WWE doesn’t want its agreement with The City of San Antonio for the 2023 Royal Rumble to be made public.
The company filed a complaint on February 16, 2024, against the Attorney General of Texas to prevent the contract from being released under The Texas Information Act. This follows a year-long back-and-forth concerning whether details in the agreement should be considered a trade secret.
Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston made a public information request to the City of San Antonio for documents relating to the event in early 2023. However, it was ruled the bidding contract between the city and WWE was exempt, as it contained proprietary information related to WWE and information that “would advantage (WWE’s) competitors if released.”
The bidding contract would include information on what the city gave WWE in exchange for bringing the Royal Rumble to the Alamodome.
The Attorney General’s Office revised its ruling on January 17, 2024, writing that WWE failed to provide “specific factual evidence” demonstrating the information should be exempt and that “the city may not withhold the submitting information.”
The revised ruling was likely due to another public information request made in October seeking information on the city’s dealings with WWE dating back to 2015. It was made by a company named Intelligence Options, which specializes in forensic analysis, fraud investigation, and data analysis. It’s not clear who Intelligence Options were working on behalf of, however, and WWE’s recent filing states it was related to another lawsuit that has since been settled.
The filing on February 16 also includes a sworn declaration from WWE Senior Vice President of Communications Chris Legentil. It reads:
If this information was made publicly available and Brandon Thurston was permitted to publicize our financial information and negotiated terms on Wrestlenomics, WWE would lose our bargaining power in negotiating all of our live events and much of the value of a bidding process for venues.
A Wrestlenomics report from August revealed WWE received nearly $3 million in Welsh government subsidies for Clash at the Castle. The company is believed to have received roughly half that amount for WrestleMania Backlash in Puerto Rico as well.
WWE filed a complaint on Feb. 16 against the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, to prevent the release of an agreement between WWE and the City of San Antoniohttps://t.co/SUJY3GjhHY
On Monday’s Raw, Punk officially signed with the Raw brand. After signing with Raw, Seth Rollins came out and told Punk that he should not call WWE his home, because he left ten years ago. Seth Rollins said it was his home now, and he would do everything in his power to keep people like Punk away from it. Punk responded by saying that nothing has ever been handed to him, and made it official that he was declaring for the Royal Rumble.
Earlier in the promo, Punk said that his choice was made when he heard that Raw would be at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. He said this was the building where he made his debut with Mickie James, only to be sent to OVW after the match. It was also the building where he was kicked in the head by Randy Orton, having to be stripped of the World Heavyweight title.
He said it was ten years ago he had to make the hardest decision of his life and understood that people were disappointed in him, and he apologized. He said it was nearly ten years ago to the day he walked out, and ten years later he’s walking right back in.
That was when Rollins came out, as the two had a staredown. Rollins added that he hated CM Punk but wanted him to be on Raw as he knew this was Punk’s last chance. He said either Punk would self-destruct or, if he had any gas left in the tank, win the Royal Rumble and face Rollins in a World Heavyweight title match. Rollins said that would be the match where he would expose CM Punk for the fraud that he is.
Punk made his return to WWE back at Survivor Series in November. In the weeks since his return, announcers pushed that Punk was a free agent. He made appearances both on Friday’s SmackDown and on NXT’s Deadline event on Saturday.
Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley won the 2023 Royal Rumbles and Sami Zayn hit Roman Reigns with a chair and was destroyed by The Bloodline, with a plot twist of Jey Uso walking out on the Bloodline, to headline the most-watched live PPV show ever held in the United States.
The Royal Rumble, held on 1/28 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, was generally well received. The Men’s Rumble match was among the best Rumbles in history with the crowd hot throughout what ended up being the longest traditional Rumble match ever, including a record-time duration record for a North American Rumble set by Gunther. The Women’s Rumble saw Ripley and Liv Morgan start, and they were the last two there at the end, each also setting time duration records for a women’s rumble.
There were some complaints, feeling the show needed more surprises or that the three key things were predictable. Rhodes and Ripley came into the Rumble as the clear favorites to win, and the Bloodline turn on Zayn was clearly coming. But the business reality is that the Rumble winners should be predictable because the winners should be the people who are the hottest to get title shots at the biggest show of the year. To be unpredictable as far as the Rumble winner goes inherently means you aren’t doing the most attractive match for the titles.
What records has the Royal Rumble 2023 already set and what records have a good chance to be set
Amazing advance for the show
The debate about the men’s winner and prior year comparisons
The Steve Austin question
The business of Peacock
Original Austin approach
Cody Rhodes return
Full rundown of Raw 30 and the giant ratings and how each segment did
Complaints by the Bellas about the show
Why certain segments of the show changed
The story behind WBD clearing Mark Briscoe and the reason that hasn’t come out why there were previous issues
Different ways AEW paid tribute to Briscoe
Update on family and fundraisers
A look at the Okada-Kiyomiya angle and the keys to it
The Muto retirement at the Tokyo Dome show
What the New Japan vs. NOAH show and other New Japan shows have shown about recovery of the business
UFC 283 coverage with the retirements of Shogun Rua and Glover Teixeira
What is next for Jamahal Hill and Brandon Moreno
Business notes on the show
A look at the life and career of Jose Aldo and his biggest fights including how one of his fights changed the entire direction of MMA for lighter weight fighters and was so successful the company closed up, as weird as that is to say
A look at more Japanese awards voting
The life of Benny Galant, a 60s star who passed away this week who was a major rival of the biggest names in the history of Mexican wrestling, including El Santo and Mil Mascaras, and twice set EMLL’s company gate records. This is a major history piece covering one of the biggest eras of wrestling in any country.
The most detailed look at the ratings from the past week
Streaming numbers, international numbers
Ticket advances for all AEW & WWE shows through WrestleMania
What could be CMLL’s best match of this year
The story behind Negro Casas jumping to AAA, how long has this been in the works, how long has Konnan wanted this and his duties outside the ring
A look at upcoming AAA major shows
Update on a number of upcoming major New Japan shows
What former WWE star is mad at Dwayne Johnson over his portrayal in Young Rock
80s star arrested for a number of things
WBD head talks AEW and Slap Fighting
Behind the AEW new deal with DAZN
Lawsuit filed against AEW
Update on Kenny Omega
San Francisco records for wrestling
Conor McGregor investigation reported
Lots of big UFC fights announced
More on Luke Rockhold coming out of retirement
Famous MMA trainer will no longer corner fighters
Former pro wrestler talks about Slap Fighting and what he was offered
Update on Vince McMahon in the office
Another lawsuit filed against WWE regarding McMahon’s return and how two other suits were basically nullified
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Monday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer radio covering tonight’s Raw, more of the fallout of the Rumble, lots of notes regarding WrestleMania and more. You can send questions to the show to [email protected]
There were a number of business records set Saturday night, some of which have been announced and others which will be run down in the next issue. The key is that the show was a giant business success, and the product is very over right now. The people who cling to the lower television viewers and saying it shows wrestling isn’t popular are missing the great live gates and merchandise numbers both major companies are doing and ignoring the decline of television across the board. Besides, among non-sports on cable, Raw beats almost everything but monster shows like Yellowstone and last week, taking out sports, Raw and Dynamite were the top highest rated shows for the entire week on cable television, and both often beat the major networks.
