WWE has added a stipulation to The Fiend and Daniel Bryan’s Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble.
The Fiend will now defend his Universal title against Bryan in a strap match at the pay-per-view. The stipulation was set up by a challenge that was issued by Bryan on tonight’s SmackDown.
Tonight’s show opened with an appearance by Kane. As he was cutting a promo about the Royal Rumble, he was interrupted by Bray Wyatt on the video screen. The segment led to the lights going out and The Fiend coming through the ring and trying to attack Kane.
But it was revealed that Kane and Bryan had set a trap for The Fiend. Kane (who was now outside of the ring) asked The Fiend what took so long. Bryan then ambushed The Fiend and hit him with the running knee. He tried to fight with The Fiend, but The Fiend escaped back through the ring. Bryan pulled out one of The Fiend’s dreadlocks as he escaped.
In a backstage interview, Bryan challenged The Fiend to the strap match. Bryan said the match was his idea for how to beat someone who disappears every time he’s in trouble.
Bryan said one end of the strap would be tied around each of their hands. And while he understood that The Fiend would try to whip the flesh off his body and try to rip his arm out of his socket, Bryan is done with the mind games.
The Royal Rumble is taking place at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas on January 26. Here’s the updated card for the PPV.
Men’s Royal Rumble match
Women’s Royal Rumble match
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Asuka
Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defending against Daniel Bryan in a strap match
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Lacey Evans
Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin in a falls count anywhere match
A stipulation is being added to Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin’s match at the Royal Rumble.
WWE is hyping that the winner of the Reigns vs. Robert Roode tables match on tonight’s SmackDown will get to pick the stipulation for Reigns vs. Corbin at the Royal Rumble. Roode returned from his 30-day wellness policy suspension last Friday and helped Corbin and Dolph Ziggler lay out Reigns and The Usos in the show-closing angle.
In addition to their match at the pay-per-view, Reigns and Corbin will both be entrants in the men’s Royal Rumble. Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas is hosting the PPV on January 26.
With the help of Ziggler and The Revival, Corbin defeated Reigns in a tables, ladders, and chairs match at last month’s TLC PPV. Reigns and Corbin also had “loser eats dog food” matches at house shows last weekend.
Tonight’s SmackDown is taking place at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. An appearance by Kane has been announced for the show, John Morrison will return to the ring against Big E, and Lacey Evans and Sasha Banks will finally face off.
The WWE Champion will be part of this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match.
During the opening segment of tonight’s Raw, it was announced that Brock Lesnar will be in the men’s Royal Rumble and will be entering the match first overall. He’s the second wrestler to be officially confirmed for the match. Roman Reigns being in the Rumble was also announced on SmackDown this past Friday.
Lesnar returned to WWE television for the first time since Survivor Series on tonight’s Raw. Paul Heyman cut a promo saying that they were going to start off the new year by making history. Heyman said that Lesnar told him there’s no one on Raw, SmackDown, or NXT that is man enough or worthy enough to challenge for his title at the Royal Rumble.
After announcing that Lesnar would be the first overall entrant, Heyman said that Lesnar would be standing victorious at the end of the match. Heyman said Lesnar winning the Royal Rumble isn’t just a prediction — it’s a spoiler.
The stipulation for the Royal Rumble matches over the past couple of years has been that the winners can choose which brand’s title they’re challenging for at WrestleMania.
The Royal Rumble is taking place at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas on January 26. Here’s what’s been announced for the pay-per-view thus far:
Men’s Royal Rumble match (Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns confirmed)
Women’s Royal Rumble match (Charlotte Flair confirmed)
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Asuka
Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defending against Daniel Bryan
Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch cut their first promos after winning their respective Royal Rumble matches in post-show videos that were uploaded by WWE.
In storyline, they both get to pick which title they’re going to challenge for. Universal Champion Brock Lesnar was mentioned in Rollins’ promo, with him saying Finn Balor’s showing against Lesnar gave him hope. Rollins said smaller guys have an advantage against Lesnar, but preparing for Lesnar is unlike anything else.
Lynch discussed losing to Asuka earlier in the night, replacing Lana in the Royal Rumble, and main eventing WrestleMania being her goal.
