WWE made a big deal out of their first-ever historic women’s Royal Rumble match (you
have to say that as much as possible to hammer home the point), which had been announced
by Stephanie McMahon in December last year in what was reportedly a “shoot” reveal.
Every episode Raw, Smackdown, NXT, Mixed Match Challenge and all that came in between after
that made sure to remind you the audience that this was, indeed, a historic match.
Stephanie’s comments about the women stepping up once again were played ad infinitum, her
screeched “but that’s not enough” burned into the ears of everyone who turned on the
WWE product, and these statements were pushed further when it was announced the women’s
Royal Rumble would have the same rules as the men’s match.
Removing the champions Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, WWE have a total of nineteen female
wrestlers on the ‘main roster’; including the newly promoted Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville,
Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan from NXT.
And with the news of Paige suffering a reportedly career ending injury, this meant that the
women’s Royal Rumble would have a whopping twelve spots for nostalgic returns, surprise
entrants and NXT call-ups.
That number became thirteen when it was revealed on the day that Alicia Fox had suffered an
injury during rehearsals for the match.
That’s nearly half of the Royal Rumble.
Compare that to the Men’s Royal Rumble, which had four.
And surprises they were.
WWE brought back former Women’s Champions like Lita, Trish Stratus, Molly Holly and
Jacqueline, as well as stars from the Divas Era like Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, The Bella
Twins and Michelle McCool.
Even former Raw General Manager Vickie Guerrero got a spot in the first-ever Women’s Royal
Rumble.
Some looked great, some not too bad and some who reminded us of just how bad women’s
wrestling used to be in WWE.
There were two NXT entrants – Mae Young Classic winner Kairi Sane and NXT Women’s
Champion Ember Moon – both of which had good showings with Sane showing off her incredible
elbow drop to the Philadelphia crowd and Moon having a showdown with bitter rival and eventual
winner Asuka.
Although it was odd to hear Michael Cole refer to Kairi Sane not as The Pirate Princess,
but as a “Yacht persona”.
So, what about the rest of the entrants, the actual main roster talent?
Sasha Banks got the Iron Woman role lasting nearly an hour in the match, Becky Lynch had
a strong showing, Nia Jax nearly got the record for most eliminations, and Asuka won the match
– earning herself a championship opportunity at WrestleMania.
But most of the entrants in the Royal Rumble were non-factors.
Sarah Logan didn’t do anything of note, Sonya Deville didn’t do anything of note,
Ruby Riott didn’t do anything of note.
The match was built around Banks, Asuka and the nostalgia entrants.
Which is perhaps the biggest criticism one could hurl at this historic match.
While it was very good (though not a patch on the men’s Royal Rumble that came earlier
in the night, it felt more like a celebration of women’s wrestling rather than a sporting
contest to crown a new number one contender for the biggest show of the year.
This could have taken place on nostalgia-fest Raw 25 and felt right at home.
The nostalgia entrants got the biggest reactions – particularly Trish Stratus and Lita – which
overshadowed the “main roster” women wrestlers who are there all the time.
This was furthered hammered home when the final three was 66.6% nostalgia.
If you look back on previous Royal Rumble matches, could you imagine any of the nostalgia
spots making it into the final four?
Let alone being the runner-up?
Even last year’s Royal Rumble match which had a plethora of nostalgia and part-time
entrants like Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, put the spotlight on Randy Orton,
Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns.
Nostalgia spots in Royal Rumbles are fun and certainly have their place, but the match
should be focused on the current crop of stars – the people who are going to be there day-in-and-day-out
for the years to come.
The easiest way around this is WWE spending the rest of 2018 building up their women’s
roster.
Many fans ask why there aren’t Women’s Tag Team Championships and this Royal Rumble
is a useful tool in explaining why.
There isn’t enough depth on either brand, and they would just end up as props for people
to fight over rather than have any weight our clout – just look at what happened when
TNA tried to launch their women’s tag team division.
However if we come to January next year and the women’s roster across both brands has
thirty or maybe even thirty-five active female wrestlers, then the Royal Rumble will have
a chance to shine a light squarely on the talent you want to be pushing for the rest
of the year and only have a handful of surprise entrants.
It also means you don’t have to put in dead weight like Lana [34] and Dana Brooke in the
match [35], who the company have no intention of pushing as in-ring talent.
It also seems surprising that WWE didn’t have one of their main roster performers eliminate
the most entrants.
While it would seem like an obvious choice to give that to Nia Jax – who could have
used it to develop her character for the rest of the year – former Diva’s Champion Michelle
McCool eliminated the most people with five.
No storylines were built in the match either, no new feuds that can culminate at WrestleMania
or even Fastlane.
The reports since the Rumble have said that, with the debut of Ronda Rousey, WWE want to
push the women’s division harder than it has before.
If that’s the case, they’re going to need to start having multiple storylines and angles
so the women’s matches aren’t looked at like special attractions.
The idea of having two Royal Rumble matches on one show didn’t end up being the anchor
that people expected it to be.
The crowd were quiet for Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins vs. The Bar and the triple threat
for the Universal Champion, but they came alive again for the second Rumble match of
the night.
But a shallow pool of talent to choose from and too much focus on nostalgic stars meant
the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble was akin to the Gimmick Battle Royal from WrestleMania
X7.
Though that comparison is extreme (and perhaps unfair) it’s food for thought when WWE hold
the historic second-ever Royal Rumble next year.
What do you think, let us know below because after all, this is just my opinion.
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