Hiya!

Among all of the pay-per-view events of the WWE, my favorite is still the Royal Rumble. Even when compared to the actual Showcase of the Immortals, Wrestlemania, there’s always a feeling that the Royal Rumble will have something special for me. Well, this year, that special something is the show only has 4 matches! Yes, it’s still around 4 hours long because there are 2 Royal Rumble matches, one for the men’s and one for the women’s group, but this means I only have to review 2 other matches other than the long Royal Rumble shows! I may love watching WWE pay-per-views but more matches do make it a bugger to review. Yay me!

Even so, we still have a lot to talk about so let’s start with the first match of the night, which is the Women’s Royal Rumble.

One thing I will say is this year’s Royal Rumbles, both the Women’s and the Men’s group, was bereft of any WWE Legends participating this year. So, I am glad that the Women’s Royal Rumble had a couple of surprises. It’s always nice to see some women from NXT join in as gals like Tiffany Straton get to strut their stuff. It was also kind of a surprise to see the current TNA Knockout’s Champion Jordynne Grace step in a WWE ring for this one night.

We also saw the first appearance of former AEW blue chip Jade Cargill try to make an impact in the show as well as the returning Naomi making her re-debut in the WWE at the Royal Rumble this year. I am kind of disappointed Liv Morgan was the closer at the #30 spot as it would’ve been more dramatic if it was Jade Cargill to kind of tease the possibility of her winning it all. No hate to Liv Morgan but I just don’t see her headlining Wrestlemania by winning the Royal Rumble of all things.

As there were no WWE Legends returning, there weren’t really any big pops from the crowd besides from Naomi and Jade Cargill. So, most of the memorable moments did have to come from the actual action and antics of the participants. Unfortunately, it did feel a little lackluster this year. Sure, every new entrant got in and managed to show their stuff for a bit but, like in every Royal Rumble before it, the white hot entrant would eventually shimmy over to the corners where they would either try to eliminate someone hanging onto the ropes or be the one to hang onto the ropes to avoid elimination.

There were a few spots worth mentioning. Tiffany Straton holding on to Bianca Belair’s braid to stave off elimination only for Bayley to shove The EST off to get rid of them both. There was also Chelsea Green getting squished in between Piper Niven and Nia Jax while they brawled. I thought that was a pretty chuckle worthy few minutes. R-Truth getting confused and causing Valhalla to get tossed over the top rope almost immediately. Probably the most notable moment was Kairi Sane hanging on the ring apron in a vain attempt to save herself. I think this was a botch and she was supposed to grab onto the bottom rope instead of her having to dig in her fingernails into the ring apron and then climb back up. This is probably why the WWE hasn’t put it up on their clips package or devoted a video to it. Still, very memorable spot.

The finish came down to Jade Cargill, Liv Morgan and Bayley, who I have to mention came in at #3. Morgan tried to hit her Ob-Liv-ion finisher on Cargill but it gets blocked. Bayley rushes in to try to toss them over but her momentum carries her over the top rope and onto the ring apron. Cargill sends Morgan to the ring apron as well but Liv and Bayley help each other to drag Cargill out onto the ring apron as well. Cargill tries to skin the cat to get in but Morgan blocks the attempt. All 3 women fight on the apron but Morgan takes Cargill out to the floor with a version of Ob-Liv-ion. However, Bayley kicks Morgan off the ring apron and secures her spot to face off a Women’s Champion of her choosing at Wrestemania.

While there’s not much to complain about in this year’s Royal Rumble, I will have to say it was a little too straightforward as there were no WWE Legends to add some spice to the mix. The comedy spots did make it entertaining and the lack of WWE Legends did make the appearance of the likes of TNA Knockout’s Champion Jordynne Grace and the debut of Jade Cargill a little more noteworthy. Bayley winning this year’s Royal Rumble was also the best call as she does have a running storyline to make who she’s going to pick (probably her Damage CTRL stablemate IYO SKY) much more interesting than anyone else.

The next match of the night was the Fatal-4 Way for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, with Roman Reigns defending the belt against Randy Orton, AJ Styles and LA Knight. Although this was definitely a “filler” match, in the sense there was no way Roman Reigns was going to drop the belt to any of these guys just a few months before Wrestlemania, I still was intrigued how they were going to make it interesting. Well, I’m happy to say they did and how!

Everyone did have a good showing as they all managed to share the spotlight relatively evenly. LA Knight got to showcase his generally gruff style of just ramming his opponents’ faces into stuff like the announcer’s table. AJ Styles didn’t look like he missed a step. Randy Orton had the obligatory RKO party. Roman Reigns also looked dominating enough for the most part in the match. There were also some really nice looking close 2-counts, which did add to the possibility of me being wrong about this being a “filler” match.

By the way, I said Roman Reigns looked “dominating enough” as, of course, Solo Sikoa had to interfere in the match. The finish did come after Solo Sikoa broke up a pinfall attempt after Randy Orton’s RKO party. The Enforcer of the Bloodline took out Knight and Orton with a Samoan Spike and stacked them on top of each other. He then tried to smash Styles through the ringside barricade but the Phenomenal One sidestepped, which left Sikoa in a heap. Styles hit a Phenomenal Forearm on Reigns and tried to pin the pile of people but all 3 kicked out.

