WWE Royal Rumble live results: Two Rumbles, Lesnar vs. Balor
Date: January 27, 2019
Location: Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona
Show Recap —
Kickoff Show
Michael Cole said there’s a lineup around the building to get in and they expect over 40,000 fans. Because it’s a baseball stadium, there’s no big stage setup. Instead, they’re using three screens and a flat entranceway.
Non-title match: Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode & Chad Gable defeated Scott Dawson & Rezar (w/Drake Maverick) (6:54)
Roode and Gable won with a neckbreaker/moonsault combo on Dawson. This was preceded by Dawson accidentally dropkicking Rezar. Basic match. During the match, Renee Young said: “This is the Royal Rumble inside a baseball stadium. This is America!”
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Rusev (w/Lana) to win the U.S. Championship (10:13)
Nakamura began untying the turnbuckle pad, so Lana took off her heels and jumped on the apron to warn the referee. She got into a shouting match with Nakamura. Nakamura moved out of the way just in time to avoid a charge by Rusev, who knocked Lana off the apron. As Rusev looked on in concern, Nakamura nailed him with a Kinshasa to the back of the head for the win. Pretty good match.
Jonathan Coachman announced that John Cena won’t be participating in the Rumble match and Braun Strowman is taking his place, as if there weren’t any open spots for Strowman otherwise.
Shawn Michaels announced an NXT six-man tag match for “Halftime Heat” during the SuperBowl next week on the WWE Network: Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano & Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black, Velveteen Dream & Ricochet.
Fatal Four Way match: Buddy Murphy defeated Hideo Itami, Akira Tozawa and Kalisto to retain the Cruiserweight Championship (12:05)
Murphy retained in a pretty wild match. The crowd was into it.
Main Show
Asuka defeated Becky Lynch to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship (17:09)
Asuka used a dangerous-looking suplex from the apron to the floor. Lynch landed rough on her shoulder. This led to a nearfall. They exchanged strikes, then Asuka caught her with a roundhouse kick for a nearfall. Lynch followed later with an Exploder off the top. Asuka put Lynch in the Disarmer, then Lynch countered into the Asuka Lock.
Asuka fought out and hit a kick, then Lynch applied the Disarmer but Asuka rolled out. Asuka then applied the Asuka Lock and rolled through into a bridge with the submission still applied and Lynch tapped out. Asuka won clean. Really good match.
Shane McMahon & The Miz defeated Sheamus & Cesaro to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships (13:22)
Early in the match, Shane was saving Miz whenever he was in trouble, and even gave Sheamus a flying clothesline off the top to the outside. However, Cesaro killed him with an uppercut and they worked over Miz for a while. Shane made the hot tag and went for a coast-to-coast but Cesaro caught him and gave him the big swing, which got an applause.
Shane was fine, though, and put Cesaro into a triangle choke until Sheamus made the save. They gave Shane a double-team White Noise but he kicked out. Miz saved Shane from a Brogue Kick, which caught Cesaro instead. Miz gave Sheamus a Skull Crushing Finale, then Shane gave Cesaro a shooting star press for the pinfall win.
Miz and Shane are the tag champs. Crowd popped. They celebrated with Miz’s dad afterwards.
They announced a crowd of 48,193.
Charly Caruso asked Sasha Banks about the fans thinking she was destined to fail. Banks said she puts everything she has in the ring and even though Ronda Rousey was a UFC Hall of Famer, she has never faced anyone like her.
Ronda Rousey defeated Sasha Banks to retain the Raw Women’s Championship (13:47)
Rousey has new white, black and gold gear. Banks appears to be the fan favourite. Rousey setup for a suplex, looked at the crowd and said, “you think I can’t wrestle?” then gave Banks consecutive vertical suplexes. She was going for the Eddie Guerrero spot (which got a mixed reaction) but Banks fought out of it.
Rousey tried a forearm strike on the outside but Banks ducked and Rousey hit the post. Banks worked over her arm from there and countered out of a Piper’s Pit into an armbar. Rousey fought out but Banks put her in the crossface. Rousey escaped and gave her the Piper’s Pit.
Banks nailed a vertical suplex off the middle rope, then Rousey followed later with consecutive judo throws. Banks went for a suicide dive but Rousey caught her and applied the armbar. Banks tapped but they were outside the ring.
Banks applied the crossface but as Rousey got to the ropes, Banks applied an armbar. Rousey fought out, hit a slam, then hit the Piper’s Pit for the pinfall win. I don’t know if I would call this a bad match, but it was clunky and weird.
Rousey helped Banks to her feet after the match. After celebrating with Travis Browne, Banks approached Rousey and they shook hands. Banks then held up four fingers in her face before leaving.
Finn Bálor was shown backstage. No face paint.
Becky Lynch won the 30 Woman Royal Rumble Match (1:11:24)
I’ll try to update this post periodically throughout the match. Beth Phoenix joined commentary. Lacey Evans and Natalya were the first two entrants. Mandy Rose was out next, followed by Liv Morgan who was eliminated in seconds by Natalya. Mickie James, Ember Moon, Billie Kay were next. Kay didn’t want to enter the ring until her friend came out.
