Tag: royal rumble

Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley declare for WWE Royal Rumble

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Two new entrants have declared for this year’s WWE Royal Rumble matches. 

On Friday’s SmackDown show, Bianca Belair declared her entry for the women’s Royal Rumble, while Bobby Lashley announced his entry into the men’s Rumble match. 

Belair won the 2021 women’s Roya Rumble match and headlined night one of WrestleMania 37 against Sasha Banks for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. 

Lashley is the fourth confirmed entrant for the men’s Rumble match along with CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, and Shinsuke Nakamura. Belair joins Becky Lynch, Nia Jax, and Bayley as confirmed women’s Rumble entrants. 

Belair and Bayley will go one-on-one on next week’s SmackDown episode.

Royal Rumble 2024 will be held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Saturday, January 27. 

In addition to the men’s and women’s Rumble matches, Roman Reigns will defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in a four-way against AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and LA Knight at the show, plus Logan Paul will defend the United States Championship against Kevin Owens. 

Women’s Royal Rumble entrants —

  • Bayley
  • Nia Jax
  • Becky Lynch
  • Bianca Belair

Men’s Royal Rumble entrants —

  • Cody Rhodes
  • CM Punk
  • Shinsuke Nakamura
  • Bobby Lashley

Roman Reigns to defend title in fatal four-way match at WWE Royal Rumble

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Roman Reigns will have three title challengers at the Royal Rumble.

WWE has announced that Reigns will defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Randy Orton, LA Knight, and AJ Styles in a fatal four-way match at the Royal Rumble. The match was made after Reigns disrupted a number one contender’s bout on SmackDown’s New Year’s Revolution episode.

Orton vs. Knight vs. Styles headlined tonight’s SmackDown. It was supposed to determine Reigns’ Royal Rumble challenger, but Reigns and The Bloodline interfered in the match and attacked all three competitors.

Reigns stood triumphant at the end of the show after The Bloodline laid out Orton, Knight, and Styles, but SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis informed Paul Heyman that Reigns will now have to defend his title in a fatal four-way match at the Rumble.

A power struggle between Reigns and Aldis has been building in recent weeks. Reigns wasn’t happy that Aldis made the Orton vs. Knight vs. Styles number one contender’s match without running the idea past him first.

Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida is hosting the Royal Rumble on Saturday, January 27. Here’s the updated card for the event:

  • Men’s Royal Rumble match
  • Women’s Royal Rumble match
  • Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Randy Orton, LA Knight, and AJ Styles in a fatal four-way match
  • United States Champion Logan Paul defends against Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens to challenge Logan Paul for US title at WWE Royal Rumble

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Kevin Owens is first in line for a shot at Logan Paul’s United States title.

Paul will defend his United States Championship against Owens at the Royal Rumble on Saturday, January 27. Owens secured the title shot by winning WWE’s US title number one contender’s tournament.

On SmackDown tonight, Owens defeated Santos Escobar in the tournament finals. Owens defeated Austin Theory in the first round of the tournament and Carmelo Hayes in the semifinals.

Paul was on commentary for the Owens vs. Escobar match. When it ended, he cut a promo making fun of Owens. That resulted in Owens laying Paul out with a punch from his right hand that has a cast on it.

In storyline, Owens has a broken hand after it was targeted by Theory and Grayson Waller last month.

The history between Owens and Paul dates back to when Paul first debuted for WWE in 2021. Owens gave Paul a stunner at WrestleMania 37 that year.

Paul won the United States title from Rey Mysterio at Crown Jewel last November. This will be his first title defense.

The Royal Rumble is being held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The following matches have been confirmed for the show so far:

  • Men’s Royal Rumble match
  • Women’s Royal Rumble match
  • Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Randy Orton, LA Knight, and AJ Styles in a fatal four-way match
  • United States Champion Logan Paul defends against Kevin Owens

Becky Lynch, Shinsuke Nakamura declare for WWE Royal Rumble

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has revealed two new entrants for this year’s Royal Rumble matches.

During WWE’s 2024 Preview Special on Peacock, Becky Lynch and Shinsuke Nakamura declared that they’ll be entering the Royal Rumble. Both are former Rumble winners. Lynch won the women’s Royal Rumble in 2019, while Nakamura won the men’s Royal Rumble in 2018.

