WWE reportedly planned for Roman Reigns to defend the Universal championship inside the Elimination Chamber but shifted plans to avoid storyline repetition.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Jason Ounpraseuth of Wrestling Inc.) said WWE did not want an overlap between Reigns and Drew McIntyre, who is set to defend the WWE championship inside the chamber at next week's pay-per-view.

Reigns will instead face the winner of the Elimination Chamber match, after Paul Heyman revealed a kayfabe clause in his contract that got his client out of the match.

Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, King Corbin and Sami Zayn are set for the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match. Uso and Owens were put into the match by WWE official Adam Pearce, while Cesaro, Bryan, Corbin and Zayn all qualified with matches Friday on SmackDown. 

Reigns seems to be building toward a WrestleMania match with Edge, so the Chamber pay-per-view is little more than a stepping stone. 

The most logical booking scenario is Roman beating a battered competitor before Edge comes and makes the save, setting him up to finally reveal Reigns as his WrestleMania opponent.

Pearce's ongoing tensions with Reigns also seem to hint at some type of involvement for the WWE official.