WWE: Royal Rumble 2018 – Analysis: A rumble for history books!

The Royal Rumble 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia focused on the premiere of the women’s battle-royal and was also allowed to end the show. Various legends had guest appearances, while the WWE celebrated its women’s division. UFC superstar Ronda Rousey did not appear in the match. Rey Mysterio celebrated his WWE comeback in the male counterpart.

Winner: Kalisto, Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik per Salida del Sol from Kalisto to TJP. The future of the Cruiserweight Division seems to be more uncertain than ever, depending on the release of Enzo Amore and the resulting vacancy of the title. Aries, Neville, Amore and possibly. Swann – the list of notable retirements is more impressive than that of the current assets. Six members of the division, including the TJP and Kalisto ex-champs, were given the opportunity to present themselves. Kalisto didn’t work as a champ at the first attempt and in case of doubt nothing will change. TJP was promptly weakened after his comeback, meaning would make a feud against the Lucha Dragon. There is no real momentum gain for the participants.

Winner: The Revival after an attack on Karl Anderson’s knee: The comeback of Wilder & Dawson has been quite mixed, there have been a few victories against Jobber and last but not least at the Raw 25-year anniversary edition a strong abortion of DX, Scott Hall and the Bálor Club. This victory was all the more necessary to get the former double NXT Tag Team Champions back on track. The Raw Tag Division urgently needs new faces, all the more so as Rollins & Jordan won’t exist as a team for long. The feud against the Bálor Club should be continued for another month to bring both teams back into the limelight and build up two more alternatives for the title race.

Winner and still United States Champion: Bobby Roode after a strange looking DDT from the corner. The newly crowned US champ landed in the pre-show and defeated a man who had previously failed in the semi-finals of the tournament. If you are looking for a CM Punk vs. John Cena from 2011, it was the absolutely right decision not to bake this one here. At the same time, the new champ and its title seem to be immediately irrelevant again, similar to Rawley’s heel-push. The “feud” should be over by now, next opponent of the Glorious One will be either Ziggler or Jinder Mahal.

Winner and still WWE Champion: AJ Styles by roll-up against Owens after he had sent Zayn out of the ring. Contrary to expectations, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan were not involved in the match, but instead there was a straightforward handicap match. At the same time, however, it is also clear that KO and Sami were not able to win much and seemed weak overall, even though the Phenomenal One surprised both of them in the end. There was no dispute between the two Canadians, however, and later in the evening they were even supposed to work together again backstage. The further development will only show up in SmackDown, but since there is no other real contender at the moment, Styles and KO&Zayn will probably get further hooked in February.

Winner: The Usos 2-0. It was a longer, good wrestling match, but in the end there was a clear victory for the Champs. This makes it clear that the twins will hold the titles at least until WrestleMania, but at the same time the question arises as to who they should ask themselves. Gable & Benjamin were shown again and again shortly before the title win and drove Jimmy & Jey to despair several times in this match, but in the end they don’t seem to be equal. Since no other team has been set up in parallel, there is only one more New Day, an NXT (Authors of Pain) call-up or a multi-men match. The Usos have earned this status without question, but unfortunately the rest of the division seems weak.

Aiden English was the first to enter the hall, not as a Rumble participant, but to announce Rusev. The hall overcooked and celebrated the Bulgarians with loud pops and “Rusev Day”chants. The following pop was hardly any quieter, because Finn Bálor followed as number 2 and Baron Corbin, who came in as number 4, eliminated #3 Rhyno just to be sent by Bálor immediately afterwards. Thereupon the Lone Wolf Finn, Rusev and the 5 incoming Slater, who had to eavesdrop on the “Performance of the year” by #6 Elias – until the drifter of NXT-Champ Andrade Cien Almas was interrupted at #7. Meanwhile Heath advanced to a running gag, which was on the ramp and attacked by all participants at the entrance.

At #10 Tye Dillinger was supposed to come to the ring, but was attacked backstage by Owens and Zayn, whereupon Sami ran into the hall and took part in the match. At #11 birthday boy Sheamus came to the ring and sent Heath into the match – just to be eliminated by the One Man Band! Bray, however, sent Slater to the trouble of the hall immediately after. Nakamura who came in #14 eliminated Zayn. After Jinder had already eliminated Woods and Big E, he also sent Kofi over the top rope, but the Ghanaian landed with only one foot on the mat – the other landed on Xavier! To secure the whole thing, E put a pancake under his foot and then the two unicorns sent their partner back to the match, where he eliminated Mahal. After that, however, Cien ended Kofi’s participation. A short time later Woken Matt Hardy came to the ring and faced Bray. Surprisingly, the two worked together and eliminated Rusev under loud booing before they sent each other over the top rope.