As noted in yesterday’s update, Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn is the main event of the 2/18 Elimination Chamber show in Montreal. This has been the planned main event for the show since probably October and certainly early November. The program getting so hot didn’t result in a change. WWE just announced that the men’s elimination chamber match would be Austin Theory defending the U.S. title against five others. Brock Lesnar is not at this point scheduled in the Chamber match but is supposed to be on the show. The presumption is a women’s Chamber match for the opponent of either Charlotte Flair or Bianca Belair that Rhea Ripley doesn’t choose. Ripley will be making the choice on tonight’s show. This was not officially said to me, and just makes sense. We were told that while the chamber match for the U.S. title isn’t as strong as it being for a Wrestlemania title shot or the WWE title, the feeling is that Reigns vs. Zayn is so hot it doesn’t matter what is on the rest of the show.
Raw is from Tulsa, OK tonight. Raw will open with a Cody Rhodes interview and also feature Rhea Ripley making her decision. The expectation is another huge rating. Damon Kemp is there for a Main Event presumably. Seth Rollins vs. Chad Gable and Baron Corbin vs. Johnny Gargano were announced as matches to determine two of the spots in the Chamber. There were 6,900 tickets out for the show as of this morning. The last time Raw was in Tulsa, one year ago, the paid was barely 3,000.
We’re looking for your thoughts on the Rumble, with a thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]
We’re also looking for live reports from Tulsa tonight with Main Event matches, dark matches and anything else not on the live TV show to [email protected]
Reigns vs Cody Rhodes is the WrestleMania main event unless they have Zayn win the title, which absolutely was not in the plans as of last week. A lot of the card will be released here on Friday if not sooner.
Laura Sanko will get her long talked about goal to become the first female announcer in more than 30 years broadcasting from the color commentary on Saturday’s show on ESPN+. Kathy Long announced the first show. Sanko had been on a lot of UFC broadcasts dating back to 2016 when UFC was on FOX. She also did play-by-play on Dana White’s Contenders Series. “I can’t think of anyone better to be the first female commentator for the modern UFC than Laura,” said Dana White. “She has worked incredibly hard to prove herself and to get this position and I couldn’t be prouder to have her call the action.”
Kevin Egan the real name of Raw announcer Kevin Patrick was hired as a play-by-play announcer for Major League Soccer Season Pass for the new season that starts on 2/25 on Apple TV. Egans’s background is soccer announcing having done local announcing for both the Chicago Fire and Atlanta United, and has also done studio hosting of soccer for Bein Sports, Turner Sports, ESPN and CNN International.
Travis Kelce, after the Kansas City Chiefs AFC championship win over the Cincinnati Bengals, channeled Dwayne Johnson (thanks to Barry Werner)
Logan Paul has teased a major announcement tomorrow which he’s teasing has to do with UFC.
The Miz and Xavier Woods are appearing all week on the syndicated game show “Pictionary.” Each will captain a team. The show appears in syndication, mostly in the afternoon.
Cody Rhodes will be wrestling on the Saturday house show in Columbus, GA and the Sunday show in Pensacola, FL. He sent out a schedule of his dates for the month which include all the Raw shows this month and no Smackdown shows.
Other Notes
Julio Ace is out of his 3/4 fight with Cody Garbrandt due to an undisclosed injury that requires surgery and will put him out of action for longer than six months.
Darren Paltrowiz did an interview where Creator of “Boy Meets World” Michael Jacobs talks about working with Vader and with Taya Valkyrie
The Dave Bautista movie “Knock at the Cabin” will be released on 2/3. To promote the movie, Bautista will be on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday.
Canadian Wrestling Elite ran three weekend shows. The biggest was Friday in Winnipeg: Robby Royce & Tyson Moore b Sammy Peppers & Bryce Bentley, Brenden Collins b Bobby Collins-DQ, Bobby Schink b Scott Ripley, Mike Mission b Adam Burton, Shaun Martens b Kevy Chevy, Chad Daniels kept the jr. title over Josh Holliday, Jack Rockne, Ronnie Attitude and Sweet Daddy Soul in a ladder match,Danny Duggan b Mentallo to win the CWE title. Next Winnipeg show is 3/31 and they will tour Manitoba at that time.
CFFC, the promotion that C.M. Punk announces for, runs 3/31 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia and 4/1. The first night has interim lightweight champion Zuklarnalyn Kamchybekov (6-2) facing Cedric Gunnison(5-1). The second show has middleweight champion Raheam Forest (6-0) facing Charles Radtke (60-3). Both shows air on UFC Fight Pass live.
I am back with another Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer Live discussing the latest in professional wrestling — led off by Saturday’s WWE Royal Rumble.
I run down both the men’s and women’s Rumble matches which saw Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley winning. I also discuss the biggest spots including marathon performances from Gunther, Ripley and Liv Morgan.
The main event saw Roman Reigns successfully retain the undisputed WWE Universal title over Kevin Owens, but the big story was after the match when Sami Zayn couldn’t bring himself to attack Owens. Instead, he turned on Reigns and the Bloodline, minus Jey Uso, made him pay. I break it all down and how I think this plays into WrestleMania.
Plus, I give my thoughts on the Pitch Black match, the Raw Women’s title match, the overall length of the show, and more.
What records has the Royal Rumble 2023 already set and what records have a good chance to be set
Amazing advance for the show
The debate about the men’s winner and prior year comparisons
The Steve Austin question
The business of Peacock
Original Austin approach
Cody Rhodes return
Full rundown of Raw 30 and the giant ratings and how each segment did
Complaints by the Bellas about the show
Why certain segments of the show changed
The story behind WBD clearing Mark Briscoe and the reason that hasn’t come out why there were previous issues
Different ways AEW paid tribute to Briscoe
Update on family and fundraisers
A look at the Okada-Kiyomiya angle and the keys to it
The Muto retirement at the Tokyo Dome show
What the New Japan vs. NOAH show and other New Japan shows have shown about recovery of the business
UFC 283 coverage with the retirements of Shogun Rua and Glover Teixeira
What is next for Jamahal Hill and Brandon Moreno
Business notes on the show
A look at the life and career of Jose Aldo and his biggest fights including how one of his fights changed the entire direction of MMA for lighter weight fighters and was so successful the company closed up, as weird as that is to say
A look at more Japanese awards voting
The life of Benny Galant, a 60s star who passed away this week who was a major rival of the biggest names in the history of Mexican wrestling, including El Santo and Mil Mascaras, and twice set EMLL’s company gate records. This is a major history piece covering one of the biggest eras of wrestling in any country.
