WWE Royal Rumble 2018 Review

For the first time in history, there will be a Women's Royal Rumble match. Not only that, but Brock Lesnar defends his Universal Championship in his biggest challenge yet against both Braun Strowman and Kane. The road to WrestleMania starts here...

Match 1: WWE Championship - AJ Styles (c) vs. Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens look to become co-WWE Champions as they take on The Phenomenal One, AJ Styles. Interesting call to have this match open up the night, kind of gave me the feeling that Styles was going to win and killing a little bit of the suspense. Regardless, solid opening match here that probably could have gone a few more minutes with the controversial finish being the main story here. Zayn was the legal man in the ring before tagging in Owens as the replay showed that Zayn never actually tagged in Owens. With Owens in the ring and looking to hit a Pop Up Powerbomb, Styles reverses it and rolls up Owens for the pin. 
Winner: AJ Styles
Rating: **3/4

Match 2: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships - 2 Out of 3 Falls - The Usos (c) vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable
Another SmackDown Live match leads the show as The Usos defend their straps against Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable. As you would expect from an Usos match, lots of fast and fun action with a bunch of superkicks spread throughout the match to add some spice. The Usos score the first pin of the match as they both sandwich Gable with a pair of superkicks. Not too long after, however, Benjamin and Gable look to rebound before Jimmy Uso quickly rolls Benjamin up to win the match. Another solid match on the card that didn't overstay its welcome and managed to keep the crowd involved heading into the first Rumble match of the night.
Winners: The Usos
Rating: **1/2

Match 3: 2018 Men's Royal Rumble
It always feels kind of strange when the Royal Rumble match isn't the main event. But since the company wants to hype up the Women's Royal Rumble match to the moon, here we are. While I certainly enjoyed the better part of this Rumble, I couldn't help but think there wasn't enough here to really grab my interest and make this a standout Rumble. With both Rusev and Finn Balor starting out the match, they allowed the crowd to get into the match early on with the two fan favorites as they lasted a long time in the ring to their pleasure. One thing I usually love about the Royal Rumble is how it sets up for future WrestleMania matches. There really wasn't any of that here and it just felt like I was more interested in seeing who the next person coming was instead of who and what was in the ring. Although I will admit that I loved seeing Heath Slater get dropped by entrants before he even entered the ring and loved seeing Rey Mysterio get back in a WWE ring. Loved the final part of the match in which we saw two eras in the WWE clash in the ring as it was down to John Cena, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Finn Balor, Roman Reigns and Shinsuke Nakamura. Finally, it came down to Nakamura and Reigns as the Philadelphia crowd was rooting for their internet hero in Nakamura. Great exchange between the two to close out the match before Nakamura knees a running Reigns before tossing him overboard to seal the win and his fate to WrestleMania as he challenges AJ Styles for the WWE Championship.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Rating: ***3/4

Match 4: WWE Raw Tag Team Championships - Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan (c) vs. The Bar
After competing a match earlier in the Royal Rumble, The Bar challenge Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan once more for their Raw Tag Team Championships. Early on in the match, Jason Jordan gets rammed into a ring post which causes him to become disoriented and basically out for the entire match. Rollins is left to fend for himself against The Bar and when Jordan finally makes his way back in the ring, he tags himself out as he still looks to be hurt from the spot earlier. Rollins eats a Brogue Kick after as The Bar take advantage and take out Rollins to score the win. What an easy payday for Jordan.
Winners: The Bar
Rating: **1/2

Match 5: WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman vs. Kane
This is perhaps one of the oddest matches put together in 2018 with Kane being the third wheel in a match full of beasts and monsters, no pun intended. As expected, this was an incredibly physical match with a standout moment seeing Brock Lesnar punch Braun Strowman square in the face after Strowman kneed Lesnar in the side of the head. Despite the crowd still being a bit quiet since the conclusion of the Rumble match, the three men here certainly gave it their all. With all the hate Lesnar gets, there is no denying how good he can be in the ring and how much of a beast he truly is in the ring. So much mayhem going on in this match with tables and chairs being brought into the fray as Lesnar is able to deliver on Kane to seal the win and retain the championship. Afterwards, Strowman yells at Lesnar as he walked away because Lesnar wasn't able to beat Strowman in the match. Didn't he Lesnar beat him a couple months ago? Regardless, I'm sure many will disagree with me but this was certainly a nice surprise and definitely the strongest match on the card so far.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ***3/4

Match 6: 2018 Women's Royal Rumble
Here it is, the match Stephanie McMahon has been hyping about for weeks on end. The first ever Women's Royal Rumble match and it's closing out the show as Stephanie joins Michael Cole and Corey Graves on commentary. With both champions in Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss watching at ringside, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch kick off the match. Fitting considering they are the pioneers of this new movement. Because this was the first ever Women's Royal Rumble match, the commentators gave a little fun fact about each entrant which was actually pretty cool and added a reason behind their name. Also good considering many watching don't have much insight to some of the entrants. It was cool to see some of the older names enter the match like Lita, Trish Stratus, Molly Holly and my personal favorite in Vickie Guerrero. But the nostalgia wasn't enough to really hold my interest throughout. The most interesting part of the match turned out to be the final four in The Bella Twins, Sasha and Asuka fighting it out. It finally came down to Nikki Bella and Asuka as they fought it out on the apron. Finally, Asuka landed a pretty weak kick on Nikki who then fell to the ground. Asuka is the winner of the first Women's Royal Rumble. A very undramatic finish to the match as the two champions then come in the ring to face Asuka before Ronda Rousey comes out... smiling and staring at her future foes as she constantly points to the WrestleMania sign. Cringe.
Winner: Asuka
Rating: **3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
More hype than actual substance would be a fitting way to describe the 2018 Royal Rumble event. Look, I'm all for the women's revolution but this was just so forced down our throats. This may be another unpopular opinion but I think it would have been better to have the Universal Championship match close out the night instead of Ronda Rousey awkwardly smiling and pointing at the WrestleMania sign. What did you guys think? 
Rating: 6/10