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The Royal Rumble pay-per-view has come and gone and has left WWE fans all over the globe talking about it. In my opinion, and few would argue with me when I say that this year's Rumble event was solid, but it could have been much better.
The event lasted for around seven hours, but fans were satisfied with most of the outcomes of the event. Becky Lynch pulled off double duty to win the women's Royal Rumble match, Seth Rollins defied the odds and was the last man standing in the men's Royal Rumble match.
Brock Lesnar demolished Finn Balor to retain his title, Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles in a breath-taking encounter, Ronda Rousey and Asuka retained their respective women's titles and the unlikely duo of The Miz and Shane McMahon dethroned the Bar to win the SmackDown Tag Team titles.
Fans also witnessed a couple of surprises as Jeff Jarret showed up as the second entrant and stood toe-to-toe with Elias. NXT stand-outs Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, and Pete Dunne made unannounced appearances.
The women's Rumble had its share of surprises as well when Hornswoggle appeared in the women's match under the ring with Zelina Vega. Nia Jax also made an odd appearance in the Men's Rumble match, taking R-Truth's last entry spot.
With all of that said, let's look at 3 things we learned at the Royal Rumble.
#3 NXT matters a lot to the WWE
It was very delightful indeed to see so many young NXT stars appear at last night's Rumble matches, mere 24 hours after they competed at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix. Many of the Rumble's surprise entrants included appearances from NXT's finest talents.
Kairi Sane, Rhea Ripley, and Lo Shirai were just some of the women who appeared in the women's Rumble match and each of them had a great outing. Xia Li was there too, so were Candice LeRae and Kacy Catanzaro. This comes as a shock as many fans were expecting female legends to appear instead of these young women.
The men's Royal Rumble match say Johnny Gargano appear in the number sixth spot, Gargano eliminated Jinder Mahal. Pete Dunne also made an unannounced appearance at the Rumble. Aleister Black made a huge impact as he eliminated Dean Ambrose on arrival.
This goes to show fans that WWE really does care about NXT as such spots are usually given to legends and under-card talent rather than the NXT roster.
#2 Women have arrived
It's become widely known that WWE is finally giving the women what they deserve, but last night was a special night for all the women in the WWE. The two singles women title matches were given sufficient and ample time, The women's Royal Rumble match lasted longer than the men's and many would argue that it was the better of the two.
Becky Lynch pulled off double duty to win the women's Rumble match, this is a rare incident as women often don't get the chance to perform in two crucial matches in one night. Nia Jax participated in two Rumbles in one night, as she appeared in the men's Rumble match after an under-whelming outing in the women's match.
Jax took R-Truth's coveted Number 30 spot, laid waste to the men's roster and eliminated Mustafa Ali. The Women's Revolution is in full force and it looks as if WWE is finally believing in the women and giving them the spotlight over men.
#1 WWE listens to the WWE Universe
Last night was a fun and lucky night for any WWE fan. The overwhelmingly popular Seth Rollins finally won the Royal Rumble match in the face of adversity and opposition, proving that fairy-tales do come true in WWE quite often.
Becky Lynch, the most 'over' women on WWE's roster won the women's Rumble match. Both winners are favorites of the WWE Universe and WWE couldn't have given the fans better winners than these two.
NXT's brightest stars finally got to show the casual fans what they are capable of when they stood toe to toe with WWE's main roster talent during the Rumble matches.
Every match on the card was given appropriate and ample time, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles put on yet another clinic whereas Finn Balor and Brock Lesnar's encounter was a fresh encounter that pumped fans up for the rest of the night.
Needless to say, The Royal Rumble was proof that the WWE Universe is the true voice of WWE.