Ronda Rousey said she respects Sasha Banks as a competitor but takes exception to her using the “Four Horsewomen” name, Paul Heyman said Lesnar rewrote the story of David vs. Goliath against Balor, and Daniel Bryan said the crowd at the Royal Rumble proved him right with their reactions to his match against AJ Styles.
Seth Rollins will officially be in one of the top matches at WrestleMania 35.
Rollins won this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match, coming in at number 10 and last eliminating Braun Strowman to win. Rollins hit Strowman with a stomp on the apron to eliminate him.
During the match, there was an injury angle that Rollins was involved in. Rollins eliminated Bobby Lashley, and Lashley then attacked Rollins and slammed him through one of the announce tables. Strowman threw Rollins back into the ring later in the match after tackling him on the outside.
The final four was Rollins, Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, and Andrade. Strowman eliminated both Ziggler and Andrade.
In storyline, Rollins gets to choose whether he’s going to challenge for the Universal Championship or the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar retained the Universal Championship against Finn Balor at the Royal Rumble, and Daniel Bryan retained the WWE title against AJ Styles after being helped by the returning Erick Rowan.
Erick Rowan returned at the Royal Rumble and aligned with Daniel Bryan.
Rowan, who was wearing flannel, came out to ringside near the end of Bryan’s WWE Championship defense against AJ Styles. Bryan accidentally laid out the referee, Styles hit Bryan with the Styles Clash, and Rowan came in and chokeslammed Styles. Bryan then pinned Styles to retain the WWE title.
After the match, Rowan held up Styles so Bryan could give him the running knee. Rowan raised Bryan’s arm and they left the ring together.
Rowan has been out of action since last August. He suffered a torn right biceps at SummerSlam 2018, and The Bludgeon Brothers (Rowan & Luke Harper) dropped their SmackDown Tag Team titles to The New Day in a no disqualification match on the post-SummerSlam episode of SmackDown.
Harper had wrist surgery while Rowan was out of action. Dave Meltzer reported in last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter: “Harper was at the Performance Center on 1/20 for the first time since his wrist surgery but has still not been cleared.”
Date: January 27, 2019 Location: Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona
Show Recap —
Kickoff Show
Michael Cole said there’s a lineup around the building to get in and they expect over 40,000 fans. Because it’s a baseball stadium, there’s no big stage setup. Instead, they’re using three screens and a flat entranceway.
Non-title match: Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode & Chad Gable defeated Scott Dawson & Rezar (w/Drake Maverick) (6:54)
Roode and Gable won with a neckbreaker/moonsault combo on Dawson. This was preceded by Dawson accidentally dropkicking Rezar. Basic match. During the match, Renee Young said: “This is the Royal Rumble inside a baseball stadium. This is America!”
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Rusev (w/Lana) to win the U.S. Championship (10:13)
Nakamura began untying the turnbuckle pad, so Lana took off her heels and jumped on the apron to warn the referee. She got into a shouting match with Nakamura. Nakamura moved out of the way just in time to avoid a charge by Rusev, who knocked Lana off the apron. As Rusev looked on in concern, Nakamura nailed him with a Kinshasa to the back of the head for the win. Pretty good match.
Jonathan Coachman announced that John Cena won’t be participating in the Rumble match and Braun Strowman is taking his place, as if there weren’t any open spots for Strowman otherwise.
Shawn Michaels announced an NXT six-man tag match for “Halftime Heat” during the SuperBowl next week on the WWE Network: Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano & Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black, Velveteen Dream & Ricochet.
Fatal Four Way match: Buddy Murphy defeated Hideo Itami, Akira Tozawa and Kalisto to retain the Cruiserweight Championship (12:05)
Murphy retained in a pretty wild match. The crowd was into it.
Main Show
Asuka defeated Becky Lynch to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship (17:09)
Asuka used a dangerous-looking suplex from the apron to the floor. Lynch landed rough on her shoulder. This led to a nearfall. They exchanged strikes, then Asuka caught her with a roundhouse kick for a nearfall. Lynch followed later with an Exploder off the top. Asuka put Lynch in the Disarmer, then Lynch countered into the Asuka Lock.
