My favorite WWE PPV took place last night at Tropicana Field in Tampa, the Royal Rumble. The Road to WrestleMania has officially begun. I can’t say there were a lot in the way of surprises. The events of the night kind of went the way I and many of my friends who are wrestling fans had predicated. I think the bigger surprises was what didn’t happen during the night. Let’s take a look at how the night started and how it ended.
Women’s Tag Team Title: Charlotte Flair & Asuka ( c ) vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
The women’s titles were up for grabs to kick off the 34th Royal Rumble. The unlikely duo of Flair and Asuka as champs was going to be short lived as Flair is set to further her feud with Lacey Evans and her legendary father Ric Flair. As for Asuka, her next feud has a few avenues especially after the results of the women’s rumble. The match itself was ok nothing stellar with a predicable ending. It played out how it was expected to with Jax and Baszler winning the titles thanks to an interfering Evans.
Winner: Jax & Baszler
Grade: C+
WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre ( c ) vs. Goldberg
I have to admit I was concerned that the WWE was going to give Goldberg another title run. Thankfully that wasn’t the case, at least for now. McIntyre was on the offense before the bell rang giving Goldberg a head butt and Claymore in which Goldberg kicked out of. For good measure Goldberg not only speared McIntyre twice but jack hammered him only to have the champ kick out as well. This allowed McIntyre to regain the upper hand and another Claymore that laid out Goldberg for the three count.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Grade: C
SmackDown Women’s Title: Sasha Banks ( c ) vs. Carmella
I have never been a big fan of Carmella’s in ring ability but having reinvented herself since her return, she has improved quite a bit. Being paired with Reginald gives her an added dimension. Banks took it to Carmella early on in the match but some outside interference by Reginald gave Carmella an opening for a potential upset. A turning point of the match came after Banks hit Reginald with a huricanrana and he got ejected from ringside. A confused Carmella struck hard with a suicide dive.
The advantage was short lived as The Boss fought back with both a frog splash and a bank statement for the victory. This match turned out the be the best of the title matches to this point. As improved as she is, Carmella has a lot of shortcomings still and Banks had to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Overall an entertaining match.
Winner: Sasha Banks
Grade: B
Women’s Royal Rumble
One of the best decisions the WWE has made in recent years was the addition of the Women’s Royal Rumble. It has not disappointed. Bayley and Naomi had started the rumble off. As the virtual crowd counted down to zero for the third entrant, the music of Bianca Belair filled the ThunderDome. One by one stars from NXT like Shotzi Blackheart and WWE Divas like Victoria made it a very crowded ring.
That was until Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley started eliminating opponents left and right. Then entered the Queen and defending Rumble champion, Charlotte Flair. Things got interesting for the queen when her music played again but this time it was daddy Ric and his protégé Lacey Evans sporting Charlotte’s robe, entering the rumble.
In the middle of all this was the exchange of the 24/7 title as R Truth was pinned by Alicia Fox. Fox’s reign was short-lived as was her rumble appearance as R Truth regained his 24/7 for the one millionth time. Back the women, the performance of Rhea Ripley was very impressive as she continued to eliminate one competitor after another including Alexa Bliss who entered at No. 27. Lana got some revenge on Nia Jax when she eliminated the co-holder of the women’s tag team champions.
The final four was set when Natalya entered and it was between her, Belair, Flair and Ripley. Natalya was quickly removed from the equation when Beliar eliminated her. She then teamed up with Ripley to rid the rumble of Flair. Watching Belair and Ripley over the next several minutes was a delight. Both extremely talented and athletic. With several near eliminations, Belair was able to knock Ripley with a clothesline for the victory. With this win, Beliar has her pick of any women’s title at WrestleMania which leaves a world of possibilities. Belair against either Asuka or Banks would be awesome. My guess is Banks.
Winner: Bianca Belair
Grade: A
Universal Championship: Roman Reigns ( c ) vs. Kevin Owens (Last Man Standing Match)
My least favorite type of match is the Last Man Standing. Universal champ Roman Reigns who has embraced his heel persona took on Kevin Owens and neither man disappointed. Owens has always been a fan favorite with his everyday man blue collar style. He might be the poor man’s Steve Austin with the stunner as his finisher. Usually with this style of match they never end in the middle of the ring and this one is no different.
Back and forth they went until Owens had Reigns down and seemingly for the 10 count. But the champ made it back to his feet. A series of blows from Reigns puts Owens on his back but he too beats the 10 count. For nearly 25 minutes these two superstars went at it. Just when it looked like Owens had outsmarted Reigns by handcuffing him to a scaffold, Reigns knocked out the referee before he reached ten.
With an assist from Paul Heyman, Reigns finally puts Owens away for good to keep his Universal title. Overall a solid match. Certainly one of the better Last Man Standing I’ve seen. I didn’t think the title would change hands here. I believe the WWE has major plans for Reigns for WrestleMania.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Grade: B
Men’s Royal Rumble
The main event of the evening opened with Edge and Orton as 1 and 2 respectively. This year long brawl took place mostly outside the ring. The next wave of entrants joined Orton on attacking Edge until Jeff Hardy came in for the save. Eventually Edge gains the upper hand on Orton and puts him out of commission with a leg injury. The first impressive display came from Damien Priest of NXT at No. 14. Among his victims was the team of The Miz and Morrison. Their defeat led to a surprise moment when DJ Bad Bunny did a cross body from the top rope after The Miz had destroyed his DJ equipment earlier in the night.
What’s a rumble without Kane? Kane made his record 18th appearance and choke slammed most of the competitors before being tossed out by Priest. Priest’s run came to an abrupt end when Bobby Lashley entered the rumble. Lashley took care of both Priest and Dominick Mysterio shortly after Mysterio eliminated King Corbin. One of the big highlights of the rumble was the entrance of Christian at No. 24. Christian and Edge reunited and worked very well together.
Another impressive performance came from the Original Bro himself, Riddle. Riddle found himself locked into many battles with the best one being against Daniel Bryan. Making his return to the ring at No. 29 was Seth Rollins. In the beginning Rollins laid low outside the ring picking his spot when he eliminated Bryan. The final six were Rollins, Riddle, Edge and Christian, Strowman at No. 30 and technically Orton who has not officially eliminated. More on that later.
With Rollins taking care of Riddle, he tried to convince Strowman to join him in eliminating the “old” guys in Edge and Christian. Strowman worked over Rollins. Edge and Christian teamed up and eliminated Strowma with an assist from Rollins as Christian was also gone. This left Rollins versus Edge with Edge coming out on top and “winning” the rumble. But Orton arrives to deliver an RKO on Edge. With Edge all but defeated, Orton tries to eliminate Edge but fails as Edge reverses the toss and is declared the winner of the Royal Rumble. Edge lasted nearly one hour entering in at No. 1. Fantastic ending to a great rumble.
Winner: Edge
Grade: A
Overall a well done event. As I mentioned earlier, a couple of surprises that didn’t happen. One such surprise was The Miz not cashing in the Money in the Bank. I didn’t think it would have gone the way he wanted and that would lead to the eventual breakup between him and Morrison. A happy surprise was no Brock Lesner. No need for him to return.
The road to WrestleMania has now begun. Where it takes us, no one knows. What we do know is that the ride should be a great one.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