Lynch is the third entrant to be confirmed for this year’s women’s Royal Rumble match, joining Bayley and Nia Jax.

Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, and Nakamura are the first three confirmed men’s Royal Rumble entrants.

Lynch and Jax are currently feuding with each other. Their storyline has referenced the moment in 2018 where Jax broke Lynch’s nose and bloodied her face. WWE attempted to recreate that moment when Jax defeated Lynch on the Day 1 edition of Raw this past Monday. Jax punched Lynch in the face before winning with the Annihilator.

Nakamura is feuding with Rhodes. They’re set to face each other on Raw next Monday (January 8).

Royal Rumble 2024 is being held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Saturday, January 27.

Women’s Royal Rumble entrants —

  • Bayley
  • Nia Jax
  • Becky Lynch

Men’s Royal Rumble entrants —

  • Cody Rhodes
  • CM Punk
  • Shinsuke Nakamura

Bayley declares for WWE women’s Royal Rumble match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The 2024 women’s Royal Rumble match has its first declared entrant.

On Friday night’s episode of SmackDown, Bayley announced that she’ll be an entrant in the women’s Royal Rumble match. Bayley stated that her being in the Rumble is part of Damage CTRL’s plan to hold all of the women’s gold in WWE. Bayley said she’s going to win the Rumble and then challenge Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship at WrestleMania 40.

Damage CTRL’s IYO SKY is the WWE Women’s Champion. Bayley said The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) are going after the Women’s Tag Team titles.

Bayley said:

Because now is the time for Damage CTRL to hold all the gold. And that starts with the most dangerous tag team in the division, The Kabuki Warriors, winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles. And me entering the 2024 Royal Rumble, winning, and taking Rhea Ripley’s championship. And finally my dream will become a reality.

Damage CTRL (Bayley, SKY, Asuka & Sane) are facing Bianca Belair, Zelina Vega, Michin & Shotzi in a Holiday Havoc eight-woman tag match on SmackDown next Friday.

While Bayley has declared for the women’s Royal Rumble, it appears that one of WWE’s other top stars won’t be able to compete in the match. It was announced on SmackDown last night that Charlotte Flair will be out of action for nine months due to a knee injury. Charlotte suffered the injury while facing Asuka on SmackDown last week.

Here’s the updated list of confirmed 2024 Royal Rumble entrants:

Men’s Royal Rumble match —

  • Cody Rhodes
  • CM Punk

Women’s Royal Rumble match —

  • Bayley

Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight not planned for WWE Royal Rumble

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Roman Reigns’ next title defense isn’t currently planned to be a rematch against LA Knight.

In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that Reigns vs. Knight isn’t scheduled to take place at the Royal Rumble. Meltzer noted that there are people who believe Knight should be in that spot, but Paul “Triple H” Levesque has another plan as of now.

Meltzer wrote:

We were told that as of this time Reigns vs. Knight is not the title match at Rumble. That is Reigns’ next match. There are those who feel it should be Knight in that spot but we were told Levesque has another plan right now.

Reigns retained his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship by defeating Knight at Crown Jewel earlier this month. Interference by The Bloodline cost Knight the match.

Knight defeated Jimmy Uso on last week’s SmackDown. After the match, there was an angle where Cody Rhodes saved Knight from a beatdown by Uso and Solo Sikoa.

Neither Reigns nor Knight has a match scheduled for this Saturday’s Survivor Series premium live event.

The Royal Rumble is taking place from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Saturday, January 27, 2024.

JNPO: Pro wrestling year in review – Jay Briscoe’s passing, Vince McMahon’s return

Posted on by Josh Nason

The yearly tradition of the JNPO pro wrestling year in review series has returned: a month-by-month look at nearly everything that happened in 2023.

As you might expect, it kicks off with January with my special guest co-host Andrew Thompson of POST Wrestling.

It was a month of tragedy with the unexpected passing of Jay Briscoe in a car accident which rocked the wrestling world. 

It was a month of surprise as Vince McMahon forced his way back into WWE to facilitate a sale of the company. It would be the most newsworthy year in company history and it all began this month.