Asuka fought out and hit a kick, then Lynch applied the Disarmer but Asuka rolled out. Asuka then applied the Asuka Lock and rolled through into a bridge with the submission still applied and Lynch tapped out. Asuka won clean. Really good match.
Shane McMahon & The Miz defeated Sheamus & Cesaro to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships (13:22)
Early in the match, Shane was saving Miz whenever he was in trouble, and even gave Sheamus a flying clothesline off the top to the outside. However, Cesaro killed him with an uppercut and they worked over Miz for a while. Shane made the hot tag and went for a coast-to-coast but Cesaro caught him and gave him the big swing, which got an applause.
Shane was fine, though, and put Cesaro into a triangle choke until Sheamus made the save. They gave Shane a double-team White Noise but he kicked out. Miz saved Shane from a Brogue Kick, which caught Cesaro instead. Miz gave Sheamus a Skull Crushing Finale, then Shane gave Cesaro a shooting star press for the pinfall win.
Miz and Shane are the tag champs. Crowd popped. They celebrated with Miz’s dad afterwards.
They announced a crowd of 48,193.
Charly Caruso asked Sasha Banks about the fans thinking she was destined to fail. Banks said she puts everything she has in the ring and even though Ronda Rousey was a UFC Hall of Famer, she has never faced anyone like her.
Ronda Rousey defeated Sasha Banks to retain the Raw Women’s Championship (13:47)
Rousey has new white, black and gold gear. Banks appears to be the fan favourite. Rousey setup for a suplex, looked at the crowd and said, “you think I can’t wrestle?” then gave Banks consecutive vertical suplexes. She was going for the Eddie Guerrero spot (which got a mixed reaction) but Banks fought out of it.
Rousey tried a forearm strike on the outside but Banks ducked and Rousey hit the post. Banks worked over her arm from there and countered out of a Piper’s Pit into an armbar. Rousey fought out but Banks put her in the crossface. Rousey escaped and gave her the Piper’s Pit.
Banks nailed a vertical suplex off the middle rope, then Rousey followed later with consecutive judo throws. Banks went for a suicide dive but Rousey caught her and applied the armbar. Banks tapped but they were outside the ring.
Banks applied the crossface but as Rousey got to the ropes, Banks applied an armbar. Rousey fought out, hit a slam, then hit the Piper’s Pit for the pinfall win. I don’t know if I would call this a bad match, but it was clunky and weird.
Rousey helped Banks to her feet after the match. After celebrating with Travis Browne, Banks approached Rousey and they shook hands. Banks then held up four fingers in her face before leaving.
Finn Bálor was shown backstage. No face paint.
Becky Lynch won the 30 Woman Royal Rumble Match (1:11:24)
I’ll try to update this post periodically throughout the match. Beth Phoenix joined commentary. Lacey Evans and Natalya were the first two entrants. Mandy Rose was out next, followed by Liv Morgan who was eliminated in seconds by Natalya. Mickie James, Ember Moon, Billie Kay were next. Kay didn’t want to enter the ring until her friend came out.
Nikki Cross was 8th. She pushed Kay into the barricade, then landed a dive on all the women in the ring. Peyton Royce was 9th and she double-teamed Cross with Kay. Tamina was 10th and Young called her the “sultress of savagery.” Tamina eliminated James. Xia Li was 11th and had a very awkward exchange with Tamina. Sarah Logan was 12th.
Cross was eliminated by Kay and Royce, which was booed. Charlotte Flair was 13th. Evans eliminated both Kay and Royce, which was cheered. Charlotte eliminated Li. Kairi Sane was next. Charlotte eliminated Tamina. Sane chopped away at Charlotte, who no-sold them.
Charlotte chopped Sane, who no-sold them until the last one knocked her down. Sane gave Logan the diving elbow, then teamed with Natalya to eliminate her. Maria Kanellis was next. Charlotte and Evans weren’t taking her seriously, so she gave them a double bulldog.
Naomi was next and she eliminated Rose. Naomi was almost eliminated, but she managed to land on her hands and then climbed on the barricade. She walked along the barricade, then leaped onto the steps which got a big pop. Then Rose abruptly yanked her down for the elimination. Crowd booed. Evans was then eliminated, I think by Charlotte.
