Royal Rumble 2018 Review

1/30/2018

The 2018 Royal Rumble PPV is now in the history books and here I am sharing my personal thoughts & opinions regarding each match on the card, because that matters!

As usual with every WWE show, I always go in nowadays with low expectations with how many times the WWE has disappointed us before already. But sometimes they managed to polish up their gems and give us a wonderful show that we will remember for years to come, I believe this Royal Rumble is one of those shows!

So yes without further ado, here is my review for Royal Rumble 2018.

Pre-Show Matches

Lucha Liberation def. TJP, Gallagher, Gulak
There were barely any people on the crowd when this match happened but it's fine cause nothing of significance really took place. As I've mentioned the Cruiserweights are at a stagnant point right now, this 6 man tag just proved that. While all six wrestlers did well, this match didn't really do anything other than put over the babyfaces, but even then people still barely care about the division.

The only memorable spot on the match was the triple moonsault to the outside from the luchadors to the heels. Kalisto got the win for his team, hitting TJP with his Salita del Sol.

The Revival def. The Club
Just your standard WWE tag-team match, nothing out of the ordinary. The Revival got their win back from Gallows & Anderson after suffering a defeat at the RAW 25 show. At least they had a longer match this time.

WWE US Championship:
Bobby Roode def. Mojo Rawley
I was pretty shocked and found it funny that people online were predicting some huge names to show up at Bobby Roode's US Championship Open Challenge, this match is just the pre-show they ain't wasting someone like Neville on this. I predicted Jinder Mahal, turns out to be Mojo Rawley to accept the challenge.

Similar to the previous match, nothing out of the ordinary during the whole match. The Glorious One is still the US Champ after hitting Mojo with the DDT. Jake The Snake would be proud.

WWE Championship - Handicap Match:
AJ Styles def. Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens

So we officially kick off the show with the WWE Championship match itself! Normally I'd be complaining having the most prestigious title match on the card at the beginning, but I understand why they had it first here.

Rumor has it that Kevin Owens worked hurt during this match but honestly, if it were true, it's not really that visible as he performed pretty well for someone who's supposedly injured. Yes Sami Zayn did work the most out of the duo, but commendable effort for KO as well.

It was what you expected in a handicap match with Styles nearly getting the pin falls & submissions only for the other man to break it up. Like I've said in my predictions post, I would've rather had a singles bout between Styles vs Zayn as those two would clearly tear the house down! But this match turned out to be okay, although nothing really memorable.

For the finish we saw KO attempting for a Pop-Up Powerbomb on Styles but AJ reversed it onto a roll up pin to secure the victory, he is still the reigning WWE Champion and hopefully will remain as such until WrestleMania!

SD Tag-Team Championships - 2 out of 3 Falls:
The Usos def. Gable & Benjamin

Following the WWE Championship match we got another SmackDown match featuring for the brand's tag-team titles, The Usos defending against Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin.

They obviously were in quite a rush as the match started off fast with both teams hitting their signature moves on the get go! It was a great showing from both teams as expected with the caliber of workers that they are.

Shockingly enough, The Usos won in clean and sweeping fashion gaining the first 2 pin falls and still remain your SD Tag-Team Champions! I predicted this to be the night for the opposition but I was obviously wrong.

I didn't mind the clean sweep finish since we rarely see that and it just adds to the realism although I wish it was the other team that won since they need to establish Gable & Benjamin as a legitimate tag-team, maybe they'd get the belts at the next SD episode?

Men's Royal Rumble Match:
Shinsuke Nakamura Wins

For the third match at the main card, much to the surprise of everyone; it's the Men's Royal Rumble match! I'm pretty shocked that they put this match early, I thought we were gonna get the women's rumble first with this one at the main event. It surely puts the Women's rumble at a high pedestal and I'll talk about later if it did deliver to that.

Anyways back at the Men's Rumble, Jerry "The King" Lawler returned as the special guest commentator and overall I thought he did a fine job. The running gag of him constantly changing his "pick" to win never got old. The rumble match officially kicked off with Rusev and Finn Balor as Numbers 1 & 2 respectively. "Rusev Day" is still one of, if not the most over thing in WWE right now as the crowd non-stop chanted it!

