Royal Rumble winner Drew McIntyre will be facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36 for the WWE title. McIntyre made his intentions official last night on Raw where he said he’s going after Lesnar’s title.
This is the first official match for WrestleMania 36 and if this match ends up main eventing WrestleMania, it will be the Scotsman’s first main event spot in his WWE career. Not a bad show to headline your first pay-per-view!
McIntyre’s night on Raw did not have a happy ending though as after he defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in a handicap match, he was attacked by Brock Lesnar, who laid him out with an F5.
WWE United States champion Andrade has been suspended for 30 days for his first Wellness Program violation. The news was broken by ProWrestlingSheet.com and later confirmed by other sources. Nearly 24 hours after news broke, WWE confirmed it saying that the suspension starts today, January 28.
According to Ryan Satin of PW Sheet, Andrade was informed about his violation on Monday morning and was written off television during Raw when Humberto Carrillo took him out with a hammerlock DDT on the floor. Their rematch from the Rumble on Raw ended in a disqualification after Zelina Vega interfered.
Andrade is the third Superstar in two months to be suspended following the violations of Robert Roode and Primo Colon back in December.
WWE has suspended Andrade (Manuel Oropeza) for 30 days effective immediately for a first violation of the company's talent wellness policy.https://t.co/54rJ8fjkAM
AJ Styles suffered what seems to be a separated shoulder during the Royal Rumble match after he landed badly when he took a spear from Edge.
Styles sold the move by flipping in the air but landed badly on his left shoulder. The former champion immediately clutched the shoulder and alerted the referees at ringside. A ringside medic went over to check on him as Styles remained in the corner.
At one point, King Corbin went to work on Styles and you could see Styles telling him about the injury and Corbin took care of him by punching him and letting him sit in the corner. Styles then walked towards Edge and told him about the injury and to eliminate him from the match, calling an audible as he was supposed to last longer than that. Edge then simply threw him over the top rope with Styles lasting 7 minutes and 49 seconds in total.
Recovery for a separated shoulder could run up to twelve weeks depending on the severity of the injury.
As with every Royal Rumble, there are those who last a long time, those who barely made it in, those who cleaned house, and those who, well, didn’t do much at all. Here are some interesting statistics from this year’s Royal Rumble matches.
In the women’s match, Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler were responsible in eliminating 16 women. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss threw out four more each so the majority of the participants were eliminated by just four women. Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Chelsea Green, and Beth Phoenix were the only other ones who managed to throw someone else out of the match.
Bianca Belair lasted the longest this year with 33 minutes and 20 seconds on the clock. She was followed by the eventual winner, Charlotte Flair, who did 26 minutes 19 seconds. On the other end of that, Chelsea Green only lasted 12 seconds before being eliminated by Alexa Bliss and Sarah Logan followed with just 28 seconds. Santina Marella eliminated him/herself from the match after just one minute and one second.
This year’s match had a heavy NXT presence. Only six were from Raw, seven were from Smackdown, 11 from NXT, and one from NXT UK while three were not associated with any brand.
The women’s match lasted 54 minutes and 20 seconds, 18 minutes less from last year’s Rumble match.
The men’s match was dominated by Brock Lesnar, the WWE champion who took out 13 men before he was eliminated by the winner, Drew McIntyre with a little assist from Ricochet. Lesnar entered number one and lasted 26 minutes and 24 seconds and threw out Elias, Erick Rowan, Robert Roode, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Big E, Cesaro, Shelton Benjamin, Shinsuke Nakamura, MVP, Keith Lee, and Braun Strowman.
Apart from Lesnar, only Drew McIntyre, Edge, King Corbin, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins eliminated other competitors with Drew managing six behind Lesnar’s 13.
Drew McIntyre lasted the longest with 34 minutes and 11 seconds on the clock. Lesnar was second and the returning Edge had an impressive 23 minutes and 43 seconds with three eliminations to his name. The quickest elimination went to Erick Rowan with just eight seconds only and John Morrison followed with nine seconds. Nine WWE Superstars were eliminated in a minute or less.
