Tonight’s Royal Rumble built all night long to the Men’s Royal Rumble match, and while the build was quite good, the actual Rumble match was a letdown. Earlier in the night Roman Reigns had been disqualified in his match with Seth Rollins but had managed to still retain his title, and then the major swerve happened when Reigns interfered in Brock Lesnar’s match against Bobby Lashley and Paul Heyman betrayed Lesnar to cost him the WWE Championship. This was great, but then the Rumble match kind of let the air out of the balloon, and fans were quick to chime in online and let their reactions be known, which you can find starting on the next slide.
Part of the issue was the lack of major surprises, as most of the Rumble entrants had been announced ahead of time. Now, a lot of entrants had also been announced ahead of the Women’s match, but there were still some welcome surprises and the biggest surprise, while spoiled by reports ahead of the pay-per-view, was still an anticipated return and not someone we just saw earlier in the night.
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The other problem was the match itself, which just felt kind of slow and predictable. Johnny Knoxville’s time was fun and Bad Bunny brought some much-needed energy in the final section, but other than that the pace never really seemed to pick up.
Fans seem to have felt the same way, and you can find their reactions starting on the next slide.
Here are the full Royal Rumble results:
WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns defeats Seth Rollins
WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley defeats Brock Lesnar
Raw Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch defeats Doudrop
Edge & Beth Phoenix defeated The Miz & Maryse
Men’s Royal Rumble – Lesnar defeats Johnny Knoxville, Big E, AJ Styles, Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, Austin Theory, Sheamus, Damian Priest, Happy Corbin, Madcap Moss, Sami Zayn, Kofi Kingston, Kevin Owens, Omos, Randy Orton, Riddle, Chad Gable, Otis, Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, Bad Bunny, and Shane McMahon.
Women’s Royal Rumble – Ronda Rousey defeats Charlotte Flair, Mickie James, Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., Dana Brooke, Carmella, Queen Zelina, Shotzi, Natalya, Aliyah, Naomi, Shayna Baszler, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Lita, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Summer Rae, Tamina, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Sonya Deville, Sasha Banks, Ivory, Alicia Fox, and Molly Holly.
What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
