First Ever Women's Royal Rumble Highlights
The Iron Woman of the Royal Rumble
We kick start today's blog post off by takin g a look at one of if not the most impressive performances of the night coming at the hands of the Boss, Sasha Banks. Entering at number one, Banks lasted almost an entire hour and was quite clearly one of the main standouts of the entire match. Squaring off with the likes of Trish Stratus, Asuka, and Lita, the Boss proved she was not afraid to step up and take out some of the greatest names this company has ever seen and dream collisions just like her stare off with Stratus left me wishing we could get more from the two together! But what also made her such a standout was the character work she brought to the table. I've mentioned far too many times before that I've grown bored of her baby face work and everything from eliminating Bayley, to the attitude she gave the legends competing to joining forces with the Bella twins for a brief moment, we got a reminder of why Sasha Banks is the boss and the character we all grew to love was back on our screens at its best. This is the Sasha Banks we want and setting the record last night for the longest time spent in a Rumble match for the women's division she makes history herself.Legendary Rivals Reunite
With the women's division lacking in numbers it was evident that the Royal Rumble match would provide fans with several surprise entrants set to go down very well but the names picked simply had me speechless and very very satisfied. The first coming from WWE Hall of Famer Lita I literally jumped up out of my seat. Okay, so most of us expected to appear but just hearing her music hit again gave me goosebumps! Later on, in the match, Trish Stratus closed things off entering at number thirty and moments later a face off against longtime rival Mickie James received the loudest pop of the night and rightfully so. There really was one I remember the most growing up and how brilliant was it seeing the pair sharing a ring once again! We also saw Beth Phoenix and Natalya reunited and after their friendship and alliance being yet another standout in WWE women's wrestling history it was a pretty special moment. NXT stars were not forgotten either, with Ember Moon and Asuka's face off was yet another standout moment. And I also have to touch on the fact that while it wasn't mentioned it was pretty cool witnessing, Natalya, and Michelle McCool, back in the ring together after the two made history competing to become the first ever WWE Divas champion over ten years ago.A weak performance for both Absolution and the Riott Squad
What did surprise and interest me was how Absolution and the Riott Squad were used in this match. While I wasn't expecting any of the women in these factions to walk out the victor I was at least expecting a dominant performance from either team. However, the women barely got the chance to work together all being eliminated before they had the opportunity to even share the ring. Considering these women were brought up to add depth to the roster ahead of the Rumble it would have been a good idea giving them more of a role in this match. None of the girls had a strong enough performance to allow fans to believe they are a genuine threat to anything and no story was told in the efforts to keep them a focal point. With such a weak night I'm hoping we edge closer to the teams (especially the Riott squad) breaking up and heading their own separate ways on Smackdown LIVE.A lack of NXT Talent
In my prediction posts leading up to this historic matchup, I mentioned that I was expecting quite a few NXT stars to make an appearance at the Rumble but what we actually got was only two entrants. Now, ina ll fairness these were two very very strong entrants in Kairi Sane and the current NXT Women's Champion, Ember Moon. Both the women had a fantastic showing in this match including as we have already mentioned, Ember facing off against Asuka which had the crowd hot! And as for Sane, she dominated those first few minutes after she entered the Rumble taking everyone out in sight and fitting in a couple standout moments in herself. However, I was disappointed we didn't get more NXT stars and when is say more I really do actually mean Nikki Cross and the Iconic Duo. Considering all three of these women have been ready for a call-up for a long time this did feel like the perfect night to introduce them to the main roster yet in all fairness this was the perfect night to introduce several NXT stars to the bigger audience. Was it a big opportunity missed? I personally do think so but I'm hoping all three of these women will make their way to the main roster soon and I understand bringing back legends and faves was the stronger and safer move then new NXT stars fans may not be familiar with for the first women's Royal Rumble.
The Year of the women/ The Main event spot
The fact the women were given the main event spot at one of the biggest pay per views of the year spoke volumes. This was a historic match that fans had demanded for a long time and it worked. It was made to feel like a big deal and the WWE put out all the stops to leave fans satisfied. The surprise returns were fantastic, Naomi establishing herself as the Kofi Kingston of the women's Rumble match, the winner was the right pick (despite not being my personal pick) and closing the show off with Ronda Rousey's shock debut left me and everyone else wanting more. To have such a huge star in Ronda end the night and trust that such a spot would go down a big hit with fans was a major deal and while Rousey is still very controversial she's god damn star and she's the name everyone is talking about right now still. Things are very very exciting for the world of women's wrestling and with more historic moments and matches coming up I cannot wait! Next week I will be taking a look at some of the doors and opportunities the first ever Women's Royal Rumble opened so keep an eye out for that however for now...
as always, any recent blog post will be linked bellow including parts one and two of this post as well as much NXT Takeover: Philadelphia review and reactions. Finally, you can get involved and tell me what you thought of this year's Royal Rumble pay per view by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.
Recent Blog Posts:
NXT Takeover: Philadelphia Review and Reactions
2018 WWE Royal Rumble PPV Highlights
Comments
Post a Comment