This year’s Royal Rumble matches had a few returns and some NXT call-ups as well but no major surprise entrant on the magnitude of Edge last year.
In the women’s Rumble, Naomi made her first WWE appearance since August 2020 and came in at number two, lasting over 47 minutes in total. During her time away from the ring, Naomi underwent surgery but got her glow back last night with an ironwoman performance.
Lana also made her return to the ring after missing out on becoming WWE Women’s Tag Team champion with Asuka in December. She was written out with an injury storyline and Charlotte Flair took her place instead. Lana returned and eliminated one of her bullies, Nia Jax, in the Rumble.
Perhaps the biggest surprise entry was Christian, who came in at #24 in the Rumble. Captain Charisma last had a proper match in 2014 although last year he was supposed to have a match against Orton, a match which was super quick after Ric Flair turned on him. Christian was in the final four of the match.
And the last return was none other than Seth Rollins who entered at #29. Rollins was last seen at the Survivor Series and took time off to spend with his newborn. During the show, his fiancee Becky Lynch posted a photo of the curtain at Gorilla Position, teasing a return, but it was Rollins the one behind it. Rollins was advertised to return on the January 1 episode of Smackdown but then quietly removed from all advertising before the show.
The two NXT call-ups this year were Rhea Ripley and Damien Priest. Both have departed the yellow brand and were waiting for their time to debut on the main roster which kept being pushed back up until last night.
The WWE Legends who returned at the Rumble to fill in some spots this year were Victoria, Torrie Wilson, Alicia Fox, Carlito, Kane, The Hurricane, and the already-mentioned Christian.
Here are the results from the 2021 Royal Rumble pay-per-view which took place from the ThunderDome inside the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defeated Charlotte Flair and Asuka to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team champions in the Kickoff match; Drew McIntyre defeated Goldberg to retain the WWE title; Sasha Banks defeated Carmella to retain the Smackdown Women’s title; Bianca Belair won the women’s Royal Rumble match; Roman Reigns defeated Kevin Owens in a last man standing match to retain the Universal title; Edge won the men’s Royal Rumble match.
Edge made history at the Rumble, coming in at #1 and winning the Royal Rumble over-the-top rope match, lasting over 58 minutes to continue his fairytale comeback.
The WWE Hall of Famer was supposed to enter the Rumble at #2 with Orton at #1 but their entries were swapped and Orton actually spent the majority of the match out after Edge attacked his knee with a chair. Orton was sent to the back and his name didn’t come back up…until the very end.
The final four were Edge, the returning Christian, the returning Seth Rollins, and Braun Strowman. Rollins helped eliminate Christian and Strowman before Edge eliminated Rollins. But as soon as he turned around, Randy Orton flew in with an RKO out of nowhere. Orton was never eliminated and his knee injury was just part of his scheme. But that didn’t work either as just as Orton was about to throw Edge, Edge turned the tables on him and tossed him over the top rope for the win.
Edge returned to WWE at last year’s Royal Rumble to a huge surprise but spent the last six months injured after he had to undergo surgery to repair a torn triceps. He declared that he would be entering the Rumble last week on Raw.
This is Edge’s second Rumble win after also outlasting everyone in 2010. He joins Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit as the only ones who came in at #1 and winning the match. Michaels did it in 1995 and Benoit did it in 2004.
Entering at #3, the EST of WWE Bianca Belair outlasted everyone in the women’s Royal Rumble and booked a ticket to WrestleMania to take on a champion of her choosing.
Belair made history by becoming the first African-American WWE Superstar to win the Royal Rumble and showed genuine emotion in the post-match comments with Kayla Braxton. “I did it! Now I’m gonna put the EST in WrestleMania,” a crying Belair said. Belair also had a shout-out to her mom and dad in what was probably the real-est post-match interview in several years.
The final four involved Belair, Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, and Natalya who entered in at #30. Natalya was eliminated and then Belair and Ripley took out Flair. It was a back-and-forth affair between the final two former NXT stars but Belair had Ripley’s number this time around.
