WWE
Of all the events that WWE took place in the coronavirus era, Sunday’s Royal Rumble can be the most challenging. The live crowd’s electricity, it counts down the clock for the next contestant to enter the arena, is one of the nicest parts. WWE has taken a few rabbits out of the hat – ‘rabbits’ in this case meaning strong pay-per-view events – and hopes to do so again on Sunday.
It starts strong. Randy Orton and the returning Edge have been announced that they will be one and two contestants in the Royal Rumble contest for men, making their rivalry valid again in 2020. Kevin Owens will definitely lose his Universal Championship Last Man Standing match against Roman Reigns, but it will also definitely be excellent. Finally, there’s the plot of the Goldberg versus Drew McIntyre WWE Championship.
And hey, the Royal Rumble is about surprises. You never know who you will see or who you can not see. Keep refreshing this page from the beginning of the main program, 16:00 PT / 19:00 ET, as we will update the results and analyzes.
Royal Rumble for men
Edge steps in at number 1 when the main event begins.
Roman Reigns retains Universal Championship
After a long, occasional ominous match, Roman Reigns defeated Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match to retain his Universal Championship. Reigns choked on Owens with a Guillotine lock to keep him for the ten score.
The game got off to a hot start, with a Superman Punch, Pop-up Powerbomb and Spear coming within the first few minutes. The fighting quickly went from the ring to the Thunderdome, while the two fought through the LCD screens showing fans’ faces. Eventually they ended up behind, and this is where things got a little silly.
As Owens crawled into the back of the stadium, he was literally overwhelmed by Reigns, who was driving a golf cart. It could not suppress Owens, however, and the two continued to hold it out. The highlight comes when Owens hits a guard on top of a forklift platform through a table.
They return to the entrance driveway, where Reigns Owens spies through the LED signs. Reigns then manufactured some handcuffs, but Owens removed it from him and kept Reigns handcuffed to lights in the area so that Reigns could not get on his feet. When the ref score was at 9, Reigns grabbed the ref by his belt and pulled him into the lights and knocked him out. He then blew for Owens. Paul Heyman came out to achieve salvation, without ruling. Reigns was then locked on the Guillotine and retained his title.
Rating: 3 stars. It was easily the worst of the Reigns / Owens trilogy after their very good cage game at SmackDown in January and their fantastic TLC game during last month’s PPV. I understand that, after the two strong matches, they might want to do something different. But once people were hit in the middle of a match and it’s not even a major fake finish, things went too far. It was hard to suspend your disbelief for this one, and the long 9 scores did not help either.
Bianca Belair wins Royal Rumble for women
After entering at number 3, Bianca Belair won the Royal Rumble for women. The last three were Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair. Ripley and Belair teamed up to eliminate Charlotte. Then they struggled back and forth for the last few minutes, which was excellent. No big surprises – no Ronda Rousey, no Becky Lynch – but overall a pretty good Rumble, despite a few sociable moments.
The first piece of the game revolved around Billie Kay, of all people. When her number is called, she enters the arena, but not the ring, visits the announcer’s desk and hands out her 8×10 to Jerry Lawler. While the ring was stacked with the contestants, such as Shayna Baszler and Toni Storm, Kay tried to convince them to work with her, without it being necessary. Eventually, the surprise, Jillian Hall, agreed to be her partner, and the two cleared the ring.
Their partnership came to an end about 7 minutes later when Kay Hall eliminated. This was only the second elimination of the match, with 13 participants so far. Kay was then eliminated while believing. Things picked up with contestants 14 and 15, Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair. Lacey Evans then came in with Charlotte Flair’s robe – though she would later be eliminated by Baszler, defeating the point of this heat somewhat.
The Rumble then saw a title change. Alicia Fox has it on no. 21 entered and was followed to the ring by the 24/7 champion R-Truth. The 24/7 title guys rushed the ring, and Truth and Fox fought them. With his back turned, Fox then rolled up the Truth for the title win. Moments later, after being eliminated by Mandy Rose, Truth Fox rolled up to win back his championship.
The Rumble also almost derailed with a crazy Fiend bunch, when Alexa Bliss came in and, after everyone was beaten by him, started transforming into her evil, invincible alter ego. But while she was transforming, which looks as stupid as it sounds, she is eliminated by Ripley. Phew.
After the Rumble, Belair was questioned in the ring. Overcome with real joy, she delivered a great promo on how to go to WrestleMania.
Rating: 3.25 stars. Decent, pretty good, as there was no live crowd to work with. There were clumsy, sloppy spots, and the Alexa Bliss segment was so hokey. But the last few minutes between Ripley and Belair were fantastic.
Surprising contestants so far: Jillian Hall, Victoria, Torrie Wilson.
Sasha Banks knocks out Carmella
Carmella had the best game of her career in December’s TLC pay-per-view with Sasha Banks, but this follow-up was not quite as good. After an average match, Sasha Banks filed Carmella with the bank statement.
These women were in a difficult spot after the WWE Championship game which, although light in action, was heavy with star power. In the first half, Carmella defeated Banks, but her offense was not very convincing. It picked up as the game went back and forth more and more, but even then little was noticeable.
Perhaps most enjoyable was how Reginald, the manager of Carmella, got involved while Carmella used him as a starting point at one point. He also accidentally caught Sasha when she fell out of the ring and accidentally saved her from a fall, only for Sasha to work on him in a hurricane. Carmella then undertook a nagging suicide dive and first landed her face and fortunately did not kill herself.
Banks also won the contest with a nice omoplata transition to her Banks statement, if you want MMA to be integrated into your WWE.
Rating: 2.5 stars.
Drew McIntyre beat Goldberg
It went exactly as you would expect. The game was short and consisted of three moves: several Spears, several Claymore kicks and one Jackhammer.
It started with McIntyre hitting Goldberg with a header and then with a spear, which copied Goldberg’s move. Goldberg then rolled outside and speared McIntyre through a barricade. Once they were inside the ring, the referee rang. From there, it was merely an exchange of spears and Claymore Kicks, and Goldberg at one point hit a Jackhammer for two.
After a series of nearly, Goldberg missed a spear, tied McIntyre’s Claymore and the victory went hand in hand. They embraced after the game.
Rating: 1 star. Maybe it would have been nice if there was a live crowd that was in the exchanges, but it was sterile and boring. Goldberg’s limitations – the fact that he can basically only do one thing, a spear – are so naked that it’s hard to really get into action.
Preview results
The Royal Rumble’s Preshow changed titles, while Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defeated Asuka and Charlotte. Charlotte was pinned down after Lacey Evans interfered in the match and hit her with copper knobs. Jax then hits a bone fall and gets the pin.