The main event scene on the men’s side just got a whole lot more crowded after WWE’s stunning Jey Uso decision.
Uso eliminating John Cena to win the men’s Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday in theory secures him a main event spot at WrestleMania 41. But it also means either he, Roman Reigns, Cena or CM Punk could be out of a coveted main event spot of the two-night event.
How that shakes out will be decided soon, but for now, we know Uso, women’s Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair and Undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes are heading to Las Vegas after a very good table-setting night for WWE.
Here are four takeaways from the Royal Rumble:
He’s the One
WWE quietly set it up and we didn’t see it coming.
Hidden underneath all the stars in the men’s Royal Rumble was the story to set up the long-overdue ascension of former Intercontinental champion Jey Uso to true main eventer after he lost to world heavyweight champion Gunther for a third time at “Saturday Night’s Main Event” a week earlier.
Uso eliminating Cena gives him the perfect WrestleMania story for a pop that could rival some of the loudest we have heard. His win shows WWE is rewarding Uso’s unquestionable connection with its audience, his work ethic and merch sales.
The shock on Cena’s face as he hit the floor was absolutely priceless and he announced he will be in the Elimination Chamber in the post-show press conference. So it leaves the possibility of Cena going for a record 17th world championship against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania alive.
The events that occurred between the perfect final six participants of Uso, Cena, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Logan Paul and Seth Rollins were so rich with stories.
Reigns and Rollins’ longstanding hatred for one another caused them to work together for a short time to clear the ring and their focus on beating each other up led to them getting eliminated by CM Punk. Punk was then quickly eliminated by Paul.
It led to Rollins going ballistic as he and Punk brawled on the outside. Rollins also delivered a brutal-looking stomp to Reigns on the floor and then on the steel steps. It leaves plenty of paths for how these three men’s WrestleMania journeys plays out.
The match was a little short of surprises, but needed less with the amount of star power. A.J. Styles, who has been out since October with a Lisfranc injury returned at No. 21, and TNA world champion Joe Hendry took part in his first Royal Rumble at No. 15 and got to interact with Reigns.
YouTuber and rapper IShowSpeed replaced Tozawa — who was taken out by an eliminated Carmelo Hayes. Speed helped Bron Breakker eliminate Otis before eating a monster spear from the Intercontinental champion and getting eliminated.
The match was a strong night for Breaker and Jacob Fatu, who was eliminated by Braun Strowman to likely advance their feud. There was a strong lucha feel early with Rey Mysterio and Penta starting at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, with Santos Escobar and Andrade also both being early entrants. We also got a cool moment with just Reigns and Fatu in the ring and Cena, Punk and Reigns together at one point.
Return to Glory
There was no messing around when it came to Charlotte Flair’s expected and correct women’s Royal Rumble win. The 14-time women’s world champion was back in WWE for the first time in more than a year after suffering a serious knee injury. She is also back where she belongs in the WrestleMania 41 main event — likely in the highly anticipated match with women’s World champion Tiffany Stratton.
The Queen entered at No. 27 and soaked in the loud crowd reaction with a slow walk to the ring. She got off to a hot start, even reversing a stalling double suplex from former TNA star and newest WWE signee Jordynne Grace and Stephane Vaquer into a double DDT.
The Queen, Nikki Bella, Nia Jax and Roxanne Perez were the final four women in the match, a good mix of present, past and future. Jax knocked Bella to the outside and Flair eliminated Jax. Flair then hit a big boot to send Perez to the floor to win the match. The NXT star, who should be on the main roster soon enough, now holds the record for the longest time in a women’s Royal Rumble match at more than 67 minutes after starting at No. 3.
The biggest surprise was Alexa Bliss, dressed in her gear from her time with Bray Wyatt with “F(r)iend 4 Ever” on the back and creepy doll Lilly, making her return since leaving WWE in January of 2023 to have a baby with husband Ryan Cabrera. It got the biggest reaction of the night in what was a pretty ho-hum and uneventful match to that point.
Bliss’ run felt pretty short, but could at least lead to something as she was eliminated by a combination of Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.
Trish Stratus was also back along with Bella’s return after three years.
There were a few important story notes that played out, but you can make the case without providing a genuine Royal Rumble moment.
NXT Women’s champion Giuila’s elimination of Grace could have implications. Ivy Nile eliminating Lyra Valkyria plays into the Intercontinental championship scene and Piper Niven eliminating Chelsea Green by accident should raise the heat between the two partners.
The most head-scratching moment came late in the match with about 15 women in the ring at the same time and Jax just pushed a pile of bodies hanging on the ropes to eliminate five people at once, including unceremonious exits for Bianca Beliar, Naomi and Iyo Sky.
Living on the Edge
Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens put their bodies on the line and brought the level of violence needed to finish off their trilogy around their shattered friendship.
Given what Owens put him through, this may not have been a huge step forward in Rhodes’ slow potential heel turn. But it did allow him to make good on showing he is willing to go to all lengths, even maiming a former friend to keep the Undisputed WWE championship.
These two took some crazy ladder bumps to do so. Owens took a back bodydrop onto a ladder sitting up on its side in the ring. The Prize Fighter, who bled later in the match, delivered an avalanche fisherman’s buster to Rhodes onto a ladder propped up by the middle rope and another ladder. That brought Sami Zayn out to check on both of his friends.
The finish saw Rhodes counter Owens’ attempt at a package piledriver on the announce table into a viscous Alabama slam pretty much through a ladder sitting up between the ring and the announce table. It put Owens out for good as Rhodes climbed the ladder to retain.
WWE gave a fantastic camera shot of Rhodes — not caring one bit about Owens’ well-being as Zayn held his bloody friend in his arms. Owens will still likely blame Zayn, who played a smaller role than expected the whole night, for the loss. It took less than a year for Rhodes to potentially alienate two of his biggest allies at the past two WrestleManias.
New Attitude
The Street Profits re-announced themselves to the SmackDown tag division with a mean streak while helping DIY retain the WWE tag team championships. This was their revenge after being attacked backstage on the Dec. 6 SmackDown.
Motor City Machine Guns appeared to be getting ready to win the match with their Skull and Bones finisher, but Angelo Dawkins, dressed in a black hoodie, struck Alex Shelley in the back with a crutch while Montez Ford distracted the referee. It opened the door for DIY, who the Profits also attacked with the crutch after the match, to win.
This was the mean streak we wanted to see from Ford and Dawkins when they paired with Bobby Lashley. They need to push the envelope with it even further and maybe we get a fatal four-way for the titles with DIY, MCMG, The Street Profits and Pretty Deadly.
This match opened with what felt like two lightning quick falls. Alex Shelley thought Johnny Gargano had legally tagged, but it opened the door for Tommaso Ciampa to hit his jumping knee to the face and pinning for the first fall. MCMG then picked up the pace of the match and shortly after delivered their Skull and Bones finisher to Gargano to things up.
While it was a step forward for the WWE to let its men’s tag team championships on a Premium Live Event, trying to jam a two-out-of-three falls match on this show was unnecessary as there really isn’t enough time to let them cook.
Biggest Winner: Jey Uso
Biggest Loser: Sami Zayn
Best Match: Men’s Royal Rumble
Predictions: 3-1
Grade: A-
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