WWE Royal Rumble 2017: Match Grades for the 30 Battle Royal Entrants
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25. Luke Harper
Perhaps the most underrated performance at the Royal Rumble came from Luke Harper. He not only split from the Wyatt Family, but had an elimination. Nearly two-thirds of the match field didn’t toss anyone over the top rope, so that could be somewhat of a win there for Harper.
His Rumble appearance also cemented him as a singles star. For now, it would seem he’s going to be a babyface since he tried playing to the crowd. Unfortunately for him, Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton are more popular, so fans didn’t seem to know what to do when Harper turned toward the 50,000 in attendance. We should get an answer to what kind of role he’ll have on Smackdown this Tuesday.
Grade: C+
26. Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar wasn’t going to come into the Royal Rumble match early and survive until the end. Having him enter at this No. 26 spot made sense so he could be around as the climax of the battle royal neared. It also set up something with Goldberg, which took over the match for a minute.
Before this happened, Lesnar tore through the Royal Rumble match competitors, leaving everyone on the ground in pain. Then came the former WCW star and Survivor Series conqueror, Goldberg. Within seconds, he dumped the Beast Incarnate over the ropes and left him in shock.
Lesnar stood a decent run in the Royal Rumble before having this happen. It shouldn’t mean that these two are going to face off again because we’ve already seen what Goldberg can do to time. However, with other Superstars seemingly locked up in other matches, this may be a foregone conclusion.