Royal Rumble 2021 Review

Sunday, January 31st, 2021
Tropicana Field
St. Petersburg, Florida

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WWE Championship Match

Goldberg vs. Drew McIntyre

McIntyre pushes Goldberg immediately and then hits him with a Spear. Out of the ring they go and Goldberg throws McIntyre into the steps and then Spears him through the barricade. McIntyre is selling the ribs and once he gets back in the ring, he kicks a charging Goldberg and hits the Claymore Kick. 1...2..he kicks out. Goldberg recovers and hits 2 Spears, but McIntyre kicks out. Goldberg hits the Jackhammer and again McIntyre kicks out. Goldberg trying to act shocked is amusing. McIntyre avoids a Spear and hits him with another Claymore Kick this time for the victory. That followed the new standard of Goldberg matches and probably all for the better. There were a lot of people thinking McIntyre was going to lose, but I think this was the only call here. This was entertaining overall, but too short to really go too high on it. After the match, Goldberg tells McIntyre that he passed the test and they shake hands. 

Match Rating: **

SmackDown Women's Championship Match

Carmella vs. Sasha Banks

Sasha goes right for the Bank Statement, but Carmella is able to roll out of the ring. Sasha trips up Reggie off the apron, but then Carmella capitalizes. She leaps off his back to deliver a clothesline on the announce table. Carmella slows things down and puts on a rear chinlock. She goes for a handstand hurricanrana off the top rope, but Sasha blocks it and hits the Meteora. Carmella trips up Banks and she hits her throat on the second rope. Sasha fights back and hits another variation of the double knees and hits two of the Three Amigos. Carmella is able to throw Sasha out of the ring, but Reggie catches her and Sasha hits him with a headscissor. The referee sends Reggie to the locker room and in comes a diving Carmella. That landing did not look great for Carmella. Ouch. She's up quickly though and rolls Sasha in for a 2 count. Sasha goes for the Frog Splash, but Carmella gets her knees up. Carmella puts on Code Of Silence. Sasha is out and again goes up top, but Carmella hits her with a superkick for another nearfall. Sasha is able to put on the Bank Statement in the center of the ring and Carmella taps. They got a lot more time than the opener, but felt disjointed and the chemistry just wasn't there for me. 

Match Rating: **

Big E is talking with Xavier Woods and they are doing their thing. Here comes Sami and he does his thing. Kofi scares him from behind and New Day talks up them winning tonight. 

Bad Bunny performs his song "Booker T" and I think I was better off when I had no clue who he was. 

