WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Review

Remember the Rumble. The annual Royal Rumble event returns to San Antonio's Alamodome for the first time in 20 years with one of the most stacked cards in recent memory. John Cena tries to tie Ric Flair with 16 world championship wins as a star-studded Royal Rumble match closes out the night on the road to WrestleMania.

Match 1: WWE Raw Women's Championship - Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Bayley
Billed as the PPV king, Charlotte Flair looks to make another successful title defense against Bayley in the opening contest. Really good match here to get the night going, Charlotte definitely embraces the role as a heel and you just cannot help but feel pity for Bayley at times throughout the match. Bayley had a few bursts that made victory look possible until a Natural Selection on the ring apron put a halt to that fantasy. Charlotte picks up another big PPV win and starts the show off on the right foot. They really are putting Charlotte over the moon and rightfully so, she looks and acts the part.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Rating: ***

Match 2: WWE Universal Championship - No Disqualification - Kevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns
After constantly interfering on the behalf of his best friend, Chris Jericho has been forced to be locked in a shark cage hanging above the ring for this no disqualification match. As silly as it sounds, it made for great television leading up to this and the crowd certainly got a kick out of seeing Jericho being suspended high above the ring. What a match this was. All three guys involved played their parts brilliantly. For one of these guys to have a bad match would be a very rare circumstance at this point, but putting them together only makes for great stuff. Loved the way they started things out with Roman Reigns having to fight both guys off in order to finally put Jericho in the cage. They utilized the no disqualification rules to the max as they fought outside the ring, in the crowd, set each other through tables and even through a pile of chairs. The crowd was eating it up and so was Jericho as he cheered on his best friend while even tossing him some brass knuckles. Reigns looked to secure the big win until Braun Strowman appeared out of nowhere and drove him through a table set in the corner of the ring. Kevin Owens would reap the benefits and cover Reigns to retain the title. What a match and very big win for Owens in his great title run.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Rating: ****1/2

Match 3: WWE Cruiserweight Championship - Rich Swann (c) vs. Neville
Neville's journey to becoming king of the cruiserweights continues as he looks to regain the gold against Rich Swann. As you would expect from a couple athletic guys, very fast and fun action with the usual quiet crowd we have all come to familiarize ourselves with the division. To the audience's credit, they were a little burned out from the last match and this match overstayed its welcome a bit. Neville was really starting to come onto his own at this point as a heel and it showed with his stiffer style of play in the ring. He was rolling with some serious momentum heading into this match and he headed out with it as well after submitting Swann with a sweet submission that looked like a modifed butterfly of sorts. Good following match despite going a little longer than I would have liked.
Winner: Neville
Rating: ***1/4

Match 4: WWE Championship - AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena
Who would have ever guessed that Ric Flair's record of 16 world championships would ever be tied? Well, 2017 would finally be the year and John Cena looked to be that guy. First, we got to give credit to Mauro Ranallo on the call, he really kicked this match up an extra notch, so vocal and so passionate with every word he said. Loved the backstory with this one as the main emphasis was being placed on Cena tying the epic record while AJ Styles being left completely in the dust despite beating Cena a few months back at Summerslam. What a roller coaster of the ride this match was with so many twists and turns. There were so many nearfalls and while it can sometimes be repetitive, that certainly was not the case here. All of the nearfalls looked legit and were all placed accordingly to the point that I was on the edge of my seat after every finisher they hit. Styles even kicked out of an Attitude Adjustment off the top rope which had the entire Alamodome shaking. Finally, Cena was able to hit another Attitude Adjustment before following it up with another one to secure one of the biggest wins of his career. The place was hot for this one, being there live to witness this match was something else, easily the best match I have ever seen in person. Watching it over again gave me the chills, do yourselves a favor and give this a viewing if you have or have not already.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ****3/4

Match 5: 2017 Royal Rumble
The previous year's Royal Rumble match proved to be a big disappointment for many so it came as no surprise to me that the WWE wanted to erase the bad taste they left in the mouths of so many. The solution... a Royal Rumble match featuring some of the most star-studded guys in the business. Loved the way this Rumble match was structured and yes, I understand that I am probably in the minority here again. The match saw a good distribution of stars from both brands including Tye Dillinger of NXT and a couple guys from 205 Live. The guys they wanted to get over looked good with Braun Strowman being a standout as well as Chris Jericho lasting nearly an entire hour in the match. Everybody was anticipating the entrances of three guys in Brock Lesnar, Goldberg and The Undertaker. Once Lesnar entered, the match went into second gear. Lesnar destroyed everybody and when I say destroyed, he nearly beheaded Enzo Amore. Finally, we get the arrival of Goldberg as he Spears the living daylights out of Lesnar before eliminating him in a shocking manner. Then, The Undertaker arrived as he stood in front of the face of Goldberg before eliminating him. Loved how they brought Roman Reigns out for the last spot and having him eliminate Undertaker. Great way to keep the feud between Lesnar and Goldberg running while possibly planting the seed for a future match with Reigns and Undertaker. The final three came down to Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns. Reigns was able to eliminate Wyatt but was hit with an RKO from Orton after Reigns tried going for a Spear. Orton tossed Reigns out to score the second Royal Rumble victory of his career. Great ending here that sets up a big match between Orton and Wyatt at WrestleMania while the company's favorite guy in Reigns gets second place. Great Rumble match.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ****1/2

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Am I being biased here and giving this event a higher school since I attended it? Possibly. But there really is no doubt that the show delivered with two incredible world championship matches and a Rumble that had so much star power along with some big twists and turns that set up nicely for WrestleMania.
Rating: 9.5/10