Women’s Royal Rumble
The 2024 Women’s Royal Rumble kicked off the show as Natalya entered at Number 1 whilst Naomi made her return to the company at Number 2. Bayley then arrived at Number 3, and some of the highlights included TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace making a surprising appearance, Chelsea Green getting absolutely squashed between Piper Niven and Nia Jax, and R-Truth entering the Women’s Rumble thinking it was the Men’s! Jade Cargill also made her highly anticipated WWE debut at 28 before she eliminated Nia Jax whilst Tiffany Stratton and Liv Morgan were the final two entries into the match. The final 7 saw Naomi eliminate Becky Lynch, Cargill eliminate Naomi, and Tiffany Stratton eliminate Bianca Belair in a crazy hair spot before Bayley got rid of Stratton, meaning the final 3 were Bayley, Liv Morgan, and Jade Cargill. In the end, after Liv was able to get rid of Jade, Bayley was able to knock Morgan out of the match meaning The Role Model is the winner of the 2024 Women’s Royal Rumble. Overall, I really enjoyed this match. There were some great surprises and performances, and I’m really pleased that Bayley won as she’s definitely earned it!
Grade: B+
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns VS AJ Styles VS Randy Orton VS LA Knight
In a move that really surprised me, the second match of the night saw Roman Reigns defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in a Fatal 4-Way against AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and LA Knight. Straight away, I have to praise the entrances and presentation of this because this felt proper “Big Time”. I have to say, I really enjoyed this match. I thought LA Knight in particular was really impressive whilst AJ Styles also put on a good display. Everyone hitting their finisher on Roman Reigns was also a good bit of storytelling, and Randy Orton may well have won the whole match if it wasn’t for the interference of Solo Sikoa. Sikoa was able to drop both Orton and Knight, but he then went crashing through the barricade (and almost Samantha Irvin) when trying to take out AJ Styles. In the end, though, after Roman delivered a Spear to Orton, Reigns dropped Knight with a Superman Punch before The Tribal Chief finished AJ off with a Spear to get the victory and retain his Title. Great stuff!
Grade: B+
United States Championship: Logan Paul VS Kevin Owens
It was then time for Logan Paul to put his United States Championship on the line against Kevin Owens. This was a pretty hard-hitting contest which shouldn’t be much of a surprise with Kevin Owens involved, but fair play to Logan Paul because he held his own. Both guys also showcased their high-flying ability which was nice to see before one of Logan’s goons jumped the barricade again, only to be taken away by security. However, this allowed A-Town Down Under to run down so Theory could hand Paul some brass knuckles, but it was actually Owens who dropped LP with the Knucks before Owens covered The Maverick for the 3 count, only for the referee to (somehow) see the knuckles on KO’s hand which meant the match ended in a disqualification. This was actually a very clever ending and The Prizefighter sending Paul through the announce table after the match proved that this feud is far from over.
Grade: B-
Men’s Royal Rumble
And in the Main Event, 30 men looked to write their names into the history books and earn their way into the Main Event of WrestleMania 40! Amazingly, the match started with Jimmy and Jey Uso which was pretty cool whilst the Number 4 entrant saw the return of none other than Andrade! Some of the highlights of this match included The Pride and The Final Testament brawling to the back as Ludwig Kaiser came out, Bron Breakker arriving and causing havoc, Pat McAfee entering the match only to eliminate himself after seeing Omos and Bron in the ring, and Damian Priest coming straight in and eliminating R-Truth. The final 6 were Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Damian Priest, Gunther, and Sami Zayn, and after Priest and Sami were eliminated, we were down to the proper contenders. Honestly, Gunther and McIntyre went to beat the crap out of Rhodes and Punk, but they were both ultimately eliminated before Cody and CM went at one another in an attempt to earn their way back to WrestleMania. In the end, it was Cody Rhodes who was able to chuck CM Punk over the top rope meaning The American Nightmare has gone back-to-back! If I’m being honest, I didn’t enjoy this match nearly as much as the Women’s. Whilst there were some good moments, there were also some questionable decisions regarding the likes of Santos Escobar, Shinsuke Nakamura, Karrion Kross, and even Andrade. I also lost my investment in the match at the end as the guys I wanted to see win the Rumble had already been eliminated. And finally, I’m really not a fan of people winning more than 1 Royal Rumble as there are so many deserving Superstars, so the fact that Cody Rhodes has won it back-to-back years feels a bit frustrating.
Commentaires