[2018-01-28-WWE-Royal Rumble] 30 Woman Royal Rumble

[ShittyLittleBoots]

I thought this was super fun. Lots of women got a chance to shine - Ruby Riot looked great, Kairi Sane looked great, Mickie James looked great, Becky Lynch looked really good, Nikki Bella looked really good, Ember Moon looked great, Asuka looked great, Sasha Banks looked really great. All the surprise entrants were handled in super enjoyable fashion & all of them looked really good in the ring, too! Overall just a really well structured Rumble match. The post-match w/ Ronda coming out was quite something (that Piper jacket! ) - I LOVED Asuka slapping her hand away when she tried to go for a handshake. All in all, a really good time from start to finish! ***3/4

[KawadaSmile]

An all-time great Rumble, honestly. People like Trish, Molly and Jacqueline showed that while the Women's Division obviously progressed as a whole, there was always quality to be found. The fact that after years of being basically the butt of many jokes or piss-break segments, they finally got the main event of the 2nd biggest WWE event of the year and had all the spotlights on them is quite moving.

 

The crowd was 100% into this - as they should, because this fucking rocked - and many little storylines were made here, or throwbacks to previous ones.

 

Nikki vs Asuka and Trish vs Sasha are matches that NEED to happen.

[Edwin]

Sasha looked pretty terrible early on, however she redeemed herself as the match neared the end when she began making somewhat of a heel turn. Aside from that, the current main roster regulars and NXT surprises looked very good.

 

Thought some of the surprise entrants were forgettable, but they got the fans going with the nostalgic pop. Vicki Guerrero smashing Carmella with the briefcase after she moonwalked in front of her was hilarious. Also, stuff like Nia taking a nap mid match was odd.

 

The finishing stretch with the final batch of participants were very good.

 

Overall the match was entertaining and it never dragged.

 

***1/2

[Mrzfn]

It doesn't seem to be the consensus opinion, but I thought this was comfortably better than the (also good) men's match. I'd also argue it was the best Rumble match in close to a decade, or at least the most fun.

[MojoJsyn]

This match was so much fun to watch. Rumbles are one of my favorite matches of the year. This one delivered in a big way/ The surprises were spaced out perfectly and there was no lull in action. That is all I ask of Rumbles, lulls should be almost nonexistence and plenty of surprises.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

This was a blast. What a great topper to a terrific weekend.

[Downend2005]

Decided to give this a rewatch... this is absolutely not an all time rumble, it’s not even the best rumble on the show.

Right off the bat, ”Stephanie McMahon is a trailblazer, but she won’t tell you so” is a contender for the biggest laugh out loud line in wrestling history.

Sasha and Becky start with a nice exchange, but the crowd is dead/burnt out until Lita enters at 5. Lita was never a great or even particularly good worker, but she looks terrible here.

Charlotte giggling at Kairi Sanes entrance is great. “She loves boating hence her yacht persona”is another great line. 

Lita almost kills herself on a moonsault to cheers of ‘you still got it’ before being eliminated.

Dana Brooke and her 15 poses enters as number 8 and eliminates Kairi Sane in an odd choice.

Torrie Wilson enters at 9 and gets another big pop. Torrie gets serious air with a drop kick which ends up somewhere around Becky Lynchs stomach. 

Molly Holly gets a decent reaction and looks great, far better than Lita and Torrie.

Lana comes in at 13 and gets the biggest pop so far, namely ‘Rusev Day’, before having a hair pulling catfight with Liv Morgan.

Michelle McCool comes in at 14 to chants of Undertaker, before squashing everybody, because of course she does.

Vickie Guerrero comes in and overacts as she was want to do, and this comedy spot falls flat as she’s dumped immediately. Her hitting Carmella with her Money in the Bank briefcase was great though, and actually got a better reaction. Carmella sells the briefcase shot as death when it barely touched her was hilarious.

Becky gets eliminated after 30 minutes out of nowhere.

Nia Jax enters at number 22 and starts clearing the ring. This is the first time in the entire match we have something approaching a story. The Naomi Kofi spot was cute but was almost spoiled by Maria Menounous videoing it on her phone. I would have loved for Alexa Bliss to whip the chair away from Naomi to eliminate her though, would have been a great heel move.

Ember Moon comes in selling her arm from the previous night, bonus points for that.

The Beth Phoenix/Nia gets the ‘this is awesome’ treatment, and was easily the best part of the match. Nia has actually been the standout in this match so far.

Asuka enters at 25 and the mood changes instantly. Carmella running from Asukas kick was great. The Asuka/Ember stand-off was fun and got a great response.

Nikki Bella throws a great forearm, but outside of that, she’s awful. She also gets the ‘John Cena suuuuuckkks’ treatment. Brie Bellas music is the worst theme in wrestling, and her benefitting from the ‘yes’ chants is annoying as fuck.

Bayley enters at 29 and nobody gives a shit.

Trish then enters at 30 and has a fun spot with Sasha Banks, and a genuinely fun callback with Mickie James. Nia is eliminated and it’s bullshit. She should have been in the final two with Asuka and reran the Benoit/Big Show finish from 2004. With Nia facing Alexa Bliss that year, it at least would have made for a better finish, but instead, we get the Bellas, because of course we do. From that point, nobody believed Asuka was losing, which hurt the match.

This was actually quite a boring rumble with the result never in doubt. Nia Jax was the clear stand out, but Asuka, Carmella, Beth Phoenix and Trish were fun too.

[Jimmy Redman]

After watching it 7 times in 24 hrs when it happened I've been reluctant to revisit this match ever since because it was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me and I was scared it wouldn't feel the same in the future but I've watched it twice this week in my Evolution daze and GUESS WHAT MOTHERFUCKERS it was exactly the same and still amazing and remains the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. A great, great, great match.