Royal Rumble Review

The Royal Rumble took place from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona and I have to say the set looked great! 48,193 fans were in attendance for what ended up being a very surprising and fun Royal Rumble. It was a long night, but an enjoyable one. Let’s take a look at the matches and see if my predictions were closer than they were for TakeOver.

Impromptu Tag Team Match

Abysmal… that is the only word that can describe the tag team division on RAW. The first match of the kickoff show just proved how bad it is. RAW tag team champions Bobby Roode and Chad Gable took on the team of Rezar from A.O.P. and Scott Dawson of the Revival. Why even have the match?

Chad Gable took most of the beating before getting the hot tag, and Roode came in, cleaned house and picked up the win. This match was not advertised so no prediction was made for this one.

Unites States Championship Match

Former champion Shinsuke Nakamura and champion Rusev went one on one in a really good match for a kick off show match. After Nakamura tried to take off a turnbuckle pad, Lana got on the apron to stop him. Nakamura was yelling at Lana when Rusev went to hit Nakamura. Nakamura moved and Rusev hit Lana knocking her off the apron and injuring her ankle. Nakamura then hit the Kinshasa on Rusev and picked up the win and regained the United States title. pick: Rusev Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (overall PPV record 34-23)

Cruiserweight Championship Match

Kalisto, Akira Tozawa, Hideo Itami and Champion Buddy Murphy all squared off in a fatal four way match for the Cruiserweight championship. The match was fast paced with all four men getting in some spectacular offense. But in the end it was Buddy Murphy who hit Murphy’s law to retain his Cruiserweight Championship. pick: Hideo Itami Winner: Buddy Murphy (overall PPV record 34-24)

Smackdown Women’s Championship

“The Man” Becky Lynch went one on one with Asuka for the Smackdown women’s championship to start the Royal Rumble. Lynch came to the ring with an amazing ovation from the Phoenix crowd. The match was great but I knew based on match placement Asuka would win. And she did in somewhat of a surprising manner by making “The Man” tap out. pick: Becky Lynch Winner: Asuka (overall PPV Record 34-25)

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match

The newly formed team of The Miz and Shane McMahon took on the very established and very successful tag team champions, The Bar. A pretty good match that showcased a lot of the classics, including one of the longest big swings from Cesaro I’ve ever seen. But in the end it was Shane who hit a shooting star press to win the match and the Smackdown tag team championships. Also it snapped my longest prediction losing streak of six. pick: The Miz and Shane McMahon Winners: The Miz and Shane McMahon (overall PPV record 35-25)

RAW Women’s Championship Match

Sasha Banks went one on one with the undefeated RAW women’s champion Ronda Rousey. Sasha Banks put up one heck of a fight including several submissions, but in the end it was Rousey that was able to remain undefeated in singles competition. But Sasha held up four fingers at the end of the match. Could it be a foreshadow for a horsewomen match in the future? pick: Ronda Rousey Winner: Ronda Rousey (overall PPV record 36-25)

30 Women Royal Rumble Match

The thirty women Royal Rumble match was next on the card and the first entrant this year was newcomer Lacey Evans. Becky Lynch found her way into the Rumble but a horrible looking fall off the steps injured her knee. She managed to get into the ring and take on Charlotte to be declared the second woman to win a Royal Rumble. Below is the order of entry and elimination.

