The first match on the Kick Off Show is Sheamus taking on Shorty G. Sheamus is easily able to deal with Shorty G's offence at the beginning before he slams him into the ring post to get the advantage. Shorty G goes to make a comeback and comes close after hitting a moonsault. In the end, it wasn't enough as Sheamus hits a Brogue Kick to get the win. I thought it was a pretty decent match.
Winner: Sheamus (1 for 1)
The next is for the United States Championship as Humberto Carrillo challenges Andrade. After a fast paced beginning, Andrade pushes Carrillo off the top turnbuckle to the floor to get the advantage. Carrillo has a brief comeback starting with a cross body but Andrade shuts it down. Andrade goes for the Three Amigos but Carrillo reverses it into a suplex of his own. Carrillo tries for a harracarrana into a pin, but Andrade turns into a pin for himself to get the win. The match was pretty good between the two.
Winner: Andrade (2 for 2)
The first match of the show is a Falls Count Anywhere Match between King Corbin and Roman Reigns. During the match they go all over the place and use various things such as steel steps against each other. Corbin has a great opportunity when he choke slams Reigns through the Spanish announce table. Later on, they go to the international announcer area and go through a couple of tables there. When the match goes into the technical area, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler come out to help out Corbin and The Usos come out to even the odds. The match ends when Reigns spears Corbin on top of the away team dugout to get the win. I thought the match was ok but I feel that it went for too long.
Winner: Roman Reigns (3 for 3)
The second match is the Women's Royal Rumble Match. The first two entrants were Alexa Bliss and Bianca Belair. Highlights of the match include:
- The return of Mighty Molly, Kelly Kelly (why?) and Beth Phoenix
- Lana and Liv Morgan eliminating each other so that shit will continue
- Mandy Rose being saved from elimination by Otis appearing seemingly out of thin air in probably my favourite moment of the match
- Belair eliminating 8 wrestlers and lasting over 33 minutes
- Beth Phoenix getting injured when she bangs the back of her head against the ringpost
- Naomi, making her return from injury, almost gets eliminated but managing to jump and hang onto the barricade. She then manages to use the top of one of the announce tables to get back to the ring.
- Santina Marella makes his return. What. The. Fuck? Luckily, he doesn't last long and eliminates himself.
- Shayna Baszler coming in at number 30 and also eliminating 8 wrestlers in less than 5 minutes.
The final 4 ends up being Natalya, Beth Phoenix, Charlotte Flair and Shayna Baszler. Phoenix eliminates Natlaya and Baszler eliminates Phoenix. Charlotte goes to eliminate Baszler to get the win.
I thought the Rumble was quite fun and it was nice to see some NXT wrestlers such as Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler get a chance to shine. However, a couple of participants bothered me, especially Santina Marella. He is the personification of the low point of the women's division in WWE, and I'm not happy that, despite the ton of women that they had available, they would go with that. Despite that, it didn't overshadow the match. As for Charlotte, everyone assumed that she would go to face "The Man" Becky Lynch. However, it's looking more like she will challenge NXT Women's Champion Rhea Ripley instead. Whilst I think it will be a good match, I wonder if it's a step backwards and whether it's another example of doing something with the women that they would never do with the men.
Winner: Charlotte Flair (4 for 4)
We stay in the women's division as the next match is Lacey Evans challenging Bayley for the Smackdown Women's Championship. Bayley tries to cheat at the first opportunity by removing a turnbuckle but the referee stops it. She then fiegns injury to lure Lacey in and hit her with a right hand to get the advantage. Bayley goes on to miss a cross body and this gives Lacey the chance to make a comeback. In the end, Lacey does a springboard moonsault but Bayley gets her knees up and rolls her up to get the win. I didn't think it was a good match as it seemed sloppy and the ending seemed to come out of nowhere.
Winner: Bayley (4 for 5)
We now get a Strap Match for the Universal Championship as Daniel Bryan challenges "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. Wyatt hits a power bomb early on to get the advantage and goes on to use the strap against him. Bryan gets back the upper hand and whips Wyatt with the strap at the German announce table. The match goes back into the ring and Bryan continues his assault with Yes kicks. Wyatt puts on the Mandible Claw but Bryan gets out of it and applies the LeBell Lock. In the end, Wyayy no sells being whipped by the strap and hits a Mandible Claw Slam to get the win. I thought this match was pretty decent, although I feel that they can do better.
Winner: Bray Wyatt (5 for 6)
The penultimate match is for the RAW Women's Championship as Asuka challenges "The Man" Becky Lynch. The match goes back and forth in the beginning before Asuka bounces Lynch's neck off the ropes with a neck breaker to get the advantage. Later on, Lynch reverse suplexes Asuka onto the floor to get back the momentum. Asuka manages to apply the Asuka Lock but Lynch gets to the ropes. In the end, Lynch almost runs into the referee and this gives Asuka the chance to spray the green mist. However, Lynch avoids it by kicking Asuka in the stomach then gets her to submit to the Dis Arm-Her to get the win. I thought this was a good match and I hope they have another match on the near future.