No. 3 we got Rhyno, a nice throwback to the ECW glory days and Philly much obliged with cheers for the Man Beast. No. 4 is Baron Corbin and he eliminated Rhyno but proceeds to be quickly eliminated himself by Finn Balor! It was a surprise for sure, but a welcome one. After this Corbin snapped and took out both Rusev & Balor. No. 5 is Heath Slater but before he can even make his way to the ring got blasted by Corbin with a clothesline.

While everyone is down, No. 6 makes his way and that is Elias. He kicks Slater on his way to the ring and before he could continue with his concert, No. 7 shows up and it's the reigning NXT Champion; Andrade "Cien" Almas who at the previous night just had a tremendous match against Johnny Gargano! No. 8 is Bray Wyatt, he also attacked Slater by throwing him in the barricades. No. 9 first member of The New Day is Big E who shoved pancakes in poor Slater's mouth.

No. 10 is supposed to be "The Perfect 10" himself; Tye Dillinger but he got attacked backstage by Owens & Zayn who were still angry that they got "screwed" over their match against AJ Styles earlier tonight, so it was Sami Zayn who took Tye's place. As is tradition, he kicked Slater before making his way to the ring.
Makes you wonder why this is not an often occurrence where wrestlers beat up others to steal their rumble spots?

Sheamus is at No. 11 and finally ends the curse for Heath Slater as he throws him inside the ring but little does the Celtic Warrior knows, the one man band had some tricks up his sleeve and as Sheamus enters the ring himself, quickly gets eliminated at the hands of Slater! It was one funny moment for sure, and I thought for a second he at least tied with Santino but moreso with The Warlord at 2 seconds. Not an honor Sheamus would want to share. Slater himself immediately soon after got eliminated though by Bray Wyatt.

No. 12 and 13 respectively are Xavier Woods & Apollo Crews. No. 14 is Shinsuke Nakamura, he had a little showdown with the man he had his very first WWE match with; Sami Zayn whom he eliminated with ease. No. 15 is Cesaro followed by No. 16 "Mr. Royal Rumble Moments" himself; Kofi Kingston and No. 17; Jinder Mahal.

As Cesaro entered he eliminated Apollo Crews. The Modern Day Maharajah would then eliminate Xavier Woods & Big E, he tried to do the same to Kofi as well but he managed to land one of his feet to Xavier who is still left on the outside with his other feet touchin a platter of pancakes delivered by Big E. Woods & E would then huddle together and gave Kofi a boost jump to impressively make his way back in the ring! He does a Trouble in Paradise to Mahal and eliminates him, unfortunately not so long after that Kofi himself gets eliminated by Almas. Why can't Kofi stay in the Rumbles longer after having his moment dammit?!

No. 18 is Seth Rollins complete with cool fire pants. Rollins eliminates Cesaro whom he will face later on the night. No. 19 is "Woken" Matt Hardy, him and Wyatt quickly faced off with another and eliminated themselves as they continued to brawl! Before that though they both eliminated Rusev and the crowd rained them down with boo's!

Enter the "John Cena Sucks!" chants as the 13x World Champion; John Cena enters at No. 20! Cena eliminates Elias moments after he got in the ring. He was followed by another superhero-esque wrestler; it's The Hurricane at No. 21! I popped real good for one of my all time favorites growing up and it's just generally cool to see Hurricane back in a WWE ring albeit he only lasted for a few seconds, as he attempts to hit Cena with a chokeslam, he was countered into an AA and got eliminated. Twas a short comedic segment but a fun one. No. 22 is Aiden English, receives a reaction from crickets which is sad and clear that Rusev is the HBK to English's Jannetty.

Another surprise entrant for No. 23 we got Adam Cole BAYBAY! Who is still taped up after that brutal Extreme Rules match against Aleister Black just from the night before. Cole is followed by Randy Orton at No. 24. Somewhere in between Balor eliminates English, Almas would then attempt a flying nothing on Orton and just received an RKO for his troubles and got eliminated. Nothing to be ashamed off from the NXT Champ though as he had a nice showing at the Rumble.

Next entrant at No. 25 is Titus O'Neil followed by The Miz at No. 26. The biggest entrant of the night is at No. 27 with the returning Rey Mysterio! Who looks better than ever and has shown it to the ring too, he sure hasn't lost a step! I was pretty thrilled to see Rey back and it helps that I haven't read any rumors of his possible return, which made it more an enjoyable moment for yours truly. Rey Mysterio eliminates Adam Cole at the Rumble is a sentence I'd never thought I'd say, 2018 is weird already.

