wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka WWE Royal Rumble 2018 Review
Loading...
Csonka WWE Royal Rumble 2018 Review
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Kickoff Match: Kalisto, Lince Dorado, & Gran Metalik defeated TJP, Jack Gallagher, & Drew Gulak @ 13:15 via pin [**¾]
– Kickoff Match: The Revival defeated The Good Brothers @ 9:14 via pin [**¾]
– Kickoff Match – Bobby Roode’s US Open Challenge: Champion Bobby Roode defeated Mojo Rawley @ 7:40 via pin [**]
– WWE Title Match: Champion AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens @ 16:02 via pin [***¼]
– 2 of 3 Falls Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: Championship Match: Champions The Usos defeated Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin @ 14:01 via pin (2-0) [***½]
– 30-Man Royal Rumble Match: Shinsuke Nakamura @ 65:33 [****½]
– Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Sheamus and Cesaro defeated Champions Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan @ 12:48 via pin [**]
– WWE Universal Championship Match: Champion Brock Lesnar defeated Kane, and Braun Strowman @ 11:00 via pin [**]
– 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match: Asuka @ 59:00 [****]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
– My Top 23 EVOLVE Matches of 2017.
– My Top 24 ROH Matches of 2017.
– My Top 8 Matches of December 2017.
– My NJPW WrestleKingdom 12 Takeaways.
– My Top 38 WWE Matches of 2017.
– My Top 25 Matches of 2017.
Kalisto, Lince Dorado, & Gran Metalik vs. TJP, Jack Gallagher, & Drew Gulak: Gulak & Kalisto to begin. The crowd chants PowerPoint at Gulak, so he yells at them from chanting. They work some back and forth, and then Gallagher & Metalik tag in. Metalik takes control, getting a cradle for 2. Gallagher powders, and then tags out to TJP. The lucha dab at him, and Dorado tags in. They work a bit of back and forth, Kalisto tags in and takes control. They pick up the pace, Kalisto hits a head scissors and Dorado tags back in and attacks the arm, follows with chops and arm drags. The standing moonsault gets 2. Dorado dropkicks TJP to the floor, and then sends Gallagher to the floor. Team Lucha then hits triple moonsaults to the floor.
https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/957743859571752966
Post break, and TJP is working over Dorado, and cuts him off with a dropkick. Gulak tags in as they isolate Dorado. Gallagher gets in some cheap shots, and then tags in. Gallagher grounds the action, working the leg. The heels continue with quick tags, isolating Dorado in their corner. TJP continues to work the leg, but Dorado manages a sunset flip for2. TJP cuts him off, and covers for 2. Gallagher in and knocks Kalisto to the floor. Gallagher heads to the ropes, and Gulak yells at him. Gallagher misses a splash and we get wholesale changes to Gulak & Metalik, Metalik runs wild and hits the ropewalk missile dropkick. Metalik back up top, and the ropewalk elbow drop follows for 2 as Gulak makes the save, Kalisto tags in, Dorado hits the lethal injection, Metalik hits a dive. Salida del sol puts TJP away. Kalisto, Lince Dorado, & Gran Metalik defeated TJP, Jack Gallagher, & Drew Gulak @ 13:15 via pin [**¾] TJP loses again as the Lucha Bros pickup another win. This was an overall pretty good and fun match. With 205 Live looking to reboot and overhaul the product, it may not be a horrible idea to introduce a trios title at some point. They have plenty of talent and it would give the brand something new and fun to work with.
The Good Brothers vs. The Revival: Anderson & Dawson to begin. They trade strikes, and Anderson hits the leg lariat and tags in Gallows. They double-team Dawson, and he tags out to dash. Dawson rakes Gallows’ eyes, allowing the Revival to take control. Gallows quickly fights back with strikes and a slam on both, and the Revival powder to the floor. Post break, and Anderson is fighting off the revival until they cut him off, grounding him and working the knee. Dawson in control, hitting basement dropkicks and putting Anderson on the tree of WHOA. The Revival work quick tags, as Dash is in, continuing to work the knee. Dawson tags back in, but Anderson starts to fight back. But Dawson goes right back to the knee. Anderson kicks him away, quicker tags by the Revival but Anderson counters into a near fall. But the tag is cut off. Anderson kicks Dawson to he floor, and gets the tag to Gallows. He runs wild, hitting the big boot, running splash and tags ion Sanderson, The magic killer is cut off, but Anderson hits a spinebuster for 2. Gallows dumped to the floor, and gets posted. Dash chop blocks Anderson’s knee out and picks up the pin. The Revival defeated The Good Brothers @ 9:14 via pin [**¾] This was another pretty good tag match, worked in a more old school style than the cruiserweight tag; I love the Revival’s work because they are so very good at the little things that are lost all too often in today’s tag team wrestling. Everything flowed well, and Anderson’s selling was really good.
