Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialRoyal Rumble 2018 Review and Match Ratings

Royal Rumble 2018 Review and Match Ratings

7,616 views

TRENDING

AJ Styles (C) def. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn – WWE Championship (2 on 1 Handicap Match)

Much better than I was lead to believe.

What’s that? A match featuring Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn without Shane McMahon coming down to mess things up? My eyes must be deceiving me. Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised that this match wasn’t sullied by any needless interference by the authority figures of Smackdown LIVE. It’s a WWE Championship match featuring three of the top in-ring performers in the world. What do we need a past his prime stuntman coming in for? I’m not a huge fan of handicap matches because it rarely benefits either man in the long run, but I think the finish was genius in order to protect both teams. AJ Styles was able to effectively cut down each individual to the point where they started to get desperate and had to really utilize their two on one advantage in order to win, but Styles ended up surviving by reversing Owens’ finisher into a fluke pinfall.

Meanwhile, the team of Owens and Zayn can claim that Styles didn’t pin the legal man because the tag wasn’t made. In addition, and I don’t think the announcers made a big deal out of it, but it looked to me that both of Styles’ shoulders were clearly on the mat at the time of the pinfall, thereby negating the pin. Either way, the finish was able to have Styles live to fight another day as champion and the team of Owens and Zayn are probably still in the title hunt. In any case, the match turned out much better than I had expected, and all three men worked together well, with a couple of very close near-falls sprinkled in at the end to really add to the drama. I never once believed Styles would seriously lose the match, but WWE did a great job of teasing it here. ***1/2

The Usos (C) def. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin – Smackdown Tag Team Championship (2 out of 3 Falls)

Uhh…

Ugh, and I called this the match of the night too. If the finish of that match was planned, then they should have just done a one-fall match. If that wasn’t the planned finish, which makes way more sense, then boy, was it ill-timed. It’s a shame that the crowd was dead for most of the match because both teams worked hard and they had great chemistry. While I would have liked a bit of a quicker pace for the sake of the crowd, the match was fine. We had psychology with Gable targeting the legs of the Usos, and I believe a different one had an armbar applied to it. The ending sequence with all of the near falls and the tag team moves were also well done too. We were going in a great direction until the second fall happened. So, Gable and Benjamin attack one of The Usos on the outside, have the other Uso right where they want them, Benjamin’s preparing to do a suplex, Gable’s on the top rope and Uso gets a fluke roll up and that’s it?

The delayed reaction from the crowd pretty much shows how incredibly awkward that finish was. I’m not a hater of a 2 out of 3 falls match finishing in just 2 falls because it eliminates the predictability of most 2 out of 3 falls match going to sudden death. However, if you’re going to do it, do it right. It’ll be interesting to see if that indeed was the planned finish, because if it was, then it was a pretty bad one. The Usos had already beaten Gable and Benjamin twice prior to this match, and to have them beat them two times straight is kinda silly. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Usos, and they have been magnificent tag team champions, but I just felt like Gable and Benjamin finally going over would have been better for the tag title situation. The match was going good, but the finish and pace really hurt it a lot. **3/4

Shinsuke Nakamura Wins the 30 Man Royal Rumble Match

Oh, hell yeah.

My pick for this match was Roman Reigns because that’s exactly the kind of thing I would expect for WWE to do. But never did I think that a guy that was doing jobs to Jinder Mahal in sub-par matches on PPV would eliminate Roman Reigns and win the entire Royal Rumble match. However, we’ll get to that later. Let’s talk about, what is in my opinion, one of the best Rumble matches that WWE has done in some time. Seriously, this Royal Rumble match had everything. Perfectly timed superstar entrances for the right characters, many stories being told inside the ring, very pleasant surprises, and most importantly, no freaking Enzo Amore at 27. We started off very good, with Corbin getting eliminated early but getting his licks in before we left, Elias getting a song in, and a great series of superstars attacking Heath Slater before he even got in the match. However, the best part is that this time, Slater actually got one for himself by eliminating Sheamus for one of the loudest reactions of the Rumble match. We also had surprises early on, with two standouts of NXT Takeover the previous night being represented in the form of Adam Cole and NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas, giving them their first action on the main roster stage.

As the match continued, we had some great subplots getting perpetuated, such as Jinder Mahal’s bits with The New Day and the most impressive use of pancakes you’ll ever see in the annual Kofi gymnastics Rumble spot which I gave a 6.5 out of 10 for wasting a tasty breakfast treat. We also had a little bit of a preview of the RAW tag team title match with Rollins’ elimination of Cesaro which would be a sign of foreboding. Even some of the minor stuff, such as Hardy and Wyatt eliminating each other, Rusev working over the crowd and other action getting prominence, there was never a dull moment. However, the action really started to pick up when we got to the final 10, as we saw Rey Mysterio and Hurricane Helms return, and the big names of the Rumble creating endless drama with a series of reversals, finishers and well-time executed moves. I especially liked the Old School/New School dynamic they did at the end with Orton, Cena, and Rey on one side and Reigns, Nakamura and Balor on the other. Then, once Orton and Mysterio left, it became WWE vs. NJPW of sorts. Many didn’t like the Balor elimination from Cena, but I personally didn’t mind it. Balor really wasn’t winning and he had to get eliminated by someone.

The ending sequence with Nakamura and Reigns was especially very good, as both guys hit their finishers, went back and forth and it was anyone’s Rumble match but I was fortunately wrong, and the right guy in Nakamura won, all but confirming that the dream match of Styles and Nakamura for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania will, in fact, go down. This match had the perfect combination of drama, storytelling, returns, and surprises, all of which makes a Rumble match exciting. If there are any gripes I had, it would be having Dolph return at 30 just for him to do basically nothing and the extended Cena/Reigns action towards the end that kind of dragged, but it didn’t hurt the match at all. Nakamura winning is a great rehabilitation for him, because his main roster run has been largely underwhelming, but it looks like this victory may be the start of him realizing the potential we saw in him when he first appeared at Takeover two years ago.