From cheers to Rey to boo's at No. 28 we got THE BIG DAWG! Roman Reigns! He eliminates Titus O'Neil crushing the dreams for Titus Worldwide. Reigns would then attempt to eliminate The Miz but the latter was saved by his Miztourage buddies who would both receive a Superman punch for their troubles. We got a mini Shield reunion with Reigns & Rollins hitting a powerbomb on Miz and eliminates him, said reunion did not last long though as Reigns blind sides Rollins and eliminates him soon after! I liked it, sure lit the crowd up.

No. 29 is the legendary bizarre one; Goldust and at No. 30 it's Dolph Ziggler. I know I wrote that in an underwhelming way, it's how I felt when Ziggler made his entrance. The crowd barely reacted and it's clear that his days as a top star are over. Sorry Dolph.

So those are all the entrants, Goldust would get eliminated by Ziggler and the latter did not last long himself as he got eliminated by Finn Balor. The Final 6 we had a cool staredown moment between The Old Guard; Cena, Orton, and Mysterio vs The New Guard; Reigns, Balor, and Nakamura. It's like 2005 Meets 2018!

Orton was eliminated by Reigns, Mysterio quickly followed thanks to Balor. The final four turned out to be two of the most beloved IWC wrestlers and two of the most hated! Balor was the next one out at the hands of John Cena. A commendable effort for Finn as he lasted an astonishing 57 minutes the whole match entering at No. 2! An impressive feat for sure. Some sighs of relief were felt when Nakamura eliminated John Cena.

FINAL TWO: Shinsuke Nakamura and Roman Reigns. The crowd were ready to either cheer or boo for eternity, luckily they did not do the latter as Philadelphia would erupt with madness similar to that of a raging volcano if Reigns were to win. He did not though, as Shinsuke Nakamura wins this year's Royal Rumble! For what it's worth, he is the first Japanese wrestler to ever win the Rumble, not looking at you Yokozuna!

It may have been somewhat of a predictable finish, but it was the right one. Nakamura vs Styles at WrestleMania is now closely becoming a dream come true! Congratulations to Shinsuke for the well deserved victory!

RAW Tag-Team Championships:
The Bar def. Rollins & Jordan

After witnessing one of the greatest Royal Rumble matches of all time, I was overwhelmed with it's greatness and did not really have the energy to enjoy the next match which is Rollins & Jordan vs The Bar for the RAW Tag-Team Championships.

The story goes that throughout the whole match Jason Jordan "pussied out" and did not enter the match due to suffering an "injury" so Seth Rollins did all the work on his behalf, basically turning into a handicap match between Rollins vs Sheamus & Cesaro.

In the end the numbers were just too much for Rollins when he took a White Noise & Diving Neckbreaker combination from the challengers. The Bar got the win and are now on the record 4th reign as RAW Tag-Team Champions! Damn You JJ!

WWE Universal Championship:
Brock Lesnar def. Kane, Braun Strowman

Still feeling the tinglings of the men's rumble match, I also wasn't able to really enjoy this slugfest for the Universal Championship. It's what you expect from a match consisting of Brock Lesnar, Kane, and Braun Strowman.

Forget Suplex City as this match turned out to be in CONCUSSION CITY BITCH! With the ways Lesnar & Strowman beating the piss out of each other, it just seemed like concussions galore! Kane was there too but barely felt his presence.

Table spots were present as expected although I did enjoy the SummerSlam Fatal 4 Way between Lesnar, Strowman, Reigns, and Samoa Joe better than this one. I predicted Lesnar to win and he did by pinning Kane, but a part of me always wish they would've pulled the trigger on Strowman already. Makes me wonder what do they got in store for him in Mania, if anything at all. He deserves more than being in the Andre Memorial Battle Royal.

Women's Royal Rumble Match:
Asuka Wins

Last but not the least we got the main event of the evening and for the first time in HISTORY it's a Women's Royal Rumble match! For the men's match it was The King who provided guest commentary, for this one we got Stephanie McMahon. I can only suffice hearing the words "historic" so much and yes her commentary is just annoying corporate B.S. as one could expect.

Maria Menonous is the special guest announcer for this match. I'm no fan of hers at all, but I did not appreciate the crowd booing her, thought it was just completely unnecessary and they looked like assholes doing it. If that's what they intended to do, then congratulations. She announced the two champions; Alexa Bliss (RAW) and Charlotte (SD) who both watched the entire match at ringside.

