Seth Rollins may have slayed a King, but toppling an empire might still be a little bit beyond his reach.

In Raw’s main event — and the final preliminary bout among Sunday’s Fatal 5-Way competitors — Rollins went head-to-head with Roman Reigns and found himself laid low in The Big Dog’s yard, giving Reigns a major boost of momentum as Sunday approaches.

In a reverse of fortune — given Reigns has been banged up the last few weeks — Rollins was forced to compete at less than 100 percent after The Big Dog landed a Drive-By that sent Seth ribs-first into the ring post. The Architect stayed in the fight on pure adrenaline, but Reigns had an answer every step of the way, rebounding from a buckle bomb with an instantaneous Superman Punch.

Rollins went high not once, but twice in an attempt to put Reigns away and may have done himself in in return, aggravating his ribs with an earth-shattering Frog Splash. That breathtaking move only netted Rollins two but kept Reigns down … at least until The Big Dog avoided a Phoenix Splash, narrowly dodged The Kingslayer’s knee to the face and landed a Spear for the win.

It was a rough way to treat a man Reigns once called his brother, but like Kurt Angle said all those weeks ago: In the race for the Universal Title, it’s every man for himself.