The most detailed look at the ratings from the past week
Streaming numbers, international numbers
Ticket advances for all AEW & WWE shows through WrestleMania
What could be CMLL’s best match of this year
The story behind Negro Casas jumping to AAA, how long has this been in the works, how long has Konnan wanted this and his duties outside the ring
A look at upcoming AAA major shows
Update on a number of upcoming major New Japan shows
What former WWE star is mad at Dwayne Johnson over his portrayal in Young Rock
80s star arrested for a number of things
WBD head talks AEW and Slap Fighting
Behind the AEW new deal with DAZN
Lawsuit filed against AEW
Update on Kenny Omega
San Francisco records for wrestling
Conor McGregor investigation reported
Lots of big UFC fights announced
More on Luke Rockhold coming out of retirement
Famous MMA trainer will no longer corner fighters
Former pro wrestler talks about Slap Fighting and what he was offered
Update on Vince McMahon in the office
Another lawsuit filed against WWE regarding McMahon’s return and how two other suits were basically nullified
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn is now as confirmed as it can be for the 2/18 Elimination Chamber show main event in Montreal. I’m not sure what the men’s chamber match would be for since you’ve got Cody Rhodes already for the main event at WrestleMania. Of course this is WWE and everything is subject to change, but major changes to planned PPV shows have been less with Paul Levesque in charge.
The funeral for Jamin Pugh aka Jay Briscoe took place earlier today at Laurel High School. A lot of major names in wrestling came in. Tony Khan got a jet to bring in a lot of AEW wrestlers with him. Mark spoke at length, as did his parents. They have very strong beliefs of an afterlife and Mark noted that this was the test of his beliefs. He told some funny stories including how they were kids and loved to wrestle on their trampoline as kids and pretend to be Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and others from that era. He was thankful for the people who came. (thanks to Luis Santos)
The full service is here:
There were around 1,200 people who showed up but only a few hundred were allowed in because of the size of the venue. Among those who attended with Tony Khan, Chris Jericho, Adam Cole, Adam Page, AJ Styles, Britt Baker, Jay Lethal, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Sonjay Dutt, Dalton Castle, Cash Wheeler, Colt Cabana Trent Baretta, Christopher Daniels, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis, Jonathan Gresham, Caprice Coleman, Cheeseburger, James Ellsworth, BJ Whitmer, Bobby Cruise, Ian Riccaboni, Matt Sydal, Matt Taven, Rhett Titus, Silas Young, Ivar, Kenny King, Bobby Fish, Marty Scurll, Beer City Bruiser, Vincent and Mike Bailey.
The Royal Rumble had 500,000 Google searches over the weekend. That’s the expected number It was the same as the UFC PPV show a week prior. With no UFC event over the weekend, nothing from MMA or boxing all week cracked the top 20 on any day. The announcement of John Cena as the cover person of the WWE video game had 50,000 searches which was No. 13 on Monday.
Not a lot of major notes from last night’s show. If you didn’t see it, the angle at the end was one of the better angles in years. Aside from the Jey Uso walk out, it was pretty much what you would have expected, but the way it was done and more important, the crowd reaction showed how hot it was.
Rey Mysterio was injured in his match with Karrion Kross on Friday so they used his injury to further the storyline with Dominik.
On last night’s show we mentioned that Sheamus had done an interview regarding his tag team with Drew McIntyre breaking up. According to those in the company, either he was misinterpreted or was joking as the team is not breaking up as far as anyone knows.
Cody Rhodes called last night the biggest moment of his career, above The All In show, the return at last year’s WrestleMania, the Hell in a Cell with Rollins and the match with Dustin. Rhodes will be on Logan Paul’s podcast on Tuesday.
MLW has closed a TV deal in France for Ch. 197 (free) and Ch. 208 on Bouygues. It covers virtually every home in the country. It starts this coming week and will start with a marathon of Fusion shows.
We’re looking for your thoughts on the Rumble, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Not a lot happened over the weekend aside from the Rumble. The match we heard from several people a the top match of the weekend was Yuji Hino’s win over the KO-D title (DDT Promotion) from Kazusada Higuchi from earlier today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
Other Notes
Luke Rockhold is really pushing for a boxing match with Jake Paul, claiming that Paul’s current next opponent, Tommy Fury, is as much of a boxer as he is a cricket player.
The LFA announced a 3/24 show in Niagara Falls,NY at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino. The show will air live on UFC Fight Pass. Rafael Do Nascimento (8-1) faces Jerrell Hodge (9-3) for the interim bantamweight title in the main event.
St. Louis Anarchy from Friday night in St. Louis: Jacques Kennedy & Scott Tyler b Tommy Davis & Jay Marson, Davey Vega b Thomas Shier, Craig Mitchell b Anakin Murphy, Aaron Williams b Adrian Surge, Moonshine Mantell & KC Karrington & Nick King & Sage Phillips b Camaro Jackson & Billy McNeil & Austin Blackburn & Nikki Victory, Manders b Gary Jay, Billie Starkz b Evan Gelistico, Jeremy Wyatt b Mad Dog Connelly, Christian Rose b Kenny Alfonso, Derek Neal b Warhorse (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
This might be the first Royal Rumble in quite some time where no one’s talking about the Rumble winners.
The first WWE premium live event of 2023 ended with Sami Zayn attacking Roman Reigns with a steel chair after Reigns forced Zayn to make a choice between Reigns and Owens. I will never forget the Alamodome’s reaction when that chair hit Reigns’ back, just white hot. Of course, the rest of the Bloodline (sans Jey Uso, who left due to being conflicted) attacked Zayn, including Reigns, who left both Owens and Zayn in a heap as the show closed. The actual match itself was fine, if not forgettable. But the angle that took place after it was one of the best angles WWE has done in years, you couldn’t do a better job in execution.
Now the question is where it goes from here. A Zayn/Reigns match seems clear for Elimination Chamber, as I can’t see them dropping the Cody Rhodes match in favor of a Zayn match at WrestleMania (though perhaps you could have Reigns defend both nights). And I don’t expect Jey Uso to separate himself from his family. So I can see a situation where Jey is conflicted for the next few weeks until Elimination Chamber, where he ultimately turns on Zayn in the match against Roman, setting up a potential tag team match for WrestleMania and freeing Reigns to focus on Rhodes.
Rhodes and Rhea Ripley won this year’s Royal Rumble matches. The men’s match started out slow, but by the end there were some really cool moments, and it ended up being a good match. Ricochet and Logan Paul’s spot where they both flew off the opposite sides of the ring and collided into each other was really cool. The last several minutes between Rhodes and the runner-up, Gunther, were awesome. If anything, I left this match thinking a future match between Rhodes and Gunther would be great. But I don’t think that’s the direction the company is going in. But it’s something to think about for the future!
The women’s Royal Rumble match wasn’t as good as the men’s match, but the last few minutes between Asuka, Liv Morgan, and Rhea Ripley were great. Asuka, who sported a new-ish look based on her Kana days prior to WWE, looked great. And the finish, with Ripley teasing almost being eliminated only to use her feet to throw out Morgan, was very well done. Seems like it will be Ripley and Bianca Belair at WrestleMania. They could do Ripley and Charlotte as well, but for some reason I’m feeling a Belair match more.
One complaint I kept hearing following the Royal Rumble was that the winners were too predictable. My answer to this is: GOOD! We live in an unpredictable world, so when anything goes according to plan these days, I consider that a thumbs up. Besides, think about all of the times WWE did Royal Rumble finishes to surprise, swerve, or throw off people. Were they good in any way? Most of the time, that answer was a giant no, largely because they made no sense and were only designed to be a surprise. Saturday’s finishes came off great, people popped for the wins, and everyone was largely happy with the results. I liked them. If you want unpredictability, there’s plenty of that in the world right now, so go look at Twitter or something.
