Roman Reigns’ odds of retaining at WrestleMania have plummeted.
The Universal Champion will now defend his title in a triple threat match against Royal Rumble winner Edge and new addition Daniel Bryan.
WWE official Adam Pearce made the announcement at the end of today’s SmackDown broadcast.
“Daniel Bryan is right when he says he deserves another opportunity at that Universal Championship,” Pearce said.
Several solutions were proposed to solve the issue of Bryan’s involvement, from a title match on SmackDown to a series of matches held across both days of WrestleMania 37. Ultimately, Pearce settled on a triple threat for the title—which means Reigns doesn’t need to be pinned or submitted to lose the Universal Championship.
Bryan earned his place in the WrestleMania main event when he won an Elimination Chamber Match in February for a shot at Reigns’ title. The Universal Champion forced Bryan to face him immediately, and easily beat the challenger, who had no time to rest after overcoming five of SmackDown’s toughest Superstars.
At Fastlane, in a match designed to give Bryan a fair fight, Special Enforcer Edge became physically involved and attacked both Bryan and Reigns with a steel chair, putting an asterisk next to Reigns’ eventual win.
This is not the first time Daniel Bryan has been a last-minute addition to the WrestleMania main event. In 2014, Bryan hijacked Raw with support of the WWE Universe and was added to Randy Orton’s title defence against Batista. After overcoming Triple H in the opening match of WrestleMania XXX, Bryan won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the end of the night.
Bryan vs. Edge vs. Reigns headlines the second night of WrestleMania 37 which streams live on WWE Network from 12pm (NZST) on Monday, April 12.