Bobby Roode’s US Open Challenge: Champion Bobby Roode vs. Mojo Rawley: Rawley overpowers Roode to begin. Roode fires up with strikes, and then a clothesline. Rawley begs off, but Roode hits an atomic drop and Russian leg sweep. Rawley hits a rights but Roode teases the DDT, Rawley sends him to the floor. He follows, and hits a shoulder block to the barricade. Back in and Rawley covers for 2. Post break, and Rawley is in control. He works over Roode with knees in the corner, and then grounds the action. Roode escapes with the belly to back suplex, leaps off the ropes, caught, but he slips out and lays in clotheslines. The neck breaker follows for 2. Roode hits double knees and the blockbuster. Rawley counters the DDT, but Roode rolls him up for 2. Rawley now slaps Roode around, talks shit, but runs into the spinebuster and Roode covers for 2. Rawley again counters the DDT and then posts Roode. Rawley’s KO shot is countered, DDT by Roode and that’s that. Champion Bobby Roode defeated Mojo Rawley @ 7:40 via pin [**] This was an ok, but flat match. I didn’t expect a big surprise here, but Mojo just didn’t offer much here. Word is that Mojo was reportedly not the original opponent planned, and that opponent was moved to the Rumble match.
PPV STARTS NOW
BREAKING: As first revealed by #RAW General Manager @RealKurtAngle, @AliciaFoxy has suffered an injury and has been removed from both the first-ever Women’s #RoyalRumble Match and #WWEMMC. https://t.co/SpAf2H2wjx
— WWE (@WWE) January 28, 2018
– I’m not sure about opening with the WWE Title match unless there is a big angle being done. I would have book ended the show with the Rumble matches. But we’ll see how it goes.
WWE Championship Handicap Match: Champion AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens: Sami & Styles to begin. Nope, Kevin tags in as they try to play some mind games. Styles attacks with kicks and rights, and Sami now tags in. They lock up, and Styles gets a roll up for 2. Kevin back in now. Kevin takes him down, but Styles gets a quick head scissors. Kevin tags out to Sami. Sami works a headlock, Styles escapes and hits the dropkick. Kevin tags back in. He attacks Styles, lays the boots to him, and then works him over in the corner. Sami in and lays the boots to Styles. Styles now fires back with chops, but Sami hits a backdrop and covers for 2. Kevin tags back in, and continues the assault on Styles, covering for 2. They work to the floor, and Kevin slams Styles to the barricade, and then back in, covers for 2. Sami back in and lays in rights to Styles. Styles fights back, but Kevin tags in and cuts him off. Styles starts to fight off both, but Kevin cuts him off with a face first electric chair drop for 2. Kevin works the side headlock, grounding the action. Kevin misses the cannonball, and tags in Sami. He’s favoring the leg he injured on Smackdown, Styles & Sami workup top and Styles hits the RANA. Kevin tags in, PELE by Styles. Styles now hits the asai DDT for the double down. Kevin backing, Styles fights them off, hitting a RANA on Sami. Calf crusher on Kevin applied but Sami makes the save. Styles hits a clothesline and dumps Sami, but Kevin gets the roll up for 2. Styles posts Kevin, Sami back in but Kevin hits the superkick on Styles, and Sami hits the blue thunder bomb for a good near fall. Sami slaps Styles around, sets him up top, Sami follows him up but Styles slips out and stuns Sami off the buckles. Styles takes out Kevin, the springboard forearm follows to Sami but Kevin makes the save. Sami & Styles trade strikes center ring, Styles cuts off the tag and dumps Sami. Styles rolls up Kevin out of the pop up powerbomb for the win. Champion AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens @ 16:02 via pin [***¼] It appears that Sami was still legal, giving he and Kevin another reason to complain about a conspiracy. This was actually way better than I thought it would be, they had a hot crowd that was invested, and Styles fighting from the bottom always works well, because he’s so good, and had two great foils to play off of. This was good.
