Greatest Royal Rumble

WWE Greatest Royal Rumble[1] was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event[2] and WWE Network event[3][4] made by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. It happened on April 27, 2018 at the King Abdullah Sports City's King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.[1][5] It aired live in the United States at 12:00 PM EDT, with a pre-show starting at 11 a.m. EDT.[6] At the event, all men's main roster championships were defended, in addition to a 50-man Royal Rumble match.[7] It was the first big event in a ten-year partnership between WWE and the Saudi-Arabian Ministry of Sport.

WWE Greatest Royal Rumble
Theme
song(s)
"When Legends Rise" by Godsmack[8]
Information
PromotionWWE
Brand (s)Raw
SmackDown
SponsorSaudi General Sports Authority
DateApril 27, 2018
Attendance60,000[9]
VenueKing Abdullah International Stadium
CityJeddah, Saudi Arabia
Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
English commentators Michael Cole
Corey Graves
Byron Saxton
Spanish commentators Carlos Cabrera
Marcelo Rodríguez
Arabic commentators Faisal Almughaisib
Sultan Alharbi
Jude Aldajani
Ring announcer Greg Hamilton
Referees Danilo Anfibio
Jason Ayers
John Cone
Dan Engler
Darrick Moore
Chad Patton
Ryan Tran
Interviewer Mike Rome
Pre-show panel Byron Saxton
Jerry Lawler
Jim Ross
Booker T

Matches

The actual pay-per-view started with John Cena facing Triple H. During the match, Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Triple H for a near-fall. Cena attempted another Attitude Adjustment but Triple H countered into a Pedigree for a near-fall. In the end, Cena performed a second Attitude Adjustment on Triple H, a catapult into the corner, and a third Attitude Adjustment to pick up the victory. Following the match, Cena thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their hospitality, and expressed excitement over the event.[10]

Cedric Alexander defended the Cruiserweight Championship against Kalisto. The match ended when Alexander countered a Salida Del Sol attempt into a Lumbar Check to retain the title.[10]

The vacant Raw Tag Team Championship was contested between the team of Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy and the former champions, Cesaro and Sheamus. In the end, Hardy distracted Sheamus, allowing Wyatt to perform a Sister Abigail on him. Hardy and Wyatt then performed a wheelbarrow Twist of Fate on Sheamus to win the title.[10]

Jeff Hardy then defended the United States Championship against Jinder Mahal. Hardy performed a Swanton Bomb on Mahal to retain the title.[10]

The Bludgeon Brothers defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Usos. Harper and Rowan retained the title after performing The Reckoning on Jimmy Uso.[10]

Seth Rollins defended the Intercontinental Championship against Finn Báor, Samoa Joe and The Miz in a Ladder match. Near the end of the match, Bálor attempted to grab the title, only for Rollins to springboard onto the ladder and grab the title belt himself, retaining the championship.[10]

In a segment between matches, four prospects from the recent Saudi tryouts came out to the ring to introduce themselves. Cruiserweight Ariya Daivari and his brother Shawn Daivari, who had not appeared for WWE in many years, came out to interrupt them. The Saudi prospects attacked and cleared the Daivari brothers from the ring.[10]

AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. During the match, Nakamura resorted to various illegal tactics, such as a low blow, increasingly frustrating Styles. In the end, both Nakamura and Styles fought outside of the ring, only for the match to end in a double countout. After the match, Styles performed a Phenomenal Forearm to the floor on Nakamura.[10]

The Undertaker fought Rusev in a Casket match. At the end of the match, Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Rusev and rolled him into the casket. Before he could close the lid, English attacked the Undertaker, who retaliated with another chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver before putting English into the casket alongside Rusev and closing it for the victory.[10]

In the second to last match, Brock Lesnar (managed by Paul Heyman) defended the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match. Reigns performed three spears on Lesnar for a near-fall. Reigns tried to escape through the door but Heyman pushed the door into Reigns, allowing Lesnar to execute an F5 on Reigns for a near-fall. In the end, Reigns performed a Spear through the cage wall on Lesnar. Despite Reigns touching the floor first, the referee awarded the win to Lesnar, retaining the Universal Championship.[10]

Main Event

  • 50 man Royal Rumble match

Braun Strowman eliminated Big Cass to win the match. Strowman also got the most eliminations of a single Royal Rumble match at 13, beating a record previously held by Roman Reigns with 12.[11] Strowman received a trophy and a green championship belt.[10]

Results

No. Results Stipulations Times[10]
1 John Cena defeated Triple H Singles match[12] 15:45
2 Cedric Alexander (c) defeated Kalisto Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship[13] 10:15
3 Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy defeated Cesaro and Sheamus Tag team match[broken anchor] for the vacant WWE Raw Tag Team Championship[14] 8:50
4 Jeff Hardy (c) defeated Jinder Mahal (with Sunil Singh) Singles match for the WWE United States Championship[15] 6:10
5 The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) (c) defeated The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) Tag team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship[16] 5:05
6 Seth Rollins (c) defeated Finn Bálor, Samoa Joe, and The Miz Ladder match[broken anchor] for the WWE Intercontinental Championship[17] 15:05
7 AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura ended in a double countout Singles match for the WWE Championship[18] 14:25
8 The Undertaker defeated Rusev (with Aiden English) Casket match[19] 9:40
9 Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Roman Reigns by escaping the cage Steel Cage match for the WWE Universal Championship[20] 9:15
10 Braun Strowman won by last eliminating Big Cass 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble match for the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Championship[21] 1:17:20
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Greatest Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations

