The 32nd
installment of the beginning of the Road to Wrestlemania, the Royal Rumble,
emanated this evening from Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The
crowd in attendance, that exceeded 48,000, was more than I’ve ever seen for a
D-Backs game and something I took great pleasure in hearing Corey Graves point
out during the broadcast. It was an intriguing set-up for the event as the ring
was positioned in the vicinity of where second base would be during a baseball
game and the Superstars made their entrances through the visitor’s dugout. The
main card featured five title bouts and two Royal Rumble matches as it clocked
in at just under five hours long!
Pre-show:
Bobby Roode & Chad Gable
vs. Rezar & Scott Dawson
Winners: Roode & Gable
via pinfall
United States Championship
Rusev (c) vs. Shinsuke
Nakamura
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura via
pinfall
Fatal 4-Way Cruiserweight
Championship
Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Kalisto
vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami
Winner: Buddy Murphy via pinfall
Main Card:
Smackdown Women’s
Championship
Asuka (c) vs. “The Man”
Becky Lynch
Winner: Asuka via
submission
The ladies of Smackdown
kicked off the main card as Becky Lynch sought to regain her title after losing
it at December’s Tables, Ladders, and Chairs pay-per-view. Asuka retained her
title as she first applied the Asuka Lock and rolled it into a bridge for a
sensational submission victory.
Smackdown Tag Team
Championship
The Bar-Sheamus &
Cesaro vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon
Winners: The Miz &
Shane McMahon
After The Miz was unable to
compete in the finals of the “Best in the World” tournament at the Crown Jewel
pay-per-view due to an injury, Shane McMahon stepped in and defeated Dolph
Ziggler to earn the trophy. The Miz then encountered Shane-o-mac last month on
Smackdown Live with a “heartfelt” plea for Shane to join him in a run for the
tag team titles. Shane accepted the invitation and the two came prepared to
bring the fight to the defending champs. Midway through the match, Shane
McMahon appeared to have his prime opportunity for an Oh Sh*t moment as he
attempted the Coast to Coast on both Cesaro and Sheamus only to have it
thwarted as he landed himself in the Cesaro Swing. Shane McMahon soon redeemed
himself after he was rescued from suffering a Brogue Kick and subsequently
landed a perfectly executed Shooting Star Press on Cesaro to score the pinfall
victory and crown new tag team champions!
RAW Women’s Championship
Ronda Rousey (c) vs.
Sasha Banks
Winner: Ronda Rousey via
pinfall
This contest ended in a
vicious fury. Ronda appeared to be in dire straits as she was trapped in an
armbar submission attempt by Banks. Ronda was able to roll out and execute a
gutwrench powerbomb which she immediately followed up with the Piper’s Pit for
the pinfall victory.
Women’s Royal Rumble Match
Winner: Becky Lynch
Entering this match, we only
knew that number 30 would be filled by Carmella as a result of her Mixed Match
Challenge victory with R-Truth. The first two entrants in the contest were NXT
alumni Lacey Evans and Natalya. Natalya set a Women’s Royal Rumble match record
as she lasted an amazing 55:58. A couple of other notable entries in the match
were Nikki Cross who made her debut from NXT at number eight and Alexa Bliss
who made her return to in-ring competition for the first time since September
at number 26. The dubious distinction of the first woman to be eliminated
belonged to entrant number four, Liv Morgan, as she was the recipient of a back
body drop over the top rope by Natalya.
Lana entered the match at number 28 but
unfortunately was unable to walk to the ring due to an injury she sustained
after she was knocked off the ring apron during Rusev’s title loss earlier in
the evening. After Carmella entered at number 30, Becky Lynch made her way out
and pleaded with backstage official Fit Finlay to let her take Lana’s place
which he obliged.
The final four in the match were Bailey, Flair, Nia Jax, and
Becky Lynch. Bailey was quickly eliminated by Jax. Shortly thereafter, Jax
found herself on the apron after she squashed Flair and Becky in the corner,
Lynch rolled out of the ring to the floor. Moments later Jax found herself
attempting to reenter the ring from the apron after an exchange with Flair as
Becky emerged to pull Nia off the apron and eliminate her. Before Becky could
get into the ring, Nia would not go quietly and attacked her at ringside
leaving her with a knee injury. Becky was still able to overcome the odds and
eliminated Charlotte to earn herself a title shot at WrestleMania.
WWE Championship
Daniel Bryan (c) vs.
A.J. Styles
Winner: Daniel Bryan via
pinfall
The long standing feud
between these two combatants, that commenced just before Survivor Series when
Bryan shocked the WWE Universe and took the WWE Championship from The
Phenomenal One on an episode of Smackdown Live, began another chapter this
evening. Late in the contest, Eric Rowan made his shocking return and headed to
ringside and just stood and watched. Moments later, the referee was knocked out
by a missed enziguri attempt by Daniel Bryan. Styles proceeded to hit the
Styles Clash but Rowan quickly made his presence felt as he entered the ring
and unceremoniously picked up Styles by his face and slammed him to the mat.
This newly formed alliance allowed Bryan to score the pinfall and retain his
title.
Universal Heavyweight
Championship
Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul
Heyman vs. Finn Balor
Winner: Brock Lesnar via
submission
Mr. McMahon removed Braun
Strowman from this match as punishment for destroying his limo. Mr. McMahon
then held a Fatal 4-way match to determine Lesnar’s opponent with the
combatants being Balor, John Cena, Drew McIntyre, and Baron Corbin. Balor
landed the Coup de Grace on John Cena to earn his position in the match.
Balor certainly held his own
against Lesnar throughout the match. It appeared as though Balor was going to
win the title after he landed the Coup de Grace but as he went for the pin,
Brock locked in a Kimura out of nowhere to earn the submission victory.
Seemingly embarrassed by how susceptible he appeared at the hands of the much
smaller Balor, Lesnar proceeded to lay waste to him as he delivered several
suplexes that were capped off by an F5.
Men’s Royal Rumble Match
Winner: Seth Rollins
Like the Women’s Royal
Rumble, the only slot designated beforehand was number 30. R-Truth earned this
spot as a result of his Mixed Match Challenge victory with Carmella. It was
also reported prior to the show that John Cena would not compete as a result of
an injury sustained on RAW and would be replaced by “The Monster Among Men”
Braun Strowman.
The first two participants in the match were Elias and an
absolute shocker in “Double J” Jeff Jarrett! Just as the WWE Universe thought
they were going to be treated to a rendition of Jarrett’s “With My Baby Tonight”
recorded way back in 1995, Elias lived up to his reputation. Jarrett was the
first elimination of the match after Elias smashed his guitar over his back and
tossed him out of the ring. Some other notable entries in the contest included
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle at number four, the new NXT North American
Champion Johnny Gargano at number six, and former NXT Champion Aleister Black.
Just as we thought all of the surprises of the evening were exhausted, enter
R-Truth at number 30.
Truth was just a few words into his trademark entrance
song as Nia Jax emerged from the dugout and ambushed him. Leaving R-Truth in a
heaping pile of carnage, Nia Jax took his spot in the match! Jax eliminated
Mustafa Ali and then was eliminated by Rey Mysterio after being victimized by
an RKO outta nowhere.
The final four participants in the match were Andrade,
Dolph Ziggler, Braun Strowman, and Seth Rollins. Braun made quick work of
Andrade and Ziggler leaving himself in a showdown with Rollins. Braun and
Rollins brought us an exciting conclusion to the match as they delivered some
anxiety inducing moments fighting on the ring apron. Rollins finally dropped
Braun to his knees and delivered a curb stomp that sent Braun to the floor and
punched his ticket to WrestleMania!
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