Kevin Owens was a little unlucky losing a Last Man Standing match against Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble

The 2021 Royal Rumble was a tough moment for Kevin Owens as he tried to defeat Roman Reigns.

The pair were part of a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Universal Title and it seemed that Owens had the better of Reigns.

KO even turned the tables on Reigns by using a pair of handcuffs to lock him in a tight spot. Reigns seemed set to lose the title but there was some miscommunication and botches from the referee, and Paul Heyman, which saw Reigns beat the 10 count and then defeat Owens.

The Canadian also had some tough spots in the match as he performed some high risk moves. Owens was speaking on The Jake Asman Show and confirmed there were some injuries he was dealing with (h/t Fightful):

“I’m still recovery from the Royal Rumble. It was a pretty rough night for me. I was thrown off a 12-foot platform onto a bunch of tables, I got hit by a golf cart, I jumped off a forklift that was about 10 feet in the air, I burned my arm on a light that was part of our setup, and to top it all off, I didn’t win because I think a referee got paid off or something.”

Owens added that he had never been cheated by a referee in the past but he is recovering from the clash.

Referees cost Kevin Owens the Universal title

Owens is a former champion and for the most part has been excellent in his feud with Reigns. However, he was still bitter about the loss and blamed the referees for this debacle:

“Towards the end, I turned his own trick on him. He brought handcuffs, I handcuffed him to something and I thought I had him, I really did have him. Some screw-ups from the referees and here I am, sitting in my car without the Universal Championship.”

While this was a bit of a botch from WWE as Heyman struggled to get the handcuffs off, it was the right call to keep Reigns as the champion.

WWE could ensure a blockbuster event between Reigns and Edge at WrestleMania, something that many pundits want to see too.

However, Owens might not be done yet with Reigns. He interrupted a meeting with Edge on SmackDown and left Reigns in a heap thanks to a Stunner.

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