Results Recap, Review of WWE Royal Rumble 2017
Tonight was the 30th annual Royal Rumble. I have always loved the Royal Rumble match because it starts the Road to Wrestlemania. This year’s Royal Rumble match was absolutely stacked and going into it I was hoping for some surprises. Before I begin with my thoughts here are the results of the Royal Rumble.
-Pre-Show Match: Naomi/Nikki Bella/Becky Lynch defeated Natalya/Mickie James/Alexa Bliss
-Pre-Show Match: Luke Gallows/Karl Anderson defeated Cesaro/Sheamus to win the WWE Raw Tag Team Titles
-Pre-Show Match: Nia Jax defeated Sasha Banks
-Charlotte Flair defeated Bayley to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
-Kevin Owens defeated Roman Reigns to retain the WWE Universal Championship
-Neville defeated Rich Swann to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
-John Cena defeated AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship
-Randy Orton wins the Royal Rumble
The opening match of the night was Charlotte and Bayley for the WWE Raw Women’t Title. Charlotte and Bayley always have great matches but this match was very anti-climatic. I personally think this was a blow-off match in preparation for Wrestlemania so hopefully when Wrestlemania rolls around that Women’s Title match for Raw will be epic. The Universal Championship between Kevin Owen and Romans had some very memorable spots. I don’t understand why people keep hating on Reigns. The guy has improved so much and he deserves to be where he is at. I was really surprised to see Braun Strowman interfere in the match, I thought for sure that Chris Jericho was going to find a way out of the cage and help Owens out. It was good to see a little shakeup in the how the match ended.
When it comes to shakeups, I absolutely love how Neville has turned his career around being a heel. A lot of people are sour on the Cruiserweight Division and 205 Live but it’s guys like Neville and Swann that make the division fun and exciting to watch. I am glad to see Neville finally be put into the spotlight in some way, shape, or form. Last year at the Royal Rumble AJ Styles debuted and he’s been in the spotlight for the last year. This last year Styles has been solid and I never thought he’d win the WWE Championship that quick into his WWE run. AJ Styles had a great first year but John Cena has had a great 15 years. I respect what John Cena has done but I hate when guys who work a reduced schedule or only show up a few times a year get the spotlight. John Cena has now tied Ric Flair for the most World Championships. I have got mixed emotions about it because Ric Flair worked his ass off in the ring whereas Cena works hard outside the ring. I really felt Styles deserved to be WWE Champion heading into Wrestlemania.
In the Main Event, the 30-man Royal Rumble Match would determine who would go on to be in a title match at Wrestlemania. The Royal Rumble had some interesting participants like Jack Gallagher, and James Ellsworth. I was shocked that we didn’t see any real surprises. I am strongly disappointed that there was no legends and no NXT call ups. Something about the Royal Rumble match was very lackluster. There was nothing epic about it. The Royal Rumble usually has a lot of great moments but this year there wasn’t anything that stuck out. The Road to Wrestlemania be a lot better then what the start of it did. I am giving the Rumble a 6 out of 10. Hopefully Elimination Chamber and Fastlane will provide us with some better moments.