Unlike the women’s match, only two from NXT took part in this match – Keith Lee and Matt Riddle. 14 represented Raw, 12 represented Smackdown, and two were not associated with any brand. Apart from Edge, the only other surprise was MVP.
Rusev, Lashley, Buddy Murphy, Otis, and Tucker, who were originally announced for the match, did not participate. Otis did show up during the women’s Rumble match and helped save Mandy Rose from elimination with some, er, innovative ways.
The men’s match lasted one hour and 50 seconds, three minutes more than last year’s match.
WWE Superstar Naomi made her return last night during the women’s Royal Rumble match, her first appearance on WWE television since July 2019.
Naomi came in #18 and lasted 22 minutes in the match before she was thrown out by Shayna Baszler. She got a huge ovation from the Houston crowd when her music kicked in and she made her way down the long aisle.
She was taken off WWE television along with her husband Jey Uso and his brother Jimmy following a string of DUI cases by the twins. In September, Naomi wrote on Twitter that she’s been off TV due to personal reasons. “I’ve faced some trying times the past few months…losing a loved one so dear to me (rocked me to my core) & handling my own health issues I wasn’t aware of forced me to slow down & reevaluate…I want my loving fans to know that I’m ok and will be back when the time is right,” she wrote.
The former Smackdown Women’s champion is expected to join the blue brand moving forward.
An attendance of 42,715 was announced last night during the Royal Rumble at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
Ticketmaster was close to a legit sellout with only few hundreds of tickets available yesterday morning on the day of the show. Problems entering the stadium hindered fans from watching the beginning of the show as thousands were left stranded outside while security ironed out logistics.
The 42,000+ attendance – while most likely still inflated like every WrestleMania attendance – beats all the events held at Minute Maid Park throughout the past several years, including Madonna, Beyonce and Jay Z, Ed Sheeran, and Taylor Swift, who had the record with 42,095 fans in attendance. Last year, the Rumble in Phoenix drew 48,193 fans.
This year’s Royal Rumble saw Charlotte Flair and Drew McIntyre winning their respective matches and Edge making his return after a nine-year retirement.
The popularity of wrestling is continuing to spread, so much so that it has now reached slot games. You can find the best online gambling sites at no wager casino, these casino sites have the best wrestling slot games in the industry.
It is always the case that casino game developers decide to create online games on popular sports, which is why we are not surprised in the slightest that there are some huge game developers, such as Netent, iSoftBet and Microgaming, who have decided to do this.
Unfortunately, we cannot list all of the wrestling slot games, instead, we are going to list the top 3 that we would recommend.
Top 3 Wrestling Slots
Super Sumo
Super Sumo is our favourite wrestling game that we would recommend to customers to play. This slot game is an exciting slot that has been in the industry since 2017. This slot is also available on mobile devices, thanks to the intro of HTML5 technology, which means that we are able to access it anywhere, at any time.
You get a proper Japanese feel with this game, with the sound effects and visuals. The aesthetics of the slot game alone will give off the Japanese feel and then added with that, the wrestlers themselves talk in Japanese. One example of when this has happened, is when you hear them shout out “Yatta”, which is Japanese for “We did it”.
Luchadora
Luchadora is another online wrestling slot which was released in 2017, which was the same year as Super Sumo. This particular online slot is featured in a Mexican ring, and it consists of 5-reels with 40 pay lines.
In terms of aesthetics, this is a very colourful slot game, which is what we love to see in slots, it helps give the game more personality. There is a free spins bonus included in this game, which allows you to win up to 15 free spins. These free spins can certainly come in handy to help you land big wins, risk-free!
There is also a multiplier bonus, which will allow you to claim up to 15x your wager, an outstanding reward!