Nikki Cross was 8th. She pushed Kay into the barricade, then landed a dive on all the women in the ring. Peyton Royce was 9th and she double-teamed Cross with Kay. Tamina was 10th and Young called her the “sultress of savagery.” Tamina eliminated James. Xia Li was 11th and had a very awkward exchange with Tamina. Sarah Logan was 12th.
Cross was eliminated by Kay and Royce, which was booed. Charlotte Flair was 13th. Evans eliminated both Kay and Royce, which was cheered. Charlotte eliminated Li. Kairi Sane was next. Charlotte eliminated Tamina. Sane chopped away at Charlotte, who no-sold them.
Charlotte chopped Sane, who no-sold them until the last one knocked her down. Sane gave Logan the diving elbow, then teamed with Natalya to eliminate her. Maria Kanellis was next. Charlotte and Evans weren’t taking her seriously, so she gave them a double bulldog.
Naomi was next and she eliminated Rose. Naomi was almost eliminated, but she managed to land on her hands and then climbed on the barricade. She walked along the barricade, then leaped onto the steps which got a big pop. Then Rose abruptly yanked her down for the elimination. Crowd booed. Evans was then eliminated, I think by Charlotte.
Candice LeRae and Alicia Fox were next. Fox and Kanellis fought over Fox’s hat, then Fox eliminated her. Kacy Catanzaro, Zelina Vega, and Ruby Riott were next. Riott was flanked by Logan and Morgan, who helped her eliminate Fox and LeRae. Dana Brooke was next. Riott eliminated Sane (who took kind of an ugly bump). Crowd booed. Vega is hiding under the ring.
Io Shirai was next and landed a top rope moonsault to the outside on the Riott Squad (before officially entering). Rhea Ripley was 24th. Catanzaro was seemingly eliminated, but she landed on her hands, walked on her hands to the ring post, then climbed up the post back into the ring. It was impressive, but Ripley caught her and just tossed her out.
Sonya Deville was 25th. Ripley eliminated Brooke. Vega poked her head out to laugh at her, then Hornswoggle suddenly appeared from under the ring too. He chased Vega around until she re-entered the ring to promptly be eliminated by Ripley. Hornswoggle then chased Vega to the back.
Alexa Bliss was 26th and eliminated Deville. Bayley was 27th and eliminated Riott and Ripley. Lana was 28th. Her ankle was taped and she limped down the aisle. Fans chanted for Lynch as officials checked on Lana who couldn’t make it down the aisle. Nia Jax was 29th and she attacked Lana before entering. Jax eliminated Shirai.
Natalya got Jax on her shoulders, which got a pop, but Jax eliminated her. Natalya was in there for 55 minutes. Carmella was 30th. As officials checked on Lana, Lynch came out and told Fit Finlay she should be the replacement. Finlay agreed.
Lynch stepped in the ring and went right after Jax and the crowd popped. Charlotte and Jax each tried to eliminate her, but Lynch stayed in. Bliss eliminated Moon. They said Moon was in for 53+ minutes. Bayley and Carmella eliminated Bliss, which the crowd didn’t like. Charlotte later eliminated Carmella. The final four was Jax, Charlotte, Bayley and Lynch.
Jax had Bayley on her shoulders, then Charlotte booted them, causing Bayley to get eliminated. Charlotte got Jax on her shoulders and placed her on the apron. Lynch then yanked Jax off the apron for the elimination. Charlotte and Lynch are the final two. Jax attacked Lynch, who landed awkwardly on her knee. Charlotte smiled as the referees checked on Lynch.
Lynch eventually fended off the officials and jumped in the ring, yelling “I can go, I can go! Fight me, fight me!” Charlotte attacked and went after the injured leg. Lynch almost eliminated Charlotte, but Charlotte kicked her leg out of her leg, then hit an Exploder. Charlotte tried a big boot, but Lynch ducked and dumped her out of the ring. Lynch wins. Crowd was happy.
They let Lynch celebrate for a while after the match. Most of this match was dull. It was entertaining once Lynch came out near the end.
Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles to retain the WWE Championship (24:32)
22 minutes into the match, Erick Rowan sauntered down. Bryan went for an enziguri but hit the referee. Styles hit a Styles Clash, then Rowan jumped in and chokeslammed him. Bryan pinned Styles for the win. I thought the work was good, but… this sucked. Rowan came out right before there happened to be a ref bump, then Styles was pinned after a routine chokeslam. Crowd was dead. Afterwards, Rowan picked up Styles and Bryan gave him the running knee.
They plugged Halftime Heat again. It’s 10:23 pm ET and we still have a title match and the men’s Rumble.
Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) defeated Finn Bálor (8:35)
No Demon Bálor. Bálor wore red trunks and knee pads with white boots. Bálor went crazy on Lesnar early on, but Lesnar caught him with a belly-to-belly suplex. Lesnar cleared an announce table but Bálor pushed him into the corner of the table. Lesnar fought back and gave Bálor another belly-to-belly, but he’s selling his midsection from the table spot.
