Tag: Royal Rumble

WWE Royal Rumble 1/28/2023 (Card)

Date: January 28, 2023
Location: Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas

CARD

30-MAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH:
Participants: Austin Theory, Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Gunther, Karrion Kross, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Santos Escobar, Seth Rollins, Sheamus, Omos, Dominik Mysterio and TBD

30-WOMAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH:
Participants: Candice LeRae, Emma, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Rhea Ripley, Shayna Baszler, Zelina Vega and TBD

MOUNTAIN DEW PITCH BLACK MATCH:
Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight

UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Kevin Owens

RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP:
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alexa Bliss

WWE Royal Rumble Breaks Record For Largest U.S. Non-WrestleMania Gate

The WWE Royal Ruble 2023 PLE has broken the record for the live gate of any U.S.-based event that isn’t a WrestleMania.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that with a live gate of over $7 million, the show has beaten any non-Mania event in the U.S. and has surpassed most WrestleManias.

WWE was hoping that the gate would surpass $8 million, which would have seen the show surpass Clash at the Castle for the largest non-WrestleMania live gate in wrestling.

It was reported last November that the show had reached the highest live gate of any Royal Rumble event.

WWE is off to a strong start for next year’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event as the company announced in a statement to Pwinsider that the event has broken the largest gate in the history of the event. The statement reads as follows,

“WWE Royal Rumble 2023 – slated for Saturday, January 28 – has broken the company’s record for largest gate in the event’s 36-year history.

Over the weekend, Royal Rumble surpassed the $5M mark and previous record holder from 2017 – the last time the event was held at San Antonio’s AlamoDome.

This carries a 2022 trend into 2023 where WWE set gate records for many of its events, including WrestleMania, Extreme Rules and Crown Jewel.”

The Observer adds that WWE is expected to announce an attendance figure in excess of 50,000 since they’ve already used that number on television.

Source: eWrestlingNews

It’s Official – Cody Rhodes Enters The 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble Match

It’s official – Cody Rhodes will be making his in-ring return at the 2023 WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.

On this week’s episode of RAW, it was announced that Rhodes, who has been out of action with a torn pectoral muscle following his match with Seth Rollins at WWE Hell in a Cell 2022, will be entering the men’s Royal Rumble match.

Rhodes joins Kofi Kingston, Ricochet, Baron Corbin, Austin Theory, Santos Escobar, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, Rey Mysterio, and Gunther as confirmed competitors for the match so far.

WWE Reportedly Planning A “Pitch Black” Match For Bray Wyatt At Royal Rumble

Let the speculation on what exactly a Pitch Black match is going to be begin.

The next major event on the WWE calendar is Royal Rumble, and other than the two usual 30-person matches, nothing for the card has been officially announced. However, the event might well be the backdrop for Bray Wyatt’s long-awaited in-ring return.

According to WrestlingNews.co, the entire card for Royal Rumble is already planned out, and currently on that card is something being referred to as a Pitch Black match. WWE’s sources didn’t indicate what exactly a new match type will involve, but it’s believed if it does happen, Wyatt will be one of the competitors.

Even though Wyatt made his WWE return at Extreme Rules well over a month ago, The Eater of Worlds is yet to have actually wrestled a match. In fact, by the time Royal Rumble rolls around, Wyatt will be nearing two years since he last wrestled. The former WWE Champion’s final match up until this point was a loss to Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37, and before that match he hadn’t wrestled since being burned alive by Randy Orton the year prior at TLC.

As for who Wyatt might face should there be a Pitch Black match at Royal Rumble, the most likely candidate right now is LA Knight. The two of them have been clashing on SmackDown as Wyatt’s first rivalry since his return has been unfolding. As for whether that can be dragged out for the next two months, especially if Wyatt isn’t going to wrestle, is another question entirely.

That could mean we see Wyatt wrestle before then. Whether it be during an episode of SmackDown or perhaps when WWE travels to India for a big show, something that is currently being planned for January. While the storyline with Knight appears to have fans gripped, Wyatt has to wrestle again sooner or later, and doing it in a new gimmick match might be the perfect way to reintroduce him to the ring.

Source: TheSportster

WWE Announcers Were Not Allowed To Say Impact Wrestling Or Knockouts During Royal Rumble

In case you haven’t heard, wrestling has a forbidden door and apparently, it’s wide open. AEW wrestlers are competing in New Japan, Impact stars are showing up in WWE, and pretty much everyone is appearing for GCW. The most shocking of all was that middle one. Mickie James returning to WWE for one night only even though she is currently the Impact Knockouts World Champion.

James made an appearance in the women’s Royal Rumble and even though she isn’t a WWE Superstar, she had quite a good showing. She was even allowed to wear her Knockouts Title to the ring. However, eagle-eyed fans might have noticed the bottom third referred to the championship as the Impact Women’s Title. Not what it’s called, and this was no accident.