Lucha Legends
This is also another online slot game that is based in Mexico. This pro wrestling slot game is brought to us by one of the best game developers in the industry, RTG. This game also has a comedic side to it, with the different symbols in the game including beer, a belt, chili pepper, a cup and also a TV set.
There is an awesome bonus feature in this game which is called “Rumble”. This can be a very exciting bonus for customers to experience, as well as the free spins, and not to forget the multiplier of 81x your stake! If you land this, you are really in luck.
Here are the results from the Royal Rumble pay-per-view which took place from the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
Sheamus defeated Shorty G in the Kickoff show; Andrade defeated Humberto Carrillo to retain the United States title in the Kickoff show; Roman Reigns defeated Baron Corbin in a falls count anywhere match; Charlotte Flair won the women’s Royal Rumble match; Bayley defeated Lacey Evans to retain the Smackdown Women’s title; Bray Wyatt defeated Daniel Bryan in a strap match to retain the Universal title; Becky Lynch defeated Asuka to retain the Raw Women’s title; Drew McIntyre won the men’s Royal Rumble match.
Drew McIntyre got the biggest win of his career so far, winning the Royal Rumble and eliminating Brock Lesnar in the process as well.
McIntyre got in #16 when Lesnar was in the ring alone with Ricochet. Lesnar eliminated everyone who came after him but found his match in McIntyre. It was Ricochet who kicked Lesnar down below from behind and a Claymore Kick later from McIntyre, Lesnar found himself flying over the top rope to a massive pop from the crowd.
The 34-year-old Scotsman threw out Roman Reigns to win the match and now will go on to headline WrestleMania. Randy Orton and Edge made up the final four of the men’s Rumble match.
It’s been quite a journey for McIntyre, going from 3MB to being released from WWE, then heading to Impact Wrestling to win the TNA title, returning to NXT and winning the NXT title, to winning the Royal Rumble and main eventing WrestleMania.
While he could go for either the WWE or the Universal title, judging by what happened during the match, it’s safe to say that McIntyre will be going after Lesnar and his WWE title.
After nine long years, the Rated-R Superstar made a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble for the biggest pop of the night.
Coming in at #21, Edge got the full entrance with smoke and pyro and hit spears on Karl Anderson and Dolph Ziggler before he went face-to-face with AJ Styles as the crowd continued going bananas. He was eventually eliminated by Roman Reigns but made it to the final four of the Rumble.
In October it was reported that Edge was seen in Pittsburgh where the WWE chief medical doctor has his office. Edge continued to deny all rumors online that he would be returning to the ring not to spoil the Rumble surprise amid reports that he signed a new WWE deal in December.
Edge retired back in 2011 after he was diagnosed with cervical spinal stenosis and doctors advised him to quit to avoid risk of paralysis. On the April 15, 2011 episode of Smackdown, Edge officially relinquished the World Heavyweight title to retire from active competition.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.
The next WWE event from Saudi Arabia was officially announced during the Royal Rumble, with Super ShowDown taking place in Riyadh on Thursday, February 27.
The show will be held at the King Fahd International Stadium, the same location where Crown Jewel was held this past October. The event will be remembered for the long layover that the WWE Superstars were forced to have in Saudi after what the company said was “aircraft problems.”
The whole saga created a massive controversy and resulted in the whole roster being unable to attend the live Smackdown the next day. Thankfully, NXT stars and others who did not go – including the women – saved the day and Smackdown went on with a very unpredictable episode.
Following the return from Saudi after Crown Jewel, WWE announced that the company would be hosting two pay-per-views per year for the remainder of their 10-year contract despite everything that went down.
The last Super ShowDown was held in June 2019 in Jeddah and had the main event of Goldberg vs The Undertaker.
Charlotte Flair got herself a ticket to WrestleMania after winning the Royal Rumble match, eliminating Shayna Baszler to earn a title shot at the biggest pay-per-view of the year.
Flair entered #17 in the match and had four eliminations to her name – Bianca Belair, Kelly Kelly, Sarah Logan, and Baszler.
