WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Review: Results, Analysis, and Grades
Follow along with our live coverage of the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
On Sunday night, the Royal Rumble pay-per-view will take place. This is WWE’s first big event of 2017, and one that will have implications toward the biggest show of the year—WrestleMania.
Coming out of the Royal Rumble, we will find out a new No. 1 Contender to one of the World titles for WrestleMania 33. This will be via the Royal Rumble match, which will see 30 WWE Superstars compete for this opportunity. It could either be for SmackDown’s WWE Championship or Raw’s WWE Universal Championship. Heading into the show, AJ Styles holds the former and Kevin Owens has the latter. However, it’s not a guarantee that either will be defending at WrestleMania.
Styles will face John Cena with the WWE Championship on the line. This is their third head-to-head match since June 2016. Rounds 1 and 2 saw Styles win via pinfall. He even pinned Cena during their triple threat match at WWE No Mercy in October. These two have never gone one-on-one for a title, though, so can the Face That Runs the Place win and claim his 16th World title?
Owens is going to have his second Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns. There will be two stipulations for this match, as Chris Jericho will be suspended above the ring in a shark cage, and there will be no disqualifications. So despite Jericho being away from the action, anything still goes. Are the odds in favor of Owens or Reigns here?
Charlotte will put the Raw Women’s Championship on the line against Bayley, who is received her first one-on-one match for the belt. This feud developed after WWE Roadblock, which saw the Nature Girl win for yet another PPV. The Hugster will look for her first main roster title, but can she knock off the champion at one of WWE’s biggest events?
Must Read: WWE RR 2017 Predictions
With this in mind, here’s a look at the full match card for Royal Rumble:
Royal Rumble Match
30 Superstars will compete for a World title opportunity at WrestleMania 33
WWE Championship Match
AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena
No Disqualification Match for the WWE Universal Championship
Kevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns
Raw Women’s Championship Match
Charlotte (c) vs. Bayley
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Rich Swann (c) vs. Neville
Raw Tag Team Championship Match
Cesaro and Sheamus (c) vs. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Nikki Bella vs. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya
Related Story: 5 Last-Minute Potential Winners for the Rumble
Follow along with our coverage of the Royal Rumble at 5:00 p.m. ET to see what happens at the show. Will there be any title changes? Who will receive a World title opportunity at WrestleMania 33?