Adam Pearce won’t be wrestling for the Universal title at Royal Rumble after all

Those rumors about Adam Pearce maybe being removed from the Universal championship match against Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble, likely to be replaced by someone like Kevin Owens, have proven to be true.

That’s exactly what is happening.

That’s what we learned on Friday Night SmackDown this week. The show was centered around Reigns messing with Pearce with a contract, first making it a No Disqualification match, then changing his mind and going with a Last Man Standing stipulation. Once everyone signed said contract to make it official, Pearce started talking about an old knee injury and how he wouldn’t be medically cleared in time for the match.

Then, this:

Reigns vs. Owens in a Last Man Standing bout is a far more compelling option, at least as it relates to match quality. This should also be a finale for these two, who have been going at it for a while now.

What a finale it should be.