The Rumble match, in particular, had been severely lacking in quality for the past couple of years, but this match delivered and I am so happy for WWE that it did. Best rumble match since 2012, and I’d have to go back, but I’d argue top 5 all time, I’d say. ****1/4

 

Cesaro and Sheamus def. Seth Rollins (C) and Jason Jordan (C) – RAW Tag Team Championship

Basically a handicap match.

Yeah, this one wasn’t going to stand much of a chance with the Philly crowd after what they just saw, and best believe this was the definition what they refer to as the “death slot”. The crowd just expanded all their energy on what should have been the show-closing match, but instead, they still need to save up their energy for two title matches and ANOTHER rumble match to come. So you could hardly blame them for being stone cold silent for the majority of this match which we’ve seen a variety of seemingly hundreds of times at this point. In spite of that, I still think all men, especially Seth Rollins, made the most out of a less than ideal situation. It might as well have been another 1 on 2 handicap match, because Seth Rollins was basically wrestling this match on his own, while Jason Jordan was outside selling an injury, leaving his partner in the dust and setting up his inevitable heel turn well. But Jordan is also suffering from a real-life injury so that may have something to do with it as well.

For the in-ring action and story told, they did what they could and it worked. The crowd, of course, didn’t have anything to offer them, but Rollins, after working some of the Rumble match, taking on Cesaro and Sheamus was a test of his endurance, and he did really well for the circumstances given. The outcome really wasn’t a shock either. But all in all, it was a hard worked match that unfortunately got a bad spot and a raw deal (no pun intended). **1/4

 

Brock Lesnar (C) def. Braun Strowman and Kane – WWE Universal Championship

Ehhhh….

This was what it needed to be. A little spring featuring big spots and all three men destroying each other. We had tables, steel steps, and more tables and they just ran through everything with a lukewarm crowd, which I didn’t mind. All three men worked hard and made sure to make their presence felt in the time that they got. To be honest, with all that just happened, I couldn’t really focus on the match because everything was happening so quickly, and Kane looked like he was just there to eat the pinfall. You had Braun getting put through tables and being attacked from every which way but was basically no-selling. You then had Lesnar put Kane through a table which delayed to break and then Braun and Lesnar did some stuff before Kane came into the ring and eventually lost the match.

In all honesty, I didn’t care much for the match and neither did the crowd, even for the table spots which was basically a formality. I didn’t have a problem with it, but if I’m being honest, this felt more like a segment than an actual match if you know what I mean. People getting put through announcers tables, brawling, and all of that feels like something that would be more exciting if it built towards the match as opposed to it being the actual match, if that makes any sense. **1/4

 

Asuka wins first ever Woman’s Royal Rumble Match

Take a bow, women.

Coming into this match, I was fully expecting this to be somewhat of a sloppy mess. A botch-fest that had failed eliminations, poor miscues, and incoherent wrestling. I’m glad to say the women went out there, fought their hearts out and, in my opinion, over-delivered in the first ever Women’s royal rumble match. This match featured both some of the top women WWE has to offer today along with relics of the past which made this all the more worthwhile. Dream match scenarios from the present and the past took place, storytelling abounded greatly, and the match just flowed flawlessly.

A quick word about the returns, though. I was so generally happy to see every single one of them. Molloy Holly, McCool, Stratus, Lita, Jacqueline, Phoenix, Wilson, and even Vickie among others. Some of the women that paved the way for the current generation being able to take part in the first ever Rumble match, and all of them looking in relatively good shape was so heartwarming to see. This was the very definition of past meeting future. To top it off the right women won and it was in a surprisingly good back and forth fight with Nikki. I gotta say, everyone played their roles extremely well here, every woman served a purpose, and they went out there and embraced the history that they made. Normally, WWE makes first ever woman’s matches just one big contrivance and makes a bigger deal about making history as opposed to the actual match. Thankfully, I’m able to say that the women went out there and killed it in a deserving main event. As for the Ronda appearance, I’m glad they didn’t put her in the Rumble, because Asuka was the only logical choice to win. This means we’re probably getting her and Charlotte at Mania. We shall see.

But to summarize, a well put together Rumble, with teases of a Sasha heel turn, plenty of surprises to fill two Rumbles and overall great work from the women. Aside from Maria’s absolustely cringe-worthy announcing, this is what I had hoped it to be and more. ****

 

Conclusion:

I’m glad to say WWE finally delivered on a grand stage it needed to.

For the first time in a good while, I believe WWE knocked it out of the park here. If you can ignore the undercard matches, the two Rumble matches along with the WWE Title match alone was worth the price of admission. Both Rumble matches delivered, and everything else on the show served its purpose well and nothing was horrible. It was a fun night, filled with great surprises, blasts from the past, the right people going over and a show that satisfied a Philly crowd. Let’s see if WWE can sustain this momentum going into WrestleMania. The build to the matches always tends to be horrible, but WWE shows that it can absolutely have a great show if performed right.

But yeah, despite the show being four hours, I was highly entertained. If there’s anything more I can nitpick, it’s probably the placement of the men’s Rumble in the middle of the show. I get wanting the women to main event, and believe me I was more than okay with it, but in turn, this caused the crowd to not care about two of the undercard matches. But again, that’s nitpicking considering how well performed both Rumble matches were. Oh, and Maria Menunous should probably never hold a WWE mic again. Goodness, gracious. If you watch nothing else, watch both Rumbles. Thumbs up!

- Advertisment -

LATEST NEWS

- Advertisment -

Related Articles