Royal Rumble 2020 was a solid WWE pay-per-view, and a great way to start of the year for WWE. I’m giving WWE’s Royal Rumble a solid B+. According to our Twitter poll, the majority of our readers gave WWE’s Royal Rumble a solid B+/B/B, 54.5%. How would you grade the show?
Here is everything I loved and everything I hated about Royal Rumble 2020.
Loved
The Women’s Royal Rumble Match
Since the very first Women’s Royal Rumble Match in 2018, the women’s division has not disappointed fans. Each year, their Royal Rumble match gets better and better. This year, for me, the matched outshined all the other matches on the pay-per-view card, especially outshining the Men’s Royal Rumble Match. Some fans may not be happy with Charlotte Flair’s win and the return of Santina Marella (I’ll talk about this later in the article). But overall the match did three important things:
- Entertained us
- Build future stars
- Moved storylines along
And for those reasons alone, the Women’s Royal Rumble match is my Match of the Night.
The EST is the MVP
When Bianca Belair’s music hit and she entered the Royal Rumble match at the #2 spot, I knew things were about to get real. Belair was given an opportunity to prove why she is the EST of NXT. She lasted in the match for 33 minutes and eliminating eight women. Belair eliminated Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Molly Holly, Candice LeRae, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Dana Brooke, and Tamina. She was the realest iron woman in the match, only to be eliminated by this year’s winner, Charlotte Flair.
Naomi Returns
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Naomi in a WWE ring, six months in fact. But at the 2020 Royal Rumble, the Glow Mob’s queen returned to a huge pop. Like previous years, Naomi would avoid elimination using her wit and skills. Most importantly, she was able to grab the attention of non-wrestling fans and fans alike. Naomi would last a total of 22 minutes and was the 26th woman to be eliminated.
Women’s In-Ring Fashion
Most WWE superstars dress to impress when wrestling on a “Big Four” show. So, I wasn’t surprised to see so many superstars rocking cute new gear. This year, the women’s division really showed up and showed out. Some of my favorite looks from the Royal Rumble were (in order from favorite to least favorite):
- Bianca Belair
- Mandy Rose
- Naomi
- Liv Morgan
- Lana
The Women on The Black and Gold Brand Represented
The women of NXT held it down! Eleven NXT superstars participated in the Women’s Royal Rumble. NXT’s Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler shared the title of most eliminations in this year’s match. Both women eliminated eight other superstars.
Hated
Santina Marella
This year’s Women’s Royal Rumble match was stellar, with the exception of the number 29 entry Santina Marella. The Santina Marella spot was wrong on numerous levels. On the surface, not digging too deep, the spot didn’t fit the tone of the match. It was also too late in the match for a humorous spot that really wasn’t funny. On a deeper level, Marella entering the Royal Rumble took a spot away from a female superstar who was more deserving. In addition, he has made transphobic comments about trans women completing in wrestling.
The Brock Lesnar Show
Unlike the Women’s Royal Rumble match, which I truly love, I did not enjoy the Men’s match. In fact, the whole match seemed like The Brock Lesnar show. Personally, Lesnar’s dominance outshines Drew McIntyre’s win. Lesnar would eliminate 13 men, the majority current or former champions. Yes, Lesnar eliminated the following, before getting eliminated by this year’s winner:
| Superstar | Official Time in Match |
|---|---|
| Elias | 1 minute |
| Erick Rowan | 8 seconds |
| Robert Roode | 41 seconds |
| John Morrison | 9 seconds |
| Kofi Kingston | 5 minutes |
| Rey Mysterio | 2 minutes and 54 seconds |
| Big E | 53 seconds |
| Cesaro | 18 seconds |
| Shelton Benjamin | 37 seconds |
| Shinsuke Nakamura | 20 seconds |
| MVP | 24 seconds |
| Keith Lee | 3 minutes and 32 seconds |
| Braun Strowman | 1 minute and 48 seconds |
Treatment of Men of Color
Ten superstars of color would enter the Men’s Royal Rumble. Also, seven superstars of color would be eliminated by Brock Lesnar and would only last a total of 15 minutes in the whole match. Big E, Shelton Benjamin, Shinsuke Nakamura, and MVP would all be eliminated in under a minute. Only two superstars of color would wrestle at the end of the match, Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe.
Did you enjoy this year’s Royal Rumble? What did you love? What did you hate? Tell us in the comment section below or comment on this article’s Facebook post. You can also tweet us on Twitter.
