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A new star was born and an old one was brought back to the fore at the Royal Rumble.
Bianca Belair, 31, put in one of the best performances in event history, lasting 56 minutes to win from third place – avoiding many kills at Tropicana Field on Sunday. She is the first African-American to win a Royal Rumble since The Rock in 2000. Edge, 41, was the male winner and just the third person to do so starting at No.1. The victory came 11 years ago for day of his last Royal Rumble Victory.
Getting two Babyface Rumble winners for WWE fans to take for WrestleMania 37 was the culmination of an entertaining night that lacked a headline surprise or a game that stole the show.
Here are five takeaways from the Royal Rumble 2021:
The future
The Women’s Royal Rumble final with Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley and Belair was just amazing and was exactly what WWE needed to deliver. Flair knocked Belair out of last year’s Rumble and beat Ripley at WrestleMania 36. The three also shared a ring for a segment in NXT just over a year ago.
Belair, who earlier in the match saw Naomi back using Belair’s braid to stay in the match, and Ripley combined to knock out the Queen. However, WWE’s still-rotating cameras failed to show that Belair was casting his SmackDown rival, Bayley.
To close the match, Belair engaged in a dramatic dance of near eliminations with Ripley. WWE trusted two young performers and they delivered a great performance. Belair then delivered a genuinely moving “I Did It” promo after winning.
The best is yet to come for the two of them, starting with Belair who will likely challenge SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks at WrestleMania. Ripley halted Alexa Bliss’ Fiend-type transformation, which could lead to a schedule on Raw.
The coolest surprise participant was Victoria, who last appeared in a WWE battle royale match at WrestleMania XXV in 2009. The most significant comeback was Lana, back for the first time since mid -December. She took revenge on Nia Jax for hurting her in a scenario by eliminating her from the Rumble. Jax had already eliminated his partner Shayna Baszler. Lana’s former partner Natalya, who wore a similar ring, doubled down on Lana and knocked her out. It will be interesting to see if this goes anywhere as Jax and Baszler need new opponents for their tag team championships.
Billie Kay is an absolute gem and stole the show early in this game. Jillian Hall’s return has finally agreed to be her Royal Rumble “partner”. Kay then annoyed The Riott Squad, with whom she had worked on Raw, by starting their IIconics routine with former partner Peyton Royce. Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan ultimately kicked Kay out. It was also nice to see Mickie James again, but she was always called a “legend”
Back to top
Edge, returning from a torn triceps, closed his unfinished business with Randy Orton and set himself in position to win his 12th world championship. Say what you want about WWE putting on a former star in Edge who doesn’t need to win to land a big match at WrestleMania, but it provided a big moment. He also has the potential to face Drew McIntryre for the WWE Title, a big box office game WrestleMania is made for. Sure, you could have him choose Roman Reigns, but he might be better suited to take on Elimination Chamber winner Daniel Bryan.
Edge and Orton started the Rumble match and were the last two standing. The Viper came out of nowhere for an RKO after Edge forced it into the trainer’s room from the back thanks to a chair pulled in the leg early. Edge was able to reverse Orton’s attempt to throw him to win. To make the night even cooler for Edge, best friend Christian entered 24th place for his first “sanctioned” WWE match since 2014. Imagine the pop if there were fans.
The most notable comeback was Seth Rollins at # 29, still using the gimmick “The Messiah”. He may have made an enemy by taking down Bryan. As for the surprises, we had Carlito (who was cool) and The Hurricane (who is starting to age). This match seemed to be missed in the big moments, although seeing Big E confronting AJ Styles 7-foot-3 bodyguard Jordan Omogbehin after pulling him on the top rope certainly boosted the reservation juice. fantastic. There was no sign of “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt.
Hammering home
While many will argue that Goldberg had no business going in a WWE Championship match with Drew McIntrye, WWE got exactly what they needed from the Hall of Famer. They doubled the match’s time – five and more minutes from the time the pair entered the ring – by having them fight on the outside before the bell. This included Goldberg who had thrown McIntyre through the barricade.
Once things officially started, the champ kicked out two spears and a jackhammer, much to Goldberg’s disbelief. It took two Claymores to finally take down the two-time Universal Champion. Their evening ended with an exhausted Goldberg raising his hand from McIntyre, who earned his respect and the friction of beating a legend. “You passed the test,” Goldberg told him. McIntrye’s night ended there because The Miz never tried to cash his Money in the Bank contract.
Reign of terror
The third time was not the charm of Kevin Owens against Reigns. Owens now finds himself firmly in the upper mid-section, but can be pulled to the top of the map if needed. It may be some time before we see him at the top of the company again. The game itself was as physical as expected and filled with big spots. The finish ended up being a bit wobbly.
Owens handcuffed Reigns to a piece of the set. And when it looked like Reigns couldn’t get up until 10 a.m., he threw the referee into the staging. It took a long time for Paul Heyman to remove the handcuffs. The sub referee stopped his count at five and signaled as if Reigns had risen when he clearly wasn’t. When the camera returned, Reigns gained a foothold. Once released, he immediately grabbed a dizzy Owens and put him to sleep in the guillotine submission to hold him back.
Owens, who Reigns ran over with a Sammy Guevara-style golf cart, will really jump from anything. Watch out, Raymond James Stadium pirate ship. Reigns threw it from the second layer of ThunderDome TV across a table, and Owens delivered a senton from a forklift to the Tribal Chief across a table. KO can’t win, but it never fails to entertain.
The boss and the queen
We really see the best of Sasha Banks. Her Louis Vuitton-themed ring outfit stole the Royal Rumble fashion show. It is this individuality and this confidence that helps him to exalt his star power.
She and Carmella had a solid game for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Banks managed to beat Carmella’s assistant Reginald a bit on the outside. In the end, she was able to pull out Carmella’s Cone of Silence Submission Finisher (if you’re not finished in WWE, your finisher isn’t working on anyone who’s finished) and kicked off after a superkick. As Carmella dragged her into the ring, Banks was able to slap the Bank Statement and clinch the victory.
It was also an interesting evening for his comrade Four Horsewoman. Flair’s feud with Lacey Evans and Father Ric continued. Ric punched Evans brass knuckles to punch Charlotte and cost her and Asuka the Women’s Tag Team Championship against Jax and Baszler on kickoff. Evans then showed up again with Ric and wearing his dress to enter the Royal Rumble. While it all sounds silly, it could help Charlotte as a long-term babyface because you just feel bad that it’s the creativity she’s getting right now.
Notes
Rapper Bad Bunny, there to perform his song “Booker T,” also jumped a high chord on The Miz and John Morrison during the Men’s Rumble match.
It’s likely that Becky Lynch was backstage at the Royal Rumble with her returning husband Rollins. The man tweeted a photo of the red curtain leading to Gorilla Position and took to social media in a bit of a frenzy.
The New Day ring outfit pays tribute to her friend Brodie Lee – Luke Harper in WWE – who died of lung disease at the age of 41 last month.
Best match: Royal Rumble for women
Biggest winner: Bianca Belair
The Biggest Loser: Kevin owens
Best surprise entrants: Christian and Victoria
Predictions: 6-0
Class: B +
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