Royal Rumble 2021: Three things WWE got right (and one they got wrong)

The 2021 WWE Royal Rumble has come and gone and we now have a more discernable idea of what we’ll see at WrestleMania 37.

As is the case with most WWE pay-per-views, fans got the usual mix of good and bad as a reward (or penance) for sitting through the three-hour supercard. That’s not to wholly endorse or indict the Rumble PPV — even the best shows have their bleak moments — but it’s important to recognize what went right and what went wrong and determine what the macro implications are for those matches or angles.

That is what we’re looking at today: The three aspects of the Rumble that WWE got right and the one they flubbed. Let’s start off with the bad.

Wrong: Unnecessary Overbooking

Even on a relatively good show like this, WWE couldn’t help themselves and added extra window dressing to matches that, at best, only needed a sprinkle of it.

Let’s start with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match, which aired on the 2021 Royal Rumble Kickoff show. Raw Women’s Champion Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, and Shayna Baszler had put together a decent tag title tilt for the pre-show audience; nothing that will garner any match of the year consideration, but still acceptable.

Unfortunately, WWE felt compelled to script a finish that advanced the “Lacey Evans is whooing (pun somewhat intended) Ric Flair to get under Charlotte’s skin” storyline.  The ending they chose to achieve this — Evans delivering the Woman’s Right to Charlotte while Charlotte tried to apply the Figure-Eight Leglock to Baszler — was not only poorly executed but also an underwhelming conclusion even if everything went as planned.

The Roman Reigns/Kevin Owens Last Man Standing Match — also known as the “wrestler hits a move and stands around for nine seconds” match — also succumbed to this. Once again, WWE fished for a conclusion that gave Reigns a win while “protecting” Owens and while WWE deserves some credit for finding a unique ref bump, it further illustrated the company’s issues with booking definitive winners and losers, as did the tag title result.

Right: Bad Bunny’s Rumble appearance

On average, celebrity appearances in WWE range somewhere between trainwreck and “well, that could’ve gone a lot worse” with a few gems that stand out.

Bad Bunny’s 2021 Royal Rumble appearance ranks in the upper half of that tier. The recording artist kicked off his Rumble appearance by performing his “Booker T” song, named for the former WCW Champion who stood on the stage while Bunny rapped, and ended his night delivering an alright (good for a non-wrestler) diving crossbody to The Miz and John Morrison, who antagonized him earlier in the evening.

Even if you aren’t a huge fan of the man’s music, Bunny’s participation on the show was, at worst, quick and harmless and, at best, gave his fans a cool moment to take away from this show. Miz and Morrison were the perfect foils for him, too, as they aren’t important enough in the grand scheme of WWE’s universe to get fans angry over them taking offense from a celebrity and can get their heat back on the microphone.

Right: Sasha Banks retains her title

Yes, this one seems silly in hindsight, as there was little reason to expect Carmella to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship this close to WrestleMania. But when it comes to Sasha Banks, you never know with WWE, so it was nice to see them do the right thing here and have “The Boss” retain her title.

The match itself was a slightly worse version of the bout they had the previous month at TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, but it still provided 10-and-a-half compelling minutes of in-ring action.

In this match, Banks once again exhibited the qualities that make her one of the best wrestlers in the world and the optimal choice to lead the SmackDown women’s division as its champion, as she once again shepherded her capable but less skilled opponent to another solid outing.

With another clean finish, this should hopefully lead to the end of this Banks/Carmella feud that frankly did more to establish who Carmella was as a character than it did Banks. Now, the champion can look forward to a potential dream match at WrestleMania.

Right: Bianca Belair and the women’s Royal Rumble

Since establishing a women’s Royal Rumble in 2017, WWE has mostly gotten the distaff version of their long-running battle royal right. With the right mix of main roster talent, NXT talent, and returning stars, there’s no other way to look at the Rumbles as anything other than a success. It has also helped that, aside from 2020, WWE has booked someone to win that didn’t aggravate the fans.

The 2021 edition of the Rumble followed this same pattern. This year’s women’s Rumble again provided a number of memorable moments — like Billie Kay handing out her résumé to the entrants, Naomi lasting over 45 minutes(!) or Bayley sunset bombing Ruby Riott out of the match — and the legends who entered enhanced the current crop of talent instead of making you feel like you accidentally turned on the 2005 Royal Rumble (you know, like the men’s Rumble did).

Case in point: of all the great spots and returns in the match, none of them outshined Rhea Ripley and eventual winner Bianca Belair’s closing sequence. For a few minutes, we got a glimpse of WWE’s future, as the former NXT Women’s Champion and Belair jostled for a bit before Belair got Ripley over the top rope to secure the win.

https://twitter.com/RheaRipley_WWE/status/1356109485878751235

While the men’s field was a bit more wide open, it was clear that the right person went over here, and the climax gave some shine to Ripley, showing that she will be a major player in the company for years to come. Now, WWE can start the build to Belair vs. Sasha Banks, assuming they don’t do anything to get people less excited for that (which is very much in their power).