  – Raw
  – SmackDown
  – NXT
  – Free agent
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time[22] Elimination(s)
1 Daniel Bryan 48 Big Cass 1:16:05 3
2 Dolph Ziggler 12 Kurt Angle 21:44 2
3 Sin Cara 1 Dolph Ziggler 01:18 0
4 Curtis Axel 2 Mark Henry 02:00 0
5 Mark Henry 5 Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler 03:27 3
6 Mike Kanellis 3 Mark Henry 00:03 0
7 Hiroki Sumi 4 Mark Henry 00:46 0
8 Viktor 6 Daniel Bryan 00:51 0
9 Kofi Kingston 14 Elias 16:34 1
10 Tony Nese 9 Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods 07:13 1
11 Dash Wilder 7 Daniel Bryan and Hornswoggle 01:26 0
12 Hornswoggle 8 Tony Nese 01:00 1
13 Primo Colón 11 Kurt Angle 05:10 0
14 Xavier Woods 15 Elias 09:56 1
15 Bo Dallas 10 Kurt Angle 01:34 0
16 Kurt Angle 16 Elias 07:59 3
17 Scott Dawson 19 Bobby Roode 11:44 0
18 Goldust 18 Bobby Roode 10:04 0
19 Konnor 13 Elias 02:25 0
20 Elias 41 Bobby Lashley 34:04 5
21 Luke Gallows 20 Rey Mysterio 09:16 0
22 Rhyno 25 Roderick Strong 16:22 0
23 Drew Gulak 17 Tucker Knight 01:47 0
24 Tucker Knight 23 Big E 10:08 1
25 Bobby Roode 29 Baron Corbin 17:44 2
26 Fandango 21 Mojo Rawley 03:42 0
27 Chad Gable 24 Apollo Crews 08:17 0
28 Rey Mysterio 37 Baron Corbin 20:25 1
29 Mojo Rawley 27 Randy Orton 08:52 2
30 Tyler Breeze 22 Mojo Rawley 00:16 0
31 Big E 33 Braun Strowman 13:59 1
32 Karl Anderson 26 Randy Orton 04:25 0
33 Apollo Crews 28 Randy Orton 03:26 1
34 Roderick Strong 30 Baron Corbin 06:00 1
35 Randy Orton 39 Elias 10:58 4
36 Heath Slater 34 Braun Strowman 07:38 0
37 Babatunde 31 Braun Strowman 05:53 0
38 Baron Corbin 38 Randy Orton 07:08 3
39 Titus O'Neil 35 Braun Strowman 04:42 0
40 Dan Matha 32 Braun Strowman 02:01 0
41 Braun Strowman Winner 22:14 13
42 Tye Dillinger 36 Braun Strowman 00:29 0
43 Curt Hawkins 40 Braun Strowman 00:20 0
44 Bobby Lashley 45 Braun Strowman 14:38 2
45 The Great Khali 42 Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley 00:31 0
46 Kevin Owens 47 Braun Strowman 10:43 0
47 Shane McMahon 44 Braun Strowman 08:07 0
48 Shelton Benjamin 43 Chris Jericho 04:23 0
49 Big Cass 49 Braun Strowman 07:23 1
50 Chris Jericho 46 Braun Strowman 03:18 1

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 WWE.com staff (March 5, 2018). "Saudi Arabia to host the Greatest Royal Rumble". WWE. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  2. "WWE Greatest Royal Rumble to be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office". Sky Sports. March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  3. WWE.com staff (April 4, 2018). "Greatest Royal Rumble to stream on WWE Network Friday, April 27, at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT". WWE. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  4. Mike Johnson (March 12, 2018). "WWE NETWORK TO BROADCAST GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE". PWInsider. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  5. "Saudi Arabia to host the Greatest Royal Rumble". Saudigazette. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  6. "WWE Network confirms Greatest Royal Rumble start time, Kickoff". WWE. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  7. "Seven title bouts, 50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Match announced for Greatest Royal Rumble". WWE. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  8. "Let's rumble like never before. "When Legends Rise" by @godsmack is an #OfficialThemeSong for the Greatest Royal Rumble event. #WWEGRR". WWE on Twitter. April 27, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  9. "First-ever WWE Greatest Royal Rumble wows 60,000 in Jeddah". Arab News. April 27, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  10. 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Greatest Royal Rumble live review: 50-man Royal Rumble match, Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in a cage match for the WWE Universal Championship, AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship, John Cena vs. Triple H, Undertaker vs. Rusev in a casket match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  11. Martin, Adam. "WWE Royal Rumble PPV results 1/26/14 - (30 man Rumble)". WrestleView. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  12. Benigno, Anthony. "John Cena def. Triple H". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  13. Powers, Kevin. "WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander def. Kalisto". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  14. Wortman, James. ""Woken" Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt def. Cesaro & Sheamus (new Raw Tag Team Champions)". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  15. Melok, Bobby. "United States Champion Jeff Hardy def. Jinder Mahal". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  16. Wortman, James. "SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers def. The Usos". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  17. Benigno, Anthony. "Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins def. The Miz, Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe (Ladder Match)". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  18. Melok, Bobby. "WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura ended in a Double Count-out". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  19. Clapp, John. "The Undertaker def. Rusev in a Casket Match". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  20. Melok, Bobby. "Brock Lesnar def. Roman Reigns in a Steel Cage Match to retain the Universal Championship". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  21. Benigno, Anthony. "Braun Strowman won the first-ever 50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Match to become the Greatest Royal Rumble Champion". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  22. "50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Match statistics: Entrant order, eliminations, times and more". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.

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