The following is from our play-by-play coverage of the WWE Royal Rumble PPV event in Phoenix, Arizona at Chase Field on the WWE Network:
Lacey Evans is out first and cut a promo to introduce herself. Natalya is second. They do some back wrestling tactics and teased Evans being eliminated early. Mandy Rose is out next and cleared house. Natalya applied the sharpshooter on both talents. Liv Morgan is out at #4 and as soon as she was in the match, she was eliminated that quickly by Natalya. Evans stacked them in the corner and hit a bronco buster. Mickie James is out at #5 and landed a series of strikes to Evans. Ember Moon is #6 and Billie Kay at #7, who was sitting at ringside while waiting for Peyton Royce.
Nikki Cross is out at #8 and got a nice pop as she ran to the ring. She took out Kay at ringside then took out everyone in the ring with a crossbody. Cross with a bull dog to James and a reverse DDT to Rose. Peyton Royce is out at #9 and went right after Cross. Tamina is next at #10. Out at #11 is Xia Li while Mickie James is eliminated. Li with a series of kicks to Tamina then strikes. She landed some more kicks to the other talents. Sarah Logan out at #12 and took out Natalya with a running knee strike then a powerslam to Moon. Kay and Royce tossed out Moon who landed hard on the apron. Charlotte Flair out at #13 and once in the ring, everyone attacked her. Evans pushed out Kay and Royce. Flair with a big boot to eliminate Li.
Kairi Sane is next at #14 and Flair eliminated Tamina with a clothesline. Sane with a series of chops to Flair. Sane with a big elbow drop off the top rope to Logan then eliminated her. Maria Kanellis is next at #15 and got the attention of Flair, who then hit a series of shoulder blocks. Flair speared Maria.
Naomi out at #16 and hit a jaw breaker to Rose. Naomi and Rose brawled over the top rope for the elimination. Flair tossed out Evans for the elimination. Candice LeRae is next at #17 and hit Sane with a drop kick. Alicia Fox travels down to the ring at #18 and hit a series of drop kicks to Flair, Moon, and Sane. Maria tried to be Fox’s friend and they were until Maria stepped on Fox’s hat and Fox started throwing a fit. Kacy Catanzaro is next at #19 and landed some shots until Natalya tied her up in the corner. Fox with a back breaker to Kacy. Zelina Vega follows at #20 and traded right hands with LeRae. Ruby Riott appears at #21 with help from Morgan and Logan to attack Flair outside of the ring after pulling her under the bottom rope. Vega hid under the ring. Riott tossed out Fox for the elimination. Logan and Morgan hit a powerbomb to Candice, who was then eliminated by Ruby.
Dana Brooke was out next and hit a big powerbomb to Kacy. Ruby tossed out Sane and Io Shirai was next at #23 to make the save for Sane by attacking Ruby then hitting an outside to take out the Riott Squad. Rhea Ripley is next at #24 as the first NXT UK star enters the ring. Brooke eliminated Kacy with a drop kick but Kacy’s feet never touched the ground and she got back into the ring. Rhea tossed Kacy to the floor in order to eliminate her. Sonya Deville enters at #25 but was taken out by Dana. Rhea drop kicked Dana to eliminate her. Vega mocked Dana for it while under the ring but Hornswoggle popped up from under the ring and chased her into the ring where Vega was eliminated. Swoggle then chased Vega to the backstage area.
Alexa Bliss follows at #26 to make her in-ring return and went right after Moon where she hit a knee drop. Bliss eliminated Deville with a right hand. Out at #27 was Bayley and landed a series of right hands to various talents and clotheslines her to the floor. Ripley is also gone. Lana out at #28 and limping down to the ring. She sold her left ankle after an angle earlier in the night. She stopped at the entrance way as doctors checked on her. Nia Jax enters at #29 and attacked Lana on her way to the ring. Jax caught Li and tossed her to the floor. Carmella enters at #30.
Becky Lynch walked down to the ring and demanded to be added to this match as Lana was checked on. Fit Finlay agreed and told Lynch to get into the match. Flair tried to eliminate Lynch but Lynch stayed in. Lynch with a drop kick to Jax off the middle rope. Bliss with a knee strike to the back of Moon to eliminate her. Carmella with a bronco buster to Bliss in the corner then a super kick. Bayley with a powerbomb to Bliss in the corner and tossed her to the floor. Jax with a double clothesline to Bayley and Carmella. Flair with a big boot to Jax then they all teamed up on Jax.
Carmella went to the top rope and hit a crossbody to Flair. Carmella with an up kick to Flair then a few to Jax before Flair hit a big boot to eliminate Carmella. Bayley with a big knee strike to Flair. Jax with a back body drop to eliminate Bayley. The final three stars are Jax, Flair, and Lynch. Flair tried to eliminate Jax but it wasn’t enough. Jax went to the apron and Lynch pulled her off. We’re down to two stars. Jax ran over Lynch outside of the ring and Lynch sold her left knee. Back in the ring, Lynch welcomed Flair to a fight. Flair went right after the left knee of Lynch. Flair missed a big boot and Lynch clotheslines her to eliminate her.
Winner: Becky Lynch
