The show and arena look fantastic! Absolutely WrestleMania 2.0. The stadium looks massive and mostly filled. Amazing site.
- Triple H enters with his classic entrance, just with more fireworks above the arena. John Cena comes out with a load of kids on the stage and his own set of fireworks above the stadium.
- Strange only seeing older men sitting in loveseats on the arena floor.
- It is LOUD in Jeddah. It’ll be interesting to see if the crowd can maintain this energy.
- Slowly paced, 80s-style match. Test of strength, corner ten-punch & sleeper holds. The guys seem to be having a hard time hearing one another, yelling out spots to one another. Curious as to if they can’t hear or if they decided to call the match in the ring since Cena’s been gone promoting his movies this past week.
- The two legends trade finishers and two-counts to big pops.
- Cena counters a crossface into two AAs for the clean pinfall.
- Cena grabbed a mic and said “Regardless to what is going on in my universe, I was not going to miss an event like this.” He then thanked their hosts and the country. (Little surprised he somewhat referenced the split with Nikki.)
- Smart move switching Buddy Murphy with Kalisto. There’s a ton of kids in the crowd.
- Alexander almost killed Kalisto with a dropkick!
- Cedric gets spiked with probably the best tornado DDT ever seen on WWE TV.
- Slingshot sitted Spanish fly… no way to explain it.
- Alexander counters the Salina del Sol into the Lumbar Check for the win.
- Extremely weird to see Bray Wyatt trying to rally the crowd, looking for cheers.
- The crowd has gone quiet for this match. Wyatt getting the hot tag woke them up a little but not much.
- Hardy and Wyatt perform a weird elevated Twist of Fate for the win and the Raw Tag Team Championships. By the way, it looks as if “Deleter of Worlds” is the official team name for Wyatt and Hardy.
- Jeff Hardy wakes up the arena a bit and is the first to get pyro after Cena.
- Mahal takes over after Singh distracts Hardy.
- Hardy went for Whisper in the Wind and Mahal was nowhere near the target area. Hardy missed by a mile but Mahal still sold the move, much to the confusion of all of the announcers. Kudos to Corey Graves for holding back his laughter (barely) and trying to explain what happened (unsuccessfully).
- Hardy eventually hit the Swanton Bomb for the W.
INTERMISSION
- Michael Cole just mentioned the “late, great Sargent Slaughter”… who is not dead. (Corey Graves called him out on it after the match for a laugh.)
- Usos got about a minute more offense than normal but the Brothers dominated for the win.
- Rollins came out to a decently loud “burn it down,” waking up Jeddah.
- Miz just got some of the biggest pyro of the night. Looks like his years of service may be paying big money dividends.
- Samoa Joe dominated for much of the opening of the match but took a nasty Skull Crushing Finale onto a ladder.
- First “This is awesome!” chant of the night.
- Balor had the title and the win but Rollins springboards from the outside to the top of the ladder to grab the belt. Seth Rollins retains.
Biggest heel heat of the night comes when Aria and Shawn Daivari come out waving the Iranian flag when 4 WWE PC tryout particpants are in the ring. The Daivaris smack talk the recruits and S.A. until the recruits dispatched them to a nice pop.
- Strong boos for Nakamura and a loud pop for Styles.
- AJ goes for the Phenomenal Forearm but Nakamura ducks and Styles barely misses the referee. While the referee had his head down, Nakamura hits a low blow and a VERY close two count.
- The two battle to the outside and are both counted out as Styles lays into Nakamura ringside. Styles retains.
- It’s Rusev Day even in Jeddah!
- 30 seconds into the match and Rusev has had more offense than John Cena at WrestleMania.
- Undertaker is looking good, even delivering the apron legdrop.
- Rusev capitalizes off of an Aiden English distraction.
- Rusev applies the Accolade but Undertaker sits him. Chokeslam to Rusev and a Tombstone to English and both of Rusev Day get put in the casket.
- Decent showing from The Undertaker but you can tell this is the extent of what he can do in the ring now. Not bad by any means but definitely more nostalgic than anything.
- Roman Reigns out first and let me just say, the pyro budget for this show is incredible!
- Brock looks as if he’s put on weight. Cutting supplements for UFC drug testing? Could be the biggest clue that Reigns is winning the belt tonight.
- After Heyman introduces a steel chair, Roman Reigns lays out the champion with the weapon. Reigns then sets up a 5th spear of the match and spears Lesnar thru the steel cage wall. Both men hit the floor with Lesnar hitting first. They award the match to Lesnar since his back hit the floor first even though Roman’s feet clearly touched first.
- Winner of this match receives a trophy and new green, Greatest Royal Rumble-themed championship title.
- Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler enter at number 1 and 2.
- Hornswoggle comes in at #12 and eliminates Dash Wilder and Samoan Drops Kofi before being eliminated.
- Primo comes in at #13 and immediately botches.
- Kurt Angle comes in at #16 and eliminates Primo, Bo Dallas and Dolph Ziggler.
- Elias comes in at #20 and eliminates Konnor, Kofi and Xavier Woods all at once. Then he eliminates Kurt Angle!
- Bobby Roode is the halfway man at #25. Daniel Bryan is still in the match.
- Rey Mysterio enters at #28 looking awesome.
- Rodrick Strong comes in at #34 with Undisputed Era’s music and graphics. He then starts dishing out backbreakers.
- #35 is Randy Orton who eliminates Anderson, Mojo and Apollo.
- Babatunde is #37 and he’s a MONSTER. 6’10”, close to 400 lbs.
- Baron Corbin comes in and eliminates Roode and Strong.
- Titus O’Neil trips so bad running down to the ring that he slides head first under the ring! Un-freakin’-believable! The announcers lose it with Corey Graves completely unable to stop laughing.
- Braun Strowman comes out at #41. He tosses out Babatunde, Dan Matha and Heath Slater within seconds. Then eliminates Titus and Tye Dillinger.
- Corbin eliminates Mysterio, Orton tosses Corbin and Elias dumps Orton. Daniel Bryan is still in the match.
- Curt Hawkins was announced but he tried to run away before Strowman could get it. Didn’t work. Braun brought him down to the ring to just eliminate him.
- Bobby Lashley enters at #44 and eliminates Elias.
- The Great Khali is #45. It’s now Khali, Lashley, Braun and Bryan. Strowman and Lashley dump Khali.
- Daniel Bryan sets the record for longest time in a Royal Rumble and looks like he’s been in a car accident.
- #46 is Kevin Owens while #47 is Shane McMahon in his first ever Royal Rumble.
- #49 is Big Cass and #50 is Chris Jericho!
- Lashley tried to stall suplex Big Cass but dropped him into a sickening brainbuster.
- McMahon went to the top rope to hit a Coast-to-Coast and Strowman threw him thru the announce tables instead.
- Final three come down to Big Cass, Daniel Bryan and Braun Strowman. Big Cass tosses out an exhausted Bryan and Braun Strowman crushes Big Cass over the top rope. Braun Strowman is the Greatest Royal Rumble winner!
Thanks for following along with me.