Styles then got a steel chair and went to town on Reigns and Knight. He then went after Orton but the Viper disabled him with a thumb to the eye and a forearm uppercut. Reigns then hit Orton with a spear but Randy rolled out before the Head of the Table to cover him. Knight recovered enough to take down Reigns and went for his BFT finisher. Reigns, however, shoved Knight into the ropes at the same time Styles was going to use it for a Phenomenal Forearm. Reigns then took out Knight with a Superman Punch and pinned a stunned AJ Styles after a spear, retaining his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

This was a match that was much better than it should have been. Everyone hit their spots really well and, at the end, it was a “filler” match but there were times when I honestly thought I was going to be wrong. I will say the camera cuts at the start of the match were getting distracting as they would switch between two groups while they were brawling on the outside. Once they did get to a comfortable rhythm, it was all smooth sailing from there. This was a really good match, albeit one with a very predictable end.

The next match saw Logan Paul defending his United States Championship against Kevin Owens. I will say, right off the bat, I forgot Logan Paul was even the United States Champion, which is generally a problem when you have a part-timer holding the belt. The start did feature a lot of good in-ring storytelling, with Owens getting the upper hand quickly but Logan Paul rallying by attacking his opponent’s hand that he injured. As much as I dislike Logan Paul, I gotta respect his in-ring ability as he is super athletic and he got to showcase that fact here as well.

The finish came after Owens kicked out after getting his with Logan Paul’s One Lucky Punch. One of Paul’s entourage hopped the barricade but the referee spotted him and ordered him to leave ringside. Paul and Owens hit simultaneous clotheslines while security try to get Paul’s friend away from the ring. Austin Theory and Grayson Waller emerge from the back and, while everyone is still distracted, Theory tries to hand Paul brass knuckles. Owens, however, manages to take the knuckles from Paul and uses them himself to knock Paul out. The Prizefighter goes for the cover and it looks like he’s going to win! However, the referee spots Owens wearing the weapon, causing him to call the match to Logan Paul due to disqualification. The action doesn’t end here, however. Owens goes on a tear, grabbing Logan Paul and powerbombing the Maverick through the announcer’s table.

This was a pretty good match but I can’t say there was anything really noteworthy to mention, though. I did say the in-ring storytelling was good and I kind of like the finish as there was some creativity here. Unfortunately, it did make KO look like a non-veteran in the cheating arts as the old Kevin Owens would’ve stuffed the brass knuckles in his shorts right after using them. It was still a good showing for everyone but the finish needed a little bit of work.

The final match of the night was the Men’s Royal Rumble. Like with the Women’s Royal Rumble, there were hardly any surprises when it came to entrants here. Andrade made his re-debut to a fairly uncaring live-crowd. Former NXT Champion Bron Breakker made it to the Royal Rumble this year and he did have a good showing. I guess Pat McAfee was the only real surprise entrant here but he eliminated himself after he realized he was going to have to face off against the likes of Omos and Bron Breakker.

Like with every Royal Rumble, mostly everyone entered white hot in order to show off what they offer the WWE Universe. However, there were a few choice moments to mention. Whoever thought of having Jimmy and Jey Uso start off the Royal Rumble was really smart. Bobby Lashley getting eliminated by Karrion Kross, who was already eliminated, continued their storyline, which was neat.

Easily the best moments of this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble revolved around R-Truth’s appearance. Even before he entered the ring, R-Truth tossed JD McDonagh into the ring so he could get promptly eliminated by Jey Uso. R-Truth begging for the “hot tag” from Dominik Mysterio even though it wasn’t needed. What made it even more hilarious is Dom actually tagged him in! He did John Cena’s Five Moves of Doom, well, most of them, to a really big pop from the crowd. Dumb? Yes. Entertaining? Definitely!

The Final Four boiled down to GUNTHER, Drew McIntyre, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. The larger heels beat down on the smaller faces. Drew accidentally tags GUNTHER with a Claymore but the Scottish Warrior delivers one to Cody and CM Punk as well. McIntyre tries to toss Punk out but Punk reverses it, eliminating Drew. Rhodes goes for a Cody Cutter but is caught by GUNTHER, who tries to toss the Son of the Son of a Plumber out but Cody hangs on with a headlock and drags GUNTHER to the outside, eliminating the Ring General.

We’re now down to Cody Rhodes and CM Punk and we get a nice little mini-match here. Punk goes for his GTS finisher but Cody reverses it into his Cross Rhodes but that move is blocked as well. Rhodes hits a Bionic Elbow. Punk blocks another Cross Rhodes and stuns Cody with a kick to the head. Punk goes for another GTS but Rhodes reverses it into his Cross Rhodes and it connects this time but he can’t capitalize due to exhaustion. Cody picks up Punk but Punk was playing possum and finally hits his GTS successfully.

Punk goes for another GTS but Cody blocks it by grabbing onto the ropes. Punk hits a Pedigree and signals for another GTS. Cody, however, blocks the move, grabs Punk and unceremoniously dumps Punk over the top rope. Cody Rhodes has just won back-to-back Royal Rumbles! Cody then points at Roman Reigns, who has been watching the match from a skybox to close out the 2024 Royal Rumble.

This year’s Men’s Royal Rumble was pretty good. While the actual meat and potatoes portion was just okay and nothing really spectacular, there were some standout moments, like the entire R-Truth segment. What really made it memorable was the mini-match between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. As they were the odds-on favorites to win, having them as the Final Two made you wonder who was going to make it to the end. Kudos to CM Punk, who apparently tore his tricep during the match, to soldier on even with the injury.

Overall, this year’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view was really good. While I don’t think there was anything which would stand the test of time, this was a highly entertaining show to watch. Limiting it to only 4 matches but concentrating on the quality of these matches was also a great decision. Hopefully, this becomes the standard.

Byee!

What did you think of this year’s Royal Rumble? Let me know in the comments section below!