Last year, Flair was in the final two as well but was eliminated by Becky Lynch. Despite not winning the Rumble, Flair eventually won the Smackdown Women’s title from Asuka and main evented WrestleMania 35 with Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey.
Flair did not indicate which title she’s going after as she can choose to go for the Raw or Smackdown Women’s titles. In her post-match comments in the ring, she said that this is her division regardless if people wanted her to win or lose.
NXT women were in full force at the Royal Rumble with 11 from the roster showing up during the over-the-top rope Rumble match.
Bianca Belair, Mercedes Martinez, Candice LaRae, Mia Yim, Dakota Kai, Chelsea Green, Toni Storm, Xia Li, Shotzi Blackheart, Tegan Nox, and Shayna Baszler all took part in the Rumble, but it was Bianca Belair who was the MVP of the match.
Entering at #2, Belair lasted just over 33 minutes and had eight eliminations to her name. Belair took out Alexa Bliss, Mighty Molly, Nikki Cross, Mandy Rose, Candice LaRae, Sonya Deville, Dana Brooke, and Tamina.
Meanwhile, former NXT champion Shayna Baszler came in at #30 and made quick work, eliminating Naomi, Beth Phoenix, Toni Storm, Xia Li, Zelina Vega, Shotzi Blackheart, Carmella, and Tegan Nox to tie Belair’s record.
Sasha Banks still has the record for longest time in the ring, coming in at #1 in the inaugural women’s Rumble match in 2018 and lasting 54 minutes and 46 seconds.
AEW’s Sammy Guevara was in Houston, Texas and decided to have some fun outside the Minute Maid Park where the Royal Rumble is being held.
Channeling his inner DX, Guevara showed up in a kid tank, a plastic machine gun, and a microphone to spoof the DX invasion of WCW. With an AEW pass around his neck, Guevara roamed around the parking lot and even cut a promo.
The 26-year-old has been one of the highlights of All Elite Wrestling and is now part of the Inner Circle faction with Chris Jericho. Guevara is from Katy, Texas, just 30 miles west of Houston.
A change in odds for both the men and women’s Royal Rumble matches took place before the show went live on pay-per-view.
Roman Reigns was the favorite to win the men’s match leading up to the show but now odds have shifted to Drew McIntyre. Reigns went from having 1/2 odds to win to now 10/3, good enough for second favorite, while McIntyre went from 10/3 himself to 1/3 favorite.
The women’s Rumble match also underwent a change with Charlotte Flair going from 13/2 and third favorite to first with 3/10 odds. Shayna Baszler was 1/3 up until a couple of hours ago and now is at 5/2 to win it.
The change in odds suggest that a lot of money was being placed on these two individuals, enough for bookmakers to make the switch.
Hello everybody, it’s @TheMagnumDA with your 2020 WWE Royal Rumble PPV Pick’em Contest. We’ve been trying to declare a new WOPC Champion for months, and tonight’s the night for someone to finally win that title and possibly walk into WrestleMania as the WOPC Champion. Time will tell!
Tonight, we’ve got Colin, Heel Turn Tom, Tricky Don, and yours truly going for the gold. We’re going to be adding some big points to the Rumble match, as well as some bonus points. Hopefully, that should settle any ties (which is exactly what happened at Survivor Series!)
ON WITH THE PICKS!
WWE Raw Women’s Championship
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Asuka w/Kairi Sane
Colin: My fantasy booking would be Asuka winning this and Sane winning the Rumble but that’s not going to happen. I would imagine Becky finally gets her one win over Asuka, keeping The Man strong until at least WrestleMania comes around.
Tom: There is no way that Becky doesn’t go to WrestleMania as champ. Becky beats Asuka and the green mist.
Don: The only two women who have won a Royal Rumble will face off for the title tonight. The Man made history last year winning the title in the main event at WrestleMania, and has won the WWE universe over. Becky will get a strong win and carry this momentum as we enter the road to WrestleMania.
