Mens Royal Rumble Match 2019: Ups and Downs

This past Sunday we, of course, sat back and watched the annual Royal Rumble PPV and what a night it was! Throughout the past few days I have been looking back at the event discussing the best and worse moments from the overall show and yesterday we focused in on the women’s Rumble match. In today’s blog post we are going to be concluding Royal Rumble week by zooming in on the men’s Rumble contest which of course main evented this past weekend. All the links to previous Rumble reviews will be below! With the intro done with let’s dive into the post!

Jeff Jarret & Elias

In all honesty, I haven’t decided if this first point gets an up or a down. The men’s Rumble match this year kick-started with Elias in the middle of the ring and if you know me you know that I am a huge fan of Elias however, by this time of the night it was 4am and in the UK and I was very much a sleepy head and so I honestly just wanted the action to hurry up and start. With that being said, however, I was very much surprised to see Jeff Jarrett make an appearance which made for one of the shock entrants of the night. The two had some fun in the ring and it was again a fun way to start the Rumble match, however, it did feel like a waste of time for those of us struggling to keep our eyes open.

The Mixture of Entrants

What I really liked about this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match was the true mixture of entrants. There were names I was disappointed to not see involved however, the match showcased the future of the WWE, the past, and the present perfectly introducing the WWE universe to new names such as Aleister Black and Johnny Gargano while also including the likes of Hall of Famers Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarret and of course highlighting the major stars of today. There was such a diverse amount of talent in the ring and it made for a very special and rare moment to see some of those names collide on PPV.

Mustafa Ali

Looking at standout stars in this year’s Rumble match there are several names who jump out including Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Aleister Black and eventual winner Seth Rollins amongst many, however, for me it was former 205LIVE star Mustafa Ali who truly stole the show. From eliminating the new United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura to later eliminating current rival Samoa Joe, the rising star was a standout in what will go down as one of the biggest and best matches of the year. He showcased his exciting in-ring abilities as per usual, gained a serious amount of momentum and opened doors for a US title feud with Nakamura and teased more to come between him and Joe in the weeks that will follow.

Baron Corbin Eliminating Aleister Black

Former NXT Champion Aleister Black sure did make an impact in his first ever Royal Rumble match surprising fans with his entrance in the Rumble alone he had eyes focused on him the entire time he was in the ring and has got the WWE universe very excited! Collisions with the likes of Pete Dunne and Andrade Cien Almas made for highlight moments of the Rumble match but his brutal elimination from Baron Corbin may just be foundation for setting up a future feud between two of the edgiest and unique stars and characters in the WWE today. Could Black potential be heading to RAW in the coming months and could Baron Corbin be facing the Black Mass very soon?

Nia Jax and Intergender Competition

Nia Jax’s involvement in this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match most certainly was something I did not see coming! After attacking R-Truth Jax focused her attention on the rest of the male superstars in the ring making a couple of eliminations of her own and in fact becoming one of the standout performers of the night. The crowd were into what she delivered to the match and seeing her collide with legends such as Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton made for some of the most shocking and awesome moments, we have seen in a Rumble match. It was cool to see Nia make history on her own here and this whole section of the match really did begin to kick start a conversation regarding intergender matches.

The Future is Bright… Very Bright

We have already mentioned just how much of a role the future stars of the WWE played in this year's Royal Rumble match, but it must be spoken of again. Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano, Andrade, Pete Dunne and Mustafa Ali were truly amongst those to make an impact this past Sunday and show the world what the future of the WWE truly looks like. We were opened up to an array of dream matches and rivalries and the booking and general use of these up and coming stars will massively benefit them induvial but has also reminded the WWE universe of what to expect in the coming years with an array of fresh new characters and hot talents looking to steal the spotlight stepping forward.

Seth Freakin Rollins

It came as no surprise to see Seth Rollins walk out as this year’s men’s Royal Rumble winner. He has been dubbed as the fan favourite and pushed by the WWE as this year’s winner for weeks and there is no denying, he deserves it. I would have loved to have seen him come out as number one or two and really told a story and lasting the entire match but the win none the less went down massively well! Yes it was predictable and he wasn’t the man I was personally rooting for, however, He’s the man the WWE universe has been behind from day one and his climb back to the very top looks to be an exciting one, but can he walk out of Wrestlemania the Universal Champion? It’s time for a change and Seth Rollins is the man we are putting all our hopes into pushing that change in the WWE.

And that concludes Royal Rumble week here on my blog! I really hoped you enjoyed the articles that went up this week and next week I will, of course, be switching up the content, bring back “this week in WWE” posts and exploring brand new content! This year’s Rumble event was a fun and the road to Wrestlemania has well and truly begun!

Recent Blog Posts:

HIGHS AND LOWS FROM THE WOMEN'S ROYAL RUMBLE 2019

WWE ROYAL RUMBLE 2019: BEST AND WORSE MOMENTS

NXT TAKEOVER PHOENIX: WHAT WE LEARNT AND BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS