2024 Women’s Royal Rumble match

Match: This match kicks off with a big return as Naomi joins Natalya. Naomi got a huge pop, she’s had a successful stint away and picks up with an old rival. Bayley is in early, she’s my pick to win it. Jordynne Grace is a huge surprise, she’s the current TNA Knockouts champion and it’s great to see her in this match. Some of the more familiar faces follow. Chelsea Green is in at #14 and she’s fantastic. She gets squashed by Nia Jax and Piper Niven and sells like an absolute pro. Nia Jax is dominant, she’s having one of the best runs of her career. Alba Fyre looks great, she’s got so much in her locker, she’s very under-utilised. Roxanne Perez and Tiffany Stratton represent NXT. I’d like to see Tiffany on the main roster soon. Jade Cargill makes her WWE debut and she looks so impressive. This girl could be a megastar. She’s very powerful and even slams Jax out of the match. She’s in the final three with Liv Morgan and Bayley. I’m surprised Becky Lynch wasn’t at the end. Liv eliminates Cargill and Bayley eliminates Morgan to win the match!

Result: Bayley wins the match, last eliminating Liv Morgan.

Review: This was great. There was a bit of a lull in the middle but the beginning and end more than made up for it. Bayley was my guess to win it and she went the distance which will inevitably end with a match with Iyo Sky. The star power at the end was insane and man, what a debut for Jade Cargill. She is a star. Jordynne Grace was a massive shocker, I didn’t expect to see her tonight at all. But I love WWE and TNA working together. Grace was made to look strong too. Naomi also looked great, I’ll be interested to see where this WWE run takes her. Chelsea Green was amazing in her role. Becky Lynch was the girl that I expected to stand with Bayley at the end but I was wrong on that one. I expect Lynch to go after Rhea Ripley at Wrestlemania whilst Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair could find each other opponents at the biggest show of the year too. Bayley wins tonight, she goes to Wrestlemania.

Rating: 8.5/10

Roman Reigns (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. AJ Styles – Fatal Four Way match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

Background: Before he went on hiatus in May 2022 due to a back injury, Randy Orton had been feuding with The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, and Jimmy Uso). The following year at Crown Jewel in November 2023, Reigns defeated LA Knight to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship after interference from The Bloodline. On the following episode of SmackDown, Knight stated that he was not done with The Bloodline until he defeated Reigns for the title. Orton then returned at Survivor Series: WarGames later that same month, and on the December 1 episode of SmackDown, he signed with the SmackDown brand after fending off an attack by The Bloodline (which had since added Solo Sikoa, while Jey had left the group and the SmackDown brand earlier that summer), vowing to get revenge. Two weeks later, the returning AJ Styles helped Knight and Orton fend off The Bloodline before attacking Knight. The following week, Styles explained that he attacked Knight for taking his spot in a tag team match at Fastlane in October 2023. After Orton interrupted and said that he also wanted a title match against Reigns, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announced that Orton, Styles, and Knight would compete in a triple threat match at SmackDown: New Year’s Revolution on January 5, 2024, where the winner would face Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. However, the match ended in a no contest after The Bloodline attacked all three competitors. As a result, Aldis announced that Reigns would instead defend his championship in a fatal four-way match against Orton, Knight, and Styles at the Royal Rumble.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time fatal four way match involving these four men.

Royal Rumble PPV Record: Roman Reigns is 4-7, Randy Orton is 3-15, LA Knight is 0-1 and AJ Styles is 1-6.

Match: This one starts as a 3 on 1 against Roman Reigns before LA Knight and AJ Styles pair off. It all breaks down from here with Randy Orton being dominant for parts and then Roman Reigns. LA Knight hits a BFT on Reigns which Styles breaks up before AJ hits a Styles Clash on Roman which also gets broken up. Orton then hits RKO’s on Styles, Knight and Reigns before getting a near fall on Roman. Solo Sikoa responsible for pulling the referee out of the ring there. Solo then takes out Randy and Knight with Samoan spikes before stacking them up and taking himself out, missing with a butt splash on AJ Styles and smashing straight through the barricade. AJ hits a phenomenal forearm on Reigns and pins everyone for a near fall. Roman hits Randy with a spear but LA Knight then fires up. He looks for a BFT on the champion but Roman sends him into the ropes, decapitating AJ Styles who was on the top rope, looking for a phenomenal forearm. Reigns then spears AJ and pins him for the win.