The 31-year-old started her wrestling career with WWE and signed a deal with the company in 2016. She remained in NXT until 2020 and was called up to the main roster at last year’s WrestleMania.
Belair was the favorite to win the match in betting odds leading up to the Royal Rumble.
Good evening everybody!! It’s @TheMagnumDA with the first PPV Pick’em report for 2021, and you know what that means…IT’S TIME TO RUMBLE!!! IT’S TIME…FOR THE ROYALLLL RUMBLE!!! Without question, this is my favorite PPV of the year, and I’m going to kick the year off right by putting up the WOPC Championship against the entire Pick’em Crew, and that includes our newest member…the malicious METAL MIKE. This card is going to have all kinds of points at stake, so anything could happen! At the time the Pick’ems were completed, Sasha vs. Carmella was not booked and we were unaware of what would happen at WWE Backstage. As a collective unit, we all believe Sasha will retain her Women’s Championship, so we’ll disregard the picks for that match.
With that said, ON WITH THE PICKS!!!
Women’s Royal Rumble Match (Winning Pick Worth 5 Points)
The Renegade: A lot of talent to choose from, and a lot of directions this could go…but I’m rolling with Bianca Belair. She’s got a lot of momentum.
Metal Mike: I’m torn – it could honestly be anybody. In the end, I think Bayley is a dark horse, but I’m going to take her.
Heel Turn Tom: I’m also going to roll with Bayley – I think she will challenge Sasha on the grandest stage of all – WrestleMania XXXVII.
Tricky Don: As crazy as it seems, I’ve gotta take a chance on Alexa Bliss. She looks unbeatable in her new role.
Colin: There are a few picks I would like to see winning: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, and Bayley. But I am hoping this time around it is Rhea Ripley’s time. She’s got it all and she is the next “big” thing in the women’s division I think. Go Rhea!
Magnum: I love the diversity in these picks – I am quite certain that we’re not going to have any ties by the end of the night (but remember, if we do, the Champ retains!) With that said, I am going to take Bianca Belair to win the Rumble. They’ve been showcasing her all month on Smackdown, so it only makes sense that she ascends to the title match at WrestleMania.
Bonus Point Opportunities (Up to 7 Possible Points!):
1. Who will draw #1?
2. Name 1 Wrestler (NOT announced) that will participate in the match.
3. Give me your final four (1 point for each correct pick)
4. Who will have the longest time duration in the match (ie Rey Mysterio holds the longest time duration in 2006, going over 61 minutes).
The Renegade: I think Bianca Belair will actually go the distance as #1. At last check, Charlotte was not announced for the match, so I’ll take her. I could see the Final Four being Belair, Flair, Bayley, and Liv Morgan. Finally, I think Belair will set the time record this year, going bell to bell to win it all.
Metal Mike: I’ll take Bianca Belair as the #1 entrant. For surprise entrants, I’ll take Trish Stratus to make an appearance. I’ll also take Bianca to be in the Final Four with Bayley, Peyton Royce, and Liv Morgan. Bianca will hold the time record this year, as well.
Heel Turn Tom: I think Lana will be the #1 entrant. At the time of writing this, Rhea Ripley was not announced for the match, so I’ll take her as an unannounced pick. My Final Four is Flair, Bayley, Belair, and Ripley. Finally, I’ll take Bayley is the participant who stays in the longest.
Tricky Don: I’ll take Bayley at #1. I will also pick Trish Stratus to make a surprise appearance. My Final Four is Trish, Charlotte, Bianca Belair, and Alexa Bliss. For length, I’ll say Lana shocks the world and stays in the longest.
Colin: I’ll take Bayley as the #1 entrant in the match. I picked Rhea to win it, and as of press time, she wasn’t announced…so Rhea Ripley it is! I think the Final Four will be Ripley, Belair, Alexa Bliss, and Shayna Baszler. Even though she’s not in my Final Four, I think Bayley will last longer than the entire field, in terms of time.