Bálor caught Lesnar with a slingblade, but Lesnar came right back with a clothesline. Lesnar is still really selling hard. He went for the F5 but Bálor countered into a DDT for a nearfall. The crowd was really into it. Bálor then hit consecutive flip dives. The crowd called for another one, so Bálor did it again. The crowd is way more into this than the previous match.
Bálor hit the Coup de Grace, but Lesnar kicked out and immediately applied the kimura lock. Bálor fought briefly but tapped out. Lesnar retains. Short match, but it was fun and Bálor looked good. He got a lot of offense.
After the match, Lesnar gave Bálor three German suplexes. Lesnar’s music played, he posed for a bit, then gave Bálor an F5 as the crowd booed. Hopefully, Bálor gets something out of this.
Seth Rollins won the 30 Man Royal Rumble Match (57:24)
Elias, conveniently, was number one, so he could do a performance. To be fair, the crowd was hot for Elias. Corey Graves said, “I love that we’ve been here for four and a half hours and he’s still taking his time.” Elias appreciated the number of fans and wanted to send a picture to the Diamondbacks because they’ve never seen this many people in their stadium.
Jeff Jarrett, in his gear, came out as number 2. Jarrett spelled his name and the crowd actually sang along. Elias was excited to see him and offered to have them perform together. The crowd was into it, then Elias clocked him with an elbow and the match started. Elias smashed his guitar over Jarrett’s back and tossed him from the ring. Nakamura is number 3.
Kurt Angle is 4th. Loud-ass “you suck” chants. He suplexed both guys. Big E was 5th. Angle gave Big E an Angle Slam, then Nakamura eliminated Angle pretty easily. Johnny Gargano was 6th and got a pretty good reaction. Jinder Mahal was 7th and Gargano eliminated him almost immediately. Big E shoved pancaked down Samir’s mouth and gave him a Big Ending.
Samoa Joe was 8th and tossed Big E without a problem. Curt Hawkins was next. Seth Rollins was 10th and he eliminated Elias. Titus O’Neil was next. He ran to the ring, then held up so he didn’t slip. The crowd cheered, but then he crawled under the ring anyway. He decided to get in the ring anyway but was eliminated by Hawkins. Hawkins was then eliminated by Joe.
Kofi Kingston was 12th, entering his 12th Rumble. Mustafa Ali was 13th and he eliminated Nakamura. Dean Ambrose was 14th. He tried to eliminate Kingston, but Kingston somehow stayed alive. Ambrose then eliminated Gargano. No Way Jose was next, but he was eliminated immediately by Joe (similar to Santino). Jose was not upset and danced away with his conga line. (It should be noted that Hawkins and Jose somehow qualified for this match).
Drew McIntyre was next. He killed Jose and his conga line on the way to the ring. McIntyre gave Claymore kicks to both Rollins and Ambrose, then traded strikes with Joe until giving him a Claymore Kick. Xavier Woods was next and saved Kingston from elimination. They were all happy until McIntyre eliminated them both without a problem.
Pete Dunn was 18th. Dunn worked over McIntyre and Ali, and the crowd was appreciative. Andrade and Apollo Crews were next. Aleister Black was next, leading to an “NXT” chant. Ambrose, McIntyre and Andrade teamed up on Black, then Black eliminated Ambrose.
Shelton Benjamin was out next. Ali eliminated Joe, which got a pop from the crowd. Baron Corbin was 23rd and he eliminated Crews. Cole thought it was Benjamin that got eliminated. It wasn’t. It was Crews. Jeff Hardy was next. Corbin eliminated Black, which was booed. Dunn was about to break Corbin’s fingers, but McIntyre saved him and eliminated Dunn.
Rey Mysterio was 25th. Bobby Lashley was 26th. Lashley was eliminated immediately by Rollins. Lashley yanked Rollins out of the ring (not eliminated) and drove him through an announce table. Braun Strowman was out at 27 and eliminated Corbin and Benjamin. Hardy was eliminated by Strowman.
Dolph Ziggler was 28th and eliminated McIntyre. Randy Orton was 29th. He tried for an RKO on Strowman but Strowman gave him a powerslam. R-Truth made his entrance at 30, but Nia Jax attacked him from behind, then went to the ring. Jax knocked down Ziggler, Andrade, and Mysterio. Jax headbutted Ali and eliminated him.
The crowd cheered as Orton crept up behind her, but Jax noticed what was happening. Jax avoided an RKO and knocked him down. Ziggler gave Jax a superkick, and Lawler was in hysterics. Then Mysterio gave her a 619 and Orton followed with an RKO. Mysterio and Orton eliminated her, then Orton gave Mysterio an RKO and eliminated him. Andrade eliminated Orton.
The final four was Strowman, Rollins, Ziggler and Andrade. They teamed up on Strowman. Rollins gave him a frog splash. Strowman eliminated Andrade, then eliminated Ziggler. Rollins almost superkicked Strowman out of the ring, but Strowman chokeslammed him. They fought on the apron, then Rollins pushed Strowman into the post and curb stomped him on the apron for the elimination. Rollins was the winner.