There were two other matches on the show, and neither were good. The PITCH BLACK MATCH, which I had bad feelings about the moment it was announced, was pretty terrible as a whole. Bray Wyatt and LA Knight had an uninteresting brawl in a black light with neon weapons and confetti everywhere so you could (unfortunately) see what was going on. Wyatt won the forgettable match.
After the match, for some reason, Wyatt all of a sudden put on a new mask. He and Knight brawled to a platform, where Wyatt laid out Knight. Uncle Howdy then showed up on a platform above them, did his dumb dance, then flew off a with an elbow that missed Knight by a mile. Pyro then went off. I guess LA Knight died and sank to hell or something? I don’t know. Or care.
To follow this up, more spooky was next, as Alexa Bliss and Bianca Belair had a wrestling match. They did holds. No one reacted or cared. Then Belair won clean with the KOD. Not interesting or good in any way. Uncle Howdy then once again graced us with his presence, saying some mumbo jumbo to Bliss on the video screen. She seemed transfixed.
Apparently all of this is part of a long, overarching storyline that is supposed to ultimately make sense and pay off sometime in the future. On one hand that’s good, as WWE and long term storytelling have been strangers to one another for some time. But here’s the bad news: all of this is so bad I don’t care where it goes, It’s awful. It kills the crowd dead each and every time Bray Wyatt and his merry band of weirdos goes out there and do their spooky time routine. It feels self-indulgent more than anything at this point and I just wish it would end.
And that was the 2023 Royal Rumble. The highs were excellent, the lows were bad, but the good outweighed the bad by a significant margin. Next up is the Elimination Chamber event in three weeks. The question going into that show is…why exactly are we having an Elimination Chamber? Cody vs. Roman is set for WrestleMania, so that is out of the question. My gut feeling is perhaps a match to determine the other women’s title match for WrestleMania may take place next month.
WWE chief creative officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said “I just don’t think it’s in the cards” with regard to a possible WrestleMania 39 appearance by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Speaking at the Royal Rumble press conference following Saturday’s event, Triple H was asked about whether or not The Rock would be appearing at WrestleMania 39 on April 1 and April 2 at SoFi Stadium.
“He can’t get in shape in time, that’s what you all tell me,” Levesque joked, before answering the question in earnest.
“”He’s incredibly busy…”
“…There’s a part of him that if he could be here for this WrestleMania in Hollywood, he would turn over every stone and walk through fire to be able to do it. I just don’t think it’s in the cards.”
Levesque said that due to a mutual respect between The Rock and the company, he would not expect an appearance unless The Rock could devote himself fully to the experience.
“That respect factor both ways, he wouldn’t want to do it unless he could absolutely do it, you know? There’s no way he would show up here and half-ass it, there’s no way he would show up here and not come in and put every single thing into it to make it the best it could possibly be. So unless he could do that, it won’t happen.”
Triple H said that the door remains open for appearances by The Rock in the future, and that the company has an open door policy for Johnson.
“We always have conversations with him because he loves it so much, and we’d love for him to be part of it. He’s the biggest star in Hollywood, maybe the most recognizable person in the planet. This is his home. He has an open invitation. We don’t lock the door… but he’s incredibly busy.”
“But he knows the door’s open and when he has the time to walk through it he can come in and electrify everybody.”
Triple H stated that Saturday’s Royal Rumble event was the highest-grossing Rumble in history, with the most advertising revenue in the event’s history.
Levesque also said that more than 100 media members were on hand for the Rumble, a number more akin to a WrestleMania.
Triple H noted that WrestleMania 39 has already set the all-time gate record for WrestleMania without a single match announced for the card.
Full video of the press conference including comments from Rhea Ripley, Bray Wyatt, and Cody Rhodes:
Sami Zayn had to choose between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens, and he chose Owens.
The end of Saturday’s Royal Rumble saw Roman Reigns successfully retaining the WWE Universal Championship against Kevin Owens. After the match, all of The Bloodline entered the ring and attacked Owens, eventually putting Owens in handcuffs on the ring ropes. Reigns, with a steel chair, was about to attack Owens when Zayn stopped him, telling Reigns that it was beneath him. Reigns gave the chair to Zayn and told him to attack Owens. When Zayn hesitated, Reigns got confrontational and again ordered him to attack Owens. Zayn eventually used the chair to attack Reigns.
Zayn apologized to Jey Uso, but Jimmy Uso quickly took out Zayn with a superkick. Both Jimmy and Solo Sikoa attacked Zayn, but when it was time for Jey to take action, he paused before eventually exiting the ring. Reigns continued to attack Zayn, taking a lei and spilling flowers on Zayn before The Bloodline made their exit.
Dissension between Zayn and Reigns had been growing in recent weeks, with Reigns holding a trial for Zayn on Monday’s Raw after Zayn hesitated attacking Owens on last Friday’s SmackDown. Thanks to testimony from Jey Uso, Reigns found Zayn not guilty, but ordered him to not appear on SmackDown. Despite that order, Zayn appeared on Friday’s SmackDown after Jey had called him after The Usos were thrown out of the building. Zayn got involved in the main event, preventing Sikoa from taking a loss against Owens.
Nia Jax and Chelsea Green returned to WWE at Saturday’s Royal Rumble event.
Jax and Green were both surprise entrants in the women’s Royal Rumble match at the show. Jax was released by WWE in October 2021, while Green was released from the company in April 2021.
WWE has not officially announced that either has signed, but the company has produced new merchandise for Jax, and Green has been expected to be WWE-bound for some time, with reports first surfacing in October that she was expected to return to the company.
The Irresistible Force is back! Check out this NEW Nia Jax T-Shirt at #WWEShop today! #WWE
Jax entered the women’s Rumble as the 30th entrant, while Green entered 20th. Green was eliminated from the contest by eventual winner Rhea Ripley, while a group of competitors teamed up to eliminate Jax.
Other surprise entrants in the women’s Rumble included Natalya and Asuka returning from hiatus. Asuka last wrestled on the December 12, 2022 Raw, while Natalya had been out of action after undergoing nasal surgery in November 2022.
Piper Niven also returned to action in the women’s Rumble, dropping the “Doudrop” gimmick and returning to her NXT ring name. She had been out of the ring since September following a health scare. Niven entered 18th, and was eliminated 25th by Raquel Rodriguez.
Beth Phoenix made an appearance on the show in an angle during the men’s Rumble match, attacking Ripley with a spear after The Judgment Day conspired to eliminate the returning Edge from the contest. Edge returned to the ring in the men’s Rumble, his first bout since dropping an I Quit match to Finn Balor at Extreme Rules in October 2022.
Logan Paul also returned to the company in the men’s Rumble, his first match since Crown Jewel in November 2022. Paul entered the Rumble at number 29, and was the next-to-last elimination, thrown out by eventual winner Cody Rhodes.
Booker T was the only unexpected entrant in the men’s Rumble match, appearing in his first WWE bout in more than a decade. Booker was the 14th entrant in the men’s Rumble, and was eliminated by Gunther.
More than six months after he last stepped into a WWE ring, Cody Rhodes returned at Saturday’s Royal Rumble and won the men’s Rumble match to earn a shot at the undisputed WWE Universal title at WrestleMania 39.
