One Final Gift: WWE Releases Never-Before-Seen Match As 2022 Comes To A Close

If you thought that gift-giving season was over, you’re wrong. Because WWE just upped the ante in a big way!

Just yesterday, WWE uploaded an unreleased match that’s never been seen before by the vast majority of fans. According to WWE, “As a thank you to the WWE Universe for helping WWE on YouTube reach 92.5 million subscribers, we're showing you a match that has never been televised!” Well, let’s just go on the record by saying that USA Insider humbly accepts this generous gift on behalf of the nearly 100 million of you!

All 92.5 million of you deserve a pat on the back — thanks to your amazing fandom to the best brand of sports entertainment in existence, everybody gets to view a hidden gem for the first time ever: Roman Reigns taking on Baron Corbin after SmackDown went off the air on Feb. 20, 2020. Check it out here:

The newly-released footage is made even better by the running commentary in-studio by JBL, Kayla Braxton, Matt Camp, and Baron Corbin himself, who practically carried the watch along with some genuinely funny deadpan comments.

“I would’ve kicked out if that was a regular count,” bemoaned Corbin as he watched the end of the match, clearly going down memory lane in the process. 

For nearly three years, the only people who’ve seen this match were the fans who happened to be present in the TD Garden in Boston that night. And to be honest, it’s jarring to see the transformation of Roman Reigns when looking back to early 2020 — during this match against Corbin, he frequently took time to high-five fans at ringside and made sure to use the crowd’s energy to support his momentum throughout the bout. That’s a stark contrast to the sullen, dominating Undisputed WWE Universal Champion that he’s become today. Of course, it’s a testament to the overpowering and dominant force that is Roman Reigns doing what he does best. It shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s turned his back on the WWE Universe because in doing so — with help from the Bloodline — he’s achieved far greater success than he ever could have if he'd continued to be the fan-favorite that he personified for so long earlier in his career.

Of course, this match marks one of the final nights of pre-pandemic WWE action until the company shifted to empty arena presentations — and later, the famous WWE Thunderdome, so it has some pretty important historical significance as well.

While the match gives the WWE Universe an eye-opening look into the kind of action that live fans in arenas are treated to after the cameras stop rolling, savvy members of the WWE Universe will notice something pretty unique: The match itself was filmed by a single camera! WWE matches are usually multi-camera affairs designed to give fans watching at home the best possible views, but that wasn't the case here. Maybe Roman Reigns only needed one camera to soundly defeat Baron Corbin and send the fans in Boston home happy that night — who knows?

Speaking of Roman Reigns, with the Royal Rumble less than a month away, it’s time for him to start preparing for the possibility that the winner of the Royal Rumble match itself is going to be next in line to take a shot at his titles. Is Roman Reigns even in the correct head space to start thinking ahead to WrestleMania? Or is he too busy with his current affairs: Namely, a huge tag team match tonight on SmackDown, pitting him and Sami Zayn against Kevin Owens and a returning John Cena?

Only time will tell, but with the Royal Rumble coming up on the horizon, Roman Reigns better start preparing.

You can catch up on all things WWE Universe on Peacock.