Irrespective of the build-up and wrestlers involved, WWE Royal Rumble is always going to be the most intriguing pay-per-view of every year. The show is not just about the in-ring quality, but also about the sheer excitement of who might show up in the match. This year too, it was no different. All the matches on the main-card lived up to their expectations and we got a feel-good ending to a pay-per-view after a long time.
However, the show was not perfect. It had some problems which might become a bigger issue going into the road to WrestleMania. Here is my assessment of the show and what I think were the best and worst things coming out of Royal Rumble 2020.
Best: Drew McIntyre winning the Men’s Royal Rumble match
Going into the event, Roman Reigns was the favorite to win the Men’s Royal Rumble match and to go on to face The Fiend at WrestleMania for the Universal championship. He deserves to get a title shot at the show of the shows, especially after the dull 2019 he had. But, we never know with Roman what kind of reaction he would get. He might have got a babyface reaction, but it was definitely not going to be Becky Lynch‘s level when she won the match last year.
So, going with Drew McIntyre was the right decision. The Scottish Psychopath not only won the match but eliminated the dominant Brock Lesnar, who was just killing the rest of the roster. He got a great reaction at the end and is someone who looks at the same level as The Beast. Drew has been flying under the radar ever since coming into the main roster in April 2018, but his time has finally come at the top.
Worst: Charlotte Flair winning the Women’s Royal Rumble match
Just to clarify, Charlotte Flair winning the Royal Rumble match is not the worst decision, but for the sake of this article, we are putting it in this category. For a long time now, Raw is feeling like a two-woman show in Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. Asuka and Natalya are also part of the roster, but they are never booked in the same footing as the other two women mentioned before. Royal Rumble is a match when the management can build a star in just one night, which they did with Bianca Belair, but then they went and let Charlotte win the match.
Charlotte didn’t need that victory. We are probably going to get another Charlotte vs Becky match at WrestleMania, but we have already seen that so many times. Fans want some fresh challenger for Becky now. Shayna Baszler would have been a better winner. It would have been a fresh pairing and a genuine threat to the champion.
Best: A Welcome Return
We’re still not over the return of @EdgeRatedR! #MensRumble
(via @wwe) pic.twitter.com/B5ExOEaVGm
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) January 27, 2020
The Minute Maid Park was a sight to behold when Alter Bridge played in the stadium during the men’s Royal Rumble match. Edge was rumored to return to in-ring action since Hell in a Cell weekend last year, but given the seriousness of his neck injury, it seemed a little far fetched. This made his return even more memorable as the probability of it happening was pretty low. He hasn’t lost a step in the ring and while he didn’t win the match, he had a pretty strong showing in the match and hopefully this wasn’t a one-off thing and The Rated R Superstar is going to stay in WWE for a while.
They even teased an alliance with his old tag team partner, Randy Orton in the match but they turn on each other at the end. We are definitely going to see a clash between the two at some point in the future and it is going to be a titanic one.
Worst: An Unwelcome return
https://twitter.com/GIFSkull/status/1221611162808152065
The whole thing with Santina Marella was not even remotely funny. What was the point of it? A man dressing as a woman to eliminate herself might have looked funny in the head of a 74-year old man, but the spot is getting butchered on social media. Santina entered in the ring in the 29th place, which is usually reserved for a returning star or some big wrestler, but using it for a comedy spot was just a wrong decision.
They could have used it to bring an NXT superstar instead. She might have been eliminated soon, but at least she would have her name out there.
Best: Roman Reigns vs King Corbin
Roman Reigns vs King Corbin match at Royal Rumble had everything that a ‘Falls Count Anywhere’ match should have. They have many creative spots, went into the crowd, and looked really violent. Although it was a bit predictable with the involvement of The Usos, Robert Roode, and Dolph Ziggler, the rest of the match was pretty exciting.
Hopefully, this is the end of the feud and Roman could finally move on to something meaningful, which doesn’t involve making fun of his ‘Big Dog’ gimmick.
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