I forgot to mention earlier in the men's rumble that entrants made their way to the ring faster than usual, it sure as hell wasn't 2 minutes per entrant. They were rushing time as two rumbles is just too damn much. Anyways we officially kick off the first ever Women's Royal Rumble with No. 1; Sasha Banks and at No. 2; Becky Lynch. two-fourths of NXT's Four Horsewomen.

They were followed by Ms. "Gay Meat" herself; Sarah Logan at No. 3 representing Riott Squad and then at No. 4 is Absolution's Mandy Rose. No. 5 is the first out of many surprise entrants of the night and I was overjoyed with this one; Lita! It's just nice to see my all time favorite women's wrestler back in action again. Lita would eliminate Mandy Rose and proceeds to hit a Twist of Fate to everyone in sight! She even hits a moonsault on both Sasha & Becky but it almost killed her, jeez.

No. 6 is Kairi Sane, winner of the inaugural Mae Young Classic. Rumor has it that Sane is a replacement entrant for the injured Alicia Fox, I guess theories were more proven true as for someone who's supposed to be a big deal didn't really get to do much in the match. The Pirate Princess was followed by Tamina at No. 7 who got eliminated quickly by Lita, but then the latter herself would get eliminated by Becky Lynch and I think for the first time in her WWE career, she received boo's! All it took was eliminating a legend for Becky to get boo'd.

No. 8 is Dana Brooke who eliminated Kairi Sane. Yes, you did not read that wrong "DANA BROOKE ELIMINATED KAIRI SANE." No. 9 is another surprise entrant; Torrie Wilson who just seems ageless! Although her wrestling skills still haven't improved much but she gets a pass for still being a beauty right? No. 10 and 11 are Sonya Deville and Liv Morgan respectively. Torrie did not last long as she got eliminated fast by Deville. No. 12 is Molly Holly! I know the chant "you still got it" is overused nowadays but if there was a perfect time to chant it, it was for Molly as she looks to be in great shape and still has the capabilities to perform well in the ring!

Molly eliminates Sarah Logan. Next entrant is Lana who got teamed up by Deville & Morgan, we're supposed to feel a big deal with Absolution & Riott Squad members teaming up but no one cared woops. Lana would slap both of them out much to the likeness of the crowd and the chants of "Rusev Day!" continued. No. 14 is Michelle McCool. Boy was she booked strong in this one, getting eliminations after eliminations. In a short span of time she eliminated; Deville, Morgan, Molly, and Lana. Being the wife of Undertaker sure helps!

No. 15 is the leader of Riott Squad herself; Ruby Riott. Who was my pick to win the whole thing, yes I know it was a bold prediction but I stuck through with it dammit!

"EXCUSE ME!" I popped pretty good when I heard those words! No. 16 is obviously the cougar herself; Vickie Guerrero! It was a fun comedic entrant with Vickie screaming "EXCUSE ME" at the four wrestlers in the ring but no one seemingly cared at first until when they all turned around and proceeds to eliminate Vickie at once. No. 17 is Carmella who got tripped up by Vickie on her way to the ring. Quite funny.

Next at No. 18 is Natalya who eliminated Michelle McCool. The streak is over. Ruby Riott then eliminates Becky Lynch, it was a good run for Becky although I wish she was in the final two or even three, at least she got the rub of eliminating Lita. No. 19 is Kelly freakin' Kelly! The personification of the Divas Era in the WWE, even years later she still looks hot but still sucks in the ring! Some things never do change.

No. 20 is Naomi followed by the Hall of Famer; Jacqueline at No. 21. Next entrant is Nia Jax at No. 22 who cleaned house eliminating Jacquie, Kelly, and Riott. Naomi was the honorary Kofi Kingston for this match as she managed to land on the wrestlers in the outside when Nia Jax tried to eliminate her, she then walk through the barricades and with the aid of the announcer chair walked her way back in the ring! Her celebration wasn't for long though as Nia Jax eliminates her as soon as she got back.

No. 23 is NXT Women's Champion; Ember Moon who is still selling her arm injury suffered at the hands of Shayna Baszler the previous night. More surprise entrants coming your way at No. 24; "The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix! When the wrestlers cleared out, two were left in the ring; Beth and Nia. Thought it was a cool staredown of sorts, although I wish it was Kharma instead but I digress. Beth still looking jacked and still has the power too being able to lift up Nia! At one point besties: Natalya & Beth teamed up on Nia, but Nattie's heel tendencies got the best of her and eliminated Beth on her back! BOOO!