Magnum: I am very much enjoying these “Bayley at #1” picks…and if Belair eliminates her later in the night, Bayley would definitely have an argument there! So yeah, Bayley at #1 sounds good – same goes for the time record. I was surprised that Rhea Ripley was not announced as of press time, and I’m quite certain she’d make an appearance this year. For my Final Four, I’ll say Belair, Ripley, Nia Jax, and Natalya.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
Asuka and Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler
The Renegade: I’m going to take Asuka and Flair to hold on to the gold.
Metal Mike: Asuka is one tuff lady, but I’m rolling with Jax/Baszler to take the titles back.
Heel Turn Tom: I see WWE wanting to have Asuka and Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania. Tonight will be the new Mega Powers exploding. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler will be the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Tricky Don: The Jumping Bomb Angels were 30 years ahead of their time, and would have been perfect for this match. I think we see some early tension between Asuka and Charlotte, but when the dust settles, they will retain the titles and be victorious at the Rumble. Asuka and Charlotte Flair retain.
Colin: Too early to take the titles off Charlotte and Asuka. When it happens, the duo will implode and it will be Asuka vs Flair again for the Raw Women’s title. But not tonight…maybe next month or so. Asuka and Flair for the win.
Magnum: This is difficult, but in the end, I think whatever happened to Asuka (with Alexa Bliss) is going to alter her psyche for this match. I’ll take Jax and Baszler to win the straps back tonight.
WWE Universal Championship – Last Man Standing
Roman Reigns (c) w/Paul Heyman vs. Kevin Owens
The Renegade: This is a hard one to pick, but I think Roman Reigns is going to retain the Championship.
Metal Mike: I’m rolling with the Canadian Destroyer – I think Kevin Owens is the guy who can finally knock Roman off his block.
Heel Turn Tom: The Roman Reigns storyline might be the best in WWE right now and I am sure that they will want to at least ride it out until WrestleMania. Roman Reigns with possibly a little help from his cousins win to retain the WWE Universal Championship.
Tricky Don: Kevin Owens took the huge bump at WrestleMania 36, and he will have a bump gone bad at the rumble. Kevin Owens will miss the last high spot, and Reigns will be victorious. Roman Reigns retains.
Colin: This feud has been pretty awesome so far. I’m loving it. But let’s face it, the head of the table is walking into WrestleMania as THE Universal champion. So predicting a Roman Reigns win but Kevin Owens will take him to the limit and come out even stronger after this match.
Magnum: Roman is absolutely on top of his game. Owens is going to look great in this match, but in the end, it’s the man at the Head of the Table who keeps his crown. Reigns retains.
WWE Championship
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Goldberg
The Renegade: I’ve gotta believe that Drew will hold on to the title. I’ll take Drew McIntyre.
Metal Mike: Goldberg is a once-in-a-while guy who shows up on occasion. Drew is the workhorse – it would be terrible to put the strap on Goldberg, so I’ll take Drew.
Heel Turn Tom: I can’t fantasy book any good story lines that would be worthwhile with Goldberg winning. This will be the shortest match of night and when Goldberg goes for a spear McIntyre will hit a Claymore to get the three-count to retain the WWE Championship.
Tricky Don: Goldberg has to pass the torch to McIntyre, allowing Drew to go into WrestleMania strong and with a lot momentum. Drew McIntyre retains.
Colin: Oh man, I hope Goldberg doesn’t win this one. I will be super pissed if he does. With that said, I’m putting my money on Drew McIntyre to defeat the mighty Goldberg. The question is if The Miz cashes in or no. His time is running out for the cash-in and today would be a good day to cash in.
Magnum: I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I do believe that this will end with The Miz as the WWE Champion. I am not sure how, but I don’t see Miz waiting until WrestleMania to get this title match. Before that happens, I could see Drew McIntyre retaining the title in a hard fought match with Goldberg.
Men’s Royal Rumble Match (Winning Pick Worth 5 Points)
The Renegade: I know that he’s an early pick, but I’m going to stick with Edge.
Metal Mike: I am going to take the man with the momentum – Daniel Bryan. He’s got everything going his way, and this would be a nice addition to his portfolio of accomplishments.