Candice LeRae and Alicia Fox were next. Fox and Kanellis fought over Fox’s hat, then Fox eliminated her. Kacy Catanzaro, Zelina Vega, and Ruby Riott were next. Riott was flanked by Logan and Morgan, who helped her eliminate Fox and LeRae. Dana Brooke was next. Riott eliminated Sane (who took kind of an ugly bump). Crowd booed. Vega is hiding under the ring.
Io Shirai was next and landed a top rope moonsault to the outside on the Riott Squad (before officially entering). Rhea Ripley was 24th. Catanzaro was seemingly eliminated, but she landed on her hands, walked on her hands to the ring post, then climbed up the post back into the ring. It was impressive, but Ripley caught her and just tossed her out.
Sonya Deville was 25th. Ripley eliminated Brooke. Vega poked her head out to laugh at her, then Hornswoggle suddenly appeared from under the ring too. He chased Vega around until she re-entered the ring to promptly be eliminated by Ripley. Hornswoggle then chased Vega to the back.
Alexa Bliss was 26th and eliminated Deville. Bayley was 27th and eliminated Riott and Ripley. Lana was 28th. Her ankle was taped and she limped down the aisle. Fans chanted for Lynch as officials checked on Lana who couldn’t make it down the aisle. Nia Jax was 29th and she attacked Lana before entering. Jax eliminated Shirai.
Natalya got Jax on her shoulders, which got a pop, but Jax eliminated her. Natalya was in there for 55 minutes. Carmella was 30th. As officials checked on Lana, Lynch came out and told Fit Finlay she should be the replacement. Finlay agreed.
Lynch stepped in the ring and went right after Jax and the crowd popped. Charlotte and Jax each tried to eliminate her, but Lynch stayed in. Bliss eliminated Moon. They said Moon was in for 53+ minutes. Bayley and Carmella eliminated Bliss, which the crowd didn’t like. Charlotte later eliminated Carmella. The final four was Jax, Charlotte, Bayley and Lynch.
Jax had Bayley on her shoulders, then Charlotte booted them, causing Bayley to get eliminated. Charlotte got Jax on her shoulders and placed her on the apron. Lynch then yanked Jax off the apron for the elimination. Charlotte and Lynch are the final two. Jax attacked Lynch, who landed awkwardly on her knee. Charlotte smiled as the referees checked on Lynch.
Lynch eventually fended off the officials and jumped in the ring, yelling “I can go, I can go! Fight me, fight me!” Charlotte attacked and went after the injured leg. Lynch almost eliminated Charlotte, but Charlotte kicked her leg out of her leg, then hit an Exploder. Charlotte tried a big boot, but Lynch ducked and dumped her out of the ring. Lynch wins. Crowd was happy.
They let Lynch celebrate for a while after the match. Most of this match was dull. It was entertaining once Lynch came out near the end.
Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles to retain the WWE Championship (24:32)
22 minutes into the match, Erick Rowan sauntered down. Bryan went for an enziguri but hit the referee. Styles hit a Styles Clash, then Rowan jumped in and chokeslammed him. Bryan pinned Styles for the win. I thought the work was good, but… this sucked. Rowan came out right before there happened to be a ref bump, then Styles was pinned after a routine chokeslam. Crowd was dead. Afterwards, Rowan picked up Styles and Bryan gave him the running knee.
They plugged Halftime Heat again. It’s 10:23 pm ET and we still have a title match and the men’s Rumble.
Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) defeated Finn Bálor (8:35)
No Demon Bálor. Bálor wore red trunks and knee pads with white boots. Bálor went crazy on Lesnar early on, but Lesnar caught him with a belly-to-belly suplex. Lesnar cleared an announce table but Bálor pushed him into the corner of the table. Lesnar fought back and gave Bálor another belly-to-belly, but he’s selling his midsection from the table spot.
Bálor caught Lesnar with a slingblade, but Lesnar came right back with a clothesline. Lesnar is still really selling hard. He went for the F5 but Bálor countered into a DDT for a nearfall. The crowd was really into it. Bálor then hit consecutive flip dives. The crowd called for another one, so Bálor did it again. The crowd is way more into this than the previous match.