Women's Royal Rumble Match

Bayley is #1 and Naomi makes her return at #2. Bayley lets Naomi hit some of here offense and in comes Bianca Belair at #3. Naomi and Belair do a cool spot where they do cartwheels to counter each others moves. #4 is Billie Kay and she sits in next to the announce team instead of entering the ring. Bayley hits a double Spear in the corner and then Shotzi Blackheart is #5 and comes out in her tank. Billie offers her an 8x10, but she shoots off her tank. Blackheart hits a missile dropkick to make her entrance. These entrances are a little too fast for me. Shayna Baszler is #6 and she punches Billie's 8x10. Now #7 is Toni Storm. It seems like nothing happens in between entrances. This is a pretty solid start in terms of quality competitors. Baszler catches a Blackheart kick and drives her out of the ring for the first elimination. Jillian Hall makes her return at #8 and she's totally into Billie's offer of being Billie & Jilly. They come in and team up for a double suplex on Naomi. Ruby Riott is #9. Victoria is back at #10. This is a surprise entrant I am down with. Naomi spoils her return and knocks her through the ropes. Peyton Royce is in at #11 and she teams up with Billie. Bayley ruins it and Royce hits the Widow's Peak on her. Victoria sees it and hits the original Widow's Peak. Santana Garrett is #12 and she hits some energetic offense, but there are just too many people left in the ring right now. They are long overdue for someone to clear the ring. #13 is Liv Morgan. Meanwhile, Billie and Jilly implode and it leads to Billie eliminating Jillian. Billie Kaye is quickly eliminated by the Riott Squad. Rhea Ripley is in at #14. She sure seems like a good candidate to eliminate a bunch of people. Out goes Toni Storm. Baszler puts Victoria in the Kirifuda Clutch and drops her out of the ring. Ripley eliminates Garrett after a good effort to stay in. #15 is Charlotte Flair and her and Ripley square off. Riott is going for a German suplex on Royce off the apron, but Bayley slides underneath and powerbombs her to eliminate her. Royce is saved. #16 is Dana Brooke. Yay. Brooke hits a somersault dive onto a group of women off the top rope. Liv Morgan tries to get Bayley out with a headscissors, but this time Royce helps make the save. I like the potential of Royce and Bayley. #17 is the returning Torrie Wilson. Ripley and Brooke struggle on the apron and Ripley powerbombs her for the elimination. #18 is Ric Flair and he introduces Lacey Evans, who comes out in a purple robe like Charlotte's. Evans for some reason turns her back and Charlotte quickly attacks her. They spill to the outside and Charlotte is relentless. Charlotte is back in and tosses Royce out of the match. #19 is Mickie James, which is always a good thing. After hitting an awkward neckbreaker on Naomi, she tells Charlotte she's been waiting for this for a long time. I would be down for a pay-per-view match between these two. Nikki Cross is out at #20. I kind of forgot about her, but her and Alexa was pretty enjoyable. Charlotte seems to have forgotten about Evans pretty quickly. #21 is Alicia Fox. No thanks. Well, here comes R-Truth to maybe save it. She yells at him and he's being chased by the 24/7 gang. He fights them off and then Alicia Fox pins him to become the 24/7 Champion in the middle of the Royal Rumble. #22 is out and it's Mandy Rose. Rose hits Fox with a huge knee and tosses her out of the match. R-Truth then rolls up Fox and regains his title. #23 is Dakota Kai and I believe we have 10 entrants in the ring. Not for long though, as Evans hits the Woman's Right to eliminate Mickie. Apparently I missed Bayley getting eliminated? Out comes Carmella at #24. Dakota Kai and Rose are eliminated and Ripley is up to a total of 5 eliminations. Carmella is quickly thrown out, but Reggie catches her and puts her back in. That felt like it was slow motion. Carmella then superkicks Cross out of the match. #25 is Tamina, oh boy! She superkicks Reggie and Carmella is also eliminated. They try to sell us on Rhea and Tamina and just no. Naomi is over the ropes, but she lands on her back, with her feet not touching the ground. She grabs Belair's hair and pulls herself back in the ring. #26 is Lana who I guess hasn't been on TV since TLC. Lana tries to elminate Ripley, but Tamina comes in and attacks her instead. #27 is Alexa Bliss. She deserves so much better than this Fiend garbage. Everyone gangs up on Bliss and then things start to glitch. God, this is so stupid. While she is transforming, Ripley throws her out. #28 is Ember Moon and she hits the Eclipse on Baszler. She then almost takes Naomi's face off with a boot. She hits a double top rope Codebreaker and in comes Nia Jax at 29. We get a bunch of eliminations here and then Jax turns on Tamina after pretending to pick her over Baszler. Tamina is gone and then Jax and Baszler go at it. Jax eliminates Baszler because that's a good choice. Lana goes after Jax and then Jax chases her around the ring. Lana ducks a charging Jax and she is gone. Out comes Natalya at #30. Baszler and Jax attack her and then go back in the ring and attack the remaining competitors. Natalya and Lana embrace, which of course leads to her attacking her from behind her back and dumping her out. The final four are Natalya, Belair, Charlotte and Ripley. Bayley not being here is disappointing booking. Natalya knocks Ripley down on the apron, but she doesn't hit the ground and Belair attacks Natalya from behind to eliminate her. This is a very strong final three. Charlotte misses with a boot and Ripley dumps her over, but not out. Belair hits a cartwheel kick and she still hangs on. Belair and Ripley double team and finally knock her off. They tease being eliminated and hang from the rope. After a very nice little ending segment, Belair hits a clothesline and wins the Royal Rumble. She is interviewed and can barely even talk, as she is so emotional. Pretty cool. The match was honestly pretty mediocre, as there was no time for anything to happen. However, I really enjoyed that final segment. Both Rhea and Belair looked like stars and helped save the match.

