Men’s Royal Rumble Match
Now for the main event of the night. We knew that Brock Lesnar would enter as number one. The bigger question was, who would enter at number 2? A guitar strum answered that one. Elias sauntered down to the ring with a mic and his guitar. He played a new song ” Sacrificial Lamb”. Midway through his song, Brock Lesnar jumped down on the floor and chased him to the ring. Brock obliterated him with his own guitar, then throws him over the top. We waited a little bit, and number 3 was called. Erick Rowan went down to the ring. He got no offense in, Brock clotheslined him over the top rope for another elimination after 8 seconds. The unlucky number 4? Robert Roode. He gets a gnarly looking F5, then thrown over the top. The crowd and audience at the Hashtag Studio is getting restless.
Number 5 would be John Morrison. Returning to the Royal Rumble after 9 years. He goes in for 9 seconds, and is thrown over the top. Brock looks incredibly dominant. Would number 6 save the day? It was the man that Brock beat for the WWE Championship, Kofi Kingston. Kingston doesn’t get dumped over the top as quickly as the others, but he gets physically dominated. The crowd is really pulling for Kofi. Number 7 would be Rey Mysterio. Another Brock foe from the past couple months. Rey goes after him immediately but is overpowered. Brock stands tall with the both of them down. Number 8 would be Big E. He rallied the other two from the floor, then all three of them went in after Brock. It looked like they would be able to get Brock out.
Brock’s Royal Rumble Dominance Continues
Then they lose the advantage and Brock throws Rey over the top. Big E gets taken out, and Kofi gets F5’ed over the top. The ring was alone with Brock again. Number 9 was a fan favorite, Cesaro. He gets some offense in, but is quickly thrown over the top. The crowd boos. Number 10 was Shelton Benjamin. We got a nice moment with these two former friends and tag team partners. Heyman shakes his hand, Brock and him hug. This looks very strange. Lesnar feigns friendship then throws him over the top. The WWE likely did their Brock Lesnar research here, because number 11 was someone who had beaten Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Championship when they were both younger, Shinsuke Nakamura made his way to the ring. Shinsuke hit him with some kicks, but like the rest of the field, Brock tossed him over the top.
Number 12 was the returning MVP. He got a big pop from the crowd. He chased Paul Heyman around the ring, Brock stepped in for his advocate, grabbed MVP, then F5’ed him over the top. Would anyone be able to stop him? Number 13 was Keith Lee. This was the first time all match that Brock actually looked stunned by his opponent. They had the first epic staredown of the match, and then they went at it. A double clothesline would take both of them down. The 14th entrant was another big hoss, Braun Strowman. He does the round and round, nails Lee, then nails Lesnar. Lesnar took both of them to suplex city with German Suplexes. Unfortunately for the crowd, Lesnar took both of them over the top.
Who Would Answer Brock’s Dominance In The Royal Rumble?
15 would be someone who had issues with Brock in the past week, Ricochet. Brock immediately dominated him, but didn’t eliminate him. 16 would enter the ring, Drew McIntyre. Brock takes his gloves off and bounces around. Ricochet low blows him from behind, Brock is stunned. Drew Claymore Kicks him, and Brock goes over the top rope. The entire building erupts, the Hashtag Studios roof comes undone. McIntyre grabs Ricochet and throws him over the top while staring at Brock Lesnar on the outside.
Number 17 would signal the start of the “second Rumble” in my opinion. The Miz entered to a Claymore Kick from Drew, and tossed out. Drew continues staring down Lesnar. Number 18 was AJ Styles. Syles takes his time getting to the ring, but they finally grapple. 19 and 20 would be Dolph Ziggler and Karl Anderson. Number 21 would be the biggest surprise of the night. “You think you know me”, EDGE returned to the WWE. He looks like he’s going to cry. He gets some pyro, which was awesome. His entrance was ruined by Kevin Dunn’s (producer for WWE in the TV truck) horrible camera cuts. The live WWE Network watchers missed his Spears to enter the match. He clears house, AJ and him have a staredown, but AJ eats a gnarly Spear.
It looks like AJ is injured at this point in the match. He gets checked on, and Edge tosses him out unceremoniously. King Corbin would be the next to enter at 22. The Bro Matt Riddle comes out at 23, he kicks off his slippers and has a staredown with Corbin. Riddle goes after Drew and Corbin takes him out from behind.
The Finale Of The Royal Rumble
24 would be Luke Gallows, completing the OC in the ring. Drew then dumps out Corbin, the Good Brothers hit Edge with Magic Killer. 25 would complete the reunion of Rated RKO with Randy Orton. Randy gives RKO’s to the Good Brothers, Edge and Randy dump both of them out. 26 would be the odds on favorite for the match, Roman Reigns. He immediately spears Dolph Ziggler out of his pants then dumps him over the top. 27, 28, 29, and 30 would all be superstars from the RAW brand. Kevin Owens, Aleister Black, Samoa Joe, and Seth Rollins. Owens hit Drew with a wicked pop-up powerbomb. He then hit stunners on Reigns and Orton. Black came in kicking. Joe got a huge pop from the Houston crowd, he went after Owens and Black. Rollins entrance would be flanked by the Authors of Pain and Buddy Murphy.
Owens invited Rollins into the ring. They clear the ring, Rollins hands out stomps to Drew and Reigns. Owens gets eliminated, Joe gets eliminated. Black, Joe, and Owens brawl with the AoP and Murphy up the ramp. Roman, Orton, Edge, Rollins, and Drew are the last five. Rollins tries to ally with Roman, but eats finishers from the other four and is dumped out by Drew. Edge and Orton hit a double RKO on Drew. Randy teases that he’s going to RKO Edge, but they agree to take on Roman. Then Edge tosses Randy over the top. Roman and Edge unload on each other. Edge spears Roman, Roman and Edge fight on the apron. Edge gets eliminated and it’s Drew and Roman as the final two.
The Thrilling Conclusion
Roman goes for the Spear. He misses and Drew counters with the Claymore Kick. He throws Roman out and onto the floor for a HUGE POP. Drew wins the Royal Rumble and the crowd celebrates with him. The 13 year odyssey for the Scottish superstar ends with a WWE Championship match finally. Throughout his first tenure as a WWE superstar and now his second tenure, he never received a WWE/World Heavyweight Title shot.
Grade: 5/5
The match was really built into two parts. You had the first part which was the Brock Lesnar show. It showcased some of the various people who have had issues with Brock throughout his runs in WWE. It was a great way to build up the heat on Lesnar, so that we could all cheer when someone dethroned him. So in my opinion, it was worth all the trouble of it. Sure, some people who could have had cool moments like John Morrison and MVP were dumped out early, those sacrifices had to be made. Drew getting not only to eliminate Brock, but win the whole thing put a cherry on top of the whole match. The spots with Edge, the RAW faction warfare, and the thrilling conclusion made for a fantastic Royal Rumble match for 2020.