Magnum: I think the journey has almost come full circle for The Man. Tonight, she avenges the last major loss on a PPV over the last year (other than losing the Smackdown Women’s Title). This is a match between the first two female Royal Rumble winners! Tonight, The Man is coming to collect. Becky retains.
Falls Count Anywhere
Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin
Colin: What’s next after this? A kennel match? I just want this to be over. It should have been over months ago. After the last surprising win by Corbin, I’m pretty sure Reigns gets this one.
Tom: Why is this feud still going on. Reigns wins and shows why he is the big dog.
Don: Traditional PPV booking history has shown that someone on a PPV will lose the first match, then go on to win the main event later in the show. The falls count anywhere will give King Corbin the advantage to keep Roman strong, and give him an injury to overcome the odds and win the Rumble. Roman is the betting odds favor to win the Rumble, so I have to go with King Corbin for the win.
Magnum: Lol, I love the hate for this match. It is a pretty stupid program. Reigns wins and builds momentum towards the Rumble…but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to win it.
Shorty G vs. Sheamus
Colin: Do you see the recently-returned Sheamus losing in his first singles PPV match? Nope. Not me. I wouldn’t be surprised if this match is part of the pre-show actually. Sheamus for the win.
Tom: I like Gable but if Sheamus loses his comeback PPV match then he should quit, retire, or go to AEW. Sheamus gets his first win in a long time.
Don: Here in an interesting fact, 6 out of the 8 matches involve at least one winner from a prior Royal Rumble. For the single matches on the card tonight, Sheamus’s Royal Rumble win took place 8 years ago. We also have to take into consideration that while he has been off from an injury, his Celtic Warrior Workouts have got him in main event shape. Shorty G will put on a great match, but Sheamus will get the victory.
Magnum: Don’s dropping all the knowledge! Anyways, this is the kind of match where Sheamus destroys Gable, and then Gable gets his revenge with an upset fluke elimination on Sheamus in the Rumble match itself. Hey, it worked for Heath Slater one year! Give me Sheamus in the singles bout.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Bayley (c) vs. Lacey Evans
Colin: Lacey has really improved but I like Bayley as the champion. Plus, I think Bayley vs Sasha will finally happen at WrestleMania so Bayley retains the title here.
Tom: I can see WWE wanting to change the title to someone like Sasha Bank. I am going to predict a woman’s right and 1-2-3 for Lacey Evans and new SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Don: WWE has big plans for Lacey, and tonight’s the night she will win the title and go to WrestleMania as the champ.
Magnum: I feel bad for Lacey…I just don’t think people are behind her. I know there’s some babyface qualities there, but she was built to be a heel for months. You can’t just abandon that and say, “She’s good now!” Doesn’t work that way. Bayley retains and rolls down the road towards WrestleMania.
Women’s Royal Rumble – Winning Pick Worth THREE Points
30-Woman Royal Rumble match for a Championship match (brand of their choice) at WrestleMania 36
Bonus Point Opportunity: Name one HOFer that will be in this match.
Colin: This will be an interesting one. I look forward to the women’s Rumble more than the men’s Rumble match. I’m hoping Shayna Baszler shows up and beats the living shit out of everyone and wins this. Baszler vs Lynch at WrestleMania. Give it to me. And the Hall of Famer, I’m going the “safe” route and say Beth Phoenix.
Tom: I see the traditional HOFers like Beth Phoenix and Lita making an appearance in the match (I’ll pick Lita). If I knew that Ronda was coming back, I would pick her to win it all. Since I am not sure if she is back, then I select Shayna Baszler to give Becky a tough challenger at WrestleMania.
Don: My prediction is based on Ronda Rousey not returning tonight. I could see the WWE trying to recreate the magic from WrestleMania 32, where the match of the night was Flair vs Banks vs Lynch. I think the triple threat rematch will take place at WrestleMania 36. With that being said, I will pick Sasha Banks. As for the HOFer, last year we got to meet and witness Beth Phoenix go into a second HOF, which was the George Tragos & Lou Thesz Pro Wresting Hall of Fame in Waterloo. I’m rolling with Beth!
