Random Thougths on WWE Royal Rumble 2024

The 37^th annual Royal Rumble show is over and done with, meaning that we are officially on the road to WrestleMania.

I’m here to share my thoughts on the show, so please look away now if you wish to avoid spoilers.

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30-Woman Royal Rumble Match

I thought it was a very good Royal Rumble. It’s always hard to write a few sentences about an hour long match with 30 women in it. I’m certainly happy with Bayley as the winner. I imagined she would have won it. Nia Jax was a force throughout the match, then Jade Cargill showed up and she destroyed Jax by herself to eliminate Jax from the match. Bayley was crafty throughout the match by capitalizing on opportunities when they were presented to her and that set up the finish with Bayley eliminating Morgan right after Morgan got rid of Cargill. I think the first half of the match had some dull moments, then it was pretty good around the middle and then the final 15 minutes or so were excellent. Jordynne Grace was a surprise, and maybe this could open the door for more TNA talent to appear on WWE programming. I thought the R-Truth spot was funny. He pulls it off well all the time. Lastly, I was entertained by Chelsea Green’s involvement. Like Truth, she had some funny moments, too.

Winner: Bayley

Rating: ****

WWE Undisputed Heavyweight Championship

Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight vs. Roman Reigns ©

The match was full of action from the start and going about 20 minutes is plenty of time for a match like that. The issue is that nobody thought that Reigns would lose, so there wasn’t that much drama in the match. It’s still a good match because they had some creative spots and worked well together throughout the match. The key thing was that Orton had it won with his RKO, but Solo Sikoa broke up the pin and it wasn’t illegal in a match without disqualifications. I think that might set up an Orton-Solo match at WrestleMania because it makes sense to do that and have Orton facing a rising star like Solo. Orton grabbing at his left arm/shoulder is concerning. I hope he’s okay and it’s nothing serious. Knight did fine in the match and so did Styles, but Orton came across as the biggest threat to Reigns in this match.

Winner and STILL Undisputed Heavyweight Champion: Roman Reigns via pinfall

Rating: *** ½

WWE United States Championship

Paul Logan © vs. Kevin Owens

A non-decisive finish to end a match that was entertaining most of the way. Owens sold his right hand/arm injury well throughout the match. Most of Paul’s matches have him get help from a friend, so at least this time they stopped Paul’s friend from interfering. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory nearly helped Paul win, but Owens was too smart for that. I thought the finish was clever in the sense that Owens had his hand in the perfect spot for the referee to see it, so they executed it perfectly. I didn’t expect Paul to lose. I’m fine with the result of Paul keeping the title.

Winner and STILL United States Champion: Logan Paul via DQ

Rating: *** ½

30- Man Royal Rumble Match

I thought the final four wrestlers in the match (Punk, Rhodes, Gunther and McIntyre) elevated this match to where I can call it a four-star level Royal Rumble. It didn’t have enough interesting moments early other than Bron Breakker putting on a show and standing out with his performance. I’m so excited about Bron’s future. That final four of Cody, Punk, Drew and Gunther were tremendous. Drew really stood out with his dominant performance while Gunther was his usual great self. The final two with Cody and Punk was well done because they got plenty of time and it wasn’t rushed. It looked like Punk was going to win, but they kept on countering each other with Cody finding ways to hang on. I like how Punk said he didn’t come back after ten years to lose to Dusty’s kid and then Cody blocked the GTS leading to Cody tossing out Punk easily. I was happy with that ending.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

Rating: **** ½

Overall Show Rating (out of 10): 7

I think the two Royal Rumble matches were very good and maybe even great. It’s difficult on first watch while I’m trying to recap it for our readers. I think the Men’s Royal Rumble match was a bit better in part thanks to how great the final four sequence was as well as the final two with Cody Rhodes-CM Punk. You really couldn’t tell who would win between Cody and Punk, so to have Cody find a way to win was a cool ending to the show. Hopefully Cody wins at WrestleMania this year.

I’m so happy for Bayley winning the Women’s Royal Rumble match as well.

In the Women’s Royal Rumble, I was really impressed with how well Jade Cargill did. They treated her like a big deal and she did a tremendous job of taking out Nia Jax, who was dominant before that. Bron Breakker also had a standout performance in the Men’s Royal Rumble matches.

The Roman Reigns title defense against Randy Orton, LA Knight and AJ Styles was good, but it didn’t feel like an epic, great match. Reigns got help from Solo Sikoa yet again, so it was yet another case of Reigns surviving again. The US Title match with Logan Paul/Kevin Owens felt just average to me with a DQ finish, so it was disappointing that way.

I think the two Royal Rumble matches were clearly the highlights of the show. Both of them had strong endings, so that helped a lot. I did enjoy it overall.