Result: Roman Reigns retains the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship by pinfall.

Review: This was a good match. Fatal four way matches can lack the drama of singles matches and this was probably the case this time but it was still a really solid four way. I don’t think there was any doubting who was winning this match and to be honest, who was taking the fall. This match potentially lines up Wrestlemania matches between Randy Orton and Solo Sikoa as well as AJ Styles and LA Knight. A good match tonight and a first fatal four way victory for Reigns during this title run.

Rating: 7/10

Logan Paul (c) vs. Kevin Owens – United States Championship match

Background: At Crown Jewel on November 4, 2023, Logan Paul won his first WWE title, the United States Championship. Paul made his first appearance as champion on the December 1 episode of SmackDown where he announced that his first challenger would be determined by a 8-man tournament. The tournament was won by Kevin Owens at SmackDown: New Year’s Revolution on January 5, 2024, thus earning him a match against Paul for the title at the Royal Rumble.

Previous PPV matches: This is a first PPV match between these two men.

Royal Rumble PPV Record: Logan Paul is 0-1, Kevin Owens is 1-7.

Match: It’s a back and forth start to the match before Logan Paul targets the broken wrist of his challenger and takes control. Paul event hits a slingshot clothesline but can’t keep Owens down. KO looks for a pp-up powerbomb but Logan counters it and hits his big forearm that helped him win the US title. Speaking of when he won the US title, out comes the bloke from his entourage that bought him brass knucks against Rey Mysterio. The officials get rid of Jeff but out comes Grayson Waller and Austin Theory. Theory hands Logan Paul brass knucks but Owens wrestles them out of his hand and uses them himself only for the referee to see the knucks on Owens hand and he calls for the bell!

Result: Logan Paul wins the match by disqualification.

Review: You can’t fault the referee in this one, they rarely get it right but this time he did. Logan Paul retains the United States Championship with help from Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. I like Theory and Waller with Logan Paul, they make sense as a group. Kevin Owens loses this one but he doesn’t come out of it looking bad. Is this rivalry over?

Rating: 6/10

2024 Men’s Royal Rumble match

Match: After watching Smackdown and seeing Jimmy Uso disappointed with his number I thought it would be he and Jey Uso kicking off the match and it is. Andrade was the first surprise of this match, in at #4 and he had a good showing. I was looking forward to seeing him and Santos Escobar cross paths and they did go at it. Nothing much really happens for a while as the ring fills up with midcarders. Cody Rhodes is in at #15, he’s the odds on favourite. Bronson Reed has a good showing, as does Gunther in at #18. Bron Breakker from NXT is in at #20 and we get a nice showdown between him and the man that follows him, Omos. Pat McAfee is a surprise entrant but he eliminates himself immediatley after seeing Omos and Bron Breakker. JD McDonagh gets flattened by Breakker and R-Truth throws him into the ring and he gets eliminated straight away. The ring fills up and then clears leaving just CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre and Gunther. CM Punk eliminates McIntyre and Rhodes eliminates Gunther leaving just Rhodes and Punk. Punk dominates but Rhodes eliminates him out of nowhere to win the match.

Result: Cody Rhodes wins the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble

Review: This was a fun rumble with a few big stars in but it wasn’t one of the best rumble matches in history. Cody Rhodes wins which for me was the right call. It was nice to see the return of Andrade, I loved the presentation there. There weren’t too many other surprises, they made use of the current roster and didn’t rely on legends. Rhodes wins and clearly targets Roman Reigns.

Rating: 7.5/10