Heel Turn Tom: There is a lot of buzz around Daniel Bryan to win. I could see him versus Roman at WrestleMania. So, my pick is Bryan. Yes! Yes! Yes!
Tricky Don: Everyone’s calling for Daniel Bryan, and so am I. Yes! Yes! Yes!
Colin: So many potential winners here and I’m torn between Edge, Daniel Bryan, and Shinsuke Nakamura. A Daniel Bryan win would be sweet and like he said he never won it. Edge doesn’t really need this win to be quite honest but Edge vs Roman sounds promising as well. Nakamura is the most underrated star on the roster. I want to see the NXT Nakamura or even the NJPW Nakamura. Main roster Nakamura is meh. But anyway, I think I’ll pick Daniel Bryan. Time for the Yes! Movement to be resurrected.
Magnum: I know we have a press time deadline, but in the last 24 hours, I’ve heard a ton of buzz surrounding Seth Rollins’ return at this show. If that’s the case, we have to remember that this guy is one of the biggest names in WWE. He had become depraved and crazy, which is the perfect opponent for a guy like Drew McIntyre. That said, if Kevin Owens wins the title tonight, Rollins could head to Smackdown and challenge him as well. Either way, there’s more money to be earned in heartbreak…and I think Edge and Daniel Bryan will have their hearts broken by the Messiah. Seth Rollins wins his second Royal Rumble in 3 years.
Bonus Point Opportunities (Up to 7 Possible Points!):
1. Who will draw #30?
2. Name 1 Wrestler (NOT announced) that will participate.
3. Give me your final four (1 point for each correct pick)
4. Who will have the longest time duration in the match (ie Rey Mysterio holds the longest time duration in 2006, going over 61 minutes).
The Renegade: I could see a repeat of 2008, where John Cena shows up as #30. Cena would be the unannounced entrant, in my opinion. I’ll take RKO, Edge, Cena, and Nakamura as my Final Four. Finally, I’m not sure how, but I think Nakamura could actually outlast Edge and Orton in time duration.
Metal Mike: I’ll take King Corbin at #30. I think we could see the Big Show as an unannounced entrant. My Final Four could be Daniel Bryan, The Fiend, Bobby Lashley, and The Miz. I think The Fiend could be an early entrant, and outlast the entire field.
Heel Turn Tom: I’ll take The Miz as the #30 entrant. I’ll say Tommaso Ciampa as one of the unannounced entrants. My Final Four is The Miz, John Morrison, Big E, and Daniel Bryan. I think Ziggler is the kind of work horse who could be in the match the longest.
Tricky Don: I also have The Miz as my #30 entrant. I think Carlito could be a surprise entrant…that’s cool. My Final Four is Bryan, Big E, Miz, and John Morrison. I’ll also roll with Morrison as the guy who’s in there the longest.
Colin: For #30, let’s just throw CM Punk out there. Why not?! I’ll pick Adam Cole (BAY BAY!) as the unannounced pick. My Final Four is Bryan, Nakamura, Edge, and Randy Orton. I’ll take AJ Styles to last in the match the longest.
Magnum: I’m actually going to address all of this up in one fell swoop – I think Rollins is the shocking #30 entrant (unannounced – so I’m picking Rollins there too). It will come down to Daniel Bryan, Edge, Seth Rollins, and Braun Strowman in my Final Four. Since Edge is in my Final Four, I’ll also take him to have the longest time duration – Orton will be taken out by The Fiend earlier in the match.
Alright folks, that’s going to do it for us! From the ENTIRE WOPC Pick’em Crew, we hope you have a Happy New Year. Wishing you continued safety and wellness – see you next month for the ELIMINATION CHAMBER!! @TheMagnumDA signing off.
It’s Royal Rumble Sunday and we’re just a few hours away from the first WWE pay-per-view of the 2021 calendar. Today we take a look at the betting odds of all the matches on the card.
Remember, odds will probably change by the time the show starts so please be careful when placing any bets with real money and you can also check out no deposit bonus casino for more games.
