6 Secrets WWE Revealed At the 2021 Royal Rumble
6: WWE’s current storylines will continue
Given the fact that the Royal Rumble is seen as the start of the road to WrestleMania, it’s easy to see the
January Pay Per View as a way for WWE to wipe the slate clean, and start new angles.
That wasn’t the case last night, as WWE continued several of their ongoing storylines in the two Rumble matches,
and impressively did this in a subtle way. Entering the Women’s Rumble match
at number 1, Bayley had an incredible showing, but it was her rival Bianca Belair who eliminated her, before going
on to win the entire match. Dominik Mysterio continued his feud with King Corbin as well, getting the
better of his SmackDown rival in the young Superstar’s debut Rumble match.
We also have to give credit to the stand-off between Bobby Lashley and Big E, as this served as a subtle
reminder that it was the Hurt Business who took the RAW Tag Titles from the Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, a title
change that Big E clearly wasn’t a fan of. Alexa Bliss’ descent into madness
also continued, though she was eliminated by Rhea Ripley mid- transformation in a smart move by
the former NXT Women’s Champion. Seth Rollins also returned and interestingly wasted no time in
confronting Riddle, playing off the stories of real-life beef between the two, that was supposed squashed.
Whilst the Rumble starts the road to WrestleMania, it’s also a event for WWE to show off some of it’s current
feuds, and WWE made it clear that they have no plans on cutting any of these ongoing storylines short.
5: Sasha Banks is at her very best
Sasha Banks is touching 100 days as SmackDown Women’s Champion, and at the Royal Rumble, gave an another
impressive performance, retaining against Carmella. A back and forth match, it was Carmella’s
sommelier Reginald that once again provided an entertaining x-factor, before he was ejected from ringside.
Though we preferred it when Reginald was around, that didn’t stop the match from losing momentum, and the match
did exactly what it needed to do in a relatively short window of time. With another successful title defence,
Banks is enterting uncharted territory as SmackDown Women’s Champion, as her previous title reigns rarely lasted
longer than a month. By comparison, this latest reign is a testament to WWE’s faith in her, and this
trust is well-deserved. The Boss is giving knockout performance after knockout performance,
and while there’s no guarantee she’ll hold the gold until WrestleMania 37, we see no better option on the SmackDown
roster at the moment, except perhaps the Women’s Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair.
4: The EST of the Royal Rumble
In terms of Star power, this year’s women’s Royal Rumble was probably the weakest in the matches four-year
history, with names like Trish Stratus, Lita or Beth Phoenix nowhere to be seen.
That didn’t stop the match from delivering though, and for the fourth time in a row, WWE picked the right winner for the
30-woman contest. Bianca Belair now joins Asuka, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair as
rumble winner, but her performance was far better than any of the other three.
Not only did Belair win the match from the number 3 spot, but she also broke Natalya’s record for being in a Rumble
match the longest. Belair also earned herself four pivotal eliminations, namely disposing of Bayley,
Charlotte Flair, Natalya and Rhea Ripley, all former champions.
When you factor in Belair’s record- setting 8 eliminations last year, it’s hard to think of anyone else who could be
considered a better Women’s Rumble performer overall. It’s no secret that some Superstars are
faster rising to the top than others, and Belair is clearly one of those exceptional talents.
3: Drew McIntyre has risen to the next level
The 2021 Royal Rumble Pay Per View began with the WWE Championship match between Drew McIntyre and Bill
Goldberg, in a booking decision that actually made a lot of sense. A quick, impact heavy match, the
showdown was the right way to kick off the night, and putting it between two other matches would’ve made it a
cool-off match that fans would’ve lost interest in. As expected, the match was mere
minutes long, and comprised of just a handful of moves, namely the Spear, Jackhammer and the Claymore.
With that said, this match was an example of the ‘less is more’ mentality, as fans got what they wanted to see,
and it ended perfectly with McIntyre thankfully retaining the title. With this win, the Scottish Champion
has truly risen to the next level, as although he’s defeated plenty of names, including Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins
and Randy Orton, defeating Goldberg is unquestionably his biggest win since defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36.
It’s now clear that nobody else can walk into WrestleMania as the WWE Champion, as if Goldberg couldn’t take
the title off of McIntyre, nobody should until the time is right.
The match was quick enough that it didn’t expose Goldberg’s limitations, and elevated McIntyre to the next level.
In short: it was the perfect WWE Championship opener.
2: Roman Reigns is done with Kevin Owens
After a great TLC match and a solid Steel Cage match on SmackDown, Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns met
once again at the Royal Rumble, in what was easily their best match of the three.
It helped that the match wasn’t plagued with interferences like their last two bouts, and Owens proved to be on a
very similar level to Reigns, almost winning the Universal title.
The pair had a handcuff spot which saw Owens smartly handcuff Reigns so close to the ground that he couldn’t
stand, and we enjoyed seeing the usually confident Tribal Chief resort to a desperate tactic, stopping the count
by smashing the ref’s head into the staging. Seeing Reigns do this really got over
how much the title means to the Tribal Chief, that he’d stoop to this level, but what was possibly the best part of the
match is that Owens was protected throughout the bout.
At no point did they make the Prizefighter look week or out of his league, an impressive accomplishment considering
he’d lost twice to Reigns with the title on the line, and this feud is clearly over.
It’s performances like these that help remind fans that Owens is worthy of a Universal title reign, and why he is a
former Universal Champion. Though another reign is likely for the Prizefighter, right now, Roman Reigns
is the right man to hold the Universal title, and it’s unfortunate timing for Kevin Owens.
1: Plans for Edge aren’t set in stone
When the dust settled inside the Thunderdome, it was Edge who stood tall, becoming the third man in history to
to win the Royal Rumble from the number 1 spot. After Shawn Michaels in 1995 and
and Chris Benoit in 2004, Edge went the distance of 58 minutes and 30 seconds, and although Randy Orton
also lasted from bell to bell, the match was clearly focused on the Rated- R Superstar.
This moment was made even sweeter by the returning Christian, and the fact that Edge’s win happened 11 years after
his last Rumble win, which also saw him return from an injury to win. Now, we know that Edge will challenge
for a World title at WrestleMania 37, but that’s all we know, and for good reason.
In Edge’s promo from RAW where he announced his Rumble participation, it was kept vague which title he’d challenge
for if he was to win the Rumble match. Given his RAW appearances, fans may expect Edge to challenge for the WWE title
which right now would see him lock horns with Drew McIntyre.
A face vs face match would be strange though, and whilst the easy answer is for Drew to lose the gold to Orton between
now and April, the Viper reportedly has a date with the Fiend booked for Mania.
Of course, Edge could jump to SmackDown and challenge Universal Champion Roman Reigns, especially
as it was the Tribal Chief who spoiled his return last year, eliminating him in 2020. The only thing we know for certain is that
Edge is going to WrestleMania, but clearly there’s a lot of plans and questions about what happens next
that WWE need to answer.