Top three moments from the 2023 Royal Rumble

The road to Wrestlemania is officially underway as the Royal Rumble has come and gone. We now know which superstars have punched their ticket to the showcase of the immortals, and possible tea leaves of major storylines to unravel.

The Top 3 Moments of the Royal Rumble

This year’s Royal Rumble matches seemed to focus less on external surprises, and more on the present and future of the WWE brand. There were a ton of huge pops, including Cody Rhodes returning to finish his journey, Edge and Beth Phoenix confronting Judgement Day, and a Rumble spin-a-roonie courtesy of Booker T. Fans also bore witness to Bray Wyatt’s in-ring return, and what precisely a “Pitch Black” match was. However, there were three moments that absolutely stole the show, here they are:

Logan Paul and Ricochet drop jaws

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1619519804884369409

Logan Paul was one of the surprise entrants in the Men’s Royal Rumble, who hadn’t been seen since Wrestlemania last year. Paul, who excelled in that match against Roman Reigns may have executed the most prominent spot of the night. After evading elimination, Paul and Ricochet locked eyes from opposing aprons and both would springboard off the ropes and launch into a center of the ring collision mid-air.

The collision looked like something out of Dragon Ball Z and sounded like a safety blindsiding a wide receiver over the middle of a football field. For all the Logan Paul detractors, and there are many, one thing is for sure he takes wrestling seriously and excels in the squared circle. On top of this freakish moment, he also was the one to eliminate Seth Rollins.

Enter Kana

A lot of internet chatter has gone on regarding Asuka over the past month in regard to her sudden change in demeanor. It started on her last Raw appearance where she wasn’t sporting her signature face paint, instead bare-faced. This would then lead to dark messages on her social media insinuating a darker path was on the horizon.

All would be revealed when the clock struck the number 17 and Asuka would enter with a new theme and nostalgic look. Asuka had by far the loudest pop of the night when she revealed the face paint reminiscent of her New Japan Pro Wrestling days, and there was a silence among the superstars in the ring.  The Kana character harkens back to a time when Asuka was considered the most dangerous woman in the world. With a final three Royal Rumble finish, big things could be in store for the Empress on the way to Wrestlemania.

Bloodline Cinema

It’s getting too easy to say that everything within the Bloodline orbit is the best thing in pro wrestling, but it still remains a fact. Everything from the beginning of the show with Reigns proclaiming it Sami Zayn’s night, to the emotion on Zayn’s face watching Roman dismantle his lifelong best friend was stellar. There are so many character arcs and the story of Sami Zayn unfolding is the best in the business. Zayn simply decided enough was enough, and hitting Roman with a chair, which was a Shield implosion call back was the chef’s kiss.

Now with Zayn being exiled, another story hangs in the wings with Jey Uso. Who notably was the only one to not attack Zayn and left his family in the arena. Jey Uso has been put through the most emotional trauma by Roman Reigns dating back to their Hell in a Cell match, and now most recently being forced to accept Sami Zayn. Just as soon as he finally comes around on Zayn as family, Roman changes the plans again. It will be interesting to see where all of this goes and perhaps it will be “Main Event” Jey Uso getting the “Yes Movement” push and not Zayn after all.