Charlotte Flair eliminated. From the integration of stories, such as Naomi vs. Rose, Lynch vs. Once she did, we saw a coming-of-age story for The Man, who shook off earlier disappointment and a knee injury to cash her ticket to WrestleMania.
On a night of fine pro wrestling, this stood head-and-shoulders above it all, a perfect example of how good a Rumble can be when all of the pieces come together and all the stories weaved in and out are engaging. He grounded and punished Styles, including bloodying his nose, as he sought to defend his status as The Planet's Champion. An infuriated Styles, motivated by revenge, downed Bryan with a backbreaker and clubbed away with hard rights to the face.
The hard-hitting nature of the WWE title bout continued as Bryan caught him with a hard kick to the face, knocking Styles to the floor. The challenger answered, delivering his springboard inverted DDT to Bryan, whose head smashed into the floor in one of the more concerning moments of the match. Back inside, Styles went for a springboard splash, but the champion got the knees up. He applied the LeBell Lock. The champion survived and unloaded with a series of kicks to the body, including one to the previously injured arm of his opponent.
Bryan set up Styles for a side superplex, but he landed on his feet and reapplied the Calf Crusher.
A brainbuster followed moments later, though only for a count of two. After a double-down spot, Erick Rowan returned to television. After a ref bump, he entered the ring and beat down Styles. Seconds later, Bryan scored the pin to retain his title.
Styles and Bryan wrestled an excellent fine match in silence because someone thought it was a good idea to put them in the death slot instead of Shane freaking McMahon. Arguably their best match to date, a physical encounter that highlighted the significance of the WWE Championship, it deserved better than the reaction it earned. The development of Rowan as an associate of Bryan is interesting and probably sets him up to be a follower of The Beard's vegan ways.
Rowan has always been a good hand, but he's never been a singles star. Positioning him with a lead heel is exactly the move that needs to happen for him to achieve the success desired. Not waiting to become the latest victim of Brock Lesnar's unmatched fury, Finn Balor took the fight to the universal champion, catching him off guard with a series of suplexes and strikes. A big overhead suplex stunned Balor, but the Irish-born competitor targeted the midsection of The Beast Incarnate, sending him stomach-first into the exposed corner of the announce table as the commentary team reminded fans of Lesnar's history with diverticulitis.
Lesnar manhandled Balor but sold the midsection and just how much the physical exertion was taking out of him. Balor delivered a Sling Blade, but The Beast obliterated him with a lariat. He tried to follow up with suplexes but was unable to muscle up Balor, the midsection pain proving too much.
Balor countered out of an F-5 with a DDT for a near-fall. He followed up, stomping away at the stomach of his opponent. He wiped out Lesnar with two straight topes at ringside and then added a running dropkick to the face in the corner.
The Coup de Grace followed, but Lesnar kicked out at two and applied the Kimura, looking for a submission out of Balor. He got it, as The Extraordinary Man proved unable to survive the extraordinary pain of Lesnar's armbar. Balor was smart, targeting a section of Lesnar's body that not only had been previously injured and subjected to trauma but also was in the drop zone for his finishing move.
He had The Beast reeling and nearly pulled off the upset victory but fell just short, as Lesnar demonstrated how quickly he can turn the tide of a match when challenged.
That is a unique story we have not seen in quite some time, one in which Lesnar was not able to power his way to victory and had to tap back into his MMA career to pull out that Kimura. The post-match beatdown proved just how in Lesnar's head Balor was, further putting him over as a Superstar deserving of the match and capable of downing The Beast in a high-profile situation. There will be critics of Lesnar's victory, but this match was exactly what it needed to be for all involved.
Balor is legit, Lesnar is vulnerable and the Universal Championship has been at the forefront of two great, consecutive pay-per-view matches. The men's Royal Rumble match kicked off with Elias drawing No.
In the first major surprise of the night, Jeff Jarrett, clad in his mid-'90s country music gear, entered at No. Elias broke up a proposed duet and took the fight to Jarrett, showing heel tendencies despite the fact he has been a babyface for the last three months.
After thwarting a comeback by ol' Double J, he blasted the Hall of Famer with a guitar and sent him to the floor. Jeff Jarrett eliminated. The Superstars paired off, Elias taking a page from Undertaker's book and walking the ropes before arm-dragging Nakamura across the ring.
At No. He suplexed both opponents before stomping away at Elias in the corner. Angle made the mistake of squaring off with Nakamura, and his Rumble run came to an end. Kurt Angle eliminated. Johnny Gargano joined the match at No. He targeted Gargano right away, something that proved problematic, as Johnny Wrestling kicked him to the floor.