In the Universal title match, Roman Reigns is the overwhelming favorite to retain the title in the last man standing match with odds of 1/20 while Kevin Owens is way, way behind with 8/1 odds for the huge upset. The odds are closer when it comes to the WWE title match as Drew McIntyre has 1/2 odds and is favorite in his match against Goldberg who is 6/4 to win his first WWE title.
Sasha Banks is also a heavy favorite to keep the Smackdown Women’s title as The Legit Boss has 1/5 odds while her challenger Carmella is 10/3 to win the title again. In the other championship match, Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax look like they will walk out with the titles if bookmakers are correct with their odds at 4/9 while the current WWE Women Tag Team champions Charlotte Flair and Asuka are 13/8 to retain.
The men’s Royal Rumble match still has Daniel Bryan as the favorite to win the whole thing with his odds at 10/11 at time of this writing. Edge is second with 5/2 odds and Brock Lesnar has 4/1 odds despite not being confirmed for the show. Big E rounds up the top five with 10/1 odds.
In the women’s Royal Rumble match, it’s Bianca Belair who continues to command a lead in bets as she is listed 5/4 to win the match. Alexa Bliss is in second with 10/3 odds while Rhea Ripley is 4/1 to win and Charlotte Flair is 6/1 to repeat last year’s result. Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey, who are not announced for the match, have 10/1 odds.
25 men and 16 women have been announced so far for tonight’s Royal Rumble over-the-top rope matches, leaving plenty of wiggle room for some legend returns and maybe a surprise or two.
In the men’s Rumble match, the participants include AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Big E, Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Dominik Mysterio, Edge, Elias, Jeff Hardy, Jey Uso, John Morrison, Mustafa Ali, Otis, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Riddle, Sami Zayn, Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura, The Miz, and Xavier Woods. As announced on Backstage, Randy Orton will enter #1 and Edge will enter #2. With 25 announced, there are five individuals left to enter.
The women entering the Rumble include Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Bianca Belair, Billie Kay, Charlotte Flair, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Natalya, Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, Ruby Riott, Shayna Baszler, Tamina, and Nia Jax. Natalya will enter at #30 after winning her match on Backstage. 14 more are left to be announced for this match which will include a mixture of NXT and WWE Legends.
Last year, WWE announced 26 men as part of the Rumble match before the show and only seven for the women’s match.
Live tonight from the ThunderDome at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, WWE presents their first pay-per-view of the 2021 calendar, the Royal Rumble. The full card is as follows:
Roman Reigns vs Kevin Owens in a last man standing match for the Universal title; Drew McIntyre vs Goldberg for the WWE title; Sasha Banks vs Carmella for the Smackdown Women’s title; Asuka and Charlotte Flair vs Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles; and the two – men and women – Royal Rumble over-the-top rope matches with the winners each receiving a title shot of their choosing at WrestleMania.
There is no match confirmed yet for the Kickoff show, a show which will air free on the WWE Network and all of WWE’s social media properties starting at 6PM ET. The Royal Rumble starts at 7PM ET.
Watch Along will return tonight for the Royal Rumble along with a special edition of The Bump earlier in the day.
The Bump kicks things off first at 4PM ET with the crew welcoming Hulk Hogan, Daniel Bryan, Goldberg, Josiah Williams, and Sam Gradwell as the guests. The Bump is anchored by Kayla Braxton and airs for free on the WWE Network and WWE’s social media channels.
Watch Along will start immediately with the pay-per-view as a star-studded cast of current and former WWE Superstars join in to watch the show together. Scheduled to drop in during the broadcast are The Bella Twins, DDP, Rikishi, Tegan Nox, Sam Roberts, Vic Joseph, Kayla Braxton and the cast of WWE’s The Bump, RJ City, Alex Pagan, Superfan Mike Brown, and more. Watch Along airs on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
There will also be a one-hour Kickoff show to get the Rumble going starting at 6PM ET but no panel members have been announced yet.
Mia Yim, who is part of Retribution as Reckoning, revealed last night that she tested positive for COVID-19.
