WWE Royal Rumble 2017: Match Grades for the 30 Battle Royal Entrants
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23. Randy Orton
Randy Orton turned a corner last fall by surprisingly aligning with the Wyatt Family on WWE SmackDown. This turned into a tag team championship reign that lasted only a few weeks. American Alpha took the belts, which led to tension building between Orton and Luke Harper. It made the Viper and Bray Wyatt close, sending Harper away from the mix. This culminated at the Royal Rumble when he attacked both Orton and Wyatt.
Well, the night certainly became interesting for Orton. He only made one elimination, but it proved to be the biggest one of them all, as he tossed Roman Reigns over the ropes to win the 2017 Royal Rumble match and will headline WrestleMania 33.
Orton is an interesting choice for the battle royal’s winner. It happened after John Cena, his long-time rival (fans grew to hate this feud in 2013), won the WWE Championship earlier in the show. Could that mean these two are headed toward a WrestleMania 33 match?
The more likely option may be Wyatt given their alliance. However, that would mean he has to walk into WrestleMania with the WWE Championship in hand. Is that going to lead to a win a the Elimination Chamber PPV to set up Wyatt vs. Orton then?
Grade: A+
24. Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler has begun a rivalry with Jerry Lawler, which has played back to the King’s nearly-fatal heart attack four years ago. Ziggler took pride in being the one to cause the heart attack and superkicked him in the chest on SmackDown earlier this month.
Despite Lawler being on commentary, he and Ziggler didn’t have a physical altercation. The Showoff didn’t have a memorable moment in the Royal Rumble match and got disposed of by Brock Lesnar within five minutes.