Written by Bill Bodkin & Michael Dworkis
Royal Rumble 2021 was a hotly anticipated show as this year, as compared to others, there was no real clear favorite as in year’s past. Would it be Edge and Bianca Belair taking the wins? Would Brock Lesnar come back to win? Would Goldberg enter and win the Rumble … and beat Drew McIntyre? Was it time for The Fiend to score a big win? Would Daniel Bryan take Royal Rumble 2021 as one final notch in his belt before retirement? Would Charlotte Flair once again be “The Queen” or would we finally see a payoff between her and Rhea Ripley? Let’s break down Royal Rumble 2021.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles: “The Queen” Charlotte Flair & “The Empress of Tomorrow” Asuka (C) vs. “The Queen of Spades” Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax: This kick off to Royal Rumble 2021 had title change written all over it. Ever since winning the title Charlotte Flair and Asuka have been involved in separate programs and barely addressing the fact they were tag champs. Essentially this match was designed for one thing and one thing — further the Charlotte Flair vs. Lacey Evans storyline. Yes, this was all to fuel this absolutely dumpster fire of a feud. This match was a standard tag match you’d see on RAW and as expected Ric Flair and Lacey Evans interfered to allow Shayna and Nia regain the belts.
My Wrestlemania theory is that Lacey and Charlotte Flair collide for the RAW Women’s Title, with (most likely) Lacey defending against Charlotte with Charlotte winning the belt at Mania, like she normally does. — Bill Bodkin
Drew McIntyre defeated Goldberg
Here’s the entire match: Goldberg hits early spear, appearing to injure McIntyre’s ribs. Some more spears, then a Claymore, but no pinfall. More spears, a Jackhammer, but no pinfall. Goldberg misses a spear, eats Claymore, McIntyre pins him.
I might have missed a spear.
Post match Goldberg tells McIntyre “You just passed the test.”
I don’t think anyone has any idea what this meant. Maybe he was being nice, or maybe he was passing a test to a bigger, meaner, opponent.
This match wasn’t anything special. It’s what we’ve come to expect from “special attraction matches” with few-timers at this point. Despite McIntyre returning from COVID recuperation, I strongly believe this match went as it would have been, no matter what. Congrats to Drew is in order for getting the nod to go over, but I honestly have no clue where this goes from here. –Michael Dworkis
Sasha Banks defeated Carmella w/ Reginald
I haven’t covered much lately, so if it hasn’t been said before, I’ll say it now. Reginald plays creepy sidekick very well, but kudos to his in-ring skill from a couple weeks ago. Carmella managed to attain some offense during the bout, but it was clear Banks had the dominance factor here. It was only due to the timely interference of Reginald Carmella had control, until counters allowed for Banks to regain momentum for the submission victory.
The match was acceptable. I’ve never been a fan of Carmella, and there wasn’t enough for me to feel invested enough to think she was a credible threat. –Michael Dworkis
Women’s Royal Rumble Match: Once again, the Women’s Rumble was far superior in total quality as opposed to the Men’s Rumble. Let me break everything down.
The Negative: If there was one negative here it’s WWE’s obsession with having Jerry “The King” Lawler be on the call for this match and just saying dumb, sexist shit. Seriously, stop.
The Surprises: Alicia Fox, Torrie Wilson, Jillian Hall, Mickie James, Victoria. Of all of these Victoria hands down was the biggest due to the stories of her not being allowed backstage in WWE. All of these women looked terrific.
Returns: Naomi. She’s been out for a long time and she looked really good in her extended run in the match. WWE does need capitalize on her popularity outside of Rumbles and battle royals though.
NXT Cameos: Rhea Ripley, Dakota Kai, Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Santana Garrett, Toni Storm. Shotzi had the best entrance (of course she did), shooting her tank cannon at Billie Kay’s headshot. However her getting eliminated first was a shocker. Garrett’s inclusion was the most random since she is rarely used on WWE television.
Putting the EST in wrESTlemania!
I DID IT!#RoyalRumble #ESTofWWE pic.twitter.com/nHWX1hBw9Q— Bianca Belair (@BiancaBelairWWE) February 1, 2021
The Match: This match was produced wonderfully. It was a great mix of big names, new names and legends placed in the right order. Billie Kay provided a lot of levity to the early goings and was the MVP of the first part of the match. Tons of small stories told here — Lana and Nia Jax, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, Riott Squad and Billie Kay, Shayna Baszler and Shotzi Blackheart, Dakota Kai and Rhea Ripley, and of course Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley. Charlotte getting dumped by Rhea and Bianca was perfect because it was WWE putting the ball in the court of two women who are the future of the company. Rhea and Bianca “settling it” in the ring was great and the two had a barn burner of a final few minutes. Both women looked incredible. Rhea was the “Diesel” of the match eliminating a slew of people. Bianca was the iron woman, last from #3 in the match.