“This morning at around 10:30AM, I debunked a rumor stating I was positive with Covid. For that, I must make a statement,” Yim wrote in a post on social media. “I have been getting tested every week for several months now, all have been negatives. I was negative last week. I got tested this afternoon less than an hour ago and it came back positive,” she continued.
With a positive result, Yim will obviously not be part of the Royal Rumble event even though officially she was never announced for the women’s match. Her COVID-19 diagnosis could also be a potential problem for another WWE Superstar, Keith Lee, who is in a relationship with Yim.
Lee has not appeared on WWE television for two weeks straight and he’s already announced to be part of the men’s Rumble match tonight. No announcement regarding Lee has been made yet.
“Please respect my privacy,” Yim continued. “Please stay safe, wash your hands, and wear a mask. See you all soon!”
WWE plans to return to a one-night WrestleMania after this year according to Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon.
Speaking to TV Insider, McMahon said that they went for two nights this year to maximize the value during these unique times but not to expect this to continue in the years to come. “We have plans to go back to one night for future WrestleMania events, but of course we will see what happens this year,” McMahon said.
This will be the second year in a row that WrestleMania will be held over two days during the “pandemic era” after last year the show also went two nights. The difference this time around is that a limited number of fans will be inside Raymond James Stadium and they will get the chance to be the first fans in over a year to watch a live WWE event.
“We want to deliver the best possible value we can for our fans who are hopefully able to attend and for those watching all around the world,” McMahon said, calling the fans the “secret sauce” of WWE.
McMahon added that they’re looking at merging the ThunderDome setup with real fans in the biggest and best way they possibly can at WrestleMania, mentioning that they’re still in the planning stages and will be looking at the Super Bowl for tips.
Fans of Impact Wrestling in the United Kingdom and Ireland will have another way how to watch Impact shows as the company announced that the weekly episodes will now be available to stream on their Facebook and YouTube accounts within hours of the American broadcasts.
The shows will obviously be geo-locked so only those with an IP address in the United Kingdom and Ireland will be able to watch these videos.
Last year, Impact Wrestling announced a new broadcast deal in the UK with FreeSports, with the channel airing Impact every Wednesday night at 10PM local time and pay-per-views airing live on Premier Sports.
It won’t be happening in Japan, but it’s happening nonetheless! New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that Jon Moxley will be defending his United States IWGP Heavyweight title against KENTA on Friday, February 26 as part of the NJPW The New Beginning USA show.
Moxley made his first NJPW appearance last Friday in a year and attacked KENTA, who has the number one contender briefcase for the IWGP U.S. title which he won at the New Japan Cup USA tournament last year. Due to travel restrictions, the former AEW World champion was not able to travel to Japan to fulfill his commitments to NJPW but the company opted to let him keep the title which has been dormant since then.
His last title defense came on February 9, 2020 at The New Beginning In Osaka, beating Minoru Suzuki to retain the gold.
The February 26 episode will air on the NJPW World streaming service and will be taped from NJPW’s training dojo in Los Angeles, California.
The season six finale of Total Bellas, episode nine titled From Gynos to Wino, drew 432,000 viewer, up 80,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. It had a 0.18 in the 18-49 demo and was #34 on the cable chart. Season six of Total Bellas had an average of just 343,000 viewers this time around, a big drop from the 510,000 average of last season. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
On WWE Backstage last night, it was revealed that friends turned enemies Randy Orton and Edge will be entering the Royal Rumble as the #1 and #2 entrants, reigniting the feud exactly where they left off back in June.
Edge was a very surprise entry at last year’s Royal Rumble and then embarked on a program with his former tag team partner Orton which led to a match at WrestleMania and one at Backlash which was dubbed the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever. Edge was unfortunately injured during that match and had to undergo surgery. This will be his first appearance in a WWE ring since that match.
In a video appearance last week on Raw, Edge said that winning the Rumble is the only way for him to get to the WrestleMania main event and reclaim what is rightfully his, the title that he had to vacate when he had to retire.
Meanwhile, Natalya was a bit luckier than Orton and Edge as she won a match against Tamina on Backstage for the right to enter #30 in the women’s Royal Rumble match.
