The WWE Royal Rumble 2018 is in the bag, which means it’s time for another 3-Count reaction and Smack Talk Pay-Per-Viewpoint post-show podcast review!
As always, click the video at the bottom of this post to check out the podcast breakdown of everything on the show, but before we get into that, I want to focus on three things that standout from my mind in regards to Royal Rumble 2018.
For this edition, I figured it’s such a rare opportunity to have so many legends make their returns that it would be fun to keep things fully optimistic and point out the three who I feel made the biggest and best impact, were the most entertaining, and so forth.
Note: Keep in mind that these are just the three I’ve narrowed it down to. I actually enjoyed almost every legend appearance, so if you have a different person you wish were on this list, feel free to say why in the comments below!
Rey Mysterio
Ten years ago, I was harping on how Rey Mysterio was a shell of his former self and I didn’t understand why everybody was praising him as this amazing in-ring performer when he would do a few dropkicks, a 619, and fill the rest of the air with blandness, yet still get some rather monster pushes here and there.
It drove me crazy, and I got to a level where I considered him one of the most overrated people not just on the roster at the time, but possibly ever, as I never thought he should have been a world champion once, let alone on more than one occasion—least of all when he was wrestling with a shirt on and would spend most of his time injured.
His return tonight was at first met by me with “oh, wow, I didn’t see that coming” and then an even more exuberant “holy shit, Rey is in shape again!?”
Rey somehow looked better now than he did 10 years ago. Whether that’s because he’s had more time off or because he did something different to his training regime is unknown, but now that that problem has been solved, he moved around much better and felt like the type of legend that we deserved.
I still don’t think it’s good for Rey to be pushed back to the top of the spotlight, so if that does happen, I’ll be hesitant to trust the idea, but I for one would love to see him take a major role on 205 Live as the champion there, if I’m just pitching out ideas of where I would put him. If not in that scenario, he could be an upper-midcarder on Raw or SmackDown with a part-time schedule and I would be totally cool with it.
Michelle McCool
Although she was met with chants if “Undertaker” instead of her own name (but what would the rhythm of that chant be, anyway?) I feel like Michelle McCool was a true standout in the women’s Royal Rumble match for more than one reason.
First things first, she set the record for most eliminations with 5 of them, just barely beating out Nia Jax’s 4. At the very least, McCool has that record to her name.
Secondly, though, she was perhaps the best in-ring performer out of all the legends in the women’s match, with only a few hiccups here and there that weren’t a big deal in comparison to someone like a Kelly Kelly or Jacqueline, who struggled much more.
I’ve always felt like McCool never got her fair share of credit as a performer since she was lumped into an era that focused primarily on hiring models and trying to pass them off as wrestlers in 3-5 minute sloppy fights that nobody cared about, but she seemed to genuinely want to be the best performer she could be, and she was part of the equation that pushed for the first-ever women’s tables match, breaking ground many years before the official Women’s Revolution was declared to take place.
Next year, her record could easily be surpassed by Asuka, Nia Jax, Ronda Rousey or anybody else, but she’ll always have 2018 at the very least, and her inclusion here helped not only the other legends look good in relation to her, but also helped keep the flow of the match itself going rather well.
Beth Phoenix
As much as I wanted to give this to The Hurricane for the fun of it, Vickie Guerrero for playing up a comedic heel role well and Trish Stratus for just being herself, I can’t neglect the woman who made history.
By competing here, Beth Phoenix has done something that is likely never going to be replicated ever again, which is be the first and at this point only WWE superstar to ever compete in both the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches.
Chyna has passed away and Kharma hasn’t been in WWE in years and will probably never return, so unless someone else enters the men’s Royal Rumble in the future—which is highly doubtful—Beth would be the only person to cross barriers in that way.
She didn’t win the match itself, but she has already accomplished something historic after being inducted into the Hall of Fame, which is mighty impressive.
For more opinions on the show as a whole, check out the latest edition of the Smark Out Moment wrestling podcast SMACK TALK as the panel reviews Royal Rumble with our immediate reactions following the event before the dust has fully settled.
WATCH/LISTEN TO SMACK TALK on YOUTUBE | ITUNES | STITCHER
FOLLOW SMARK OUT MOMENT on TWITTER | FACEBOOK
Make sure to subscribe and leave your comments and ratings!