During a recent episode of Fightful’s Grapsody, which you can check out below, Will Washington reveals a few of the words WWE’s announcers were not allowed to say when discussing James during the Rumble. The big one was the ability to say Impact, but not Impact Wrestling. Not a slight on the rival wrestling company, but rather the hang-up Vince McMahon has with the word wrestling. It’s sports entertainment.

The title being given an entirely different name is also linked to words WWE didn’t want said on the air. Knockouts was one, and world was another. Unclear what WWE’s problem is with the word knockouts. Perhaps it doesn’t want fans to think wrestlers might get legitimately knocked out. As for the word world, maybe since its own Women’s Titles don’t have the word world in them, McMahon feared fans would think the Knockouts Title would be thought of as better than by more casual fans.

The ban on those words for Royal Rumble also extended to the social media team. As for the announcers, dodging words and phrases McMahon doesn’t like being said on his TV shows is an almost untraversable minefield at this point. The longer the list gets, the more respect we should all have for Michael Cole. The man gets a lot of stick from fans, but to be doing that job as long as he has with McMahon constantly in his ear, he deserves more credit than he gets.

Source: TheSportster

WWE Morale Was Low Backstage After Royal Rumble 

According to a report, WWE morale was low backstage after the Royal Rumble largely because a plethora of changes were made before the event.

The backstage “morale” following Saturday’s WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view was reportedly low.

Before the Royal Rumble pay-per-view commenced, it was reported that Vince McMahon had made several changes to the Royal Rumble matches. As previously noted, Riddle was reportedly initially scheduled to win the men’s Royal Rumble match, but WWE ultimately went with Brock Lesnar.

According to a report from Mike Johnson of PWInsider, “the morale with the WWE locker room among talents was down” after the show. This was largely “due to the whirlwind of changes made to the Rumble matches in the days and hours” before the Royal Rumble event started.

It was noted by Johnson that Triple H (Paul Levesque) and producer Tyson Kidd (T.J. Wilson) usually play major roles at the Royal Rumble event. Specifically, Triple H would be used “in an advisory role of sorts”, which includes making adjustments “to accentuate certain talents”. Triple H remains sidelined as he continues to recover from a serious cardiac event back in September that required surgery.

Johnson added that Kidd often plays “a massive leading role in producing the women’s division”, but he wasn’t present for Saturday’s event in St. Louis, Missouri.

Kofi Kingston botched a spot and was eliminated from the men’s Royal Rumble match sooner than planned. It was also reported that Shane McMahon, who returned to WWE programming following a lengthy hiatus, has plenty of backstage heat for largely booking the Royal Rumble around himself.

There was plenty of hype around Saturday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, but in many ways, it did not live up to expectations. For one, why couldn’t Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley just win their respective matches cleanly? Why did Lesnar himself have to win the Royal Rumble when he’s already an established main event star? WWE missed several opportunities to piece together a top quality Royal Rumble event here, and it’s no wonder that so many fans were left greatly disappointed.

Source: TheSportster

WWE Royal Rumble Results 1/29/2022, Ronda Rousey Returns

WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP (SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos was banned from ringside)
Seth Rollins defeated Roman Reigns (c) by DQ

Seth Rollins came to the ring to The Shield’s music wearing his old Shield gear.

Reigns was disqualified when he refused to let go of a  guillotine submission hold with Rollins in the ropes.

After the match, Reigns viciously beat Rollins with repeated chair shots

30-WOMAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH

  1. Sasha Banks
  2. Melina
  3. Tamina
  4. Kelly Kelly
  5. Aliyah
  6. Liv Morgan
  7. Queen Zelina
  8. Bianca Belair
  9. Dana Brooke
  10. Michelle McCool
  11. Sonya Deville
  12. Natalya
  13. Cameron
  14. Naomi
  15. Carmilla
  16. Rhea Ripley
  17. SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair
  18. Ivory
  19. Brie Bella
  20. Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James
  21. Alicia Fox
  22. Nikki A.S.H.
  23. Summer Rae
  24. Nikki Bella
  25. Sarah Logan
  26. Lita
  27. Mighty Molly Holly
  28. Ronda Rousey – Winner
  29. Shotzi
  30. Shayna Baszler

RAW WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH
Becky Lynch (c) defeated Doudrop

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Bobby Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar (c) to become the new WWE Champion

Roman Reigns interfered. Paul Heyman handed the title belt to Reigns and he hit Lesnar with it and Lashley made the pin cover for the win. Heyman walked out with Reigns.

MIXED TAG TEAM MATCH
WWE Hall of Famers Edge and Beth Phoenix defeated The Miz and Maryse

30-MAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH

  1. AJ Styles
  2. Shinsuke Nakamura
  3. Austin Theory
  4. Robert Roode
  5. Ridge Holland
  6. Montez Ford
  7. Damien Priest
  8. Sami Zayn
  9. Johnny Knoxville
  10. Angelo Dawkins
  11. Omos
  12. Ricochet
  13. Chad Gable
  14. Dominik Mysterio
  15. Happy Corbin
  16. Dolph Ziggler
  17. Sheamus
  18. Rick Boogs
  19. Madcap Moss
  20. Riddle
  21. Drew McIntyre
  22. Kevin Owens
  23. Rey Mysterio
  24. Kofi Kingston
  25. Otis
  26. Big E
  27. Bad Bunny
  28. Shane McMahon
  29. Randy Orton
  30. Brock Lesnar – Winner

WWE Royal Rumble 1/29/2022

DATE: January 29, 2022 8:00 pm
LOCATION: The Dome at America’s Center, St. Louis, Missouri
AVAILABLE ON: Peacock, WWE Network (outside of the U.S.)