– Kevin & Sami complain to Shane about the ref screwing them, but Shane doesn’t care.
2 of 3 Falls Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin vs. The Usos: Gable and Benjamin take control right away, teasing their finish. The Usos then tease double superkicks; Gable & Benjamin powder and talk strategy. Gable back in, and scores takedowns. Jimmy fires away with chops, and then a big right, covering for 2. Benjamin distracts Jimmy, allowing Gable to chop block him. Benjamin slams him leg off the post, and back in, continues to attack the knee. Gable in and he also attacks the knee, covering for 2. Good work by the challengers here, isolating Jimmy and keeping good focus on the knee. Benjamin in and talks shit as he works the knee. The challengers continue to work quick tags, Jimmy fires up with chops, but Gable attacks the leg again, taking him down and covering for 2. Benjamin in for double teams, they take out Jey, and Benjamin follows with a knee drop. Jimmy again fires up and hits an enziguri. Jey tags in and runs wild. Gable blind tags in, gets tossed and Jey hits a dive on Benjamin and then one on Gable. Back in and Jey hits a high cross for 2. The running as attack follows, Jey up top and Gable counters the splash and gets a roll up for 2. Gable then hits a tiger suplex for 2. Benjamin tags in, Gable hits a missile dropkick, and Benjamin then powerbombs Jey into Jimmy, and paydirt gets 2. Jey battles back, but gets sent to the floor. Gable hits a moonsault to the floor onto both Usos! Back in they go, and the ref says it’s the wrong Usos, the superkick and splash connects on Gable and Gable survives! The Usos up top, Benjamin cuts one of them off, and Jey hits him with a superkick. Gable works a hanging arm bar in the ropes, the Usos counter chaos theory, lay in a superkick party and pickup fall one on Gable @ 12:10. Benjamin in and posts an Uso, and then attack the other on the floor. They hit the doomsday powerbomb off the apron to the floor. Gable hits a rolling kick to Uso, but Jey gets a surprise roll up to retain. Champions The Usos defeated Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin @ 14:01 via pin (2-0) [***½] This was an overall very good match, but if that was the plan, they should have just done one fall to cut out the downtime and maximize on the momentum they created in fall one. I do like the 2-0 sweep in some ways as most expect it to go all three. This was still a ton of fun, but the finish was flat.
30-Man Royal Rumble Match: Lawler is out for commentary, the first two are Rusev & Balor. The crowd loves Rusev. I like these as the first two. Rusev looks to eliminate Balor right away, but Balor fights him of. Rusev takes it the ground, lays in elbows, Balor fights back, hitting a dropkick. #3 is Rhyno. Rhyno attacks Rusev, they trade strikes and Rhyno hits a belly to belly on Rusev & Balor. Rusev cuts off Rhyno, and hits the spin kick. #4 is Baron Corbin. He hits deep six on Rhyno and tosses him. Balor then tosses Corbin. Corbin pulls him under the ropes and slam him to the barricade. He follows with end of days to Rusev on the floor. He again attacks Balor and #5 is Heath Slater. Corbin attacks him and is finally escorted out. Everyone is down as #6 is Elias. He plays his way to the ring, taking his time, and kicking at Slater. Elias monologues, makes it into he ring and looks to perform. He sings about winning the rumble, burying the Rocky statue, and #7 is NXT CHAMPION ANDRADE ALMAS! LOS! He attacks Slater and hits the ring. He attacks and works over Elias, hits corner knees, but Elias fights off the DDT and follows with a big lariat. #8 is Bray Wyatt. Slater, Rusev, & Balor are still down on the floor. He attacks Slater, who still hasn’t made it into the ring. Balor cuts him off, but gets taken out with a clothesline. Wyatt works over Almas, and the fans chant Rusev Day. Wyatt keeps Rusev on the floor. #9 is Big E. he helps Slater to his feet and feeds him pancakes. Big E attacks Wyatt, but Rusev lays him out with a high kick. Everyone but Slater brawls now, and #10 is… Tye Dillinger. Nope, Kevin and Sami are kicking his ass backstage. Sami now takes his place makes his way to the ring. He takes out Slater, and joins the fray. We get some elimination teases and #11 is Sheamus. Heath makes it into the ring and eliminates Sheamus right away! GO HEATH! Wyatt wipes him out with sister Abigail and tosses him; it’s not a happy Rusev Day for Heath. Balor fights off elimination. #12 is Woods. He attacks Wyatt as the brawling continues. They double team Sami and then Elias. They try to toss Elias, but Elias lands on the apron. Rusev & Big E brawl. #13 is Crews. Crews attacks Wyatt, as the random brawling continues. #14 is Nakamura. He and