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History was made at the Royal Rumble on Sunday when the women deservedly earned the main event slot for their first-ever Royal Rumble Match. A lot of historic firsts were added to the record books including the first entrant (Sasha Banks), the first elimination (Lita eliminating Mandy Rose), and of course the first winner (Asuka).
After the match, even more, history was made when "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey made her official debut in the WWE. Just seconds after her debut, ESPN reported that she signed a deal to become a full-time WWE Superstar for the "next several years."
Not only was it a groundbreaking moment in women's wrestling, the women executed the Royal Rumble Match extremely well. Considering there were several women who haven't been in a WWE ring for years, the action was crisp and exciting from bell to bell.
This article is going to take a look at six moments from the Royal Rumble Match itself that will get the WWE Universe talking for weeks, months, and years to come. Of course, many legends will be involved in this list, but wasn't just their participation, it was the amazing things they did inside the squared circle to land them on this list.
These moments are not ranked by importance but ranked by chronological order. Let's take a look at an EXTREME moment first...
#6 Lita's first in-ring action in the WWE since Raw 1000
Lita retired at the Survivor Series event in 2006 when she lost to Mickie James, but she made a surprising return to the ring in 2012 for the 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw when she took on Heath Slater in a no disqualification match, with the help of some legends like the APA.
Many were wondering the status of Lita after she wasn't a part of Raw 25, but she would become the first surprise entrant of the Royal Rumble Match at number five.
She definitely looked like the Lita of old with several Twists Of Fate and a tremendous moonsault off the top rope onto Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. Lita also made some history by having the first ever elimination of a women's Rumble match by tossing out Mandy Rose.
When it was all said and done, Lita lasted nearly six minutes in the match and had two eliminations before Becky Lynch tossed her out as the third person eliminated from the match.
#5 Michelle McCool has the most eliminations in the first-ever women's Royal Rumble Match
Michelle McCool was another woman who was away from the WWE for several years to make a triumphant return to the women's Rumble match. Her last appearance in the WWE was in 2011 when she feuded with former partner Layla.
She would return to WWE television for the first time since at WrestleMania 33 as she was in the front row for her husband, The Undertaker's, match against Roman Reigns.
McCool entered the Royal Rumble at #14 and made her presence known in a big way. She would lead all women with five eliminations as she tossed Sonya Deville, Liv Morgan, Molly Holly, Lana, and Vickie Guerrero over the top rope.
Considering she had the most eliminations, one has to wonder if this is the start of a comeback in the WWE.
#4 Naomi does her best Kofi Kingston imitation
Kofi Kingston did it again when he survived elimination when Xavier Woods kept one of Kofi's feet from hitting the floor and then moving it onto a plate of pancakes. Then, in the women's match, Naomi outdid him.
Nia Jax would knock Naomi off the ring apron, but Naomi landed on several women that were outside of the ring, so she was still in the match. She would pull herself up on the barricade and tightrope walk it over to Maria Menounos' chair at ringside.
Unfortunately, as soon as she finally made her way back into the ring, Nia Jax tossed her out. Naomi entered the Royal Rumble Match at #20 and was the 18th woman eliminated.
#3 Beth Phoenix's impressive feat of strength
For the first time in a little over five years, the Glamazon, Beth Phoenix, returned to a WWE ring when she was the 24th entrant in the 2018 Women's Royal Rumble Match. Her last match in the WWE was in October of 2012 in a losing effort to AJ Lee.
Since then, she has married Adam "Edge" Copeland and started a family with two beautiful children. Starting a family was one of the main reasons Beth decided to walk away from the WWE.
She made her presence known at the first women's Royal Rumble Match when she lifted Nia Jax off of the ground and attempted to dump her over the top rope by herself, but she was unable to complete the task.
With her involvement on the commentary team for the WWE Mixed Match Challenge and her impressive showing on Sunday, maybe a comeback is in store for the Glamazon?
#2 Could this be a future WrestleMania dream match?
Many speculated that Ronda Rousey would make her WWE debut and enter the women's Royal Rumble Match at #30, but when Trish Stratus came in as the final entrant, the WWE Universe was perfectly fine with that decision.
Trish officially retired from in-ring competition in 2006 but would make some part-time appearances and wrestle in a couple of matches along the way.
Trish tied for fourth with the most eliminations (three) as she helped take out Nia Jax and also eliminated Natalya and then Mickie James as they revisited a great feud from over 10 years ago.
The moment that got the WWE Universe talking was the standoff between her and Sasha Banks. It immediately led to speculation that this could be a WrestleMania match for the future, possibly even this year in New Orleans.
#1 Asuka makes history by winning the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble Match
This was mentioned on the broadcast, and it rings true, everyone remembers the first winner of the Royal Rumble. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan was the first winner of the men's Royal Rumble Match in 1988 when he won from the #13 entry.
On Sunday, Asuka made history as the first women's Royal Rumble Winner when she entered the match at #25 and lasted nearly 20 minutes. She helped eliminate Nia Jax, then took out her NXT rival Ember Moon before finally eliminating Nikki Bella to make history.
Unlike her Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Nakamura, we do not know which title Asuka will go for yet as Ronda Rousey interrupted the celebration to close the show. Most expect that she'll stay on Monday Night Raw and challenge Alexa Bliss, but having a cliffhanger in the women's division is not a bad thing either!
