Here’s our final thoughts on Raw and SmackDown Live’s WWE Royal Rumble 2017!
Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
Reactions: Mind you, this looked completely easy to call on paper. But “The Boss” tends to fight harder than girls much bigger than her in stature. But in her injured state, Nia didn’t take too long to crush her. Nia won in dominating fashion and looks to be heading right for the winner of Charlotte vs. Bayley. This accomplished what it set out to do – make Nia Jax even more of a force to be reckoned with.
Rating: SQAUSH!
Cesaro and Sheamus (c) vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship; Two Referees are Assigned to the Match)
Reactions: This rematch was pretty similar to the action we saw from the last meeting between both these tandems. What made it just a bit more intriguing was the presence of two refs, which led to fun moments where Gallows and Anderson’s usual heel antics got stopped repeatedly. Cesaro looked amazing as always, Sheamus pulled off his usual array of powerful maneuvers and Gallows/Anderson worked like a well-oiled machine (same for their rivals). The shocking final result caught us off guard after witnessing a pretty fun rematch between Raw’s top teams.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Alexa Bliss, Mickie James and Natalya vs. Becky Lynch, Naomi and Nikki Bella
Reactions: This was exactly what you (and us) expected it to be. While it wasn’t terrible by any means, it was simply there for the sake of getting six of SD Live’s top Women’s wrestlers on the show. Naomi’s comeback sequence made the closing moments of this pre-show match the most memorable portion of it all. Everything that transpired before that was average action at best. Naomi pinned the SD Live’s Women’s Champion, so this unexpected result is certainly going to lead to (hopefully) a great title match between the two.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Rich Swann (c) vs. Neville (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)
Reactions: This was good, but it should have been great considering the two men who were competing here. We enjoy heel Neville, but his newfound focus on slow and methodical strikes and submission holds made the opening a bit dull. Once Rich began to make his comeback, the match truly began to pick up. Rich and Neville exchanged kicks, high impact splashes, nasty elbow strikes and more during the more exciting half of this Cruiserweight battle. Rich pulled off the more exciting maneuvers this match gave us all, including his snap kicks and Tadpole Splash. But Neville assaulted Rich throughout this bout with stiff kicks of his own, a Superplex and finally a Rings of Saturn submission hold. We wanted to see some more WCW Era-like Cruiserweight action here (the slower pace of this match’s beginning threw us off). But by the end, it got a bit better. Neville’s taken the throne and is now YOUR new WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Bayley (WWE Raw Women’s Championship)
Reactions: This title encounter was decent at best. It looked as if Charlotte and Bayley’s NXT chemistry didn’t fully translate to this main roster meeting. The action that took place here was a bit sloppy at times, which took us out of the usual excitement we feel for new age women’s wrestling matches. The only part that truly stood out here was Charlotte’s cool use of the Natural Selection on the ring apron. Charlotte predictably retained here after a pretty average match.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena (WWE Championship)
Reactions: After all is said and done, history will look back fondly on the much heated rivalry between John Cena and AJ Styles. During this WWE Championship match, SD Live got represented in the best way possible. We knew things were going to get even more intense as soon as Cena stiffed AJ with a clothesline. Once the ball got rolling, both Superstars laid into each other with nasty strikes and every move included in their wide arsenal. They had us and the live crowd in the palm of their hands as they exchanged a cavalcade of counters. AJ locked John in his own STF, but John responded in kind with more stiff clotheslines and several AA’s. AJ held on long enough to land two Styles Clashes, lock in his Calf Crusher and even pull off a Phenomenal Elbow. What AJ was unable to land was his Springboard 450 Splash, which began to signal the beginning of the end. John tok advantage of AJ’s more weakened stated and captured the championship after two impressive AA’s. We’re sad to see AJ’s reign as “The Face That Runs The Place” end, but at least it concluded after another amazing match against WWE’s resident mega star.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Kevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns (No Disqualification Match for the WWE Universal Championship; Chris Jericho Will be Suspended in a Shark Cage Above the Ring)
Reactions: We’ve sat through thus meeting between Raw’s top two Superstars for a good while now, so we weren’t jumping for joy at seeing them fight again. But we were presently surprised at how good this turned out to be. While the opening moments were in full slow-burn mode, everything began to pick up as more hardcore elements began springing up. Kevin’s use of steel chairs and his “Stone Cold” callbacks added some nice wrinkles to the whole affair. Roman turned into a beast on several occasions as he pulled off big Powerbomb’s and threw Kevin onto his own cavalcade of steel chairs. The biggest shocker to erupt from this whole match was the sudden introduction of Braun Strowman! Braun, who was still visibly pissed after getting speared by both Roman and Goldberg, came out to destroy Roman. He succeeded and helped Kevin get another cheap win. The combination of all the match’s hardcore action and the surprise element of Braun Strowman interference made this match better than past encounters between Kevin and Roman. Kevin did it once again!
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
2017 Royal Rumble Match (30-Man Royal Rumble Match for a World Championship Match at WrestleMania 33)
Reactions: The 2017 Royal Rumble had a lot of interesting possibilities that we hoped would come true. But to the dismay of a lot of fans, only a few of them came to fruition. The only true surprise that breathed some life into this year’s installment was Tye Dillinger coming in at #10. Other than that though, we witnessed a Rumble match that wasn’t as great as we expected it to be. Goldberg and Lesnar’s clash lasted just as much as their Survivor Series match, The Undertaker’s reign of in-ring terror came head to head with Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman looked impressive and The Wyatt Family imploded due to Luke Harper’s actions. Kofi pulled off annual Royal Rumble stunt, but it wasn’t quite as amazing as year’s past. Roman almost looked like a sure fire bet for the winner of this thing, but Randy Orton’s well placed RKO ended his shot at a title opportunity at ‘Mania 33. Randy wins! But without a lot of surprise entrants or more humorous moments, this Rumble was a step down from last year’s installment.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
AJ Styles vs. John Cena!
Final Verdict
For such a hyped up Rumble, what we got here was just…good. And to be honest, that registers as a letdown for us. The pre-show matches were nothing to write home about. Plus the Raw Women’s Championship didn’t do a lot for us. Rich Swann vs. Neville was at the least bit decent, but it ultimately disappointed us as well. As for Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns, it at least gave us a fun hardcore brawl with an unexpected appearance from Braun Strowman. And to the surprise of no one, AJ Styles and John Cena stole the show. The Royal Rumble match itself felt a bit lackluster compared to last year’s affair. One surprise entrant was all we got (at least it was a good one…10! 10! 10!). Goldberg and Brock’s eventual meeting was short-lived and The Undertaker’s elimination left us a bit sour (blame our blatant fanboy sentiments for that feeling). The implosion of The Wyatt Family was cool to see, plus seeing Randy Orton pull away with the big W was indeed a shocker. But still, the match overall didn’t elicit those feelings of shock and awe we usually get from the Royal Rumble. Check out the Universal Championship bout, the WWE Championship match and catch the best highlights of the Rumble match. As for everything else…meh.
Final Score: 3 out of 5 Stars
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