I would consider the Royal Rumble to be the second biggest event of the year in WWE. That's for good reason too. The winner of the Royal Rumble matches will go on to be in the top spots of the year at Wrestlemania only a few months later. That's why I decided I'd tune in and check it out tonight.
I've not kept up with the WWE universe for a few years so I can't say I'm familiar with a lot of the storylines. That being said I enjoy a good show and was looking forward to this one. The Rumble usually has lots of hidden gems and memorable moments so even if I'm clueless to who's aligned with who I was ready to take it all in.
They started the match by highlighting the history between Corbin and Reigns. Apparently Corbin, with the help of Dolph Ziggler, attacked Reigns a month ago leaving him tied down with dog food all over him. That would lead to Reigns immediately attacking the Corbin crew as he made his way to the ring.
It didn't take long before Ziggler would join this match and begin attacking Reigns with the help of Robert Roode. After laying a brief pounding to Reigns the match went crazy for a moment when the Usos came to Reigns defense laying out Ziggler and Roode.
That would open the door for Reigns to land a couple Super Man Punches followed by a continued pounding to Corbin including a visit to a porta-potty that would be flipped with Corbin inside. This would lead to Reigns hitting his spear along a stand in the crowd to win the match.
This is one of the most exciting matches for me. I've thoroughly enjoyed the WWE's push of the women's division so I really looked forward to this one kicking off. The match started with Alexa Bliss and Bianca Belair to begin with but neither would eliminate one another. Instead the eliminations would go as follows:
1.) Lana
2.) Liv Morgan
3.) Molly Holly
4.) Mercedes Martinez
5.) Nikki Cross
6.) Mandy Rose
7.) Sonya Deville
8.) Candice Lorraine
9.) Kairi Sane
10.) Tamina
11.) Mia Yim
12.) Dakota Kai
13.) Chelsea Green
14.) Dana Brooke
15.) Alexa Bliss
16.) Bianca Belair
17.) Sarah Logan
18.) Kelly Kelly
19.) Santina Marella
20.) Xia Li
21.) Tegan Nox
22.) Zelina Vega
23.) Shotzi Blackheart
24.) Carmella
25.) Toni Storm
26.) Naomi
27.) Natalya
28.) Beth Pheonix
Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler deserved a mention for their multiple eliminations. Belair had an honorable 8 eliminations while Baszler had a very quick 7 before coming face to face with the Queen. Charlotte would go on to pick up the victory eliminating Baszler over the top rope to become this year's Women's Royal Rumble winner!
Lacey had the early momentum of the match coming hard at Bayley. That was until Bayley had a "knee injury" where the referee forced Lacey away for a moment. Bayley took advantage of the situation and quickly attacked Lacey to take back control of the match.
Bayley would control the majority of the rest of match until she made the mistake of mocking Lacey with a salute in the corner. Lacey used that to build a bit of offense again with some unconventional corner work but Bayley would slip out of the ring to take control again putting Lacey down in front of her daughter in the front row.
Lacey would get a bit more space after going back into the ring. Lacey then went to the top rope to attempt a moonsault but was unsuccessful. Bayley pulls her knees up for the block then slid over to make the pin to retain her title.
This match pits Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryant together in a match where they are strapped to one another for the Universal Championship. The storyline is that since The Fiend has the special ability to "disappear" that Bryan wanted a way to link himself to The Fiend so he couldn't get away. I'm skeptical but I've always enjoyed Wyatt's wrestling so holding out hope.
The match gets started with full offense by Wyatt. He's able to take Bryan down and then use the strap to wail all over Daniel's back. Daniel tries a couple times to gain momentum but it's clearly not enough. Instead Wyatt continues to wail at him using the strap's extra feed.
The Fiend attempts his Sister Abigail finisher but it only led to Bryan fighting back. Eventually Bryan gets the idea to pull the strap through the turnbuckle slamming The Fiend into the metal post. That goes on a for a brief moment before the The Fiend eventually returns to control and continues pounding down on Daniel.
This leads Wyatt to take Bryan onto the German announce table but Bryan lays a quick low blow to take control of the match. He follows it up by walloping down on The Fiend as he's taken the majority of the match. Bryan gets him to the center of the ring where he lays in a combo of strap whips, yes kicks and face stomps.
This leads to a few yes chants and Bryan running towards Bray for a running knee. Instead Bray snatches Bryan out of the air into a Sister Abigail for a disappointing two count. He takes Bryan into a mandible claw that Bryan is able to convert into the lebell lock using the strap for leverage.
That's still not enough so Bray goes back to laying into his back with the belt. Eventually Bryan lays in a bit of offense to knock down Bray. As Daniel feels the momentum turning in his favor he starts to get psyched up. Instead we see Bray rise above him in the background to lay in another mandible claw that takes Bryan down for the three count.
