How the WWE got the Men’s Royal Rumble correct

By Stephen ThompsonWWE

The 2018 Royal Rumble PPV is over and the WWE got their Road to WrestleMania off to a great start.

Overall, the WWE got the Royal Rumble right in many aspects including the Men’s Royal Rumble match. Shinsuke Nakamura won the match with an amazing performance; eliminating Roman Reigns to win. Besides his win, here’s how the WWE got their Men’s Royal Rumble match

The Field Was Credible

  • Rusev
  • Finn Bálor
  • Rhyno
  • Baron Corbin
  • Heath Slater
  • Elias
  • Andrade Almas
  • Bray Wyatt
  • Big E
  • Sami Zayn
  • Sheamus
  • Xavier Woods
  • Apollo Crews
  • Shinsuke Nakamura
  • Cesaro
  • Kofi Kingston
  • Jinder Mahal
  • Seth Rollins
  • Matt Hardy
  • John Cena
  • The Hurricane
  • Aiden English
  • Adam Cole
  • Randy Orton
  • Titus O’Neil
  • The Miz
  • Rey Mysterio
  • Roman Reigns
  • Goldust
  • Dolph Ziggler

What makes a Royal Rumble is the competitors. Over the history of the match, there have been some lopsided fields in terms of entertainment value. This year was different. The creative staff really put in the effort to bring in an even field. The field had Rusev, Elias, The New Day, Hardy, Heath Slater, and Bray Wyatt with their own comedic and dynamic character moments. Goldust, Rey Mysterio, and The Hurricane added some old school flare to the match. Cien Almas and Adam Cole were solid NXT representatives within the match and unlike past years; the NXT reps stayed in the match for very long time. Finn Balor, John Cena, Roman Reigns, Shinsuke Nakamura, Seth Rollins, The Miz, and Dolph Ziggler truly added the star power to the match.

Most wrestlers clashed with other wrestlers well and the match looked even across the board with the lack of over pushing like we’ve seen in the last few years.

Action Was Even Throughout the Match

Around 10 wrestlers spent at least ten minutes in Royal Rumble match which helped the pace of the match. Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura were the true “Iron Men” of the match. Finn spent almost an hour in the match while Nakamura spent over 45 minutes in the match. Besides participant length of participation, the Match had a lot of good spots.

John Cena played almost like a heel during the match. His elimination of Elias and Finn Balor placed him as a veteran who’s trying to get back to the top one more time. It played well with the crowd. In terms of his elimination of The Hurricane; it was great comedy. Roman Reigns eliminating O’Neil, The Miz, Rollins, and Orton really got a lot of great heat from the crowd. Eliminating stars really made him look dangerous within the match and helped the finish of the match.

The Orton/Cena/Mysterio vs Balor/Reigns/Nakamura moment of the match was a great moment for the overall brand of the WWE. Old stars clashing with new ones is always interesting to see. Just shows how the creative team is great at creating these unexpected moments.

There was a lot of good wrestling and survival tactics in the match. There was something going on at every second which has been lacking in the past few Rumbles

Winner Was Less Obvious on Paper

Shinsuke Nakamura was a favorite coming in the match but there was still some other possible winners. Cena and Reigns were a few. Finn Balor was also a great candidate. Although it would’ve been shocking, The Miz winning the match would’ve set up some great storytelling as well. The WWE has not hit home during the past few Rumbles which was something they needed to fix. Most true Wrestling fans could argue that since Edge’s win in 2010, every rumble winner since then has not had a huge impact in terms of the win itself or the result of the WM result. Which is true. WWE having a lot of stars left in the match who could actually win was refreshing for a change.

Fan Reaction For Finish Was Great

Shinsuke Nakamura eliminating Reigns to finish the match was fitting. Using Reign’s heat was smart and clever. Fans did not want to see another win by him and it kept everyone on the edge of their seats for sure.

Overall, the WWE hit it on the nail for the Men’s Rumble match!

Stephen Thompson