Winner: Becky Lynch (6 for 7)
The main event is the Men's Royal Rumble Match with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar coming in at number 1 and Elias coming in at number 2. Brock doesn't have time for Elias' song and eliminates him quite quickly then goes on to eliminate the next 12 wrestlers, including his best friend Shelton Benjamin. Eventually, Ricochet and Drew McIntyre combine to eliminate him. The only other major highlight after that is the return of Edge. Yes, you read that right. Edge returned from a career ending neck injury for the first time in almost 9 years. Thanks to Lesnar's elimination, it led to more wrestlers being in the ring. Seth Rollins comes in at number 30, and with the help of his lackeys, AOP and Buddy Murphy, eliminate Aleister Black, Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe. Joe and Black fight Murphy and AOP all the way to the back, leaving Rollins by himself. Rollins gets destroyed and then eliminated by McIntyre, leaving him along with Randy Orton, Edge and Roman Reigns. Edge and Orton team up before Edge eliminates Orton. Edge and Reigns end up on the apron and Reigns manages to knock Edge off to the floor. McIntyre then eliminates Reigns to win the Rumble...? Holy fucking shit!! Wow!
While there wasn't anything special that stood out, I quite enjoyed the match and the stories that they told. My mind is still blown that Edge made his return and I'm happy that he came back. As for McInytre, I'm shocked that he won but, as a fellow Scotsman, I'm so happy for him. McIntyre has the potential but I was getting worried that WWE was going to keep him in the mid card. This is McIntyre's biggest opportunity since he came back and hopefully, he grabs it with both hands.
Winner: Drew McIntyre (6 for 8)
I thought that the Royal Rumble was quite good, and I enjoyed the 2 Rumble matches. It just sometimes I find some of the matches not particularly exciting and it's hard to be positive about them. Hopefully, they might start to look at NXT TakeOver and see how they do their matches.
Winner: Bayley (4 for 5)
We now get a Strap Match for the Universal Championship as Daniel Bryan challenges "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. Wyatt hits a power bomb early on to get the advantage and goes on to use the strap against him. Bryan gets back the upper hand and whips Wyatt with the strap at the German announce table. The match goes back into the ring and Bryan continues his assault with Yes kicks. Wyatt puts on the Mandible Claw but Bryan gets out of it and applies the LeBell Lock. In the end, Wyayy no sells being whipped by the strap and hits a Mandible Claw Slam to get the win. I thought this match was pretty decent, although I feel that they can do better.
Winner: Bray Wyatt (5 for 6)
The penultimate match is for the RAW Women's Championship as Asuka challenges "The Man" Becky Lynch. The match goes back and forth in the beginning before Asuka bounces Lynch's neck off the ropes with a neck breaker to get the advantage. Later on, Lynch reverse suplexes Asuka onto the floor to get back the momentum. Asuka manages to apply the Asuka Lock but Lynch gets to the ropes. In the end, Lynch almost runs into the referee and this gives Asuka the chance to spray the green mist. However, Lynch avoids it by kicking Asuka in the stomach then gets her to submit to the Dis Arm-Her to get the win. I thought this was a good match and I hope they have another match on the near future.
Winner: Becky Lynch (6 for 7)
The main event is the Men's Royal Rumble Match with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar coming in at number 1 and Elias coming in at number 2. Brock doesn't have time for Elias' song and eliminates him quite quickly then goes on to eliminate the next 12 wrestlers, including his best friend Shelton Benjamin. Eventually, Ricochet and Drew McIntyre combine to eliminate him. The only other major highlight after that is the return of Edge. Yes, you read that right. Edge returned from a career ending neck injury for the first time in almost 9 years. Thanks to Lesnar's elimination, it led to more wrestlers being in the ring. Seth Rollins comes in at number 30, and with the help of his lackeys, AOP and Buddy Murphy, eliminate Aleister Black, Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe. Joe and Black fight Murphy and AOP all the way to the back, leaving Rollins by himself. Rollins gets destroyed and then eliminated by McIntyre, leaving him along with Randy Orton, Edge and Roman Reigns. Edge and Orton team up before Edge eliminates Orton. Edge and Reigns end up on the apron and Reigns manages to knock Edge off to the floor. McIntyre then eliminates Reigns to win the Rumble...? Holy fucking shit!! Wow!
While there wasn't anything special that stood out, I quite enjoyed the match and the stories that they told. My mind is still blown that Edge made his return and I'm happy that he came back. As for McInytre, I'm shocked that he won but, as a fellow Scotsman, I'm so happy for him. McIntyre has the potential but I was getting worried that WWE was going to keep him in the mid card. This is McIntyre's biggest opportunity since he came back and hopefully, he grabs it with both hands.
Winner: Drew McIntyre (6 for 8)
I thought that the Royal Rumble was quite good, and I enjoyed the 2 Rumble matches. It just sometimes I find some of the matches not particularly exciting and it's hard to be positive about them. Hopefully, they might start to look at NXT TakeOver and see how they do their matches.
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