Greatest Royal Rumble
This article uses too much jargon, which needs explaining or simplifying. (January 2024) |
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 | |
Promotion | WWE |
Brand (s) | Raw SmackDown |
Sponsor | Saudi General Sports Authority |
Date | April 27, 2018 |
Attendance | 60,000[9] |
Venue | King Abdullah International Stadium |
City | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
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]
- Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy vs Cesaro and Sheamus
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 (Harper and Rowan) vs The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso)
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 vs Finn Bálor vs Samoa Joe vs The Miz
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
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 |
- By eliminating 13 men, Braun Strowman broke the record of 12, set by Roman Reigns at the 2014 Royal Rumble.
- Daniel Bryan broke the length record for lasting 1:16:05, previous record held by Rey Mysterio (lasting 1:02:12) at the 2006 Royal Rumble.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 WWE.com staff (March 5, 2018). "Saudi Arabia to host the Greatest Royal Rumble". WWE. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
- ↑ "WWE Greatest Royal Rumble to be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office". Sky Sports. March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Mike Johnson (March 12, 2018). "WWE NETWORK TO BROADCAST GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE". PWInsider. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ↑ "Saudi Arabia to host the Greatest Royal Rumble". Saudigazette. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ↑ "WWE Network confirms Greatest Royal Rumble start time, Kickoff". WWE. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- ↑ "Seven title bouts, 50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Match announced for Greatest Royal Rumble". WWE. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "First-ever WWE Greatest Royal Rumble wows 60,000 in Jeddah". Arab News. April 27, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Martin, Adam. "WWE Royal Rumble PPV results 1/26/14 - (30 man Rumble)". WrestleView. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ↑ Benigno, Anthony. "John Cena def. Triple H". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
- ↑ Powers, Kevin. "WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander def. Kalisto". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
- ↑ Wortman, James. ""Woken" Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt def. Cesaro & Sheamus (new Raw Tag Team Champions)". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
- ↑ Melok, Bobby. "United States Champion Jeff Hardy def. Jinder Mahal". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
- ↑ Wortman, James. "SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers def. The Usos". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
- ↑ Benigno, Anthony. "Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins def. The Miz, Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe (Ladder Match)". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
- ↑ Melok, Bobby. "WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura ended in a Double Count-out". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
- ↑ Clapp, John. "The Undertaker def. Rusev in a Casket Match". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
- ↑ Melok, Bobby. "Brock Lesnar def. Roman Reigns in a Steel Cage Match to retain the Universal Championship". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Match statistics: Entrant order, eliminations, times and more". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.