Rhodes entered at no. 30 and eliminated WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther, the first entrant, to pick up his first-ever Rumble victory. The match opened up the pay-per-view from San Antonio, Texas, and lasted well over an hour with Gunther setting the record for the longest duration at just over 71 minutes.
The final five came down to Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Gunther, Austin Theory and Logan Paul.
Rhodes eliminated Theory after a curb stomp from Rollins. He and Rhodes were set to square off until Gunther hit Rollins and the two rivals then decided to team up. Rollins and Rhodes both delivered Pedigrees to Gunther and then re-focused on each other.
Paul, who was quietly outside the ring following a big double top rope jump collision with Ricochet, re-entered and eliminated Rollins. Rhodes then delivered a Cross Rhodes and tossed Paul out, leaving himself and Gunther.
The two then battled for an extended period of time with Gunther delivering his usual heavy chops which killed any effort Rhodes made to rally. Over the course of their fight, both men were nearly eliminated at several points. In the end, Rhodes countered Gunther with a Cross Rhodes and then eliminated him to win the match.
The match saw a few surprise entrants in the returning Edge and Booker T in addition to Paul who is back from injury after his Crown Jewel match against Roman Reigns last November.
Date: January 28, 2023 Location: Alamodome in San Antonio, TX
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Show Recap —
KICK-OFF SHOW
The panellists were Kayla Braxton, Jerry Lawler, Booker T, Kevin Patrick and Peter Rosenberg. The panel sat outside the arena with fans in the background. The fans chanted for everyone, even Rosenberg. (Kayla got the loudest chant.) Booker acted upset that he wasn’t invited to the Royal Rumble match but had his phone nearby just in case.
They ran down the card and I believe the fans chanted for Cody Rhodes when they plugged the men’s Rumble.
They aired the Rumble numbers video narrated by Jackie Redmond.
They spoke about the women’s Rumble and didn’t try to pretend that Rhea Ripley wasn’t the big favourite. (Patrick picked Raquel Rodriguez.)
There were clips of Roman Reigns in Jimmy Fallon’s show. They only showed the bits where he spoke about facing Kevin Owens. (So nothing about The Rock.)
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Bloodline segment
The Bloodline was backstage. Sami Zayn and The Usos looked worried as Reigns contemplated something. Paul Heyman seemed amused. Reigns was annoyed that Zayn couldn’t follow instructions and asked him why he had to treat him like a child by explaining things over and over again.
Jey took the blame. He said Adam Pearce tossed him and Jimmy from the building and he couldn’t get a hold of Reigns so he called Sami back in. Jey said Sami was there for the family.
Reigns said that was all in the past and they should focus on tonight. Sami and the Usos were relieved. Reigns told the Usos to stay in the back because tonight was Sami’s night. Zayn looked delighted.
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JBL harassed somebody named Greg Miller and shoved a pie in his face.
They plugged Bray Wyatt/LA Knight and Bianca Belair/Alexa Bliss.
There was a Cody Rhodes video package. (They asked two kids to pick winners for each Rumble match. One picked Rhodes, one picked Ripley.)
Comedian Gabriel Iglesias joined the panel holding a gold WWE title belt.
They showed clips of various wrestlers picking their Rumble entry numbers. I laughed when Patrick said he wanted to see Kofi Kingston win and Booker bluntly said, “I don’t want to see Kofi win.” Everyone picked Rhodes to win the Rumble besides Lawler (who picked Brock Lesnar).
Kevin Owens was shown arriving at the arena earlier today. He wore his “Sami Zayn Forever” shirt and pointed it out to the cameraperson. There was a long Bloodline/Sami/Owens video package.
The men’s Rumble match is opening the show.
(This was the same pointless pre-show as always. Except there was that short Bloodline segment which made this the most notable pre-show in many months.)
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2023 ROYAL RUMBLE
The intro video was narrated by Hardy (the musician). Michael Cole said they expect over 50,000 fans tonight.
Pat McAfee entered and joined commentary. Corey Graves wasn’t happy. Cole was thrilled.
(They’re using small screens as the stage setup due to the nature of the building and the number of fans. There’s also a very long aisle like a WrestleMania show so it’ll take a while to get to the ring.)
Cody Rhodes won the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match (1:11:39)
Intercontinental champion Gunther is first, Sheamus is second.
The Miz entered 3rd. It’s his 14th Rumble match which is the 4th most in history. Kofi Kingston entered 4th. Kingston has the 3rd most appearances in history. Johnny Gargano entered 5th.
They’ve already cut the entry time down from 90 seconds.
Sheamus and Gargano worked together as Sheamus eliminated Miz.
Xavier Woods entered 6th. Woods and Kingston acted like they would wrestle but they did some comedy instead (resulting in Woods smacking Kingston’s ass).
Santos Escobar entered 10th. In the middle of nothing going on, Escobar gave Gargano a Phantom Driver off the top. Angelo Dawkins entered 11th.
Gunther eliminated Woods.
Gunther chucked Kingston out of the ring and Kingston was probably supposed to land on a leather chair but he fell awkwardly and stayed down. He was still sort of on the chair and they tried to figure out if he was eliminated or not but eventually New Day disappeared, so a disappointing end for Kofi.
Brock Lesnar entered 12th. Lesnar handed out suplexes. He eliminated Escobar with a fallaway slam over the top before also eliminating Dawkins and Gable.
Lesnar and Gunther faced off and the crowd popped. They stared at each other until Bobby Lashley entered 13th. Gunther chopped Lesnar but Lesnar suplexed Gunther.
Lashley speared Lesnar as soon as he hit the ring. Lashley proceeded to slam everyone in sight and abruptly eliminated Lesnar. The crowd popped for that. Cole said Lesnar was in the ring for less than three minutes.
Baron Corbin entered 14th. Lesnar smashed the steel steps into the announce table before giving Corbin an F5 as he entered (so Corbin never got in the ring).
Seth Rollins entered 15th. (It’s only been 25 minutes. If they were going by 90 seconds the match should be at 37-38 minutes long.) Rollins chucked Corbin in the ring and immediately eliminated him.
Otis entered 16th. Rey Mysterio’s music hit for the 17th spot but he didn’t enter.
Rollins eliminated Lashley somewhat abruptly.
Dominik Mysterio entered 18th — wearing Rey’s mask. Cole called him a piece of shit (Graves stopped him before he could say “shit”). Dom waited before entering the ring.
Sheamus and McIntyre eliminated Otis. Elias entered 19th. Elias was eliminated almost right away by Sheamus and McIntyre.
Finn Bálor entered 20th. Bálor eliminated Gargano. (Gargano was in the ring for over 30 minutes and did absolutely nothing in that time.)
Booker T entered 21st. Booker was in incredible shape. He gave Bálor a Book End and did a Spinarooni. Of course, he was eliminated immediately after that by Gunther to the dismay of the crowd.
Damian Priest entered 22nd. The entire Judgment Day (minus Rhea Ripley) was in the ring. Montez Ford entered 23rd.
Damian Priest entered 22nd. The entire Judgment Day (minus Rhea Ripley) was in the ring. Montez Ford entered 23rd. Priest eliminated Ford almost immediately (which bothered me).
Edge entered 24th. Edge speared every member of Judgment Day before eliminating both Priest and Bálor.