Other topics:

  • The road to WrestleMania began with Royal Rumble wins by Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley
  • Raw XXX
  • The beginning of Adam Cole’s return to AEW
  • The surprise end of Mickie James’ “Last Rodeo” in Impact Wrestling in a title vs. career match
  • Kenny Omega defeating Will Ospreay at a newsworthy WrestleKingdom
  • The Great Muta’s retirement tour finally began to wind down
  • Chris Jericho made his surprise PWG debut…and lots more.

Click Here to Listen

WWE reveals ticket on-sale date for Royal Rumble

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has revealed when Royal Rumble tickets will be going on sale.

Tickets for Royal Rumble 2024 are going on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, October 20. There will be a ticket pre-sale prior to that date.

Royal Rumble 2024 is being held at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Saturday, January 27. The venue is a baseball stadium that’s home to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tropicana Field also hosted the Royal Rumble in 2021, but that was during the pandemic era when there were no fans in attendance. Tropicana Field was one of the venues in Florida that hosted the WWE ThunderDome.

Aside from 2021, this is the first time the Royal Rumble has been held in the Tampa area since 1995.

The post-Royal Rumble episode of WWE Raw is taking place at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Monday, January 29.

The Royal Rumble will be headlined by a men’s Royal Rumble match and women’s Royal Rumble match.

WWE reveals date and location for 2024 Royal Rumble

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE is bringing the Royal Rumble to the Tampa Bay area next January.

It was announced today that Royal Rumble 2024 will take place from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Saturday, January 27. Tropicana Field was previously one of the homes of the WWE ThunderDome during the pandemic era.

WWE bringing the Royal Rumble to Tropicana Field is in partnership with the Tampa Bay Rays, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission. Tropicana Field, a Major League Baseball park, is the home of the Rays.

Tropicana Field hosted the 2021 Royal Rumble, but it was in the ThunderDome and there were no fans in attendance. Prior to that, the last Royal Rumble to be held in the Tampa area was 1995.

Information on Royal Rumble ticket sales will be announced in the coming weeks. WWE has opened a mailing list for fans interested in the ticket pre-sale.

WWE will be in town for “an entire weekend of events across St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Tampa.” That includes the Monday, January 29 episode of Raw being held at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.

“Tampa Bay has long been a terrific market for WWE,” WWE Executive Vice President of Live Events John Porco said in a press release. “Thanks to our partners at the Tampa Bay Rays, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, we look forward to a fantastic schedule of events in January.”

Royal Rumble 2024 will mark the official start of the road to WrestleMania 40, with the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches determining title challengers for Mania. WrestleMania 40 is taking place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia next April.

Gunther reflects on WWE Royal Rumble moment with Brock Lesnar

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Gunther is hoping that a match against Brock Lesnar happens at some point. 

During an appearance on The Rob Brown Show last week, Gunther spoke about the moment he had with Brock Lesnar in this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match. The two went face-to-face in the match before Gunther delivered a chop and strikes to Lesnar.

Gunther responded when asked about sharing the ring with Lesnar in the Royal Rumble:

Of course, I wanted to. I mean, Brock is a one-in-a-million guy or one in 10 million or something like that. I always liked those guys that just stood out from the pack. I stopped watching wrestling for a while when I was a teenager and then I got back into it again when I started training. There was a time when Brock was young but he was wrestling Eddie [Guerrero] and Big Show and Kurt Angle and stuff, and the guy was fantastic. A beast. I always loved his matches and was always very impressed with that. And also with the recent years in WWE, I always thought it would be a thing for a wrestler and my style and stuff, that’s my end boss, if that makes sense. I get portrayed as the end boss in wrestling for a lot of guys, but I think Brock could be my end boss. I really hope that match goes down at some point.

Gunther entered the men’s Rumble at number one and made it all the way to the final two before being eliminated by Cody Rhodes.

Lesnar was eliminated by Bobby Lashley in the Rumble, continuing the feud between the two.

Gunther is the current WWE Intercontinental Champion. On SmackDown this Friday, Rey Mysterio, Karrion Kross, Santos Escobar, and Madcap Moss will face off in a fatal four-way match to determine the number one contender for Gunther’s title.

Wrestling Observer Live: WWE business surge, WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, RAW

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including WWE’s recent business surge, WrestleMania and Elimination Chamber, Royal Rumble business stats, the RAW report, Kota Ibushi and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Right Click Save As

WWE Royal Rumble sets live gate, viewership records

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Royal Rumble 2023 was a record-breaking success for WWE.