Jinder Mahal eliminated. He eliminated Big E and dodged a cross-body from Gargano. Big E eliminated. Joe trapped him in the Coquina Clutch, but instead of dumping him, Hawkins rolled to the arena floor and under the ring, taking a page from Zelina Vega's book. Rumble favorite Seth Rollins hit the ring at No. He sent Elias packing. Elias eliminated. Titus O'Neil entered at No. He did chase Hawkins under the ring but became the butt of the Rumble joke again when he was dumped by the same Hawkins.
Joe dumped Hawkins. Titus O'Neil and Curt Hawkins eliminated. Kofi Kingston, master of Rumble elimination miracles, entered at No. Mustafa Ali was up next at No.
He taunted Nakamura and caught him with a dropkick that sent the U. Shinsuke Nakamura eliminated. Dean Ambrose entered at No. Their rivalry was renewed in mere seconds as the two men exchanged blows. The Lunatic Fringe tried to dispose of Kingston, but Kofi staved off elimination as he has so many times, his feet never hitting the ground.
No Way Jose was out next at No. No Way Jose eliminated. He punished Jose and obliterated two of the conga line members. Inside the squared circle, he leveled Rollins and Ambrose with Claymore Kicks before throwing fists with Joe. Xavier Woods entered at No. After some shenanigans involving Kingston's elimination again, McIntyre clotheslined both New Day members to the floor. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods eliminated. He kicked Joe square in the face, brought McIntyre to his knees and attempted to eliminate Ali.
Next up was Andrade, making his second Royal Rumble appearance in a row at No. He targeted Dunne and engaged him in a back-and-forth that ended with him escaping the Bitter End and countering into a DDT. The ring began to fill up with Apollo Crews' arrival at No. Bryan then accidentally performed an enzuigiri on the referee.
Bryan then pinned Styles to retain the title. The main event was the man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania Jax became the fourth woman to enter a men's Royal Rumble match, the first person to compete in both the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches in the same night, and the first to score eliminations in both matches.
In the end, Seth Rollins won the match by last eliminating Braun Strowman. After retaining, women's Royal Rumble match winner Becky Lynch made her entrance and confronted Rousey. Seth Rollins celebrated his Royal Rumble match victory. Triple H then came out and congratulated him, but said that Rollins needed to choose which champion he wanted to face at WrestleMania 35 by the end of the night.
Later, Rollins confronted Brock Lesnar. After an ensuing brawl, Rollins chose to face Lesnar and goes on to beat him for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania. On the following SmackDown , Becky Lynch addressed how everything had changed for her since with the women's Royal Rumble match.
Charlotte Flair then came out and congratulated Lynch and stated that Lynch won, but was never in the match in the first place, and that Lynch would not be where she was at if it were not for Flair. An ensuing brawl broke out between Flair and Lynch until referees separated them. As compensation for not being able to compete in the men's Royal Rumble match, R-Truth was granted a United States Championship match against new champion Shinsuke Nakamura. For the third consecutive year, a different combination of two members of The Shield was in the Royal Rumble match.
Getting Started Contributor Zone ». Edit page. Top Gap. See more gaps ». Create a list ». Royal Rumble. The Yes! Movement had grown stale, but Bryan is running all cylinders. Also stale was Styles with the WWE title, and giving it back to him heading into Mania would be a mistake.
Bryan's run is just beginning, and it should end with putting over an up-and-coming babyface in a few months. Pick: Daniel Bryan retains the title. Keeping Lesnar on top is seemingly always best for business. And for as great as it has been to see Balor finally getting a big-time and deserved push, having him be presented as a long-shot underdog in such a dramatic way feels counterproductive, even with their obvious size difference.
Let's make one thing clear, however, should WWE get any ideas: Don't break out Balor's "Demon" character unless you plan on giving him the title in a feel-good moment that WWE fans are destined to remember for a long time.
Pick: Brock Lesnar retains the title. Lynch would then win the title at Mania, giving both women big wins to start the year. It would also be nice for Flair to win after missing the first Rumble a year ago.
Pick: Charlotte Flair wins. JC: For a good while, it seemed as if the momentum Lynch was carrying had her headed for an obvious Rumble victory.
Those talks have seemed to slow down of late, with many more people pointing towards Flair as the favorite to emerge victorious. Purposely or not, I think it's all a smokescreen. Earlier in the night, Lynch sees her quest to regain the SmackDown women's title prove unsuccessful -- but by some nefarious means, potentially an Asuka heel turn.
Later in the Rumble match, Lynch will have her moment by earning one of the biggest pops upon her entrance and an even bigger reaction when she tosses the final woman over the top.
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