Magnum: For the Rumble match itself, it only makes sense that Charlotte Flair gets the nod, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Shayna Baszler gives her a run for the money. It will likely come down to these two, and if I have to pick, I gotta roll with Shayna. There’s a reason she lost that NXT Championship – they’ve got bigger and better plans for her. As for the HOF wrestler, I’m going to roll with Lita.
WWE United States Championship
Andrade (c) vs. Humberto Carrillo
Colin: I like Andrade as the champion. I think he needs to move higher up in the chain. But if we’re going Andrade/Mysterio at Mania then the champ needs to retain.
Tom: It’s too recent of a title change and Andrade will walk out the arena with Charlotte on one arm and the US Championship on the other. Not a bad night.
Don: This should be a great match. I think they have something special with Andrade as the US champ.
Magnum: I like watching both of these guys compete. I think Andrade’s in a position to build up a good US Championship reign. Give me Andrade to retain (but don’t be surprised if Carrillo gets his revenge later in the night).
Strap Match for the WWE Universal Championship
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
Colin: Someone needs to beat The Fiend eventually, but it won’t be Daniel Bryan and won’t be this soon. At least, I don’t think so. The thing is, WHO will beat The Fiend, and how? Unless they come up with some stupid excuse where “The Fiend” can’t appear and it has to be Wyatt, I don’t know how they will go around it. Anyway, The Fiend wins and retains.
Tom: The Fiend needs to continue on to WrestleMania. I can see the Yes movement winning it there but tonight Bray retains the WWE Universal Championship.
Don: The YES movement is back, and I do not think they have a marquee match in mind for The Fiend at WrestleMania. I think Daniel Bryan will get his win back from Survivor Series.
Magnum: I’m surprised that they brought Kane into the mix. I don’t know if he’ll be a presence here (more likely the Rumble itself), but I’ll take Wyatt to retain and stay strong through the coming months.
Men’s Royal Rumble – Winning Pick Worth THREE Points
30-man Royal Rumble match for a World/Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 36
Bonus Point Opportunity: Brock Lesnar is picking #1 – Can you guess who #2 will be?
Colin: It would be super hilarious if Brock Lesnar wins. Actually, I’m going with Brock Lesnar to win this whole damn thing. And #2? I say it will be Ricochet!
Tom: After Raw last week, Ricochet will be #2 and hold off a hard fight from Brock for a while. But at the end of the night, I predict that Roman Reigns will toss out Brock to win the Royal Rumble and then challenge Brock at WrestleMania.
Don: Hustle, Loyalty and Respect is what it will take to win this years Royal Rumble. John Cena has teased many appearances last year to return at a PPV, but I believe the WWE universe will believe it when they see it. You can’t see me….or will we? John Cena wins his 3rd Royal Rumble. As for #2, give me Matt Riddle, BRO.
Magnum: I am incredibly stoked for this match. I’ve heard all the rumored names (Punk, Cena, Cain, Kane, and even freaking EDGE) and I could see one of them being #2 (I’ll pick Punk on that) but I’ve had my eye on someone else winning it for some time. Although Vegas and the UK betting sites say Roman Reigns is the favorite, I’m rolling with Drew McIntyre. He called his shot last Monday, and I think he will deliver.
Okay folks there you have it! We’ll see you next month for the ELIMINATION CHAMBER! @TheMagnumDA signing off.
It’s that time of the month again…and WrestleMania season is just around the corner. But first, it’s time for the Royal Rumble. We will be taking a look at the odds for all the matches on the card. Please remember that odds might and will probably change as the show gets closer to bell time.