Backstage returned on FS1 last night for a special Royal Rumble episode, hosted by Renee Paquette and joined by Booker T and Paige. The show was held in-studio using the original Backstage setup.
We are just over 24 hours away from the Royal Rumble and the road to WrestleMania officially kicks off tomorrow night. We will be taking a look at the odds of the Royal Rumble over-the-top rope matches tonight and tomorrow we will publish the odds for the whole card.
The men’s Rumble match currently has Daniel Bryan as the favorite with 1/1 odds. Bryan has never won a Rumble match – or even a battle royal – in his wrestling career and winning tomorrow would not be a bad start.
Rounding up the top five favorites to win the Rumble are Edge with 2/1 odds, Brock Lesnar at 7/1, Keith Lee at 7/1, and Big E at 8/1.
In the women’s Rumble match, former NXT star Bianca Belair is the favorite to win the match with odds of 5/4. Belair has not tasted gold yet in WWE and winning this one guarantees her a title shot at WrestleMania.
Alexa Bliss is second favorite with odds of 10/3, Rhea Ripley is at 4/1 to win, and Charlotte Flair is 6/1 to become the first double winner of the women’s Rumble match. Flair won the match last year and cashed in against Rhea Ripley to win the NXT Women’s title at WrestleMania.
Friday Night Smackdown on FOX drew 2,227,000 viewers in the overnight numbers, down 55,000 viewers from last week’s overnight. Last week’s show ended up doing 2,383,000 viewers once the final numbers came in.
Smackdown started with 2,294,000 viewers in the first hour and then did 2,161,000 viewers in the second hour. It placed #1 among the 18-34 and 18-49 demographic with 0.3 and 0.6 ratings respectively and #2 in 25-54 with 0.75. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Nikki and Brie Bella were on The Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday, hosted by huge WWE fan Mario Lopez, and announced that they’re “definitely” coming out of retirement.
“When I heard about Dallas 2022, Hollywood 2023, I got chills,” Nikki told Lopez.”And I said, ‘Brie, we have never gone after the tag titles.’ They were made for us. There’s another run in the Bella Twins.”
Nikki last wrestled in 2018, losing to Ronda Rousey at a live event in Bologna, Italy during the WWE European tour while Brie also had her last match that same year teaming up with Nikki and ronda Rousey to take on the Riott Squad at the Super Show-Down card in Australia.
In June of 2019, Nikki said that she retired from in-ring competition due to another herniated disc and a cyst in her brain while Brie wanted to have another baby. Eventually, both Nikki and Brie got pregnant at the same time. The duo were supposed to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame last year but the ceremony was postponed due to coronavirus.
Towards the end of last year, both of them hinted that they would like to come out of retirement at some point.
The NXT Women’s title will be on the line at the upcoming Takeover on February 14 in a triple threat match as it was announced yesterday that champion Io Shirai will be defending the belt against Toni Storm and Mercedes Martinez.
This will be Shirai’s first title defense since November 18, 2020 when she took on Rhea Ripley on an episode of NXT on USA Network. Shirai won the 22-minute match.
Despite the show being just two weeks away, this is actually the first match which has been promoted to take part of the broadcast. There’s no name yet for this Takeover and it’s simply being referred to as NXT Takeover 33.
Former AEW champion Jon Moxley made an appearance on last night’s NJPW Strong show and attacked KENTA, El Phantasmo, and Hikuleo after the six-man tag team main event match.
Moxley, who is the IWGP United States champion, was gunning for KENTA and told everyone that one of these days, he will be facing KENTA in Japan with the title on the line. KENTA is the number one contender for the IWGP U.S. title after winning the contract at the New Japan Cup USA tournament last year.
Jon Moxley has been champion for nearly 400 days but has not defended the title since February 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic hit, preventing him from traveling to Japan to fulfill his obligations. Instead of stripping him off the title, NJPW decided to stick with him and ride it out hoping that he would be able to do some travel this year.
NJPW Strong airs every Friday on the NJPW World streaming service and on FITE.TV.
