WWE Royal Rumble 2018: Results, Highlights, Analysis, and Grades

Photo Source: WWE.com

Men’s Royal Rumble Match

Result: Shinsuke Nakamura eliminates Roman Reigns to win 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

90 seconds between entrants this year? Back in my day, it was two minutes! (*dust flies out of my ears*) But this is RUSEV DAY!

I felt like Balor entering at #2 was just Vince’s way of saying, “Yes, we know you love him, but he’s never going back to the main event.” But the Baron Corbin rampage made me rethink it. Yeah, Finn got beat up good, but he also got a nice little rest.

Speaking of Corbin, his appearance was exactly what he needed at this stage of his career. It was a short appearance, but he scored the first elimination AND destroyed everyone in the ring up to that point. Plus it started the parade of guys beating up poor Heath Slater before he even got into the ring.

First big surprise of the night – Andrade Almas entering at #7. He’s the first current NXT Champion to enter the Royal Rumble. He got a huge pop from the crowd – likely fueled by winning the greatest match in NXT history the night before.

When #10 rolled around, it was Tye Dillinger once again – until Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens jumped him backstage. Sami took Dillinger’s spot for himself, obviously trying to right the wrong of tonight’s opening contest.

Sami wasn’t the only one to pull double duty, as Sheamus entered ahead of his Tag Team Championship match later in the night. He didn’t last long, as his good deed of tossing Slater into the ring backfired – Slater immediately tossed The Celtic Warrior. On his birthday, no less.

As should be surprising to no one, one of the Rumble highlights involved Cesaro. What may be surprising is that the other half of that highlight was Apollo Crews. From a gorilla press by Crews to a tussle on the apron, it was a great exploitation of what the Rumble allows.

The annual Kofi Kingston Avoids Elimination spot was pretty good this year. Xavier Woods – already eliminated – slid himself under one of Kofi’s feet, then Big E brought out a plate of panckaes for him to stand on. Hey, his foot never touched the floor. When Jinder Mahal refused to allow room for Kofi to get back in, Woods and E launched Kofi like a pogo stick – right over Jinder and back into the ring. It’s not “pogo stick on JBL’s chair,” but it’s still up there. The Royal Rumble should be named after Kofi in the future.

When John Cena entered the Rumble at #20, I loved that literally everyone in the ring stopped what they were doing to gang up on him. Of course, Cena goes full on superhero to fight back – which brought out another superhero in the form of The Hurricane to go toe to toe with him. It was a short lived appearance for The Hurricane, who has been my vote for 205 Live GM since a vacancy was announced.

Next big surprise – Adam Cole (bay bay) at #23. The taped up ribs were from his winning the Dynamite Kid Golden Wheelchair Award for Stupidest Career-Shortening Spot at TakeOver last night. Don’t get me wrong, I love Cole, but that spot was ill-advised and incredibly dangerous. I can’t believe Cole is even walking, let alone able to compete in the Royal Rumble.

Biggest surprise of the night by far – Rey Mysterio entering at #27. He’s in phenomenal shape compared to the end of his first WWE run – and it was nowhere on my radar. Huge shock, and it definitely softened the boos of Reigns at #28 a bit. Not much, but a bit.

Roman’s “moment” came when he eliminated Seth Rollins mere seconds after working with him to eliminate The Miz. Commentary made a big deal about it, but Seth just kind of smirked because he actually knows the rules of the match. So it was really WWE trying to make a mountain of a molehill.

Dolph Ziggler made the “surprise” entrance at #30, but was eliminated shortly thereafter. Okay, then. The final four superstars remaining were Reigns, Cena, Balor, and Nakamura. Honestly, any of the four could have won, but the crowd would have been abysmal for the remainder of the show if Reigns or Cena won.

Balor getting tossed by Cena was pretty awful, especially right as he was rolling. But a SmackDown superstar needed to win the Royal Rumble – Elimination Chamber is a Raw pay per view, so their WrestleMania main event feud can take shape there. So out of the final four, you had Nakamura and “free agent” John Cena as possible winners. Plus, would Reigns really win another Royal Rumble in Philadelphia?

Overall, this was a terrific Rumble. Most Rumbles are, but this was awesome. You can’t please everyone, but this really had something for everyone. Best Rumble in YEARS. Plus we’re getting AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania? IS this real life?

(please remind me of this when Stephanie McMahon wins the Women’s Royal Rumble later tonight)