As Edge tried to eliminate Dom, Judgment Day got involved and Bálor yanked Edge from the ring. Edge was eliminated.
Austin Theory entered 25th.
Edge attacked Bálor and Priest outside the ring as Theory entered. Rhea Ripley attacked Edge from behind. Beth Phoenix appeared behind her (and the crowd popped) and she speared Ripley. Officials implored Edge and Phoenix to go to the back.
Gunther eliminated both Sheamus and McIntyre by himself. Cole said Sheamus was in for over 50 minutes.
Logan Paul entered 29th. The crowd booed him once he hit the ring and cheered when everyone attacked him. Paul gave Ricochet a Buckshot Lariat. Strowman and Ricochet teamed up on Paul.
Cody Rhodes entered 30th. He got fireworks. Rhodes gave Theory a springboard cutter before chucking his weight belt into the crowd.
Dom tried giving Cody the three amigos suplexes but Rhodes gave him Cross Rhodes and eliminated him.
Ricochet and Paul stood on the apron on opposite sides of the ring. They yelled at each other before they both did a springboard and collided into each other in mid-air. It was impressive and silly at the same time. The crowd cheered it and the announcers tried to put it over as a great spot.
Ricochet and Paul eliminated Strowman. Theory eliminated Ricochet.
They said the final four was Rhodes, Theory, Gunther and Rollins but they purposely left out Paul who disappeared.
Rollins gave Theory a curb stomp and Rhodes eliminated Theory.
This led to a face-off between Rollins and Rhodes. They were about to go at it but Gunther went after them. Rollins gave Gunther a Pedigree so Rhodes also gave Gunther a Pedigree.
Cole said Gunther has broken Rey Mysterio’s record for most time in the ring for a traditional Rumble match at over 62 minutes (and counting).
They “forgot” about Paul who jumped back in and eliminated Rollins.
Paul bragged until Rhodes gave him Cross Rhodes and eliminated him.
The final two were Rhodes and Gunther.
Gunther chopped Rhodes and the announcers noted this would be particularly painful for Rhodes. (In fact, his chest got all red from the chops.)
Rhodes went to the top but Gunther brought him down with a superplex.
Rhodes fired up and gave Gunther a springboard cutter. The crowd chanted for Cody. Rhodes did Dustin Rhodes’ Shattered Dreams spot but Gunther came back with a dropkick and powerbomb. Gunther tried eliminating Rhodes who just barely hung on.
Gunther tried putting Rhodes to sleep as he was on the apron but Rhodes got out of it. Rhodes tried something off the top but Gunther hit him with a chop on the way down. Rhodes came back with Cross Rhodes and clotheslined Gunther out of the ring.
Cody Rhodes is the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble winner.
— Cole announced that Gunther was in for 1:11:25. I had it as 1:11:39.
Rhodes celebrated with fireworks. There was also a very fake fireworks display outside the stadium.
(The last few minutes with Rhodes and Gunther was very good. I’m glad they had someone new-ish like Gunther go long, and Rhodes looked really good in winning. However, the match overall was quite boring and it felt like they spent no time putting the match together until Rhodes’ part.
As you know already, Sami Zayn was not in the match.)
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There was a WWE 2K23 commercial.
There was a commercial break/Austin Theory video package.
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LA Knight entered and he stood in the ring as they did a video package and Wyatt’s long entrance. The ring announcer said there were no disqualifications or countouts.
Pitch Black Match: Bray Wyatt defeated LA Knight (5:03)
The lights went down and it basically looked like glow-in-the-dark mini golf.
The details in Wyatt’s face paint could be seen thanks to the glow-in-the-dark paint. It was overwhelmed by Knight’s glowing neon green trunks and kneepads.
There was a spot meant for Nickelodeon where Knight slammed Wyatt through the announce table and a bunch of neon green stuff flew everywhere.
Some other stuff happened and Wyatt won via pinfall with Sister Abigail.
— After the match, Wyatt reemerged with a mask and he stalked Knight through the crowd. Graves said it was like a horror movie. Wyatt no-sold kendo stick shots by Knight before putting him down with a mandible claw.
Uncle Howdy appeared from above on some sort of staging structure. Howdy gave Knight a diving elbow drop off the stage. (You couldn’t really tell from the camera angle but it looked like he completely missed.) Adult-sized members of the FIrefly Funhouse appeared on the structure as Uncle Howdy and LA Knight seemed to catch on fire.
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There was a commercial break/Brock Lesnar video package.
The official attendance for the 2023 Royal Rumble is 51,338.
They did another fake fireworks display of the building’s exterior. Nothing they do looks worse than this.
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Bianca Belair defeated Alexa Bliss to retain the Raw Women’s Championship (7:32)
Belair won an ordinary match with the KOD.
— After the match, a spooky Bliss video aired.
(Graves, trying to put this over as a competitive match, said nobody expected this to be easy — even though Belair did win pretty easily. McAfee responded, “I kinda did!” Perhaps someone got in McAfee’s ear because he did try to make this seem more competitive after that comment.)
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There was a restaurant commercial with Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins followed by another commercial break/Judgment Day video package.
Rhea Ripley won the 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match (1:01:09)
Rhea Ripley entered 1st. She sold the spear she took from Beth Phoenix earlier. Liv Morgan entered 2nd.
Dana Brooke entered 3rd. Emma entered 4th. No time at all passed before Shayna Baszler entered 5th.
Bayley entered 6th. Morgan immediately gave Bayley an Oblivion and tried to eliminate her but she held on.
B-Fab entered 7th. She shined for a very brief moment before Ripley eliminated her. Cole made sure to mention that B-Fab was only in for 36 seconds and took a shot at Top Dolla while he was at it.
NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez entered 8th. Perez looked great and wiped out everyone including Bayley and Ripley.
Dakota Kai entered 9th. IYO SKY entered 10th. All of Damage CTRL is now in. SKY wiped out Morgan and Brooke with a springboard dropkick.
Damage CTRL eliminated Brooke before Kai eliminated Emma. They also worked together to eliminate Perez which got some heat from the crowd (and me).
Natalya entered 11th. Candice LeRae entered 12th. LeRae went after Damage CTRL but Baszler caught her with a knee strike.
Natalya and Baszler had a big face-off as the crowd watched on silently. They tried to eliminate each other so Damage CTRL eliminated them both.
Zoey Stark entered 13th. Cole asked Graves if Stark had won a big battle royal recently and Graves responded, “I believe she has.” Graves did make sure to mention that Shawn Michaels was a big fan of hers.
Xia Li entered 14th. LeRae continued to fight off Damage CTRL but she was finally eliminated by SKY.
Becky Lynch entered 15th. Lynch went after Damage CTRL but they beat her up outside the ring (nobody went over the top rope) and laid her out as the crowd booed. (This is a minor detail, perhaps, but LeRae put up a better fight against Damage CTRL initially than Lynch did.)
Tegan Nox entered 16th. Graves made fun of her finisher’s name for 90 seconds until…
Asuka entered 17th to a big reaction and new music while wearing a version of her Kana facepaint. Asuka eliminated Nox.
Piper Niven (Doudrop) entered 18th. The announcers made fun of her old name as she laid waste to a few others.