Following The Glamazon is The Empress of Tomorrow; Asuka is at No. 25. Nice little faceoff between old rivals; Asuka & Ember with the latter impressivingly hitting a one-armed Eclipse on Asuka! It wasn't for long though before Asuka got the best of her and eliminates Ember.

No. 26 is Mickie James with the next two at No. 27 and 28 respectively; the returning Bella Twins! Hooray! Ms. Money in the Bank meets her demise at the hands of Nikki Bella. No. 29 is Bayley and last but not the least at No. 30, no it's not Ronda Rousey, but arguably the greatest woman in WWE history; Trish Stratus!

Trish still has it in the ring and seemed like she never lost a step as well! Out of all the surprise entries, she was the one that performed the best. A nice face off between Mickie & Trish took place, a throwback to their great feud. Trish eliminates her old pal, the rest of the remaining wrestlers would then gang up on Nia Jax to eliminate her.

Out of freaking nowhere Sasha Banks eliminates Bayley much to the surprise of everyone! Sasha Heel Turn Confirmed?! Trish then eliminates Natalya, then we had a faceoff between her and Sasha Banks. A cool dream match scenario certainly between those two. With Becky eliminating Lita, Sasha got the rub on her own by eliminating Trish! Then The Bellas would pull an upset by surprisingly eliminating The Boss.

Thus the final three for the first ever Women's Royal Rumble are The Bella Twins and Asuka! Twin Magic seemed to be working at first but Brie was dumb enough to stay outside for too long and she got eliminated by her sister. Asuka and Nikki would then fight at the edge of the ring, but in the end it was smark booking that won and Asuka wins becoming the winner of the first ever Women's Royal Rumble!

Both Bliss and Charlotte would get in the ring to faceoff with Asuka, but it wasn't only them who wants to hog the spotlight; Ronda Rousey makes a not-so-shocking entrance and points at the WrestleMania sign for some reason... She would then try to shake hands with Asuka, but the latter just slaps her hand away, such a little yet badass moment!
Cool little tidbit that Ronda Rousey wore the jacket of the late great "Rowdy" Roddy Piper given to her by Hot Rod's son. She also came out to Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" which redeemed her for me as of now.

So that is it for the inaugural Women's Royal Rumble. Did it live up to the hype? I'd say yes. I don't think it should have been the main event though but the match did a good job on recapturing the energy of the crowd after such a great showing from the Men's Rumble, so kudos to all the wrestlers involved! I only got one real criticism for this match; women constantly rolling to the outside. Making it harder to find out who is legally in the match and who got eliminated, if it wasn't for reddit I would've had a much harder time with the eliminations and such.

Hopefully though they won't have the Women's Rumble a yearly tradition, only have it when storyline really calls for it. Or if they want to make this an annual thing, maybe lessen the entrants to 20? 30 is a bit too much and two rumbles are just too exhausting to watch, plus they'll eventually run out of nostalgia acts to call in time of need. Also Stephanie still sucks in commentary.

What a weekend it was for all of us wrestling fans! First we were treated with some great matches at NJPW's New Beginning in Sapporo Days 1 & 2. Suzuki practically killing Tanahashi to become IWGP IC Champion, then Jay White dethroning Kenny Omega of the IWGP US Title and Kenny seemingly kicked out of The Bullet Club. But fret not as former lover... erm friend Kota Ibushi is reunited with him!

Then at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia we had arguably the greatest NXT Championship match with Andrade "Cien" Almas vs Johnny Gargano! Although Gargano loss, it was a great showing for him and Almas delivered well too. Of course fucking Ciampa ruined everything by attacking his old pal at his back once again! The undercard for the show was great too, a must watch from top to bottom.

Of course we concluded the weekend with the Royal Rumble. For the past how many years, this PPV has given us with disappointment and anger, but WWE made up for all their past mistakes with this year. Who would've thought that booking Japanese wrestlers to win would be the way to our smarky hearts? But hey it worked!

I sure hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed these shows just as much as I did. Feel free to share the post around as well!

Thanks For Reading.
Follow MWC on Twitter: @MastoWC Photos (c) to WWE.com

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