WWE issued a press release today touting that this year’s Royal Rumble set live gate and viewership records for the event. The show, which took place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, generated $7.7 million in ticket sales. That’s up more than 50 percent from the previous record, which was set in 2017 when the Royal Rumble was also held at the Alamodome.

The Royal Rumble was up 52 percent from last year’s previous record Rumble viewership. Both the 2023 and 2022 versions of the event aired on Peacock.

“In addition, the 2023 Royal Rumble broke all-time venue merchandise and sponsorship records. Merchandise sales were up 135 percent versus the record set in 2022. Royal Rumble sponsorship revenue was up nearly 200 percent versus 2022 and featured the first-ever sponsored match (Mtn Dew Pitch Black) and sponsored countdown clock (Applebee’s),” WWE wrote.

“On social, the Roman Reigns-Sami Zayn videos generated 20 million-plus views across all WWE platforms and became the most-viewed WWE clip of 2023. Additional highlights include Logan Paul and Ricochet’s high-flying collision which amassed 26.5 million views across WWE and Paul’s platforms, and the launch of Reigns’ TikTok account which netted 100K followers in the first 24 hours.”

Saturday’s pay-per-view featured Cody Rhodes winning the men’s Royal Rumble match and Rhea Ripley winning the women’s Royal Rumble match. Reigns retained his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Kevin Owens in the main event of the PPV, leading to an angle where Zayn split from The Bloodline.

Wrestling Observer Radio: Royal Rumble 2023, Rampage, Smackdown, Jay Briscoe

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the Royal Rumble 2023, all the matches and angles including the awesome post-main event, Smackdown, Rampage, Dark taping notes, the anniversary of Andre the Giant’s death and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:

Start: Jay Briscoe funeral information

2:42: Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens/Roman Reigns angle at the end of Royal Rumble, other Royal Rumble fallout

13:01: WWE Royal Rumble recap

56:33: WWE SmackDown recap

59:46: AEW Rampage recap

1:04:23: Ratings notes

1:06:26: AEW Dark taping notes, 30th anniversary of Andre the Giant’s death

Right Click Save As

We’re Live, Pal: WWE Royal Rumble recap

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

It’s a special post-Royal Rumble edition of We’re Live, Pal! as Andrew Zarian and I recapped the entire show.

We went over the following:

  • The tremendous continuation of the Bloodline storyline after the main event
  • Who WWE should go with at WrestleMania between Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn
  • Cody Rhodes’ Royal Rumble victory which was very straightforward
  • Rhea Ripley’s impressive Royal Rumble win
  • The horrendous Pitch Black match that was all about partnerships
  • Bianca Belair being taken a step down by being involved in hocus pocus

You can watch the show above, or you can listen to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts in addition to the link below.

Click Here To Listen

Rhea Ripley wins women’s WWE Royal Rumble match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Rhea Ripley is going to WrestleMania.

After entering the match at number one, Ripley went the distance to win the women’s Royal Rumble match at Saturday’s pay-per-view. Ripley, Liv Morgan, and the returning Asuka were the final three wrestlers left at the end of the match.

Asuka went to spit mist into Ripley’s face when all three were on the apron, but she accidentally hit Morgan. Ripley then eliminated Asuka. Morgan tried to fight on despite being blinded by the mist, but Ripley eliminated her to get the victory.

Ripley and Morgan both started and ended the match. They each lasted more than an hour, with Ripley setting the record for the longest time anyone has ever spent in a women’s Royal Rumble match.

Ripley had six eliminations during the match and was also involved in eliminating Nia Jax, who returned to WWE for the first time since being released in November 2021. There was a spot during the Rumble where Ripley laid out Jax with Riptide.

Earlier in the night, there was a moment during the men’s Rumble where Beth Phoenix gave Ripley a spear on the stage. Phoenix was getting revenge after being hit with a con-chair-to by Ripley at Extreme Rules last October. Edge returned during the men’s Rumble and continued his feud with Judgment Day.

WWE hasn’t revealed which Women’s title Ripley will be challenging for at WrestleMania 39. Bianca Belair is the current Raw Women’s Champion and Charlotte Flair is the current SmackDown Women’s Champion.

WrestleMania 39 is taking place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2.