The Royal Rumble has been a point of contention for WWE fans the past few years, but not this time! In 2017, we got a great Rumble, from start to finish, and a Rumble match that included surprises, comedy, violence, and beef. So. Much. Beef.
Let’s dive right in and find out what we learned from the 2017 Royal Rumble. We’ll go through the kickoff matches a little faster than the main card.
Kickoff Match: Naomi, Nikki Bella, and Becky Lynch defeat Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and Mickie James
What we learned: While this match didn’t get a ton of time despite a two-hour pre-show, it did its job of helping further solidify the direction Smack Down’s women’s division is heading in for the next brand-specific pay-per-view, Elimination Chamber. Naomi pinning Alexa Bliss in a tag match with a whole bunch of moving parts allows her to claim she’s deserving of a title shot without Bliss having been pinned in a singles match against Naomi, aka the worst possible setup for a championship match.
Kickoff Match: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows defeat Sheamus and Cesaro to become the new RAW Tag Team Champions
What we learned: This was a shocker! Not just that Anderson and Gallows won, but that we got a finish at all considering the match stipulation had two refs, seemingly so they could argue over who the winner was. We might still get that on Monday’s episode of RAW, since Sheamus kicked one ref in the face, leading to his team’s defeat, but as of now, they dropped the belts to The Club.
Kickoff Match: Nia Jax defeats Sasha Banks
What we learned: If Sasha Banks is going to rise up and defeat Nia Jax, it’s not happening while she’s dealing with a (story line) leg injury. Sasha got some hits in, but Nia shrugged everything off and dominated most of the match. When these two get an extended period of time to show what they can do, it could be special, but we’re not at that part of the story just yet.
Charlotte Flair defends RAW Women’s Championship against Bayley
The official Royal Rumble card opened with Charlotte defending her RAW Women’s title and her undefeated streak on pay-per-view against Bayley. Charlotte had spent weeks basically calling Bayley a nerd who was no better than the other nerds in the audience, and Bayley has been trying to tell her that actually, being a nerd is good and is also the source of her power. She might need to figure out a way to enhance that power next time out, because Charlotte retained without having to play any dirty Flair tricks.
Charlotte Flair defends RAW Women’s Championship against Bayley
The official Royal Rumble card opened with Charlotte defending her RAW Women’s title and her undefeated streak on pay-per-view against Bayley. Charlotte had spent weeks basically calling Bayley a nerd who was no better than the other nerds in the audience, and Bayley has been trying to tell her that actually, being a nerd is good and is also the source of her power. She might need to figure out a way to enhance that power next time out, because Charlotte retained without having to play any dirty Flair tricks.
What we learned: Charlotte vs. Bayley isn’t going to be over, even if Bayley did lose this time. Charlotte is going to have to defend against somebody at WrestleMania 33, because as much as she’s a self-obsessed glory hound looking out for No. 1 at all times, she also won’t want to avoid a chance to shine in the spotlight of the year. Bayley might have to work her way back up to a title match, but with Fastlane in March and a couple of months total in between now and Mania, she has time to prove that she has something to offer, even if she wasn’t born into this life like Charlotte was.
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