WWE Royal Rumble 2018 review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

30-Man Over-The-Top Men’s Royal Rumble Match

What we learned: We learned here that it is still possible to put on a good Royal Rumble Match. Looking back on this decade, the only Royal Rumble that I would put into the top 10 of all time was the 2010 match that was won by Edge. Sure, there have been some fun moments over the past few years, but overall these have largely been average. That changed on Sunday night as this was easily the best Royal Rumble in recent years.

The classic Royal Rumble formula was in full effect as it usually is, but it was the players involved that made this match extremely entertaining. Let’s start with the first entrant to get the crowd into it. There were huge Rusev chants going throughout the kickoff show, and sending him out first was the perfect thing to do. The crowd popped so big for everything he did and it was great.

Then you’ve got your marathon man for the evening. The chosen one for this night was Finn Balor, which also makes perfect sense. He’s in great shape, the crowd loves him and he’s going to provide some big spots and great entertainment. Perfectly done.

Then you’ve got your early comic relief. We actually got a few things in there this time, starting with Heath Slater, who has essentially become the new Santino Marella and there’s nothing wrong with that role whatsoever. Heath entered at No. 5 but didn’t make it into the ring for a while. He was attacked on the ramp by Baron Corbin, who had been eliminated from the match by Balor fairly quickly after entering at No. 4. So Slater was on the ground and Elias came in at No. 6 to a huge ovation. He kicked Slater on his way in, which moved Heath further down the ramp at least, and then proceeded to put on a quick show as everyone else in the match was still recovering from Corbin’s outburst. So he di his thing and then we finally got back to action with the first surprise entrant of the night, NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas. But not before he also picked at Slater on his way in. Great stretch of entertainment.

We got a few more entrants until Sami Zayn stole Tye Dillinger’s spot at No. 10 and then our first hilarious elimination soon after Sheamus came in at No. 11. Poor Heath was still laying on the ground, but at least had gotten a snack when Big E fed him pancakes, but he FINALLY made it into the ring and immediately took Sheamus out. The 2012 Royal Rumble winner officially lasted two seconds in the match. Fantastic bit.

The middle of the match saw the entrance of Shinsuke Nakamura (obviously more on him in a minute) and Seth Rollins, but a few minutes of the match were given to The New Day. Actually, Jinder Mahal made a statement by eliminating both Xavier Woods and Big E (they’re trying so hard to keep him somewhat relevant) and also threw Kofi Kingston over the top rope, but that went right into Kofi’s big spot, which has become a Royal Rumble staple. This one wasn’t quite as impressive, but it was entertaining nonetheless as only one foot hit the floor with Woods and Big E still at ringside. The plate of pancakes came into play, and he used it to walk around a bit before his New Day brethren threw him back in over the top rope, at which point he knocked Mahal out of the match. Jinder got pancakes pelted at him and Kofi was soon after taken out by Almas. Good times.

John Cena kicked off the final third of the match at No. 20, and he was followed by our next surprise entrant, none other than freaking Hurricane Helms. Off all the names I could have come up with for this Rumble, that NEVER would have been one of them. He got into a hilarious scuffle with Cena and was out immediately, but it made for a good moment.

We got a second NXT entrant at No. 23 with Adam Cole, and Randy Orton followed him at No. 24. The Miz came in at No. 26, and then the biggest surprise of the night came at No. 27 when Rey Mysterio came out to a monstrous ovation. I’m not even a Mysterio guy but that was pretty awesome and completely unexpected. He got in some of his array of offense before the expected insanely loud chorus of boos came at No. 28 with the arrival of Roman Reigns. Perfect placement here. He came in throwing bombs left and right, the first one landing square on the jaw of John Cena. He tossed Titus O’Neil, who had come in at No. 25 and then set his sights on The Miz, who had beaten him on Monday for the Intercontinental Championship. It was a pretty quick affair as Reigns and Rollins gave Miz the Shield powerbomb onto Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas on the outside. Reigns then quickly threw Rollins out in a cool spot and the two shared a little grin. Perfect placement.

Goldust was out at No. 29 for his 12th Royal Rumble appearance, tying him with Shawn Michaels and The Big Show for second on the all-time list, and we waited for No. 30, who turned out to be a returning Dolph Ziggler, who hadn’t been seen since relinquishing the United States Championship more than a month ago. So we got the crowd-pleasing first entrant, the marathon man (Balor is still in the match at this point), the comedy, the stories in the middle, Kofi’s spot and the surprise entrants, so we were all set up for the big finish.

I loved the finish to this match. The final six were John Cena, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura, which was an excellent decision. You had the old guard with Cena, Orton and Mysterio on one side and the newer generation with Reigns, Balor and Shinsuke on the other. Beautifully done. A brawl ensued and we got a couple of finishers as Orton hit Nakamura with an awesome RKO before being tossed by Reigns, and Rey was out next at the hands of Balor, but not before hitting a double 619 on Reigns and Cena. That left us with the final four of Balor, Shinsuke, Cena and Roman.

This time around, we got the brutes in Reigns and Cena standing off against Nakamura and Balor. The big guys got the edge and we’re set up for Cena and Reigns, which the Philly crowd responded to with the obligatory “you both suck” chant. But Nakamura and Balor got back up (if you listened closely, you can hear Cena yelling at Nakamura to get back up and attack) and we were brawling again. Balor was out first after having spent 57:30 in the match as Cena tossed him out, but Nakamura then took out Cena and it was down to two.

Nakamura and Reigns went back and forth, and the crowd was really invested in this finish. We know how they responded to Roman’s win three years ago, and another victory here would have caused a riot. The final minutes were extremely entertaining, and you honestly didn’t know which way they were going to go with this, which always makes things better. In the end, Nakamura got the much-needed victory in an absolutely fantastic Royal Rumble. From start to finish, I was engaged and entertained the entire time. The layout was done perfectly and everyone stepped up to play their respective part. Superb.

What’s next: Shinsuke Nakamura didn’t waste any time letting the WWE Universe what to expect next. Earlier in the day, WWE had announced that the winner of the Royal Rumble would have the opportunity to face whichever champion they desired at WrestleMania 34 and when Renee Young asked Nakamura which way he was leaning, the answer was clear. He yelled “AJ STYLES,” and we now have a dream matchup that we’ve been waiting for.

As for runner-up Roman Reigns, I wouldn’t worry about him. Chances are that he’ll win a number one contender’s match at Elimination Chamber for the right to face Brock Lesnar in New Orleans and he’ll still close the show for the fourth year in a row. Don’t see plans changing there.