The Fiend defends the Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan at The Royal Rumble on January 26th after what has been a lengthy feud between the two men. The Fiend was not in action as part of WWE's last pay-per-view event since he sent Bray Wyatt to deal with The Miz, but The Fiend seems as though he's very interested in Daniel Bryan.
This week's episode of SmackDown saw Bray back in the Fun House where he revealed the reason why The Fiend targetted the former WWE Champion. Bray recalled that The Fiend first wanted Bryan to remember when he faced him back at Survivor Series and the history they have in a WWE ring. The Universal Champion then said The Fiend then wanted to change him by taking away his beard and hair a few weeks ago on SmackDown. This has now become an obsession for The Fiend who only wants to hurt Bryan at The Royal Rumble.
Ramblin Rabbit later popped up as part of a backstage segment with Bryan and tried to reveal the secret to defeating The Fiend, but he was cut off by Wyatt before he was able to tell the challenger what he needed to do.