head. You know what they said? The voices just told me that Roman, you might have just crapped your pants. And there's one more thing that they said, and I'll leave you with this," Orton said. "Daddy's back."

What did you think of Reigns and Orton's confrontation on SmackDown? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!

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