This match was probably my favorite of the night. Things were so fluid and fast that it made it incredibly hard to keep track of in this post. The match started with a bit of wrestling work between Asuka and Becky. They went back and forth with blocked locks, kicks and random pin-falls throughout the match but kept it very interesting.
Becky and Asuka moved out to the apron for a few moves that led to a butt thrust by Asuka that knocked Becky into the turnbuckle knocking her down. Asuka was able to pick up Becky and takes her to the turnbuckle for another face slam. Somehow Becky then took Asuka for a really cool move from the top turnbuckle that reminded me of a Rock Bottom-esque slam from the top rope. Becky was only able to command a 2 count off the cover.
This eventually leads to an Asuka reversal into an armbar that Lynch rolled over into a quick pin-fall. Asuka clears it but takes Lynch into another arm bar that Becky was able to get out of with a foot on the rope causing a break. Asuka lifts Becky up into a German suplex that she follows up by a very strong kick to side of head.
After the kick the referee clears Asuka from Lynch to check for health. It appears Becky is out and the referee goes to move to signal for the bell but Becky grabs his leg at the last second. The referee then allows it to continue and Asuka comes over with another kick to head. This time Asuka again goes for a pin-fall that only amounts to a 2 count.
As they get back up they fought back and forth until Lynch accidentally runs into the referee. With the momentarily distraction Asuka tried to spit some green liquid but Becky ends up kicking her in the gut causing her to spit the green straight up. Becky quickly tied up Asuka in a Dis-Arm-Her for the submission win.
The main event is finally here. This will be similar to the women's matchup earlier where 30 men are going to enter the ring and 29 will leave by going over the top rope. The last one remaining will get the oppurtunity to headline WrestleMania in a few short months.
For the first time ever a WWE Champion will be leading off the match as Brock Lesnar opens up the show at the #1 position. The second superstar to join him would end up being Elias as he came out to attempt to perform a bit of guitar music heading towards the ring singing about being a sacrificial lamb. This seemed to infuriate Lesnar who goes out to the ramp to collect Elias and took him to the ring for a pounding.
It doesn't take long before Elias becomes our first eliminated. Elias and 12 other superstars who come to the ring are mostly thrown out by Lesnar before a third wrestler can even join the match and most being in less than 10 seconds. Including those eliminations the grouping of the eliminations in order were:
1.) Elias
2.) Erick Rowan
3.) Bobby Roode
4.) John Morrison
5.) Rey Mysterio Jr.
6.) Big E
7.) Kofi Kingston
8.) Cesaro
9.) Shelton Benjamin
10.) Shinsuke Nakamura
11.) MVP
12.) Keith Lee
13.) Braun Strowman
14.) Brock Lesnar
15.) Ricochet
16.) The Miz
17.) AJ Styles
18.) Matt Riddle
19.) King Corbin
20.) Luke Gallows
21.) Carl Anderson
22.) Dolph Ziggler
23.) Aleister Black
24.) Kevin Owens
25.) Samoa Joe
26.) Seth Rollins
27.) Randy Orton
28.) Edge
After going to the outside Roman eliminates Edge. This brings the final two down to Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre. Reigns gets thrown off the ropes and Drew McIntyre comes running in and nails him with the claymore. Drew proceeds to throw Roman Reigns over the top to become this year's Royal Rumble winner. He'll be headlining this year's Wreslemania.
I would give the overall card probably only a 6 or 7 to be honest. I enjoyed the Bray / Bryan match but the show's top spot went to Becky / Asuka for top honors of the night. Despite those quality showings I was disappointed with both Rumble matches.
The women's Rumble was cool in a lot of the nostalgia moments along with the rush of new girls. That being said a lot of the action seemed half-assed with fairly sloppy in ring action. The men's Rumble was just taken down for me by having Brock lead the show off. Having him move through the first 13 superstars so fluidly to be eliminated so easily felt poorly planned. It was also cool to see Edge return but I spent more time worried of his health than I did getting hyped for his return.
Since these are the two pieces that really had my attention going into the show I couldn't give tonight's overall close anything more than a 7/10. If you watched it too what were your thoughts of the show?
1.) - https://www.hindustantimes.com/other-sports/who-are-the-dark-horses-to-win-the-wwe-royal-rumble-ronda-rousey-drew-mcintyre-aleister-black-kevin-owens/story-KPIWOJ4nB6IdIjKEu9EoEM.html
2.) - https://theovertimer.com/roman-reigns-vs-king-corbin-wwe-royal-rumble/
3.) -
4.) - https://theovertimer.com/lacey-evans-vs-bayley-wwe-royal-rumble-2020/
5.) https://www.thewrestlepost.com/wwe/2751/daniel-bryan-vs-the-fiend-at-wwe-royal-rumble-2020-universal-championship-match/
6.) https://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/becky-lynch-vs-asuka-official-wwe-royal-rumble-300566
7.) https://lordsofpain.net/updated-royal-rumble-2020-betting-odds/