Sami brawl right away. Nakamura then works over Elias in the corner, laying in knee strikes. Nakamura then tosses Sami. #15 is Cesaro. He immediately kills guys with uppercuts, Crews almost tossed, but he saves himself. Rusev & Cesaro brawl, and #16 is Kofi. He’s immediately attacked by Cesaro, and Cesaro eliminates Crews. #17 is Mahal. He attacks Woods as Lawler says Mahal is his pick. Mahal then tosses Woods, and then Big E. #18 is Seth Rollins. He flies in taking down Wyatt. Sling blades follow until Cesaro cuts him off. Rollins then tosses Cesaro. Mahal looks to toss Kofi, but one foot lands on Woods, Big E gives him a plate of pancakes to walk on and Kofi then hops on one foot trying to get back in. Big E & Woods catapult Kofi back in. Trouble in paradise eliminates Mahal as New Day throws pancakes on him. Almas now eliminates Kofi. #19 is Woken Matt. He attacks Wyatt, and Rusev then attacks them both. Wyatt & Matt eliminate Rusev. They then work together, attacking Almas. Now they brawl, and eliminating each other. #20 is John Cena. And everyone attacks him right away. Cena fights back, eliminating Elias. #21 is The Hurricane! He looks to chokeslam Cena, but gets tossed right away. Hurricane poses on his way to the back. #22 is English. He works over Balor, and then Cena. Almas is still hanging tough. #23 is Adam Cole… BAY BAY! His ribs are taped up, selling last night’s match with Black. Balor tosses English as Cole attacks Almas. #24 is Orton. He works over Cole, and Almas then flies into an RKO and is tossed (Almas lasted 30-minutes). #25 is Titus. The brawling continues, Titus attacks Cena. He tries to toss Cole, but Nakamura cuts him off. Orton & Cena trade strikes, and #26 is The Miz. Miz rushes the ring and runs wild on Cena and Rollins, laying in IT kicks. Miz then hits Cena with the skull-crushing finale. Rollins cuts him off, and #27 is REY MYSTERIO! No baggy pants for Rey tonight, looking on great shape. Rey runs wild, and eliminates Cole. The seated senton to Miz follows and then the 619. #28 is Reigns. Reigns runs wild with punches for all. He now targets Miz, and attacks and the crowd hates it. Reigns tosses Titus, but Dallas and Axel says Miz, but get taken out. Reigns and Rollins work together and powerbomb Miz onto his troops in the floor. Reigns then tosses Rollins. The big dog is a big dick. #29 is Goldust. He works over Orton, and looks to toss him, but Orton hangs on. Goldust now works over Cena and #30 is… Ziggler. He attacks Cena right away, and hits Cena with superkick. Goldust cuts him off, but then gets eliminated. Nakamura counters the superkick and Balor eliminates Ziggler. We’re down to Balor, Nakamura, Reigns, Rey, Orton, & Cena. They all face off and we have the big brawl. Rey hits Reigns with 619. Orton hits Nakamura with an RKO. Reigns tosses Orton, and Rey looks for 619s on Cena & Reigns follow. But Balor tosses Rey. Down to Reigns, Cena, Balor, & Nakamura. They all stand off as the crowd roots for Nakamura. They all brawl, and it works down to Cena and Reigns standing off to “you both suck” chants. Nakamura & Balor attack, and then Nakamura works over Balor. But Balor fights back, they work back and forth and then Cena clotheslines Nakamura. He and Reigns brawl, Reigns sets and Cena counters the superman punch with a proto bomb. Balor then hits sling blade and the shotgun dropkick on Cena. Nakamura cuts him off, Kinshasa is countered by a Balor double stomp and Cena tosses Balor after 57-minutes. Cena & Reigns beat down Nakamura, and then Cena starts working over Reigns. The 5-knucke shuffle follows. But Reigns now hits the superman punch. Cena counters the spear, hits the AA but Nakamura attacks. Cena looks for an elimination, but Nakamura fights back and eliminates big John. Nakamura calls on Reigns, and they trade strikes center ring. Reigns cuts him off with the superman punch. Nakamura saves himself from elimination, Nakamura catches reigns with a kick and locks in a hanging triangle over the ropes, Reigns powers him up and hits the powerbomb back into the ring. Reigns now sets, the spear is countered by the knee and then kicks. Knee off the ropes by Nakamura, but Reigns cuts off Kinshasa with the spear. Reigns now looks to toss Nakamura, but Nakamura counters and hits the running kick and now eliminates reigns for the win. Shinsuke Nakamura @ 65:33 [****½] That was an excelelnt Rumble match, and not only one of the best in recent years, and possibly in the top 5 all time (although I’d have to go back and look). Who ever laid things out this year did a really great job. The Slater bit was fun, Almas got a good run, Balor got the iron man role, and Rey was a spectacular surprise. He looks to be in great shape, and if he’s in for a run, I’d love to see he and Styles get a match. I thought the booking to get to the final six (Balor, Nakamura, Reigns, Rey, Orton, & Cena) worked extremely well, as you had guys that were over, guys the fans wanted to win and just as important, guys the fans wanted to LOSE in the worst way. Nakamura’s WWE run has been less than spectacular, but this was a great rehabilitation match for him. He was over huge, worked hard, and the fans wanted him to win to see the Styles match. All in all, this was great stuff, and a ton of fun. My only fear is that this will kill the crowd.