In the men’s Rumble match, Roman Reigns remains the favorite with odds of 1/2. Coming behind him second favorite is Drew McIntyre who has odds of 10/3. CM Punk, who is highly unlikely to be part of the match is third with odds of 4/1. Brock Lesnar is entering #1 and has 13/2 odds.
Shayna Baszler is the favorite to win the women’s Rumble match with odds of 1/3. Ronda Rousey is second favorite with odds of 9/2 despite the fact that she is not officially part of the match and no mention of her was ever made. Charlotte Flair has 13/2 odds for third and Sasha Banks is at 8/1.
The Fiend Bray Wyatt also remains the favorite to retain the Universal title against Daniel Bryan in the strap match. Wyatt has 1/6 odds while Bryan is at 7/2. The United States champion Andrade is 4/11 to keep his title while the challenger Humberto Carrillo is at 2/1.
Becky Lynch has never beat Asuka yet but that might change tonight and bookmakers have The Man as the favorite to retain the Raw Women’s title with odds of 1/5 against The Empress who is at 10/3 to win the title. The Smackdown Women’s champion Bayley has odds of 1/2 to retain her gold against Lacey Evans who is 6/4.
In the other two remaining matches, Roman Reigns is 8/11 to win the last man standing match against Baron Corbin who is at 1/1 and Sheamus is 1/8 favorite over Shorty G who has 9/2 odds.
Live from the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, WWE presents the 2020 Royal Rumble on pay-per-view and WWE Network. The full card is as follows:
The Fiend Bray Wyatt vs Daniel Bryan for the Universal title; Becky Lynch vs Asuka for the Raw Women’s title; Bayley vs Lacey Evans for the Smackdown Women’s title; Andrade vs Humberto Carrillo for the United States title; Roman Reigns vs King Corbin in a falls count anywhere match; Shorty G vs Sheamus; and the men’s and women’s over-the-top rope Royal Rumble matches. A list of the full participants confirmed so far can be found here.
The Royal Rumble is free for first-time subscribers to the WWE Network. To kick start your 30-day free trial, go to http://w-o.it/wwentwrk now.
26 WWE Superstars have been announced for the men’s Royal Rumble match so far, leaving only a few wiggle room for any potential surprises.
Those who have announced their intention to be part of the match are (in alphabetical order) AJ Styles, Aleister Black, Baron Corbin, Big E, Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, Brock Lesnar, Buddy Murphy, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Elias, Erick Rowan, John Morrison, Kevin Owens, Kofi Kingston, Otis, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Roman Reigns, Rusev, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tucker, and The Miz.
The women’s Royal Rumble match is a completely different story though as only seven out of the 30 have been publicly announced. These are Alexa Bliss, Carmella, Charlotte Flair, Dana Brooke, Natalya, Nikki Cross, and Sarah Logan. With the women’s division roster not as deep as the men’s, it will take NXT women and probably other legends and former Superstars to make up the 30.
Last year, six women from NXT were involved in the Rumble including Xia Li, Kairi Sane, Candice LaRae, Kacy Catanzaro, Io Shirai, and Rhea Ripley. There were no other surprises in the match. In the men’s match, Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne, and Aleister Black represented NXT while Jeff Jarrett was the only surprise entrant.
PWInsider.com is reporting that they have heard from those within the company that Sting is being lined up to play a major part in the upcoming Saudi Arabia show next month.
“Over the last 24 hours, several sources within WWE have told PWInsider.com that there’s been a lot of talk that WWE Hall of Famer Sting will be a major part of the 2/27 Saudi Arabia event next month, possibly even returning to the ring for one more match,” the PWInsider report states.
The headline also suggests that Sting could very well be making a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble tonight to get the ball rolling for his involvement in the show.
Sting has not wrestled since his WWE title match against Seth Rollins at Night of Champions in 2015. He was injured that night after Rollins performed a turnbuckle powerbomb on him which resulted in a very bad neck injury. The match was cut short after Sting was barely able to move. He announced his retirement at the Hall of Fame ceremony in 2016.