30-MAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
Johnny Knoxville, Austin Theory, AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins, Sheamus, WWE United States Champion Damian Priest, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Sami Zayn, Madcap Moss, Happy Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens, Omos, Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, Randy Orton, Riddle, RAW Tag Team Champion Otis, RAW Tag Team Champion Chad Gable, 8 Superstars TBA

30-WOMAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James, Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella, WWE Hall of Famer Brie Bella, Shotzi, Natalya, Michelle McCool, WWE 24/7 Champion Dana Brooke, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Carmella, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Queen Zelina Vega, Tamina Snuka, Kelly Kelly, Aliyah, Summer Rae, Naomi, Shayna Baszler, WWE Hall of Famer Lita, Liv Morgan, Bianca Belair, 9 participants TBA

WWE TITLE MATCH
Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar (c)

WWE UNIVERSAL TITLE MATCH
Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns (c)
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos are banned from ringside.

RAW WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH
Doudrop vs. Becky Lynch (c)

MIXED TAG TEAM MATCH
WWE Hall of Famers Edge and Beth Phoenix vs. The Miz and Maryse

WWE’s Medical Update On Sasha Banks Says She Will Miss The Royal Rumble

WWE provided an update on former Women’s Champion Sasha Banks earlier today, confirming reports that she is dealing with a foot injury. The full announcement can be seen below:

“Sasha Banks injury update

Sasha Banks suffered a foot injury Sunday evening at a WWE Live! event in Fayetteville, NC. After seeking emergency medical attention, it was determined nothing was broken. Sasha underwent an MRI and it was discovered she has a bruised calcaneus bone. She is at home recovering and undergoing physical therapy. She is expected to be out of action for 6-8 weeks. Stay locked in to WWE Digital for the latest updates.”

With the timeline provided, Banks is expected to miss the upcoming premium live event, WWE Royal Rumble 2022, taking place on Saturday, January 29. Stay tuned for updates on Banks’s status.

Banks wrestled SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair at last Sunday’s WWE live event in Fayetteville, NC, and appeared to hurt her leg or knee while taking an over-the-knee backbreaker. She kicked out of a pinfall but stayed on the mat while the referee checked her out, before they went to the finish with Flair getting the win after a Natural Selection. Banks was then helped to the back.

Banks posted an update for fans later that night, writing, “I’m good [fist emoji] Thank you for the love always. [heart emoji]”

It looked as though WWE may have been building towards Banks vs. Flair at Royal Rumble, as the two have been wrestling both on television in tag matches and at live events. However, if WWE’s report holds true, Banks will miss the Rumble and as noted, Flair will be appearing as the SmackDown Women’s Champion in the rumble. If she wins, Charlotte claims she will choose her own challenger for WrestlerMania this year.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Mickie James Announced For WWE’s Royal Rumble

Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Mickie James will compete in the upcoming 2022 WWE women’s Royal Rumble match.

Mickie James is about to walk through the forbidden door … and straight into the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble match.

During this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown Charlotte Flair revealed the names of several women who are set to compete in this year’s women’s Royal Rumble match — including Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James, who was released by WWE in April of last year.

But it gets weirder … on top of announcing that Mickie would be in the Rumble, Impact Wrestling was actually mentioned on air. At one point, SmackDown color commentator Pat McAfee referred to Mickie as “the Impact Knockouts Champion.”

Soon after, both WWE and Impact referenced one another in tweets announcing Mickie’s participation in the Rumble, while Impact’s EVP Scott D’Amore congratulated WWE for finally walking through the forbidden door.

The other participants announced for the women’s Royal Rumble match are as follows:

Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Shotzi, Natalya, Michelle McCool, Dana Brooke, Carmella, Queen Zelina Vega, Tamina Snuka, Kelly Kelly, Aliyah, Summer Rae, Naomi, Shayna Baszler, and Lita. The match will feature 30 competitors in total meaning there are still 11 more participants to be announced.

As you might recall, Mickie James was released by WWE back in April, allegedly due to budget cuts necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mickie James returned to Impact after a six-year absence during the company’s Slammiversary pay-per-view back in July. Her relationship with the company first began way back in 2002 when it was called TNA. She signed for WWE in 2003 but returned to Impact in 2010. The legend kicked off her fourth reign as Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion with a win over Deonna Purrazzo at Bound For Glory last October.

The 2022 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event will take place on Saturday, January 29, 2022, at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Source: TheSportster