– Nakamura gets the post match interview, and says he wants AJ Styles at WrestleMania.
– Shane & Bryan are friends again, celebrating Nakamura’s Rumble win. Shane & Steph are there and are sad pandas. Angle says Raw has plenty to offer tonight still, including the women’s Rumble.
Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Sheamus and Cesaro vs. Champions Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan: Rollins and Sheamus to begin. Cesaro tags in and Rollins hits a RANA and dropkick. Sheamus in and Rollins controls until a distraction, allowing the challengers to make the comeback. The double team Rollins, and then Cesaro posts Jordan. Rollins fights back, hits a dive and checks on Jordan. That allows Sheamus to attack, rolling Rollins back in. Sheamus up top and hits the clothesline off the ropes, covering for 2. Trainers check on Jordan, as the challengers take the heat. Rollins fight back, and leaps in and hits heads with Sheamus, allowing Cesaro to hit a clothesline. Double teams follow, and Sheamus picks up some near falls. More double teams follow, and Rollins again kicks out at 2. Jordan is still down on the floor as Rollins slowly fights back Sheamus posts himself and Rollins rolls for a tag, but Jordan is still on the floor. Rollins fights off Cesaro, hits sling blade, and then the blockbuster. Rollins hits a suplex, and then does the deal with the falcon arrow. Sheamus cuts him off, tags in and takes Rollins up top, but Rollins fights off white noise. Cesaro joins in, he and Rollins trade strikes but Cesaro gets dumped to the mat. Rollins hits the high fly flow on both Jordan is alive, tags in but is still selling the head injury. He tags right back out, Rollins is pissed, and now has to again fight on his own. He hits the ripcord knee, but Sheamus tags in and hits the brogue kick. The Bar finishes him off and regain the titles. Sheamus and Cesaro defeated Champions Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan @ 12:48 via pin [**] The work was pretty good, Rollins worked his ass off, and they told a good story, but they did it to near silence. My fear about the positioning of the Rumble match came true here, at least here, as the fans were burnt out/didn’t care about anything they did here, which is a shame. I liked the idea behind this, as it can really add to Jordan’s heel turn, when he blames Rollins for the loss. It also served to cover his injury. Unfortunately, this just didn’t work, and felt hard to watch as the silence killed it. Had this taken place earlier, I think the crowd would have added to Rollin’ babyface, fight alone story and added a ton to this.
WWE Universal Championship Match: Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Kane vs. Braun Strowman: It’s a demolition derby right at the ball, Kane hits a chokeslam on Brock but Strowman cuts him off. Lesnar brings in a chair, takes out Kane but Strowman punches it out of his hand and tosses Brock. Strowman now tosses Brock into the barricades, and attacks both with the steel steps. Strowman gets tables, slides them into the ring, and sets one up and then the other. Strowman chokeslams Kane, and Brock is back and hits a trio of Germans, but Strowman then powerslams him through a table. Kane makes the save. Kane then puts Strowman through a table hits a chokeslam and covers for 2 as Brock makes the save. F5 on Kane and Strowman breaks that up, hitting a German on Brock. Strowman then tosses Brock into the barricade, and now dismantles announce tables. Brock fights back, F5ing Strowman through an announce table. Brock then topples over another announce table on Strowman. Kane now attacks, but he is F5’ed onto a table, it doesn’t break, but then finally collapses. Strowman is alive, back in the ring and powerslams Brock, but doesn’t cover. He hits another, and Kane then takes him out with chair shots. Brock F5s Kane and wins. Champion Brock Lesnar defeated Kane, and Braun Strowman @ 11:00 via pin [**] This was an ok plunder brawl, but the crowd was still largely dead, it went a bit too long and there was no real drama in terms of Lesnar losing, because he has to be strong for the big dog’s latest coronation.
