Yes, it is that time of year again where every wrestling fan around the world is counting down the days until April 1st & 2nd for Wrestlemania week. Before we get to sunny California, we must attend our first stop on the Road to Wrestlemania, the wonderful Royal Rumble. With five matches, two Royal Rumble winners, and a cinematic ending to the premium live event here is my Royal Rumble review.
Pat McAfee Returns: The man has returned from College Gameday and is now back within the WWE. This is the moment that started the show off and what a reception he got, it was one of the loudest of the night. One of the coolest things about this was that it was reported from PWInsider that Michael Cole and Corey Graves actually did not know McAfee was there, their reactions were genuine. This was really cool to see Wade Barrett has done an excellent job on Smackdown while McAfee was gone, but now the true duo of McAfee and Cole are back!
Mens Royal Rumble: There is a lot to dissect here. First, having very few surprises is a huge deal for WWE. This shows that WWE is able to trust the majority of their roster to carry on the tradition of putting on a great Rumble match with their own star power. Second, having Gunther not only go from number one to the final two and also breaking the iron man record, WWE sees a lot in him. Do not be surprised if he is the one to win the Rumble next year. Third poor Kofi Kingston having another one of his crazy moments got messed up in the match, don’t worry Kingston you will get them next year. Fourth as a Seth Rollins fan if we are leading to Logan Paul vs Rollins for Wrestlemania…
Overall the men’s rumble was really good and there were a lot of cool moments overall. Montez Ford getting eliminated in front of his fiancee’s family, Edge coming back to confront Judgement Day, the return of Booker T and the spinaroonie, Brock Lesnar only lasting three minutes, and of course the huge pop Cody Rhodes got at number 30 It is also note that according to my calculations Rhodes also had the most eliminations with five. Rhodes definitely deserves this moment and to see him with the Bullet Club celebration was definitely too sweet! Winner: Cody Rhodes
Pitch Black Match: Bray Wyatt vs LA Knight: WWE started off strong and then this match took place. The expectations for this match were already low, but wow this match was definitely something. All of the glow and dark props used was not what people were expecting for this match, but WWE ran with it. Uncle Howdy did get involved at the end of the match, but missed LA Knight completely the stage blew up and we faded to black. There was nothing that really popped during this match and honestly would have been better as a regular one on one match. Oh and in case you didn’t realize this match WAS sponsored by the brand new Mountain Dew Pitch Black which Cody Rhodes tasted at the press conference. Winner: Bray Wyatt
WWE Raw Women’s Championship Match: Bianca Belair vs Alexa Bliss: This match was in a bad spot on this card, and the crowd definitely let us know that. The only interesting thing that happened in this match was what happened after the match was over. Bliss was in the ring while a video package played of creepy Alexa Bliss as we faded to black. What happens with Bliss after this is unclear, but the EST is going to be heading into California as the champion. Winner: “And Still” Bianca Belair
Women’s Royal Rumble: The amount of NXT talent that were in this match compared to the men made my heart so full. Roxanne Perez becomes the youngest person to enter the Rumble match, and we also saw the likes of Zoey Starks as well as Indi Hartwell. Piper Niven got her name back, Chelsea Green becomes the fastest person ever eliminated from the match, Damage CTRL controlled most of the match, Kana (evil Asuka) has made her way to WWE, Michelle McCool entered the match in street clothes from the crowd, and Nia Jax came out at number 30! Rhea Ripley set multiple records in the Rumble match including: longest time in the match, first person to win from the number one position, the fastest elimination, as well as having the most solo eliminations this year with seven.
The final moments in the match where Ripley eliminates Morgan while holding onto the ropes for dear life was a classic. This was one of the better women’s rumble matches since 2019. In my opinion, I enjoyed the men’s better just because there was more involvement from a storyline point of view, but the women’s was still enjoyable. Winner: Rhea Ripley
Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Roman Reigns vs Kevin Owens: When the match order for the Royal Rumble was getting floated around on Twitter hours before the show I was confused as to why this match was the main event. Was the Rock actually going to show up? The only thing that mattered in this match was Sami Zayn’s role and man did he play a role in the ending of the premium live event. The match overall was fine, but everyone was waiting for the moment when Zayn made his choice and backstabbed Reigns and the Bloodline. The Bloodline played into the moment as well, with Reigns yelling at Zayn and making fun of Owens as well as Zayn looking concerned for his best friend. The beating that Reigns inflicted on Zayn was brutal and definitely taught him to never mess with the Bloodline. The other important puzzle piece is Jey Uso, who exited the ring and could not make the decision to attack the Honorary Uce. If you did not watch the event, go watch this segment. It will definitely be talked about for years to come. Winner: “And Still” Roman Reigns
Overall Thoughts: As WWE’s first premium live event for the year they definitely left a good impression. The event did everything it had to for fans to get excited as we entered the Road to Wrestlemania. Overall, my rating is 8/10.