Bálor hit the Coup de Grace, but Lesnar kicked out and immediately applied the kimura lock. Bálor fought briefly but tapped out. Lesnar retains. Short match, but it was fun and Bálor looked good. He got a lot of offense.
After the match, Lesnar gave Bálor three German suplexes. Lesnar’s music played, he posed for a bit, then gave Bálor an F5 as the crowd booed. Hopefully, Bálor gets something out of this.
Seth Rollins won the 30 Man Royal Rumble Match (57:24)
Elias, conveniently, was number one, so he could do a performance. To be fair, the crowd was hot for Elias. Corey Graves said, “I love that we’ve been here for four and a half hours and he’s still taking his time.” Elias appreciated the number of fans and wanted to send a picture to the Diamondbacks because they’ve never seen this many people in their stadium.
Jeff Jarrett, in his gear, came out as number 2. Jarrett spelled his name and the crowd actually sang along. Elias was excited to see him and offered to have them perform together. The crowd was into it, then Elias clocked him with an elbow and the match started. Elias smashed his guitar over Jarrett’s back and tossed him from the ring. Nakamura is number 3.
Kurt Angle is 4th. Loud-ass “you suck” chants. He suplexed both guys. Big E was 5th. Angle gave Big E an Angle Slam, then Nakamura eliminated Angle pretty easily. Johnny Gargano was 6th and got a pretty good reaction. Jinder Mahal was 7th and Gargano eliminated him almost immediately. Big E shoved pancaked down Samir’s mouth and gave him a Big Ending.
Samoa Joe was 8th and tossed Big E without a problem. Curt Hawkins was next. Seth Rollins was 10th and he eliminated Elias. Titus O’Neil was next. He ran to the ring, then held up so he didn’t slip. The crowd cheered, but then he crawled under the ring anyway. He decided to get in the ring anyway but was eliminated by Hawkins. Hawkins was then eliminated by Joe.
Kofi Kingston was 12th, entering his 12th Rumble. Mustafa Ali was 13th and he eliminated Nakamura. Dean Ambrose was 14th. He tried to eliminate Kingston, but Kingston somehow stayed alive. Ambrose then eliminated Gargano. No Way Jose was next, but he was eliminated immediately by Joe (similar to Santino). Jose was not upset and danced away with his conga line. (It should be noted that Hawkins and Jose somehow qualified for this match).
Drew McIntyre was next. He killed Jose and his conga line on the way to the ring. McIntyre gave Claymore kicks to both Rollins and Ambrose, then traded strikes with Joe until giving him a Claymore Kick. Xavier Woods was next and saved Kingston from elimination. They were all happy until McIntyre eliminated them both without a problem.
Pete Dunn was 18th. Dunn worked over McIntyre and Ali, and the crowd was appreciative. Andrade and Apollo Crews were next. Aleister Black was next, leading to an “NXT” chant. Ambrose, McIntyre and Andrade teamed up on Black, then Black eliminated Ambrose.
Shelton Benjamin was out next. Ali eliminated Joe, which got a pop from the crowd. Baron Corbin was 23rd and he eliminated Crews. Cole thought it was Benjamin that got eliminated. It wasn’t. It was Crews. Jeff Hardy was next. Corbin eliminated Black, which was booed. Dunn was about to break Corbin’s fingers, but McIntyre saved him and eliminated Dunn.
Rey Mysterio was 25th. Bobby Lashley was 26th. Lashley was eliminated immediately by Rollins. Lashley yanked Rollins out of the ring (not eliminated) and drove him through an announce table. Braun Strowman was out at 27 and eliminated Corbin and Benjamin. Hardy was eliminated by Strowman.
Dolph Ziggler was 28th and eliminated McIntyre. Randy Orton was 29th. He tried for an RKO on Strowman but Strowman gave him a powerslam. R-Truth made his entrance at 30, but Nia Jax attacked him from behind, then went to the ring. Jax knocked down Ziggler, Andrade, and Mysterio. Jax headbutted Ali and eliminated him.
