5 Takeaways from WWE Backstage (January 28th, 2020)

#3 Thoughts on the Royal Rumble

The Royal Rumble was a great way to start 2020

The Men's Royal Rumble match was literally two different contests as Brock Lesnar owned the first portion while the second part belonged to McIntyre. Booker T said that he "thought it was going to be the shortest Rumble in the history of the Royal Rumble" due to the Beast's early dominance. The two-time Hall of Famer felt that "either Lesnar was going to win or someone was going to have a moment" and McIntyre had his moment.

Christian claimed that the Beast was "the threat of the match" and that what happened was what he thought would occur. Captain Charisma then gave some accolades to Lesnar, saying that "when he decides he wants to show up, Brock Lesnar is one of the very best to ever do this." Renee Young added that "he is so good that sometimes we don't remember all of the little things" he does. Booker T added that "he put on a clinic out there and he made a lot of stars."

Christian then praised the Rumble's victor, claiming that McIntyre "is a true professional wrestler in that he's a student of the game." His actions over the last year have been him "basically putting deposits in the bank and building equity." Christian went on to say that "nobody deserves this spot more in my mind than Drew McIntyre." Renee added that once he was away from the WWE, that "time off switched his mindset" and that "he thinks about every process" regarding his character and its presentation.

Since it would be hard to pick against Edge's return, the panelist all gave their other favorite parts of the night. Booker T reiterated that he enjoyed seeing McIntyre "actually have that moment" as his favorite spot. Christian picked "the call back (in the men's match) to Lesnar kicking Ricochet in the nether regions" which helped lead to the Beast's elimination. Renee liked it when she saw "Keith Lee nose to nose with Lesnar" because it was "a friendly reminder of what kind of beast Lee can be."