WWE Royal Rumble 2019: Best and Worse Moments

It is the start of a brand-new week (and almost a new month) and after the epic Royal Rumble PPV, we have been left with plenty to talk about over the next few days! Throughout the week I’m going to be uploading content focusing on this past weekend's Royal Rumble PPV discussing the highlights of the overall show and the best and worse moments from both the men’s and women’s Rumble matches. In today’s blog post we are going to be kick-starting things off by looking at some honest thoughts regarding the overall Royal Rumble PPV so grab a drink and let’s dive into the action!

The Stage

Let’s kick start today’s blog post off by taking a look at the small things. If you know me you know that its all about the little details when it comes to pleasing mwah and with the WWE delivering in terms of the stage for this year's Royal Rumble I was left with a smile on my face. I’ve said it before and I will say it again; small changes like this are important. The change in structure and how the stage looked made the show feel much bigger and even more important than usual and if the WWE can stick to switching up the set up/stage every now and then there could be a massively different feel to each PPV.

Rusev Dropping the United States Championship

My first down of the night comes from the kickoff show. I know I don’t usually talk about the kickoff show often during PPV reviews, however, with the singles bout between Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura seeing a title change take place I was left very unhappy and needing to make this a major point in today’s blog post. Heading into this matchup I was confident we would witness Rusev retain the US title and so when Nakamura scored the win, I was personally pretty disappointed. I am desperate to see twenty nineteen strong for both these superstars however, this is a feud that hasn’t worked nor grabbed the attention of fans and RuRu dropping the title was in my eyes a huge mistake that will negatively affect both superstars.

Keeping the Title on Asuka

Opening the Royal Rumble PPV with the Smackdown LIVE Women’s championship match was a good move in itself. As one of the most anticipated bouts of the night, it was a strong and smart decision to have this kick start the first pay per view of the night. Lynch and Asuka lived up to expectation competing in one heck of a championship bout that highlighted the pair as two of the best in the division today and the end result was simply the icing on top of the cake. It was so important to keep the title on Asuka to enable Lynch to edge closer to a match against Rousey at Wrestlemania but to also keep the momentum high for Asuka and allow her to remain a key figure in the lead to the biggest event of the year. A great match with an excellent end!

New Tag Team Champions

If you follow me on twitter or read my blog regularly you will know that I wasn’t looking forward to the tag team championship match between Shane McMahon and the Miz and the Bar and that didn’t really change during last nights show or the build. The match itself was decent and we had some great spots. The closing moments from Shane not only impressed me but left me totally stunned and speechless and as I mentioned already, we had some awesome spots that kept me interested and entertained, however, the decision to crown new champions here wasn’t one I favoured. I tweeted out during the show last night that I didn’t like the idea of Shane and The Miz squaring off at Wrestlemania and their win last night does leave me believing either that could very well be happening or even worse… the pair goes on to defend the titles at the grandest stage of them all. As a major fan of the Miz, I do just want to see him involved in something stronger and this booking decision did get a thumbs down from me.

The Becky Lynch Story

The two thousand and nineteen Royal Rumble PPV was the night of the man. From the start of the night to the end of the women’s Royal Rumble match Becky Lynch made the first WWE PPV of the year all about her. The opening match of the night saw Becky compete in one of her best singles matches of her entire career and to go on later to win the women’s Royal Rumble match and earn herself a title shot at Wrestlemania… there really is no stopping Lynch and we will be talking about her in more detail in tomorrow’s blog post!

Relying on the Future & Not the Past

The women’s Royal Rumble for me was special because of its use of the future. With names such as Nikki Cross, Io Shari, Lacey Evans, Rhea Ripley, Kacey Katanzaro, and Candice LeRae amongst those to enter the Rumble match, it was both refreshing and important to see the WWE put faith in the stars of the future instead of relying on legends to make a match a standout. While the likes of Trish, Lita, Beth and more made for amazing moments in last years Royal Rumble match I loved the direction the WWE took this year and it was a move that will benefit the division fantastically well. It would be great to see the WWE rely on current and future talent more!

Erick Rowan’s Return

The WWE Championship match was yet another good one. We had an excellent encounter to be expected from both Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles and I can honestly say I enjoyed the action we saw between these two stars of the blue brand, however, those closing moments really were bloody perfect! I did not see the return of Erick Rowan coming what so ever and I loved it! It’s pretty clear where the WWE is going with this angle and I have to say that the feeling of Straight Edge Society all over again is very strong! I cannot wait to see where this goes, what Rowan brings to the table and this new chapter in Bryans heel and championship reign! This most certainly has me very excited!

They Lost but they Have Returned

Two superstars from Monday night RAW truly did grab my attention last night; Sasha Banks and Finn Balor. Despite the fact, the pair both lost their championship matches the two both made a major impact! Giving Ronda and Brock a run for their money Banks and Balor in their induvial matches left fans wondering if they could end the undefeated streaks of both these superstars and walk out as new champions and reminded fans of exactly why they deserve the top spot and why they should most certainly hold gold today. Now, a real change in the WWE would have been established if these two did walk out with gold around their waists but their performances were huge, sent a major message and have been vital in turning things around after a rough year for both!

Nia Jax

Moving over to the men’s Royal Rumble and remember that later in the week we will be looking at the highs and lows of that match in full detail, but I do want to mention a couple of standout points with the first of course being Nia Jax. I’m pretty sure no one saw this coming and to be honest I actually liked it. Nia coming out to attack R-Truth and then taking his spot was an angle I most certainly could not have predicted, and I loved that! Jax had a dominant performance and even better the WWE didn’t shy away from having a female superstar take spots from male talent. We are a far cry away from proper intergender competition in the WWE making a comeback, but this moment really did give me some hope and I really do think this added a special and unexpected angle to the men’s Rumble.

Something for Everyone

The men’s Royal Rumble match this year really did provide something for everyone. We saw legends, Hall of Famers, up and comers, debuts, NXT Stars, NXT UK Stars, talent of the future and talent of today all taking centre stage and having their moment. The match had something for fans of all ages both hardcore and casual and that’s what for me made this one of the best Royal Rumble matches possibly of all time. We will again be going into detail on this point later in the week so keep an eye out for that!

To conclude, the Royal Rumble PPV 2019 was strong. Very strong! A huge congratulations go out to Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins along with all the other victors of the night. Booking was smart, interesting, at times controversial, but overall we got a mixture of fantastic wrestling, excellent storytelling and its safe to say that the road to Wrestlemania has truly begun!