The crowd cheered as Orton crept up behind her, but Jax noticed what was happening. Jax avoided an RKO and knocked him down. Ziggler gave Jax a superkick, and Lawler was in hysterics. Then Mysterio gave her a 619 and Orton followed with an RKO. Mysterio and Orton eliminated her, then Orton gave Mysterio an RKO and eliminated him. Andrade eliminated Orton.
The final four was Strowman, Rollins, Ziggler and Andrade. They teamed up on Strowman. Rollins gave him a frog splash. Strowman eliminated Andrade, then eliminated Ziggler. Rollins almost superkicked Strowman out of the ring, but Strowman chokeslammed him. They fought on the apron, then Rollins pushed Strowman into the post and curb stomped him on the apron for the elimination. Rollins was the winner.
After announcing that John Cena is officially out of the match, WWE has added an entrant to the men’s Royal Rumble.
WWE announced via Instagram that Braun Strowman will be an entrant in tonight’s men’s Rumble match. There are now 20 wrestlers confirmed for it.
Strowman returned to action on last Monday’s episode of Raw for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery in November. He faced Finn Balor, with Brock Lesnar interfering to cause a disqualification. Lesnar laid out Balor with the F-5 as he was about to hit the Coup de Grace on Strowman.
The two-hour Royal Rumble pre-show begins at 5 p.m. Eastern time tonight, and the main card starts at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Here’s the updated list of men’s Royal Rumble match entrants:
R-Truth (will enter at number 30 as a stipulation of winning Mixed Match Challenge)
One more entrant was added to the men’s Royal Rumble match on SmackDown’s go-home show for the pay-per-view.
Randy Orton was confirmed for the men’s Rumble, and he stood tall heading into Sunday’s PPV. After Samoa Joe had interrupted Rey Mysterio and Andrade’s two-out-of-three falls match in the main event of SmackDown, Orton appeared out of nowhere and laid out Joe with an RKO.
Orton has won two Royal Rumble matches in his career.
There are now 20 entrants announced for the men’s Rumble match and 23 announced for the women’s Rumble match. The PPV is taking place at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona this Sunday.
Here’s the updated list of entrants:
Men’s Royal Rumble —
R-Truth (will enter at number 30 as a stipulation of winning Mixed Match Challenge)
WWE has confirmed two title matches for Sunday’s Royal Rumble pre-show.
On SmackDown’s go-home show for the PPV, it was announced that Rusev’s United States Championship defense against Shinsuke Nakamura will be airing on the Royal Rumble pre-show. Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy will also defend his title against Kalisto, Akira Tozawa, and Hideo Itami in a fatal four-way match on the pre-show.
Both matches had already been announced for the Royal Rumble before being confirmed for the kickoff show.
The two-hour pre-show will begin at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday. The panel for the first hour will be Jonathan Coachman, Beth Phoenix, Booker T, and Jerry Lawler, with Shawn Michaels and David Otunga replacing Booker T and Lawler in the second hour. There will also be another panel with JBL and Charly Caruso.
Sunday’s PPV is taking place at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Here’s the updated card:
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Finn Balor
WWE Champion Daniel Bryan defending against AJ Styles
Men’s Royal Rumble match
Women’s Royal Rumble match
Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defending against Sasha Banks
SmackDown Women’s Champion Asuka defending against Becky Lynch
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending against The Miz & Shane McMahon
United States Champion Rusev defending against Shinsuke Nakamura (pre-show)
Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy defending against Kalisto, Akira Tozawa, and Hideo Itami in a fatal four-way match (pre-show)
The men’s Royal Rumble match will be called by Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jerry Lawler, and JBL. Lawler had noted on his podcast that he’d be calling the match with Cole and JBL.
Renee Young, Beth Phoenix, Tom Phillips, and Graves will be the announce team for the women’s Royal Rumble match.
The other Raw and SmackDown matches will be called by the usual announce teams for each brand (Cole, Graves, and Young for Raw and Phillips, Graves, and Byron Saxton for SmackDown). Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, and Percy Watson are calling Buddy Murphy’s Cruiserweight Championship defense against Kalisto, Akira Tozawa, and Hideo Itami.
