I’m very confident that this along with many generic 2016 Royal Rumble reviews will be lost in the fray, however I’m so surprisingly impressed with this years event that I simply cannot help sharing my thoughts.
I was up until 4am watching (UK viewer) on the network, and was again pleasantly surprised with the quality and smoothness of the network, well worth the money for anyone who doesn’t already use it. I also live in university halls, in which I’m sure at least once during the event I woke up 90% of people also living here.
Last Man Standing match: IC Title: Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens
What a match. What an intense way to open up the show. Arguably KO and Ambrose stole the show, with numerous big spots, near falls, crazy moments. Within the first 7 minutes, we had already seen a rolling senton through the barricade. The match went 25 minutes and it was the perfect opener. The table spots we perfectly executed, especially the KO suplex. Even the chair shots (which looked like head shots) were hard hitting and intense. A brilliant match, and a brilliant way to open the show.
Tag Team Titles: New Day vs Usos
Once again we got a match between the New Day and the Usos, but in the second match of the night, we saw a debut! Francesca 2 made her debut to a mighty pop, and this pop continued throughout the match. The crowd never got behind the stale Usos, of whom once you’ve seen one match, you’ve basically seen them all. New Day once again looked impressive, and Big E gets better and better with each match he has. New Day wins, and the crowd goes crazy. New Day rocks at the Royal Rumble.
United States Title: Alberto Del Rio vs Kalisto
I was excited for this one. I don’t know why, but I expected a smooth, technical, interesting match. Unfortunately this was the DUD of the night. Granted Kalisto picked up the win, which was awesome, however the match was filled with botches and was just extremely clunky and rushed. I’m hoping Kalisto gets a reasonable run with the title now, and Del Rio can move on.
Divas Title: Charlotte vs Becky Lynch
This was the toilet break for me, I appreciate that the Divas revolution has improved the match quality, I just struggle to get invested in the matches themselves. It was much easier when Trish would be half naked and straddling Lita in a Hardcore match. I finished my toilet break and the match promo had only just finished…. Brilliant. It was a good match. Nothing special, and once again in a Charlotte match Ric Flair stole the show. He KISSED Becky Lynch, hmmmm. Another huge pop went to Sasha Banks, who attacked Becky and turned on Charlotte immediately after. Mania match incoming.
Royal Rumble Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Title
This was it. The big one. I was ecstatic.
Roman Reigns entered number 1 as expect, to an unruly chorus of boos. Rusev was number 2. I’m going to bullet point some key moments, to avoid a giant paragraph of action.
Crowd is extremely confused however it’s a good decision. This will helps Reigns become more over, although WWE shouldn’t force this. They have a stacked roster and plenty of others can be champion before Reigns. Maybe we need another title. Who knows. I’m excited for Raw tonight though.
My flatmates, however, probably aren’t.
Thanks for reading.