ROYAL RUMBLE REVIEW

by Ayodeji Michael · January 31, 2017

ROYAL RUMBLE REVIEW

The royal rumble held at the Alamodome in San Antonio was a spectacle though it was not a classic it was still a good way to start the year in terms of PPVS.

PRE-SHOW

NIKKI BELLA, BECKY LYNCH, NAOMI def ALEXA BLISS, NATALYA, MICKIE JAMES

The first match of the 2017 royal rumble was between Nikki Bella, Naomi and Becky Lynch against the team of Smackdown women’s champion Alexa Bliss, Natalya, Mickie James. I’ll say this Smackdown still has a long way to go in the women’s category. The match up was alright with Naomi showing some pretty slick moves and she duly picked up the win after performing a “split legged moonsault” on Alexa Bliss to pick up the win for her team

Match Ratings: 5.5/10

ANDERSON AND GALLOWS def SHEAMUS AND CESARO (RAW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP)

Finally Anderson and gallows got what they deserved albeit not a clean win but take nothing away from gallows and Anderson. Anderson pinned Cesaro with a roll up.

Match ratings: 6/10

NIA JAX def SASHA BANKS

The WWE is building Nia Jax to be a monster of a wrestler and this matchup against the talented Sasha Banks was almost a squash match lasting just over five (5) minutes. Sasha banks barely ever got any momentum going with Nia Jax ending the match effectively with a pop up Samoan drop to get the win.

MAIN SHOW

CHARLOTTE FLAIR def BAYLEY (RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP)

This match was a nice one with Bayley also able to keep up with the pace of the queen charlotte and with that being said charlotte is the most impressive female wrestler I’ve seen in a long time. Her athleticism and her wrestling skills are second to none. Bayley also put in a good show but charlotte picked up a win with a natural selection on the ring of the apron on Bayley thereby defending her title and extending her pay per view record to 16-0. Long live the queen

KEVIN OWENS def ROMAN REIGNS (WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP, NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH), WITH CHRIS JERICHO SUSPENDED ABOVE THE RING IN A SHARK CAGE.

Alright I didn’t expect this match to be this good and it duly delivered a very nice match. WWE attempt to push roman reigns down our throat is getting sick more on that later but first Kevin Owens was awesome in this match from frog splashing roman reigns through a table outside the ring and also falling through a tower of chairs created by Kevin Owens himself after reigns superman punched him. Owens got help from his bff Chris Jericho when Jericho threw a brass knuckle for him to use. But the biggest shock was the interference of Braun Strowman choke slamming reigns on the announcers table and a running powerslam through a table thereby allowing Kevin Owens to pin reigns and retain the title. This storyline just changed.

Match ratings: 7.5/10

NEVILLE def RICH SWANN (WWE CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)

I must admit I’m not much of a fan of the cruiserweights division but this match has definitely garnered my interest in this division, so many high flying moves. Neville forced Swann to submit to a double underhook crossface to crown a new champion.

Match Ratings: 6.5/10

JOHN CENA def AJ STYLES (WWE CHAMPIONSHIP)

The match of the night. John Cena and AJ Styles always deliver a beautiful monumental match and this one was no different. This was a wonderful performance from both men and I saw a new Cena, a more focused more ruthless version of the cenation leader. Cena mat skills were also impressive. It was like the Cena from the ruthless aggression era. Cena and styles both applied the STF submission maneuver on each other. Styles also performed a styles clash on Cena for a near-fall. It took Cena 3 attitude adjustments and 1 super attitude adjustments to put styles away thereby regaining the title and also tying Ric flair’s record of 16 world championships.

Match ratings: 9/10

MAIN EVENT

The main event was the traditional 30 man royal rumble match Big Cass and Chris Jericho started it off with the viper Randy Orton emerging the winner of the 2017 royal rumble eliminating last roman reigns. Now why does the WWE always put roman reigns as the top dog always? The incessant booing was at its loudest tonight. And the WWE put reigns as #30 entrance, anyone but reigns would have been ok for me.

The table below shows how the events unfolded

DRAW	SUPERSTAR	BRAND	ELIMANTED BY	ELIMINATIONS
1	BIG CASS	RAW	BRAUN STROWMAN	0
2	CHRIS JERICHO	RAW	ROMAN REIGNS	2
3	KALISTO	SMACKDOWN	BRAUN STROWMAN	0
4	MOJO RAWLEY	SMACKDOWN	BRAUN STROWMAN	0
5	JACK GALLAGHER	RAW	MARK HENRY	0
6	MARK HENRY	RAW	BRAUN STROWMAN	1
7	BRAUN STROWMAN	RAW	BARON CORBIN	7
8	SAMI ZAYN	RAW	UNDERTAKER	0
9	BIG SHOW	RAW	BRAUN STROWMAN	0
10	TYE DILLINGER	NXT	BRAUN STROWMAN	0
11	JAMES ELLSWORTH	SMACKDOWN	BRAWN STROWMAN	0
12	DEAN AMBROSE	SMACKDOWN	BROCK LESNAR	0
13	BARON CORBIN	SMACKDOWN	UNDERTAKER	1
14	KOFI KINGSTON	RAW	CESARO	0
15	THE MIZ	SMACKDOWN	UNDERTAKER	0
16	SHEAMUS	RAW	CHRIS JERICHO	2
17	BIG E	RAW	SHEAMUS,CESARO	0
18	RUSEV	RAW	GOLDBERG	0
19	CESARO	RAW	CHRIS JERICHO	2
20	XAVIER WOODS	RAW	SHEAMUS	0
21	BRAY WYATT	SMACKDOWN	ROMAN REIGNS	0
22	APOLLO CREWS	SMACKDOWN	LUKE HARPER	0
23	RANDY ORTON	SMACKDOWN	WINNER	1
24	DOLPH ZIGGLER	SMACKDOWN	BROCK LESNAR	0
25	LUKE HARPER	SMACKDOWN	GOLDBERG	1
26	BROCK LESNAR	RAW	GOLDBERG	3
27	ENZO AMORE	RAW	BROCK LESNAR	0
28	GOLDBERG	RAW	UNDERTAKER	3
29	UNDERTAKER	UNASSIGNED	ROMAN REIGNS	4
30	ROMAN REIGNS	RAW	RANDY ORTON	3