Mike Rome and Greg Hamilton have been announced as the ring announcers for the event.
The two-hour pre-show for the Royal Rumble will begin at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday. Jonathan Coachman, Phoenix, Booker T, and Lawler will be the panel for the first hour, with Shawn Michaels and David Otunga replacing Booker T and Lawler in the second hour. There will also be another panel with JBL and Charly Caruso, and Kayla Braxton, Dasha Fuentes, and Sarah Schreiber will conduct interviews.
Heading into the final episode of SmackDown before the pay-per-view, WWE has announced 19 entrants for the men’s Royal Rumble and 23 for the women’s Royal Rumble.
Titus O’Neil was officially announced for the men’s Rumble match on Monday’s Raw. Alexa Bliss (who is returning after being out of action since October due to concussion issues) and Lacey Evans were also added to the women’s Rumble. Evans will be making her televised main roster in-ring debut in the match.
Royal Rumble 2019 is taking place at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona this Sunday. Here’s the updated list of entrants:
Men’s Royal Rumble —
R-Truth (will enter at number 30 as a stipulation of winning Mixed Match Challenge)
WWE has announced that Alexa Bliss will be an entrant in Sunday’s women’s Royal Rumble match.
The announcement was made on Monday’s go-home episode of Raw. Bliss hosted a Royal Rumble edition of her “Moment of Bliss” talk show, with Bliss revealing that she’ll be competing in this year’s women’s Royal Rumble.
Nia Jax, Ember Moon, Alicia Fox, Mickie James, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Dana Brooke, Tamina, and Nikki Cross appeared on the Moment of Bliss segment. It led to them brawling to the back before Bliss made her announcement. Lacey Evans then made an appearance, insulted Bliss, and it was confirmed that Evans will also be an entrant in Sunday’s women’s Rumble.
Bliss has been out of action since October due to concussion issues.
With 23 entrants announced, there are now seven spots left for this year’s women’s Royal Rumble. Here’s the updated list of entrants:
Carmella (will enter at number 30 as a stipulation of winning Mixed Match Challenge)
Nine more entrants have been confirmed for next Sunday’s women’s Royal Rumble match.
A “women’s Royal Rumble match reveal event” was held on WWE’s Twitter account today. Starting at noon Eastern time, WWE revealed a new entrant every 30 minutes. The wrestlers officially added to the match were: Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Tamina, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Dana Brooke, Lana, Nia Jax, and Nikki Cross.
Cross is part of the latest group of NXT call-ups. Though she wrestled on Raw last week, it was noted that Cross, Lars Sullivan, EC3, Lacey Evans, and Heavy Machinery have yet to be assigned to a brand.
Following the reveal event, there are still nine spots left in the women’s Royal Rumble. Here’s the updated list of entrants:
Carmella (will enter at number 30 as a stipulation of winning Mixed Match Challenge)
A United States Championship match has been made official for the Royal Rumble.
During Tuesday’s SmackDown, it was announced that United States Champion Rusev will defend his title against Shinsuke Nakamura at the Royal Rumble. Rusev won the title from Nakamura on the SmackDown episode that aired on Christmas Day.
Rusev and Nakamura’s feud has continued since Rusev won the title. Nakamura interrupted Rusev’s celebration two weeks ago, with the angle leading to Lana jumping on Nakamura’s back to try and stop him from attacking Rusev. Rusev gave Nakamura the Machka Kick, Lana crashed to the mat, and Nakamura laid out Rusev while he was distracted by checking on Lana.
On last week’s SmackDown, Nakamura told Rusev that what happened to Lana was Rusev’s fault. Rusev went after Nakamura backstage, but Nakamura ambushed him.
This year’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view is taking place at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona on January 27. Here’s the updated card:
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Finn Balor
WWE Champion Daniel Bryan defending against AJ Styles
Men’s Royal Rumble match
Women’s Royal Rumble match
Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defending against Sasha Banks
SmackDown Women’s Champion Asuka defending against Becky Lynch
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending against Shane McMahon & The Miz
United States Champion Rusev defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy defending against Kalisto, Akira Tozawa, and Hideo Itami in a fatal four-way match
