Owens on Reigns Handcuffs Spot; Bully Ray Praises Lana; Priest Defends Bad Bunny

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Kevin Owens Addresses Royal Rumble Handcuff Botch

Even though WWE plans out its matches and storylines ahead of time, sometimes real life can intervene to upend those plans. 

One such incident took place at the Royal Rumble in the last man standing universal title match between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens.

Late in the match, Reigns got handcuffed to a metal structure by Owens. The spot fell apart when Paul Heyman was unable to unlock the cuffs with a key, leading to the referee stopping his count because Reigns was supposed to win. 

Reigns was eventually freed and immediately put Owens in a guillotine choke until he passed out. The referee made the 10-count to end the match. 

Appearing on The Jake Asman Show (h/t Jeremy Lambert of Fightful), Owens was asked about the situation: 

"I'm still recovering 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. A lot to recover from. I've never been cheated by a referee that way before. I used to play hockey in Canada as a kid so you would think it would have happened before."

Owens is obviously speaking in character, which makes sense after last week's SmackDown continued the program between him and Reigns for the time being. 

The botch would actually have played better if WWE gave Owens more credibility leading up to the match with Reigns. Throughout this feud, he's clearly been portrayed as beneath the universal champion by getting beat up multiple times on the same SmackDown show for weeks. 

Despite WWE's inability to build Owens up as a legitimate threat, he and Reigns are such good workers that their matches have been entertaining. 

Bully Ray Puts Over Lana

Lana finally got her revenge on Nia Jax by putting her nemesis through a table on this week's Raw. The match came after Jax spent weeks putting Lana through tables on Raw late last year.

Following the biggest win of Lana's career, WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray offered praise for her work ethic and desire to get better in the ring on Tuesday's episode of Busted Open Radio (h/t Anthony Nash of WrestleZone): 

"The number one word that has come to mind when I see Lana these days on television, ever since the first day she went through that table is professional. She is a complete pro. I see that woman trying as hard as she can every single time she goes out there. Lana's not Charlotte and she's not Sasha, and she's not Bayley, yada yada we get it. But I'll be damned if that girl doesn't go out there and give it her all and try her hardest. I know she goes down and she rolls around with Nattie [Neidhart] and TJ [Wilson]'s place down there. She tries to get that extra work in." 

Lana's in-ring ability is limited, but she has been given more opportunities to wrestle in recent months. That experience is only going to help her if WWE decides to give her a proper push in the women's division. 

Even if Lana never turns into a great wrestler, her ability to talk is excellent, and WWE has proven many times in the past it will keep people in the spotlight if they can cut a good promo. 

Damian Priest Praises Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny is having a moment in WWE. At the Royal Rumble, he performed his song "Booker T" and later attacked The Miz and John Morrison when the former ruined his DJ's equipment. 

The rapper also appeared on Raw when he accompanied Damian Priest to the ring for his match with Angel Garza. 

In an interview with Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso, Priest heaped praise on Bad Bunny for what he's bringing to the show:

"Some people love that Bad Bunny is in WWE; some people hate it. Our fans don't always accept outsiders, but when it comes to Bad Bunny, he's one of us. This isn't some star just coming to WWE for a paycheck—he loves this, and it is very authentic. He wants to learn, and he's enjoying this and making the most of every second."

Priest added that he would be "all for" working a tag team match with Bad Bunny at WrestleMania if that's the direction WWE wants to go. 

Based on The Miz and Morrison's involvement in Priest's match against Garza, it seems WWE is building toward a match with all four men. WrestleMania would be a natural end point because WWE likes to use celebrity matches for its biggest shows to help build publicity. 

Bad Bunny has already shown he's capable of doing a big spot, so it shouldn't be hard to put together a match in which he does one or two of those. Miz and Morrison are also good workers who can hide his deficiencies. 

Priest also has the potential to come out of his partnership with Bad Bunny as a bigger star at a time when WWE badly needs to build its depth. 

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