WWE Greatest Royal Rumble: Analysing and grading each match

A total of 10 matches took place at WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday.

The WrestleMania-worthy card featured seven title matches, including Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (Universal Championship), AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE Championship) and Seth Rollins vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe (Intercontinental Championship ladder match).

Elsewhere on the stacked show, The Undertaker returned to face Rusev in a casket match, John Cena and Triple H went one-on-one for the first time in eight years, and 50 men competed in the largest Royal Rumble match in WWE history.

Without any further ado, let’s take a look at all 10 matches and analyse what was good and bad about the event.

#1 John Cena def. Triple H

Match: The opening encounter began slowly with Triple H challenging John Cena to a test of strength, only to kick him in the gut and cement his heel status in the match. HHH was on top for much of the 15-minute contest but he was defeated after receiving back-to-back Attitude Adjustments from Cena, sandwiched between a slingshot into the ring post, in one of the most creative finishes of the night.

Verdict: There was a mishap when HHH failed to connect with a powerbomb/spinebuster when Cena launched himself from the top rope. Other than that, this was a decent opener and a good way to get Cena back on track after six straight PPV losses. The fans seemed to love every minute.

Grade: B

#2 Cedric Alexander def. Kalisto (Cruiserweight Championship)

Cedric Alexander retained his Cruiserweight title

Match: After a series of high-flying moves, including an incredible Seated Springboard Spanish Fly from Kalisto, Cedric Alexander reversed the Salida del Sol into a Lumbar Check to retain his Cruiserweight Championship.

Verdict: This was one of the best PPV matches of both performers’ WWE careers. The crowd barely made a sound during the entrances but they reacted to most of the spectacular offence from both guys in the match. If Cedric vs. Mustafa Ali met expectations in New Orleans, then Cedric vs. Kalisto exceeded expectations in Saudi Arabia.

Grade: B+

#3 Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy def. Cesaro & Sheamus (Raw Tag Team Championships)

The new Raw Tag Team champions were crowned

Match: Cesaro was recovering on the outside of the ring after receiving a Twist of Fate from Matt Hardy. Sheamus then lined up a Brogue Kick on Bray Wyatt, who stopped him in his tracks with his creepy Spider Walk. Seconds later, Matt tagged in after a Sister Abigail and pinned Sheamus, with help from Bray, after an elevated Twist of Fate.

Verdict: The positive? It’s WONDERFUL to see “The Deleters of Worlds” as tag champs. The negative? The set-ups for the big moments in the match took forever and it felt obvious what was going to happen next. The Raw tag division was on fire in 2017 but every Raw Tag Team title PPV match has been average so far in 2018.

Grade: C-

#4 Jeff Hardy def. Jinder Mahal (United States Championship)

Match: Jeff Hardy eliminated the threat of Sunil Singh by knocking him off the ring apron towards the end of the match. He then followed up a Twist of Fate on Jinder Mahal by hitting him with a Swanton Bomb to pick up the win, successfully retaining his United States Championship.

Verdict: There was a major botch in this match – a phantom fall to the mat from Jinder when he wasn’t even touched by Jeff’s Whisper In The Wind – and it looked truly terrible. Other than that, this was a standard match that you would expect to see on Raw or SmackDown, but it’s difficult to grade it higher than a D due to the botch.

Grade: D

#5 The Bludgeon Brothers def. The Usos (SmackDown Tag Team Championships)

Match: The Usos had a surprisingly large amount of offence in this SmackDown Tag Team title match, with Jey Uso even landing a top-rope splash on Harper, but The Bludgeon Brothers prevailed after a double-team powerbomb to retain their titles.

Verdict: This was a relatively short match to bring an end to The Usos’ year-long run in the SmackDown Tag Team title picture. Jimmy and Jey have been decimated by Harper and Rowan on a seemingly weekly basis over the last two months and it’ll be interesting to see how they’ll fit into this stacked tag division moving forward.

Grade: C-

#6 Seth Rollins def. Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and The Miz (Intercontinental Championship ladder match)

Match: This was a typically chaotic multi-person ladder match, with all four men receiving their fair share of punishment (particularly Finn Balor and his right eye). The finish saw Balor reach the top of the ladder, only to be joined by Seth Rollins, who leapt from the top rope and onto the ladder before quickly unhooking the Intercontinental Championship to retain his title.

Verdict: The fans in Jeddah certainly enjoyed this, frequently chanting “This is awesome!” during the match. There were plenty of rumours before this event that Seth Rollins would lose the IC title just 19 days after winning it at WrestleMania, so it’s good to see that WWE decided not to end his reign so early. Oh, and Rollins’ leap to grab the title was simply incredible!

Grade: A-

#7 AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE Championship) – draw

Match: Shinsuke Nakamura looked to have stolen the win when he capitalised on a mix-up between the referee and AJ Styles to hit his opponent with yet another low-blow. However, Styles grabbed hold of the rope and the match continued. A few minutes later, the WWE champion ignored the ref and continued to attack Nakamura at ringside, leading to both men being counted out.

Verdict: It says a lot about the underwhelming WrestleMania 34 meeting between these two guys that, despite the count-out finish, this match in Saudi Arabia was still better than what we saw in New Orleans. Granted, the finish was disappointing, but the match itself was very good. Roll on the rematch at Backlash.

Grade: B+

#8 The Undertaker def. Rusev (casket match)

Match: Rusev had plenty of offence in this 10-minute match but, as expected, The Undertaker was victorious on his return. The WWE icon threw Rusev in the casket following a chokeslam, then rolled Aiden English on top of him following a chokeslam and a tombstone, before closing the casket to win the match.

Verdict: This was a lot better than anticipated. Some Undertaker matches have made for uncomfortable viewing in recent years, simply because we don’t know for sure if the ‘injuries’ he sustains are legit or not, but there were no such fears in this casket match. This was ‘Taker’s best performance since WrestleMania 32. Maybe we’ll see more of him throughout the year.

Grade: B

#9 Brock Lesnar def. Roman Reigns (Universal Championship steel cage match)

Match: This started in typical Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns fashion, with Lesnar connecting with four German suplexes and an F5 before Reigns responded with three Superman punches. Lesnar went on to hit another F5 while Reigns hit a total of five spears, with the final one sending both men through the cage. Lesnar’s back landed first, albeit with a cage between him and the mat, so he was announced as the winner.

Verdict: Considering the rest of the card was largely predictable, it was a welcome change that Lesnar picked up a surprise win in this match. Some are arguing that Reigns should have won, as his feet touched the mat before Lesnar, so that opens up the possibility of another match between the two in the near future. If it happens, WWE had better book it soon because, as good as this cage match was, fans won’t want to see 1-2 months of television hype for another rematch.

Grade: B+

#10 Braun Strowman wins the Greatest Royal Rumble 50-man match

Match: Where to start? Daniel Bryan set a new record for the longest amount of time spent in a Royal Rumble, entering at #1 and lasting 1 hour, 16 minutes and 5 seconds. However, after making it to the final three, he was thrown out by Big Cass, who was then eliminated by winner Braun Strowman. Click here for a detailed description of everything that went down in the largest Rumble in WWE history.

Verdict: Excellent. This match featured so many great moments, from Titus O’Neil’s hilarious fall during his entrance to Braun’s chokeslam on Shane McMahon through the announce desk. “The Monster Among Men” was the right choice to win the match. Now, how long until he finally “gets these hands” on the Universal Championship?

Grade: A

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