At #21, shortly after Cena, who eliminated Elias, came the second surprise with The Hurricane – just to be promptly eliminated by John. The next “shock” came #23: ADAM COLE BAYBEY! And another one followed at 27, when Rey Mysterio celebrated his WWE comeback in absolute top form and immediately sent Cole out. On 28 followed Roman Reign’s usual vociferous booing. Together with Seth he eliminated Miz by double powerbomb, just to send his shield brother out of the match. The last little surprise came at #30 with Dolph Ziggler entering the hall, who quickly eliminated Goldust. Bálor eliminated Dolph and Mysterio, Reigns in between Orton, and so the final four were certain: Bálor, Nakamura, Cena and Reigns. Cena finally eliminated Finn under “Bullshit”shouts before he turned to Roman,”You both suck” was the audience.

After Reigns stormed into the void, Shinsuke was back on his feet again, Cena took the top rope and sent him to Kinshasa, cheering loudly on the mat. Just under 35 minutes after he entered the match, the King of Strong Style came as a real surprise after almost a year of miserable bookings at SmackDown, when he sent Roman after a Kinshasa over the Top Rope and the WrestleMania dream match Styles vs. Nakamura fix made! Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura.

List of participants (in brackets position of elimination): 1. Rusev (12), 2. Finn Bálor (27), 3. Rhyno (1), 4. Baron Corbin (2), 5. Heath Slater (4), 6. Elias (15), 7. Andrade Cien Almas (18), 8. Bray Wyatt (13), 9. Big E (8), 10. Sami Zayn (5), 11. Sheamus (3), 12. Xavier Woods (7), 13. Apollo crews (6), 14. Shinsuke Nakamura (SIEGER), 15. Cesaro (9), 16. Kofi Kingston (11), 17. Jinder Mahal (10), 18. Seth Rollins (21), 19. Matt Hardy (14), 20. John Cena (28), 21. The Hurricane (16), 22. Aiden English (17), 23. Adam Cole (19), 24. Randy Orton (25), 25. Titus O’ Neil (22), 26. The Miz (20), 27. Rey Mysterio (26), 28. Roman Reigns (29), 29. Goldust (23), 30. Dolph Ziggler (24)

Winner and new Raw Tag Team Champions: Cesaro & Sheamus after the White Noise at Rollins. It was a real surprise after the men’s rumble in the form of the day’s match, when Rollins & Jordan had to pass the titles on again. Shortly before the end, of course, there were problems between Seth and Jason, which are clearly in the foreground in this feud: Jason came into the match, but was knocked down and immediately replaced himself again to sit on the staircase. Seth was visibly confused by this, what The Bar used to play and pin rollins together. In case of doubt, the animosities between Seth and Jason will intensify in the re-match and build up a WrestleMania match between the rivals. At the same time, of course, this also means that The Bar will need new opponents in the future, but unfortunately the field is just as bad as SmackDown.

Winner: Brock Lesnar by F5 against Kane after he sent the Big Red Machine against the Apron-based Strowman, played as expected, Braun was dominant and Brock missed his running powerslam several times. After Brock had sent him through the German console by F5 and then buried him under the US console, Beast Kane moved him through the Spanish console, but Strowman then got right back on his feet. Braun was clearly protected again and was able to regrind “You didn’t pin me!” after the match Brock. Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that he will get another chance against Lesnar so quickly. Participation in the Elimination Chamber is certainly possible, but his WrestleMania opponent will probably be IC-Champ The Miz, while Lesnar will face Roman Reigns.

The premiere of the Women’s Battle Royal landed in the Main Event, Stephanie McMahon joined the commentators. Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch started the match, at #4 Lita became the first legend. The next surprise is #6: Mae Young Classic winner Kairi Sane, who distributed several beautiful Insane Elbows before she was eliminated by Dana Brooke. At #12, an ex-champion Molly Holly returned with a woman who had no appearance at Raw 25 and was therefore a great surprise. She was promptly allowed to eliminate Sarah Logan. At 16 Vickie Guerrero came to the ring under “Eddie”-Chants accustomed “Excuse me”-screaming and was quickly thrown out by the other women. Ruby Riott eliminated Lynch a little later and is likely to further fuel the feud between Becky and Riott Squad. At 22, Nia entered the match and quickly eliminated Jacqueline, Kelly Kelly and Riott.