– Post match, Strowman yells at Brock, telling him he didn’t beat him.
30-Woman Royal Rumble Match: Maria Menounos does the ruing announcing, and Stephanie joins commentary. Alexa Bliss & Charlotte are out to watch the match as well. Banks & Lynch start us off. Banks is in Wonder Woman gear, while Lynch is sporting new gear as well. They work a nice back and forth opening stretch, both looking for submissions and stand off and work into a double down. #3 is Logan. She attacks both, taking control. Banks saves Lynch from elimination, but Logan head butts Banks. She now works over Lynch in the corner, and #4 is Rose. She and Banks work back and forth, Rose looks for an elimination, banks fights her off, but gets laid out with a kick. #5 is Lita. She gets a great reaction, and brawls with Banks and Lynch. Rose attacks from behind, but Lita fights back, laying in grounded strikes. Rose cuts off Lita, but Lita manages to eliminate her. #6 is Sane. She runs wild, hitting the sliding d on Lita. Sane up top and takes out Logan. She works over Banks, heads up top and hits the elbow to Banks! #7 is Tamina as Sane hits the elbow on Lynch. Superkick to Sane and another to Lynch. Lita cuts her off with a DDT, twist of fate to Banks and then to Lynch. Lita heads up top, and hits a moonsault onto Banks and Lynch. Lita tosses Tamina, but Lynch then tosses her. #8 is Brooke. She and Lynch battle, and she takes her down and attacks, Banks. Brooke attacks Sane, and eliminates her. #9 is Torrie Wilson. She attacks Brooke, and then Banks. Logan cuts her off, but Banks makes the save. Torrie eliminates Brooke. #10 is Deville. She rushes in attacking Banks. Lynch cuts her off, Lynch almost tossed but hangs on, Deville works over Logan, and eliminates Torrie. Lynch attacks as #11 is Morgan. She attacks Lynch right away, and then Banks. The double stomp follows, and Logan joins in and they try to toss Banks. #12 is Molly Holly. Molly runs wild a bit, and tosses Logan. Molly up top and MOLLY GO ROUND to Banks! #13 is Lana. Banks and Molly have rolled to the floor. She’s attacked by Liv & Deville. Lana fires up and attacks both. #14 is McCool. She attacks Lana right away, and takes out Liv. She then works over Deville, and eliminates her and Liv. Molly is back and attacks. McCool tosses her, but Lana attacks. McCool tosses her. Lynch is back, and #15 is Riott. She attacks Banks, Riott almost eliminated, but fires back as Lynch attacks. Banks fights off elimination and battles with McCool. #16 is Vickie Guerrero. She yells excuse me a lot, and monologues. They all attack, and toss her out. #17 is Carmella. Vickie attacks her and lays her out with the briefcase. Banks works over McCool as Lynch works over Ruby. #18 is Natalya. She drops her coat on Carmella, but Carmella attacks. Carmella in and lays in superkicks. #19 is Kelly Kelly. Natalya tries to toss her, fails and Kelly & McCool work back and forth, it’s rough, and Natalya eliminates McCool. #20 is Naomi. She hits a RANA on Natalya, and ass attacks on others. Banks cuts her off, but Naomi catches her with a kick, Lynch now takes her out with a missile dropkick. Lynch follows with XPLODERS but Ruby eliminates her after 31-minutes (sad face). #21 is Miss Jackie! She attacks Banks, and then Ruby and Kelly. She and Natalya attack Kelly. #22 is Nia Jax. Jax tosses Jackie, and then Kelly. Ruby attacks, but Jax press slams her to the buckles and eliminates her. Naomi attacks, speedball kicks follow. Jax cuts off a powerbomb, and Naomi is tossed, but the others catch her and she heads to the barricade. #23 is Ember Moon. She’s all taped up from last night. She attacks Jax, hits the springboard kick and looks to eliminate her. Jax just tosses her across the ring Naomi walks the barricade, gets a rolling chair and uses her hands to walk to the steps. She’s back in and heads up top, high cross and Jax catches her and eliminates her. #24 is Beth Phoenix. She faces off with Jax and they trade strikes. Jax misses a charge and Beth fails to power