Match Rating: ***

Miz and Morrison are knocking on Bad Bunny's locker room. They do a rap to try to convince him to do a collaboration with him. They start ripping on Booker T and of course he walks right behind them. Morrison bolts and Booker walks back into the locker room. 

We then get Peter Rosenberg becoming 24/7 Champion. I think we can retire this title. It's time. 

Last Man Standing Match For The Universal Championship

Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns

After what felt like forever, this match is finally underway. After going at it, Owens hits a pop-up powerbomb, but Reigns is up by 4 and walks out of the ring. Owens fights him outside the ring, but then eats a Spear. Reigns starts hitting Owens with the steel steps up the entrance ramp. Owens hits him with a superkick and gets a chance to recover. Owens tries to leap off the fan area, but Reigns stops him and starts using the steel chair. Reigns throws him up to the next level, but Owens hits him with another superkick. Owens starts using the chair and is targeting the legs. Reigns tries to throw Owens off, but Owens hits a Stunner. Reigns comes back with a Superman Punch and then throws Owens off and through a table. Owens is able to get up at the count of 9 and moves to the back to by some time. He is now in a backstage area where the "workout ring" is. In comes Reigns driving a golf cart and he hits Owens with it. A nice tribute to WrestleMania X-Seven there. Owens fights back and hits a splash through a table, with Reigns getting up at 9. Owens goes to the fork truck and lifts up a pallet. Up Owens goes and he hits a senton off the pallet and through Reigns on the table. Reigns is again able to get up and they are back in the main arena. Reigns hits a Spear through the screen and Owens is able to roll off the stage to get to his feet before the 10 count. Reigns tries to handcuff Owens, but Owens hits a Stunner and he handcuffs Reigns to the bottom of the stage. Reigns is able to grab the referee and throws him into the steel to stop the count. Reigns then hits a low blow on Owens. Paul Heyman helps Reigns out of the handcuffs and he puts on the Guillotine for the victory. The ending was pretty blah, but Owens definitely brought it. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Men's Royal Rumble Match