Tamina entered 19th. Tamina got the better of a faceoff with Niven. Damage CTRL went after Tamina until Lynch returned to the ring and dropped Kai and SKY with a double reverse DDT.
Chelsea Green entered 20th. Ripley eliminated her as soon as she hit the ring and Cole said that was the new record for quickest elimination (for the women).
Lynch eliminated both Kai and SKY before Bayley eliminated Lynch. Morgan eliminated Bayley as she bragged. Damage CTRL attacked Lynch outside the ring.
Zelina Vega entered 21st. Cole plugged her involvement with the new Street Fighter 6 game. She eliminated Xia Li.
Raquel Rodriguez entered 22nd to a nice reaction. Mia Yim entered 23rd. (Her graphic read Mia Yim “Michin” this time instead of “Michin” Mia Yim, so they’re trolling us. The announcers only called her “Michin” — besides McAfee joking about her previous name.)
Lacey Evans entered 24th. McAfee, if it wasn’t already obvious, hasn’t been watching since he left and he thought Evans was a babyface until he quickly realized she no longer was.
Michelle McCool’s music hit for the 25th spot. I forgot to mention earlier but McCool was shown in the crowd earlier. She acted surprised, left the front row and entered the ring. She gave Vega a Styles Clash.
Nia Jax entered 30th. They treated this like a star returning and everyone in the ring turned their attention to her. About 10 women went after her and she shoved them all aside. A few women hit Jax with moves before Ripley barely gave her a Riptide sort of. Everyone teamed up to eliminate Jax. (McAfee said it was 11 women who eliminated Jax.)
Rodriguez almost eliminated Ripley — and the Texas crowd wanted to see it — but Ripley blocked it and eliminated Rodriguez.
Morgan eliminated Cross. The final three are Asuka, Morgan and Ripley.
Asuka tried to blow mist at Ripley on the apron but Ripley ducked and Morgan was blinded. Ripley eliminated Asuka.
The final two were Morgan and Ripley. Morgan couldn’t see but she still almost eliminated Ripley but Ripley knocked her out for the win.
Rhea Ripley is the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble winner and will get her pick at the title.
(The crowd cheered any time Ripley was close to being eliminated because they knew she was the heavy favourite. Like the men’s match, this was mostly pretty boring until the last few minutes when they made sure to get the winner over in the end.)
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There was a commercial break/Braun Strowman video package.
Hardy (the musician) performed a song in the ring (they removed the ring ropes for it).
There was a commercial for the Ric Flair documentary and an NXT commercial.
There was a Reigns/Owens video package.
Almost 20 minutes elapsed between the end of the women’s Rumble match and the entrances for the main event.
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The match began at 11:45pm. There’s been over an hour of non-wrestling time over this show.
Roman Reigns (w/Paul Heyman & Sami Zayn) defeated Kevin Owens to retain the WWE Undisputed Championship (19:14)
This was all about the post-match angle.
Twelve minutes into a back-and-forth match, Owens dodged a spear and Reigns went shoulder-first into the ring post. Owens hit a superkick and senton bomb for two. They messed up a spot but instead of waiting around, Owens popped up and hit a senton. Reigns dodged a moonsault and hit a spear for two.
Reigns shoved Owens into the referee who was knocked out. Owens hit a pop-up powerbomb and made the cover but, of course, there was no referee. Reigns gave him a low blow.
Reigns signalled to Sami Zayn who reminded Reigns that he told him to do nothing. Reigns demanded Zayn get a chair. Zayn did get a chair but he hesitated before sliding it into the ring.
By the time he did, Owens avoided the chair and hit a stunner for a nearfall. Reigns countered another pop-up powerbomb and hit a superman punch for a nearfall.
Owens slid outside the ring and Zayn warned him to stay down which led to Reigns spearing Owens through the barricade. Reigns also flung Owens backward onto the steel steps (as Austin Theory did to Owens weeks ago).
Owens defiantly smacked Reigns but Reigns immediately speared him for the pinfall win. Reigns retained.
(This was a good match but nothing special. It probably wasn’t meant to be, because as mentioned above, this was all about what was next.)
— After the match, Reigns attacked Owens. The Usos gave him the 1D as Reigns put his arm around Zayn. The Usos put a chair over Owens’ head and neck as Solo Sikoa gave him a running hip attack.
They handcuffed Owens’ hands to the top rope and the Usos repeatedly superkicked Owens.
Reigns grabbed a chair and went to hit a helpless (and already dead) Owens but Zayn stepped in his way. Zayn told Reigns he was already the champion and didn’t need to go that far. Reigns instead offered the chair to Zayn.
Reigns screamed at Zayn to hit Owens. Reigns said he loved Zayn and he was in their family but if he didn’t want to do it, he should “go and do Jackass shit.” Reigns got in Zayn’s face and told him to do it.
Zayn finally did it. He nailed Reigns in the back with the chair.
This got a huge pop but it was quelled after Jimmy superkicked Zayn. Solo and Jimmy beat the crap out of Zayn.
The crowd chanted for Jey who just watched. The Bloodline encouraged him to join but instead — Jey walked off. The crowd cheered Jey who walked down the aisle, obviously torn up by his decision.
Reigns beat the shit out of Zayn with the chair as the crowd booed.
There was a loud “F*ck you Roman” chant.
Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman left the ring as Owens and Zayn lay dead.
(I was down on this show but this last bit was awesome.)
WWE heads into Saturday’s Royal Rumble with a few storylines that are almost as interesting as the behind-the-scenes drama taking place within the company.
It will be WWE’s first pay-per-view/premium live event since Vince McMahon returned to assume the role of Executive Chairman and at the time of next year’s Rumble, the company may have new ownership in the aftermath of that return.
At last check, Paul “Triple H” Levesque told the roster he’s still the one booking the show and while he might speak with his father-in-law from time to time, McMahon always defers to him for the final say. It’s just not clear how much longer that will be the case.
All this is to say that despite the high levels of uncertainty within the company, WWE fans are enjoying some of the company’s most engaging storylines in years heading into the men’s Rumble match. Topping that list is Sami Zayn and The Bloodline, but there are others. The story of Cody Rhodes and his quest to win the championship his father was never able to wrap around his own waist will write an important chapter on Saturday as well.
The women’s Rumble match could also be interesting this year as it seems likely to result in someone being pushed to the upper echelon of the division with the likes of Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Ronda Rousey. There are a few possibilities as to who that might be.
Then, two of the three non-Rumble matches at the event this year involve someone, possibly Bo Dallas, wearing a Barry Windham mask or something like that. So, if you’re a fan of supernatural activity in your wrestling, there’s that going on too.
Let’s get to some prediction and previewing of Saturday’s show.
Men’s Royal Rumble match
Some are worried that if anyone other than Sami Zayn wins, there could be significant backlash. Even if it’s Cody Rhodes winning, but without an obvious path for Zayn at WrestleMania, it could come out feeling a lot like when Batista won in 2014 when fans clearly wanted Daniel Bryan in that spot.
Assuming Levesque truly has the last say in creative, I doubt he will make the same mistake McMahon made nine years ago. All they have to do is clearly communicate to fans where Zayn is going next. His winning the Rumble doesn’t need to be part of the story and probably won’t be.
