As great as some of the other matches were, the two matches that truly left people talking are the two Royal Rumble Matches.
Men’s Royal Rumble Match
A lot of interesting stuff happened in this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble Match. First, there were two NXT Superstars who moved up to the main roster and entered the Royal Rumble Match: current NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas and Adam Cole. It should also be noted that Almas’ business manager, Zelina Vega, moved up with him and current NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly moved up with their fellow Undisputed Era cohort, Adam Cole, as well. Also, there were two Superstars who returned to WWE and entered the Royal Rumble Match: The Hurricane and Rey Mysterio. These are two guys who I was hoping would return to WWE this year. Kofi Kingston, once again, found a unique way to prevent both of his feet from hitting the floor by getting an assist from a plate of pancakes, as well as his New Day cohorts, Xavier Woods and Big E, who were already eliminated. Tye Dillinger was supposed to enter at #10; however, The “Yep!” Movement (Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn) ambushed him backstage before he could make his way out and to add insult to injury, Zayn stole his spot. Finn Balor entered at #2 and lasted up to the final four participants in the match. In the end, it was Shinsuke Nakamura who came out victorious. After the match, he announced that he will be facing the WWE Champion at WrestleMania 34.
Women’s Royal Rumble Match
In the final main event of the evening, for the first time in history, it was an All-Women’s Royal Rumble Match and it did not disappoint. First, NXT Superstars Kairi Sane and current NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon moved up to the main roster and entered the Royal Rumble Match. Also, both Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie) returned to action. In addition, both WWE Hall of Famer and current WWE analyst Lita and WWE Hall of Famer and current WWE announcer Beth Phoenix came out of retirement for one night. It should also be noted that Beth Phoenix entered the Men’s Royal Rumble Match in 2010. To top it all off, many women of WWE’s past stopped by to enter the Royal Rumble Match: Torrie Wilson, WWE Hall of Famer Jacqueline, Vickie Guerrero, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Molly Holly and WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus. It was great to see all those women from the past with the exception of Vickie Guerrero; it was a complete joke entering her into the match. I should also point out a couple of interesting things. First, Naomi found a unique way to prevent both of her feet from hitting the floor by walking the ringside barricade and using a chair at ringside to roll her way back to the ring. Then, there was a faceoff between Trish and The Bellas. I think it would have been even more awesome if both Trish and Lita had a faceoff with The Bellas, but unfortunately, Lita had already been eliminated earlier in the match. History was made in the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble Match: Sasha Banks was not only the first entrant in the match’s history, but she also set the record for longest time spent in the Women’s Royal Rumble Match; not surprisingly, Vickie Guerrero set the record for shortest amount of time spent in the Women’s Royal Rumble; Michelle McCool not only set the record for most eliminations in a single Women’s Royal Rumble Match, but obviously the record for most eliminations in the history of Women’s Royal Rumble Matches as well and last, but certainly not least, Asuka was the first-ever winner of the Women’s Royal Rumble Match. Before Asuka could decide which one of the two Women’s Champions she was going to face at WrestleMania 34, MMA legend “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey made her shocking WWE debut. Ronda stared down Asuka, current Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and current SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. Ronda then pointed up at the WrestleMania 34 logo. Could this be a sign of a one-on-one encounter between two respective leaders of two respective Horsewomen? Ronda is the leader of MMA’s Four Horsewomen, which also consists of current NXT Superstar Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke and Charlotte is the leader of WWE’s Four Horsewomen, which also consists of Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Bayley. With that being said, two questions remain: Which Women’s Champion will Asuka face at WrestleMania and who will Ronda Rousey face at WrestleMania?