Entry                         Elimination

1. Lacey Evans       1. Liv Morgan

2. Natalya               2. Mickie James

3. Mandy Rose      3. Nikki Cross

4. Liv Morgan       4. Billie Kay

5. Mickie James    5. Peyton Royce

6. Ember Moon    6. Xia Li

7. Billie Kay          7. Tamina

8. Nikki Cross      8. Sarah Logan

9. Peyton Royce  9. Mandy Rose

10. Tamina          10. Naomi

11. Xia Li             11. Lacey Evans

12. Sarah Logan12. Maria Kanellis

13. Charlotte      13. Alicia Fox

14. Kairi Sane    14. Candice LaRae

15.Maria Kanellis15. Kairi Sane

16. Naomi           16. Kacy Cantzaro

17.Candice LaRae17. Dana Brooke

18. Alicia Fox    18. Zelina Vega

19.Kacy Cantzaro19. Sonya Deville

20. Zelina Vega  20. Ruby Riott

21. Ruby Riott    21. Rhea Ripley

22. Dana Brooke 22. Io Shirai

23. Io Shirai        23. Natalya

24. Rhea Ripley 24. Ember Moon

25.Sonya Deville 25. Alexa Bliss

26. Alexa Bliss    26. Carmella

27. Bayley           27. Bayley

28. Becky Lynch28. Nia Jax

29. Nia Jax          29. Charlotte

30. Carmella Winner: Becky Lynch pick: Charlotte Winner: Becky Lynch (overall PPV record 36-26)

WWE Championship Match

AJ Styles took on Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship in a slow, methodical match. Unfortunately the crowd was exhausted after the women’s rumble match and was very quiet for most of the match. Both Styles and Bryan brought a strong style type of offense with stiff kicks and punches. They also seemed to be cinching in tight on their submission moves.

But it was a surprise appearance from Rowan who interfered in the match, when the referee was knocked out. Rowan put a choke slam type move on AJ Styles, which proved to be the downfall for Styles as Bryan crawled over to him as the referee came to, and picked up the win retaining the WWE title. pick: Daniel Bryan Winner: Daniel Bryan (overall PPV record 37-26)

Universal Championship Match

David versus Goliath was how it was being billed, when Finn Balor took on “The Beast” Brock Lesnar. Balor put up a great fight being the major underdog jumping out to an early start with a quick barrage of kicks, punches and high flying moves. In the end it was not a true David versus Goliath scenario as Lesnar made Balor tap out to the Kamura lock. After the match, Lesnar continued to beat on Balor out of frustration. Not sure if that will lead to a rematch, but I would watch these two go at it again. pick: Brock Lesnar Winner: Brock Lesnar (overall PPV record 38-26)

30 Man Royal Rumble

The thirty man Rumble match was in its rightful place…the main event. The match started out with a surprise as Elias was in the ring as he first entrant, and the second entrant was WWE hall of famer, Jeff Jarrett. The last entrant was also a surprise as Nia Jax beat up R-Truth and took his spot. Jax became just the fourth woman to enter a men’s Royal Rumble. Below is the entry and elimination order.

Entry                                                 Eliminated

1. Elias                                               1. Jeff Jarrett

2. Jeff Jarrett                                    2. Kurt Angle

3. Shinsuke Nakamura                  3. Jinder Mahal

4. Kurt Angle                                   4. Big E

5. Big E                                             5. Elias

6. Johnny Gargano                        6. Titus O’Niel

7. Jinder Mahal                              7. Curt Hawkins

8. Samoa Joe                                  8. Shinsuke Nakamura

9. Curt Hawkins                           9. Johnny Gargano

10. Seth Rollins                            10. No Way Jose

11. Titus O’Niel                             11. Xavier Woods

12. Kofi Kingston                         12. Kofi Kingston

13. Mustafa Ali                             13. Dean Ambrose

14. Dean Ambrose                       14. Samoa Joe

15. No Way Jose                           15. Apollo Crews

16. Drew McIntyre                     16. Aleister Black

17. Xavier Woods                       17. Pete Dunne

18. Pete Dunne                           18. Bobby Lashley

19. Andrade                                19. Baron Corbin

20. Appollo Crews                     20. Shelton Benjamin

21. Aleister Black                      21. Jeff Hardy

22. Shelton Benjamin              22. Drew McIntyre

23. Baron Corbin                      23. Mustafa Ali

24. Jeff Hardy                            24. Nia Jax

25. Rey Mysterio                      25. Rey Mysterio

26. Bobby Lashley                   26. Randy Orton

27. Braun Strowman               27. Andrade

28. Dolph Ziggler                     28. Dolph Ziggler

29.Randy Orton                       29. Braun Strowman

30. Nia Jax                                Winner Seth Rollins pick: Seth Rollins Winner: Seth Rollins (overall PPV record 39-26)

Another Royal Rumble is in the books. After a great night of matches and a night full of surprises, we now start the road to WrestleMania. A twisting and winding road is anticipated as we know for sure that Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins will be there. Over the next seventy days we will see stories unfold leading to the grandest stage of them all!

As always thanks for reading, the people’s wrestling blog!

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