As was previously announced, Edge is #1 and Randy Orton is #2. Edge runs up the ramp and starts brawling with Orton. They are fighting near the announce table and out comes Sami Zayn at #3. Zayn sneaks in and takes Edge out at the knee and he and Orton work together on Edge. Mustafa Ali is out at #4. If anyone could use a good run here tonight, it's Ali. He joins in and goes after Edge. The three men try to drag Edge out of the ring and in comes Jeff Hardy at #5. He saves Edge and hits Whisper In The Wind. Orton hits him with a RKO and then hits one on Zayn. Ali gets one too and then Edge hits Orton with a Spear. Edge once again goes back with Orton to the announce table. Orton goes for a RKO, but Edge counters and hits Edgecution. In comes Dolph Ziggler at 6 and apparently this is his 14th Rumble. Edge is hitting Orton with a chair while Ziggler comes in and eliminates Hardy. Edge is back in and tries to eliminate Zayn, but Ziggler hits him with a Zig Zag. Shinsuke Nakamura is next at 7 and then the return of Carlito at 8. Carlito is in significantly better shape than he ever was when he was employed by WWE. Carlito hits a Backstabber on Shinsuke. Xavier Woods is the 9th competitor and he goes right after Ali. This match could definitely use a big name here at 10. We get Big E, who looked to be the favorite back in 2020. New Day eliminates Zayn and we're already counting down again. #11 is John Morrison. Ali and Woods are both hanging from the ropes and Ali is able to eliminate Woods as Big E was trying to save him. Big E isn't having it and drives him right over the ropes and out of the match. #12 is the man that should be a huge star, but is a jobber instead. It's safe to say that Ricochet probably has had the best first 30 seconds in the Rumble match of the night so far. #13 is Elias. Elias hits Carlito with a knee and tosses him out of the match. Damian Priest is #14 and he chucks Elias out of the match. They show Orton in the back being looked at by the medical staff. Corey Graves points out that he isn't officially out of the match. In at 15 is Miz. You couldn't have Morrison in there without having Miz at some point. Miz takes his Money In The Bank briefcase and starts smashing Bad Bunny's DJ area. He then enters the ring and hits the Skull Crushing Finale on Big E. They double team Ziggler and Ricochet. Out comes Bad Bunny and that distracts Miz and Morrison and Priest eliminates them both. Somehow the cameras barely catch it, as if it wasn't the most obvious spot of the night. Bad Bunny then hits a top rope dive on both men. Riddle is in at 16 and Daniel Bryan is at 17. The ring is starting to fill up again, as Kane is in at 18. Kane hits a chokeslam on Edge and then a double one on Riddle and Shinsuke. He catches Dolph off the top rope and throws him over the ropes. He then hits a chokeslam on the apron on Ricochet and he is gone. Daniel Bryan is here and they embrace in the middle of the ring and then Kane hits him with a chokeslam. Priest then dumps out Kane, as he continues to have a featured spot here in the match. King Corbin is #19, gross. At #20, it's Otis who looks pretty good in his new ring gear. Dominik is the 21st competitor and he eliminates Corbin. The United States Champions Bobby Lashley is next at 22. He tosses Dominik over quickly and then Priest goes after him, but Lashley eliminates him. Big E and Lashley start squaring off and I would say this is one of the highlights of the match so far. At 23, Hurricane makes another surprise entrance. He goes for the double chokeslam on Big E and Lashley and it doesn't go well, as he is tossed over quickly. At #24 it's CHRISTIAN!!!!!!!! Huge pop from me. A group teams up and eliminates Lashley. Christian hits an Unprettier on Big E and he and Edge embrace. Riddle tries to team up, but they attack him. In at 25, it is AJ Styles. AJ goes for the Phenomenal Forearm on Edge, but gets hit with a Spear instead. #26 is Rey Mysterio. Styles gets saved from elimination by Omos. Omos then pulls Big E over the top rope and then throws him over the announce table. It's Sheamus time at 27 and he hits a top rope double clothesline on Edge and Sheamus. Christian then eats a Brogue Kick. Daniel Bryan then gets one as well. Mysterio goes for a 619, but Omos blocks him. Omos then eliminates Mysterio. #28 is Cesaro and it's uppercuts for everyone. A Bar reunion doesn't last long, as Sheamus gets the airplane spin and almost gets eliminated. There is some legit talent in the ring right now. Daniel Bryan gets the airplane spin next and I think I'm dizzier from all of the camera cuts. #29 is Seth Rollins to make his return. The final entrant is Braun Strowman. Strowman chucks Styles over the top rope, but again Omos makes the save. Cesaro gets Strowman up, but Strowman gets out and eliminates Cesaro and then Sheamus. Strowman goes to throw Styles out, but sees Omos and changes direction and this time Styles is gone. Edge and Christian hit a double Spear on him and everyone is down. Bryan starts to take control of the match. Riddle and Bryan start going at it and we get some great mat wrestling here. Riddle gets Bryan out and then Rollins eliminates Riddle. The (maybe) final four are Rollins, Strowman, Edge and Christian. That is of course not counting Orton. Rollins tries to team up with Strowman, but Strowman attacks him. Edge and Christian team up on him, but Strowman gets the better of them. Edge and Strowman are battling by the apron. Christian tries to help, but Rollins eliminates both Strowman and Christian. Edge then eliminates Rollins and then in comes Orton to attack him. Edge counters it and quickly throws him out to win the Royal Rumble. They're really putting this young guy over here. It was good that it was a different ending, but I wish it would have lasted a little bit longer like the women's match. I'm not quite sure that I understand the logic of Edge winning at #1 especially after Belair won at #3. The actual match portion was better than the women's, but the ending wasn't as strong. I give the slight nod to the men's tonight, but neither were top tier Rumbles.

Match Rating: ***1/4

Overall this was a pretty ho hum Royal Rumble show. Nothing was bad, but it also just felt like they crammed too much into the show. Bianca Belair definitely earned the right and I'm hoping she has a great showing at WrestleMania. Kevin Owens continues to bring it when he has a big match and always adds to the show. Overall, I would give this a slight thumbs up, but not a must see show. 

Overall Rating: 60%