The right woman won here and I’m seriously hoping for Bianca vs. Sasha for the Smackdown Women’s Title. That will be two huge personalities going at it and I’m here for it. This will be a money match. Bianca is a star. Period. She’s going to be big money for this company and the future of the company. This was the star-making moment for her If Rhea is on the main roster for good, it looks like she’ll enter a feud with Alexa Bliss. In her current “state” this feud, while high profile, is filled with The Fiend wonkiness and that just sucks for all parties. — Bill Bodkin
Last Man Standing Match for the Universal Title: “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens: One of the big issues with Last Man Standing Matches in WWE over the past 10 or so years is that the lack of blood. So instead of watching two men slug it out in a crimson mask we get whacky hijinx like exploding equipment, men getting pinned with forklifts and just weird stunts involving set pieces, props and whacky scenarios (handcuffs, multiple ref bumps, etc.).
In the last non-Rumble match of Royal Rumble 2021, as you’d expect, Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns beat the ever-loving hell out of each other. There was some big moments in this one including an AEW-inspired golf cart, Owens hitting a swanton off a forklift and Roman dropping Owens with a crazy guillotine choke. Ultimately, the intensity of the match had cold water thrown on it when there was goofy hijinx of Owens handcuffing Roman to a lighting rig, Roman knocking out the ref, Heyman uncuffing Roman and Roman choking Owens when a new ref comes out. The two men in this match are great, but the stipulation never seems to help anyone in WWE. — Bill Bodkin
KEVIN OWENS. That's it. That's the tweet. 🤯#RoyalRumble #UniversalTitle @FightOwensFight @WWERomanReigns @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/OtitCoOpr1
— WWE (@WWE) February 1, 2021
Edge wins the Royal Rumble
There is no denying or excuse-making, but the Women’s Royal Rumble was better than the men’s. No question. While their Rumble had a few perplexing moments, overall the booking for the Women’s Rumble worked fluidly and the last minutes were nail-biters.
Not to take away the celebration for a major win, but I honestly was happier that it wasn’t Randy Orton. The whole “skulking away due to injury” was the worst set up imaginable. The Men’s Rumble was overall pretty well-paced, I would say the middle of the Rumble saw a lot of “disposable” entrants come and go, ie: Otis, Ricochet, Hurricane, to name a few.
Pro: Daniel Bryan going as long as he did, and his volley with Bro Riddle could be felt at home. I’m not the biggest fan of Riddle, but I enjoyed watching him keep up with Bryan.
Con: Would have liked to see more NXT guys or at least a return, say, from Aleister Black.
Pro: The first surprise, came in the form of the “King of All Cool” Carlito. The Second Coming of Seth Rollins was another great surprise. Christian’s arrival in the Rumble, working together with Edge, had a bit of emotion tied with it, definitely felt it during their moments together. I popped for The Hurricane, but we’ve seen him enter before so the novelty while appreciated, wasn’t completely unexpected.
Con: Omos eliminating Big E. I was very unhappy with this. In one way, it shows no one in the match could eliminate him, but it felt cheap.
Pro: The beginning and end of the Rumble match were very well done. Guys like Mustafa Ali and Damien Priest had a lot of ring time, with the latter earning a considerable number of eliminations, including ending the quest for Miz, Morrison, and Kane.
Pro and Con: The #1 and #2 entrants lasting to the very end might have felt slightly clichéd, considering how Orton did it, but the big pro is this seemed to finally close the chapter on their feud. Orton still has unfinished business with The Fiend and Edge will likely head towards the WWE Championship.
Other notable moments: Bobby Lashley nearly killed Dominick Mysterio. The Big Bobby lobbed the prodigal son like the proverbial rocket shot into space. Hurricane attempted to chokeslam both Lashley and Big E. only to be hurled like a dark to the arena floor. Daniel Bryan and Kane got to give the people what they want with a great big Team Hell No Hug in the middle of the ring. Cesaro enjoyed a brief rally, until Braun Strowman ended his time in the match. — Michael Dworkis
Overall, I enjoyed the PPV a lot more than I expected to. This is “The Rumble” – The fun pay-per-view. No matter what, this is one I watch because the novelty of this type of match is exciting, you wait for the surprises, and of course, anticipate whether the winner is expected or completely out of left field. — Michael Dworkis
Overall, this Rumble was solid. Of the non-Rumble matches, Sasha vs. Carmella and Roman/KO were the best. The Men’s Rumble was fairly bland till the final 15 minutes or so. Women’s Rumble was excellent — and we should expect that given history. No massive surprises on either Rumble minus Christian’s incredible return. — Bill Bodkin
Royal Rumble 2021 is now streaming on WWE Network.
.@EdgeRatedR is No. 1 and headed to #WrestleMania! #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/wLrhIs4SfM
— WWE (@WWE) February 1, 2021