her up. But Beth hoists her up but Jax fights her off. Natalya makes the save and sends Jax through the ropes and they hug. Natalya turns on her and eliminates Beth. Carmella is back, and #25 is Asuka. Carmella runs from her, but it doesn’t last as Asuka runs wild and Moon rolls back in. Asuka laugh s at her, Moon battles back, and hits the eclipse! Asuka attacks the arm and eliminates Moon. #26 is Mickie James. She runs wild for a bit, but Asuka cuts her off. #27 is Nikki. Nikki attacks Carmella, Banks cuts her off, but Nikki fires back with the disaster kick and spear to Natalya. Carmella attacks, hits the broncobuster, Nikki fights back and Nikki eliminates her. Asuka cuts off Nikki, and #28 is Brie. She makes the save for Nikki, and runs wild with running knee strikes. Jax is back but gets dropkicked back to the floor. Nikki& Brie work over Natalya, and #29 is Bayley. She attacks the Bellas, and then attacks Natalya. Asuka cuts her off, and #30 is… Trish! She attacks Natalya right away, and ten attacks the Bellas. Chops follow, and then the double stratusfaction bulldog. The head scissors to Bayley follows. She and Mickie face off, and start throwing strikes. Mickie hits the superkick, counters the head scissors, but Trish eliminates her. Jax is back and runs her over and then they all attack Jax. ROAR SPOT as Jax starts to kick ass. Asuka and Trish attack, and the Bellas, and everyone else attack and Jax is gone. Banks then tosses Bayley. Natalya attacks Trish, and locks on the sharpshooter. Trish fights, and rolls out. Trish then eliminates Natalya. Banks and Trish face off, Trish mocks banks, but Banks cuts off the bulldog and eliminates Trish. Asuka and banks face off, and now banks and the Bellas attack Asuka. The Bellas work double teams, banks joins in and they work over Asuka in the corner. Banks slaps her around, but the Bellas eliminate banks after 54-minutes. The Bellas attack Asuka, but Asuka fights them off. She then kicks the shit out of both, and she’s fired up. Brie is almost tossed, but saves herself. Nikki hits Asuka with the TKO, and then eliminates Brie. Asuka heads up top, hits the missile dropkick. Nikki fires back with a kick, picks up Asuka and looks to toss her, but Asuka hangs on. Nikki lays in forearms, charges but runs into a kick and Asuka pulls Nikki to the apron and Asuka kicks out Nikki’s leg for the elimination. Asuka @ 59:00 [****] The women had a lot to overcome, a crowd that was dead for the last two matches after the men’s Rumble, the fact that the guys killed it, and also the fact that this was their first rumble match and had a ton thrown onto them with all of WWEs making history media blitz. But with that being said, I felt that they delivered a great match, and again, the layout was a big part of that. Banks working the iron woman role and Lynch getting a ton of time helped and also I think that they way they set up the surprise appearances, and how much they gave them. the crowd was dead coming into this, but between the hard work, the smart use of past names, and much like the men’s match, who it came down to all really worked. This was a ton of fun and something I think would be more appreciated if WWE hadn’t beaten the history deal so much, just let it happen.
– Post match, Asuka stares down both champions, but Ronda Rousey now arrives. She stares them all down, points to the WrestleMania sign and wants a handshake, Asuka refuses. Rousey again points to the sign, and then shakes hands with Stephanie. I know a lot has been rumored about Asuka vs. Rousey, but I think that we’re getting Charlotte vs. Rousey & Bliss vs. Asuka
– End Scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
More Trending Stories
- Mideon Says Henry O. Godwinn Is One of the Most Underrated Workers of All Time
- Joe Hendry on Handling His Sudden Rise in Popularity Following WWE NXT Appearance
- Jim Ross Recalls Vince McMahon’s High Hopes For Ultimate Warrior In 1996
- Paul Heyman, Bayley and Others Say Goodbye To Kayla Braxton In New Video
