Many viewers of last night's Royal Rumble event noticed a total miscue during the Roman Reigns-Kevin Owens Last Man Standing match for the Universal Championship .

Owens handcuffed Reigns to a pillar, and the defending champion was unable to get to his feet. Just when it looked like Reigns would fail to break the 10-second count, he grabbed the official and forced him into the pillar, which knocked the latter out.

That forced a second referee to come in for the match. While he was doing the 10-count, Paul Heyman arrived and attempted to break Reigns free of the handcuffs.

The referee stopped counting - with no explanation as to why - as Heyman struggled to free Reigns. As the official looked on, Heyman finally managed to free the Universal Champion.

It would appear as though Heyman was legitimately having issues breaking off the handcuffs. The referee appeared confused, apparently unsure of what to do.

On Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Ringside News), Dave Meltzer stated "this is the one time that they couldn’t call it as a shoot."

As planned, Reigns defeated Owens in a thrilling back-and-forth match to retain the Universal Championship. The expectation is that he'll carry the title into WrestleMania 37.

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kevin owens roman reigns

Edge emerged victorious in the men's Royal Rumble match, so perhaps the Hall of Famer will be the one to challenge Reigns at WrestleMania.

If not the Rated-R Superstar, Shinsuke Nakamura, Big E and Daniel Bryan are among the many candidates to challenge Reigns for the title. We'll just have to wait and see how things play out from here.

It Was A Great Match Nonetheless

Botches are going to happen every once in a while, that's just how it is. Perhaps we'll get more details in regards to the Heyman-Reigns handcuffing segment and why the official stopped counting. At any rate, Owens vs. Reigns turned out to be a grade-A match from start to finish. These two put on a true Match of the Year candidate, and it wouldn't be surprising if WWE decided to have them square off yet again at the Elimination Chamber on Feb. 21.

NEXT: John Cena Confirms He Will Miss WrestleMania For The First Time Since 2002