Two WWE stars could realistically dethrone Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble, legend believes
Roman Reigns will defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against AJ Styles, LA Knight, and Randy Orton at the 2024 Royal Rumble. According to Eric Bischoff, Knight and Styles are the two most realistic contenders to win the title at Saturday's event.
Reigns has held the Universal Championship since August 30, 2020, making him the longest-reigning WWE world title holder of the last 35 years. The Bloodline leader has not competed in a match since defeating Knight at Crown Jewel on November 4, 2023.
On his 83 Weeks podcast, former WCW executive Bischoff explained why Knight should be taken seriously as a potential title holder:
"It all comes down to, from a business perspective, who do they wanna elevate? Who do they want to take a step up? Arguably I would look at, for discussion, I would say LA Knight. Come from out of nowhere. His star is ascending. He hasn't reached his peak. He certainly hasn't gone over peak. He's making forward progress fast, so there's an argument for that discussion." [1:40:01 – 1:40:36]
The WWE Hall of Famer also thinks a possible win for Styles cannot be ruled out:
"I think AJ Styles has been a sleeper that can overdeliver," Bischoff continued. "An argument there too." [1:40:37 – 1:40:43]
The 2024 Royal Rumble will be held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The event will also feature men's and women's Royal Rumble matches, as well as Logan Paul's United States Championship defense against Kevin Owens.
Eric Bischoff cannot see Randy Orton dethroning Roman Reigns
On November 25, 2023, Randy Orton returned to WWE at Survivor Series: WarGames after being sidelined for 18 months with a career-threatening back injury.
Although Eric Bischoff is a big fan of Orton's work, he does not think the time is right for The Viper to dethrone Roman Reigns:
"Randy, as much as I love the character that Randy brings to the table, as much as I absolutely think he is the hottest performer in the last 20 years, certainly as a heel, I'm less inclined to think that that's [Randy Orton beating Roman Reigns] the direction they would go, but I don't know." [1:40:45 – 1:41:11]
In a separate podcast appearance on K100, Bischoff offered some advice to AEW President Tony Khan following their recent back-and-forth on social media.
Do you think Roman Reigns could lose at the Royal Rumble? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below.
Please credit 83 Weeks and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.