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In what was the best WWE Royal Rumble match in a decade, we had a lot of exciting moments on Sunday in Philadelphia. It had people pushed as clear favorites like Roman Reigns and John Cena. We had crowd favorites like Finn Balor and Rusev being quite successful.
We had a couple of very unexpected surprises. And most importantly, we had the winner everyone wanted for once. AJ Styles versus Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania. I cannot believe it is happening.
But what was the most surprising parts of the unpredictable and excellent 2018 Men’s Rumble Match? Here's my list of top five most surprising moments of the 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble Match:
#5 NXT stars shine
We usually have NXT presence at the Rumble, even if it is just in a small amount. In this year’s Rumble, the two stars of NXT - “Cien” Almas and Adam Cole were made to look like credible stars in Philadelphia, and really shined.
Almas, after an amazing NXT title match on Saturday, was portrayed as a credible threat through his long stay in the Rumble. He lasted nearly 30 minutes in the Rumble match before being eliminated by Randy Orton. That is an impressive hour of in-ring time in just two days for the NXT Champion. Amazing.
Adam Cole was an even bigger surprise entry after his brutal Extreme Rules match. He only lasted about seven minutes but got to last with legends like Cena, Orton and Mysterio. I would say that is a good day's work for a wrestler who has only been in the WWE for about four months.
#4 Balor lasts for nearly an hour
There has been a lot of debate on whether the WWE thinks Finn Balor is a major player in the company going forward. Is he someone they trust to lead the RAW brand going forward? I would say Balor’s performance in Sunday’s Rumble helped to answer the question once and for all.
Balor entered the Rumble in the tough #2 spot and lasted 58 minutes. That is one of the longest time spent in Rumble history and is only a few minutes shy of Rey Mysterio’s record. He eliminated four people in the match as well.
Most importantly, Finn was one of the coveted final four in the Rumble match and had a great moment with Shinsuke Nakamura. He was eliminated by John Cena but had a very surprising star-making performance.
#3 Rey Mysterio enters the Royal Rumble
If you predicted that Rey Mysterio would be in the 2018 Royal Rumble, I would call you a liar. We had heard nothing about a Mysterio return to the WWE after a nearly three-year absence. Since he was booed in his last Rumble appearance, it was nice to see him get such a positive reaction this time around.
Even better was seeing Mysterio have a lot of success in the match itself. He lasted nearly ten minutes and looked as crisp as he did in his prime. He even lasted till the final five competitors.
It was a fun and surprising moment when he teamed up with Orton and Cena. It was a great nostalgic surprise from a pro wrestling legend who has meant a lot to the industry.
#2 Roman Reigns plays the heel and loses
I’ll admit I was worried - worried the WWE would repeat the mistake of having Roman Reigns win the Rumble before a hostile Philadelphia crowd yet again. I was dreading what it would do to the rest of the show if Reigns won another Rumble. Then a surprising thing happened - Roman played the bad guy.
I had no doubt Roman would get booed. He came in the Rumble really late again and seemed poised for his expected WrestleMania title match with Brock Lesnar.
Then a funny thing happened, Roman decided to play the heel for one night. Roman and Cena milked the boos and attacked the more popular Balor and Nakamura at the end of the Rumble match. In the end, Reigns worked hard and helped get another Superstar over. It was surprising, to say the least.
#1 Shinsuke wins the Rumble and eliminates the WWE’s biggest stars
It seemed so simple. The crowd was dying to have a dream match between AJ Styles and Nakamura at WrestleMania. It has been made really clear by the vocal WWE crowd that they wanted to see that match in New Orleans.
However, the WWE has a nasty habit of not giving fans what they actually want. In 2018, the WWE seems to have finally given us a Rumble winner we truly wanted and made Shinsuke look like a legit star in the process.
Shinsuke was clearly at his best for his entire main roster run to date. He lasted forty-five minutes, an impressive feat. He was involved in a fantastic final six with the likes of Roman Reigns, Rey Mysterio, John Cena, Randy Orton and Finn Balor. He went toe to toe with all those popular wrestlers in the Rumble.
Finally, he cleanly beat John Cena and Roman Reigns. Say what you will about those two stars, but beating them both on the same night is a big deal. We get Styles and Nakamura. It has some really high expectations to live up to.
