WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match

Neville vs. Rich Swann (c)

What we learned: I think we learned here that the live crowds still aren’t into the cruiserweight matches as much as they should be because this was a really solid match.

It is unfortunate that Neville and Rich Swann had to follow Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns and the dead crowd made this match feel a little unimportant despite the match being very well done. I’m sure everyone was expecting a quicker pace at the start but I think it was perfect. This new version of Neville is more about dominating and punishing his opponent and that’s what we got in the opening minutes of this match. The pace did quicken as the match went along and I found myself continuing to be more and more impressed with Rich Swann. The timing of his kicks may be the best in the business right now and that’s saying something with all of the kicks we get these days.

While Neville provided the power in this match, Swann gave the crowd the speed and the high-flying maneuvers they were so desperately seeking. His Phoenix splash from the middle rope to the outside was really cool and the Tadpole Splash was fun as well. But Neville wasn’t going to not give us some aerial offense and scored a big superplex near the end before locking in his submission finisher to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Good match that won’t get the credit it deserves on a big night like this.

What’s next: The reign of Neville has begun and I’m sure that the program between he and Swann isn’t over by a long shot. I expect these two to continue to battle over the title and we’ll get a rematch on either an episode of 205 Live or possibly at Fastlane. It will be interesting to see how much attention the cruiserweight division gets on the road to WrestleMania and a ladder match for the title on the grandest stage of them all could be a sight to see if they want to get some of the other guys involved.