Highs and Lows From the Women's Royal Rumble 2019

This past weekend the WWE hosted its annual Royal Rumble PPV and on the night we, of course, witnessed the second ever all women’s Royal Rumble match up seeing Smackdown LIVE’s Becky Lynch take home the huge win! Now as you guys know, throughout the week I have been uploading content around the Rumble PPV kick-starting things off with a look back at the overall highlights of the show during yesterday’s upload and in today’s blog post we are going to be focusing on the women’s Rumble match. Looking at the best and worse moments we have plenty to discuss again today so let’s dive right into part two of Royal Rumble review week!

The Riott Squads Plan

I’ll admit that I was originally left pretty disappointed with how the Riott Squad was booked during this year's Royal Rumble match. Identical to what we had seen last year from the trio it was a shame to see the three women not used as strongly as they could have yet again, however, their plan did make for a standout moment of the night. With Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan eliminated early during the Rumble match their appearance later in the night to assist Ruby in remaining in the contest longer made for a very strong showing of their teamwork and overall chemistry. What we need to see in the coming weeks is cohesive teams in the women’s division and this was key in showing their unity and momentum in the build to crowning women’s tag team champs.

Zelina Vega and Candice LeRae Square Off

For NXT fans a true special moment in this year's Rumble match came from the collision between Zelina Vega and Candice LeRae. With Candice a special entrant in the rumble this year it made for an awesome moment to see the pair reunite their feud fans witnessed only twelve months ago. The chemistry between the two women remains strong and the memories of what we saw from the pair alongside Almas and Gargano last year was too pretty awesome! This was the history and storytelling moment the match needed and most certainly catered to us NXT fans!

The Hat

Okay so moving onto a moment I really didn’t like, and we must discuss the hat situation. To be fair I understand where the WWE was going with the friendship and history between Maria and Alicia as two “veterans” of the WWE Women’s division but the whole angle involving Alicia’s hat just left me cringing and desperate for a new entrant! There was a lack of purpose, interest, and story and with Maria not currently working as a regular feature in the division, the whole moment was simply not necessary.

A Focus on the Future

One thing I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I just had to touch on here again is the focus the WWE put on the future of the business. We know that the Royal Rumble match always has a serious amount of attention on past superstars/legends and while those surprise entrants make for amazing moments it was refreshing to see the WWE put some trust in the present and future stars. It was appearances from the likes of Candice LeRae, Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans, Kacey Katanzaro, and Rhea Ripley that really did for me make this match and it was excellent to see those women given a spotlight and for the WWE universe to truly see what the future of the women’s division looks like.

Wasted Entrants

A possibly slight contradiction here but hear me out; while there were many amazing entrants that truly did focus on the future of the women’s division and those entrants were fantastic and made sense, I do believe the WWE did waste a few entrants and missed several opportunities during the women’s royal rumble match this year. I’m still struggling to see why Xia Li was booked as an entrant in this match and talent such as Dana Brooke could have been left out for future up and coming stars such as Toni Storm or Shayna Baszler to make a much-needed appearance and pick up a far stronger reaction from the live crowd.

Kacey and Naomi

In terms of memorable moments/spots we, of course, must take a look at what both Naomi and NXT Superstar Kacey Katanzaro brought to the table this past weekend during the women’s Royal Rumble match. Showcasing their athleticism, heart and passion it was clear just how much this match meant to both women and while neither lasted all too long let alone get the win the pair both made an impact, got people talking and had a standout moment with their special efforts to remain in this match. In true Kofi Kingston style, Kacey and Naomi created highlight spots that had the crowd completely hooked and entertained and everyone at home biting their fingernails. You can have a Rumble match without one of these spots and we got two in one match this time around!

Hornswoggle Did What?

The third and final down moment of the women’s Royal Rumble match I’m going to be talking about today is that Hornswoggle moment. Why on earth he was under the ring, involved in this match, and chasing Zelina Vega is beyond me but the whole moment was odd, not needed, and a touch creepy. I genuinely watched the whole thing with my mouth open in pure shock not knowing what was going on and why the hell it was happening! Someone explain this to me!

The Becky Lynch Story

Another point we focused on last night but must touch on again tonight is the Becky Lynch story. The Royal Rumble PPV twenty nineteen was all about the man and I have a smile on my face as I’m writing this paragraph. The entire WWE universe was in full support for Lynch this weekend and while she didn’t leave the PPV as champion her huge win in this year's Rumble match made for perfect storytelling. How she entered this match, taking Lana’s spot, the involvement Nia Jax played in that entire thing and the final moments between Lynch and Flair all made for such a special moment. Fans have already witnessed Lynch become one of the biggest names in the WWE today but what we saw from Becky this past weekend was stuff of future legends. It’s nights like this that will cement Lynch as an all-time great in years to come and without Becky its safe to say this Rumble match may not have gone down as well.

And that was the women’s Royal Rumble match twenty nineteen and its best and worst moments. Make sure to come back here tomorrow where I will be looking at the men’s Royal Rumble match and the highlight moments there! For now, you can let me know what you thought of the PPV this year by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.