As fun as the Zayn/Bloodline story has been, the Rumble this year is all about the betting favorite in Rhodes, his return to WWE, and his quest to win the WWE Championship. Between his passionate promos after Mania last year, the vignettes we have seen recently, and memories of him wrestling Seth Rollins with a torn pec, there’s a lot of reason for fans to get invested in his journey.
There is a very good chance we see a key moment in this story play out on Saturday, but there are other possible winners.
Despite recent reports saying he won’t be wrestling Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, The Rock is still listed as the top three favorites to win the Rumble on most betting sites. One site even has him listed as a stronger favorite than Zayn.
The betting odds for Austin winning also increased recently with reports that WWE pitched him a match for WrestleMania. Neither Rock nor Austin winning feels very likely, however.
It should also be an interesting year for surprise Rumble entrants. It’s tough to know who WWE is interested in bringing in at the moment considering changes at the executive level.
Prediction: Cody Rhodes
Women’s Royal Rumble match
The only two real strong contenders to win this match are Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley, but there are a couple of other possible long shots.
Lynch is a top babyface and doesn’t have a title heading into Mania, thus giving her a pretty decent shot to win. However, it also seems as though WWE is poised to add Ripley to the roster’s very top tier. Betting sites have her as the favorite as well.
With there being two Women’s champions currently, WWE has more room to maneuver with the women’s Rumble than they do with the men’s. Lynch doesn’t have to win the Rumble to challenge for a title at Mania and neither does Ripley, which opens the door to a lot of other possibilities.
One potential winner there hasn’t been much talk about is Asuka who has been gone since losing to Ripley on the December 12th Raw. Her social media has been teasing a return to a character more similar to her pre-WWE days as well. With that being said, most betting sites don’t agree with me that she has much of a chance here.
It feels like the time is right for Ripley to be a featured performer in the company and the 2023 Rumble is where that will really take shape. Maybe then the Mysterio family will finally open the doors to her during the holidays.
Prediction: Rhea Ripley
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Kevin Owens
I cannot remember another WWE Championship bout in history where so much of the story was focused on a person not even entered in the match. Miss Elizabeth did not mean nearly as much to Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage at WrestleMania V as Zayn means to this match.
The winner here is not really in question. Reigns will retain, but that’s not where the intrigue is. What everyone will really be watching for is to see if/how Zayn gets involved.
There are a million ways this could play out, but the most possible scenarios involve one of the following:
Reigns wants Zayn to do something underhanded to Owens but Zayn has a crisis of conscience and refuses to, leading Reigns turning on Zayn.
Zayn helps Reigns retain and nobody turns on anybody just yet.
Zayn turns on Reigns and aligns with Owens.
Reigns and Owens have a fair contest with no hijinks or interference and adhere to ROH’s Code of Honor before and after the match.
While I’m certainly not overly confident this will happen, the first option seems the most likely. With Reigns turning on Zayn, Owens can come to his longtime friend’s rescue but somehow cost himself the match in the process. Then all three of them are entered into the Elimination Chamber in front of what will be a red-hot Montreal crowd next month.
Whatever does happen will almost assuredly be an important chapter in one of WWE’s most engaging storylines in recent memory.
Prediction: Roman Reigns
WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair defends against Alexa Bliss
There are five matches scheduled for the Royal Rumble and Uncle Howdy could potentially show up in two of them. That’s probably a little too much spookiness for one show, but the Royal Rumble has a long history with the supernatural.
Considering we’ve seen Uncle Howdy attack Bray Wyatt, it’s not clear if he is aligned with Bliss or not. The possibly played by Bo-Dallas character could have no interest whatsoever in helping Bliss win the title. He does seem like a guy with other stuff going on.
So far, all Uncle Howdy has really done is come out on Raw and “be there” in front of Bliss. It’s not clear what we’re supposed to take from that regarding the relationship between the two.
Belair very likely retains here as she’s been given a strong championship run since WrestleMania 38 and it doesn’t feel like she’ll drop the belt until WrestleMania 39 at the absolute earliest.
Much like many matches on this show, this will be more about furthering a story than who wins and loses. Bliss has been getting spookier and spookier and the Rumble will likely be where said spookiness crosses a threshold and starts a new chapter in the story.
Prediction: Bianca Belair
Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight in a Pitch Black match
The spookier of the two spooky matches on the show, Bray Wyatt and LA Knight in a Pitch Black match should be interesting. This will also be more storyline than a wrestling match which is kind of how anything Wyatt-related should be.
Supernatural stories in wrestling are a tremendously polarizing issue amongst fans. Those who do not like magic in their wrestling really do not like them. Similarly, those who like supernatural stuff often consider such angles their favorite part of the show. Wyatt has shown he can make the company money, however, so if it’s not your thing, you’re going to have to suffer through it regardless.
Having both Bliss and Wyatt on the same show could be interesting as well. We have never really seen how the seemingly separate stories playing out on Raw and SmackDown connect. The Royal Rumble might be where WWE decides to intertwine the two angles.
More wrestlers, including Brock Lesnar, have declared for Saturday’s Royal Rumble.
Brock Lesnar, The Miz, Xia Li, Damage CTRL, and Lacey Evans all said during Friday’s SmackDown that they would take part in their respective Royal Rumble matches. Lesnar appeared on Friday’s show, taking out Bobby Lashley after Lashley attacked the likes of Austin Theory and The New Day. Lesnar then took a microphone and said he’d see Lashley at the Royal Rumble.
Earlier in the segment, Miz announced he would be entering the Rumble as well.
After weeks of vignettes, Evans made her in-ring return on SmackDown, defeating Jazmin Allure with the cobra clutch. After the match, She promised to win the women’s Royal Rumble match.
Later, a digital exclusive showed both Damage CTRL and Li declaring for the women’s Royal Rumble match.
Here is the updated Royal Rumble card:
WWE Royal Rumble, Saturday, January 28, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock and WWE Network:
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Raw Women’s title: Bianca Belair defends against Alexa Bliss
Mountain Dew Pitch Black match: Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight
The 36th annual January Royal Rumble, the creation of Pat Patterson based on the success of the annual San Francisco Battle Royal promoted by Roy Shire (which came from the Texas Battle Royals promoted by Ed Francis in Honolulu), will likely both determine the WrestleMania main event but also be a record-setter.
Due to the increase in Peacock subscribers, which hit 20 million at the end of 2022 (just over double the number one year ago and roughly 48 percent more than at WrestleMania), it is a virtual lock that more Americans will watch this PPV than any Royal Rumble in history. It will very likely beat either day of last year’s WrestleMania, which are the two record holders for most Americans watching a WWE PPV show in history. The record will also almost surely be broken for both days of WrestleMania.
In addition, the live gate record for the Rumble was broken some time back. As of press time, there were 42,972 tickets distributed with a live gate that has topped $7 million. It was the largest live gate for any U.S. WWE event in history that wasn’t called WrestleMania and beat most WrestleManias. There was the hope of hitting $8 million, a number that would equal or surpass Clash at the Castle ($8,020,000) for the largest non-WrestleMania live gate in pro wrestling history. The secondary market get-in price is $36. They will announce a figure in excess of 50,000 since they’ve already used that number on television.
