The 29th Annual Royal Rumble kicked off with much fanfare. We had a few good matches, some delightful returns and a hugely anticipated, momentous debut. There were not many surprise entrants this year at the Rumble. Just a note, Sami Zayn was a surprise entrant and he eliminated his biggest WWE rival, Kevin Owens in the process.This was a Rumble that needs to be looked at in hindsight. The winner was expected to be Reigns or Triple H. If it had been Reigns again, he would have been booed and he was to a great extent tonight. Thankfully, he wasn’t the winner.Here are the 5 points to note from this year’s Royal Rumble
#1 The (Bank) Statement
The feud between Charlotte and Becky Lynch was the one of the best within the Royal Rumble card. Firstly, after a long time the main roster writers provided the women with clear heel and face dynamics.
Then they gave them sufficient time to play out the angle. The video package before the match began was brilliant. After some back and forth verbally and physically, Becky got into laying out some arm drags and eventually locking Charlotte in an armbar.
There were enough distractions presented by papa Flair but none as gross as him kissing Lynch. Well, he’s a heel and he’s supposed to do things that are absolutely hateful. This one incident certainly did the needful. So, it wasn’t a surprise that the heel won in the end following another Naych distraction when he threw his jacket at Lynch to blindside her.
But there was more to stay tuned for.
After Charlotte continued celebrating her undeserved victory over Lynch, Sasha Banks returned to a great pop. She went on to kick Lynch out of the ring claiming the spotlight for herself. Then we think Charlotte and Banks are off to doing their little BFF act from NXT and that’s when Banks layeth the smackdown on the champion, locking her in a Bank Statement. The crowd was going crazy. We now have a new challenger to the title and Banks made that clear like a boss.
#2 The battle may be over
What a way to kick off the Royal Rumble! Last year it was the tremendous triple threat match between Lesnar, Cena and Rollins for the WWE World heavyweight Championship. This year, it was the Last Man Standing match between Ambrose and Owens. And they had a war. There were close counts, extreme moments and enough trash talking to make this one a great opener for this year’s PPV.
It ended after Owens’ moonsault was cut short when he was pushed by Ambrose to the outside. Owens just did not fall on the floor, he went crashing through tables. That led the referee to complete the 10 count and Ambrose being emphatically victorious. This may signal Ambrose’s move to a new challenger.
#3 He\'s here!
Guess who made it to the Royal Rumble? Yes, this was hugely expected but WWE always tries to swerve you in the end. AJ Styles finally made it to the Rumble, as entrant Number 3, no less!
And he stayed firm in the ring until Owens arrived, hurt and battered from his match earlier in the night. And then Owens eliminated Styles. This won’t go unnoticed. Maybe, just maybe, there is a feud now that Owens convincingly lost to Ambrose in a Last Man Standing match.
#4 Lesnar vs Wyatt
Brock Lesnar entered his second Rumble since his return and it was nothing short of spectacular. But his presence was marred mostly by the Wyatt Family trying to utterly dominate him. He eliminated Braun Strowman with comparatively more ease than any other superstar but The Beast looked quite tired after the process.
He was also responsible for the elimination of Harper and Rowan. If this wasn’t enough indication of an impending feud between The Beast Incarnate and the Eater of Worlds, well, then Wyatt got all his brothers to finally eliminate Lesnar. The feud is on!
#5 Well heeled
It was hugely expected that Triple H will return. And he did. Conveniently at number 30.
Yes, they booed Reigns again this year but WWE did not make a mistake like they did with him last year. We actually got a new champion. Triple H eliminated Ambrose, everybody’s favourite, to win his second Rumble and his 14th WWE Wor Heavyweight Championship.
That was a good move in bringing more heat on a man married to power. We have a new champion and now Reigns will almost certainly continue to feud into WrestleMania this year to get back what he lost.