This was followed by NXT Women’s champion Ember Moon on 23rd, who, after a tough match against Shayna Baszler at TakeOver, had only one night in advance with her arm tied to join her “injury”. Naomi parallel pulled off a Kofi memory spot by crawling back to the ring from the barricade where Nia had carried her over a chair on two hands. Unfortunately it was turned off by Jax there. The next opponent for Nia found herself in the immediate aftermath, when Beth Phoenix came into the ring with great cheers and paralysed Nia together with Natalya. Afterwards she fell into the arms of her former allies – only to be thrown over the top rope by Natty. At 25, Asuka entered the match and eliminated her former NXT rival Moon. On 27 and 28 the Bella Twins celebrated their comeback, Nikki & Brie worked together against the other participants. At 30 you could count on Ronda Rousey, but instead Trish Stratus came in! Nia was eventually eliminated from the field before Sasha suddenly eliminated her girlfriend Bayley and initiated a possible feud between the two of them. Trish knocked out Natalya before Banks, who is visibly heading for a heelturn, grappled with her and threw the legend out.

The final four were The Bo$$, Asuka and the Bella Twins. Sasha tricked Asuka and went after her with Nikki and Brie. But the alliance didn’t last long, instead the twins eliminated the twins banks and went on to send Asuka afterwards. But then Nikki decided to throw Brie out and face the unbeaten Japanese woman alone. So the suspense was unfortunately out, even though the final was well booked. In the end both women stood on the apron, Nikki sent Asuka on her back, from where she kicked her down. Winner: Asuka. After the match the two champions Alexa Bliss and Charlotte entered the ring so that Asuka could choose her WrestleMania opponent. But suddenly Ronda Rousey joined the trio and pointed to the WrestleMania logo before offering Asuka a handshake. This did not work out, so that several options appear to be possible for the women: Rousey vs. Charlotte and Asuka vs. Bliss, Asuka vs. Charlotte vs. Rousey or even a Four Way? Rousey then left the ring and shook hands with a visibly reserved Stephanie, who had already given her a rubdown at WrestleMania 31. That was the end of the Royal Rumble.

List of participants (in brackets position of elimination): 1. Sasha Banks (27), 2. Becky Lynch (14), 3. Sarah Logan (7), 4. Mandy Rose (1), 5. Lita (3), 6. Kairi Sane (4), 7. Tamina Snuka (2), 8. Dana Brooke (5), 9. Torrie Wilson (6), 10. Sonya Deville (8), 11. Liv Morgan (9), 12. Molly Holly (10), 13. Lana (11), 14. Michelle McCool (13), 15. Ruby Riott (17), 16. Vickie Guerrero (12), 17. Carmella (21), 18. Natalya (25), 19. Kelly Kelly (16), 20. Naomi (18), 21. Jacqueline (15), 22. Nia Jax (23), 23. Ember Moon (20), 24. Beth Phoenix (19), 25. Asuka (SIEGERIN), 26. Mickie James (22), 27. Nikki Bella (29), 28. Brie Bella (28), 29. Bayley (24), 30. Trish Stratus (26)

After many weak years, the Royal Rumble 2017 finally celebrated another successful edition. The 18-version was in danger of overstepping its limits due to two Battle Royals and a crowded card, but fortunately the show was well clocked. The men’s rumble had time for a surprisingly long final, which ended with Shinsuke Nakamura, a worthy opponent. For the first time since 2011 (Alberto del Rio), WWE once again demonstrated the courage to choose a winner who had not held one of the WWE World titles in the past. The King of Strong Style was also featured prominently in the Main Roster for the first time since he entered the match much earlier than his final opponents Cena and Reigns and eliminated the two biggest stars of the current and last decade.

Just under 22 months after NXT TakeOver: Dallas, where Asuka Bayley took the NXT Women’s Championship and Nakamura made his debut against Sami Zayn, it became the biggest Japanese evening in WWE history. The Empress of Tomorrow won the premiere of the women’s Battle Royal and they decided to bring Ronda Rousey after the match, creating great buzz without devaluing the match for the regular wrestlers. Asuka vs. Rousey seems more likely, of course, which is a little surprising, as the UFC and WWE variants of the Four Horsewomen had been hinted at on several occasions last year. Both Battle Royals were used meaningfully to push actives and build WrestleMania, even if Lesnar vs. Reigns is guaranteed to be in the Main Event. Whether someone will stay with the returnees in the long run has to be waited for, in particular Mysterio could be a real enrichment as the new face of 205 Live. The remaining matches offered few surprises, with the exception of the early title change in the Raw-Tag titles, and simply continued to build up the Champs (reading, styles, usos) with regard to the World Cup.

As usual, the single matches were only filling material and will soon be forgotten. But the rumble stands and falls traditionally with the Battle Royal, which in 2018 was more popular than ever with two variants. Accordingly, the result is positive, even if you could and should definitely have made more effort with the rest of the card. However, after many poor spending in the last ten years, it is important to note that the positive rumble trend continued in 2018!