The Greatest Royal Rumble, which sounds like something a certain orange-skinned WWE Hall of Famer would come up with (I guess “The Bigly Royal Rumble” was passed on) came about, seemingly out of nowhere, just a few weeks back, without confirmation the event was even going to be televised.
Now, WWE’s historic Saudi Arabia’s “The Greatest Royal Rumble” show is upon us, and the card we have seems surprisingly great and will be available on the WWE Network. So, with such a loaded card, let’s go through the matches, discuss the potential storyline ramifications, and select some winners.
Cruiserweight Championship Match – Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Kalisto
Before we really dive in, I should say this up front: The biggest challenge in predicting these matches is trying to figure out what exactly WWE wants to get out of this event and how exactly they’ll treat this event. Will this be a glorified house show (like the July 4 Tokyo show that aired a few years back) or will it be something resembling a SummerSlam show? Or will it be somewhere in between? I’m banking on WWE using this show as a big event, which is weird since WrestleMania was just a few weeks ago. It’s also weird because Backlash might appear kind of lame by comparison.
So now you know where my head’s at (for this event at least)…
Cedric just won the Cruiserweight Title at Mania and his original opponent, Buddy Murphy, was pulled via a somewhat strange angle where he failed to meet the 205lb weigh-in (which was done a week in advance for some reason). I can’t imagine that he would lose the title to Kalisto since they had to fill the vacancy with a random gauntlet match (which was excellent, by the way) just to get to this match-up. This match might even end up on the pre-show, though I haven’t heard if any matches will air there (I’m assuming at least one will).
Winner: Cedric Alexander
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match – The Bludgeon Brothers (c) vs. The Usos
I think this could be an excellent tag match if those involved are given enough time. The Usos and the former Wyatt Family have worked plenty of times before and are all capable of putting on a show-stealing performance. The Usos are producing some of the best work of their careers (which is saying something) so I expect good things here (again, provided they’re given time).
I’m picking The Bludgeon Brothers to get the win here, as their momentum is still on the upswing following their WrestleMania title win. This match will serve as a launching pad for their title reign, as their Mania match was only about 5 minutes long. With The Bar coming over from Raw in the Shake-up, I imagine we’ll see them in the mix for the titles sooner rather than later.
Winner: The Bludgeon Brothers
Raw Tag Team Championship Match (Vacant) – Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs. The Bar
This should be an easy one to pick. With The Bar moving to SmackDown, The Del-eater of Worlds, as they’re apparently called now, should get the win here. I guess WWE could have The Bar win and move back to Raw (as they stated on SmackDown this week) but I don’t see that happening.
So, I’m picking Wyatt and Hardy to win the vacant Raw Tag Team Titles. I’m looking forward to seeing how the tag division fleshes out with them as champs and the changes made around the Shake-up.
Winner: The Del-eater of Worlds
Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match – Seth Rollins (c) vs. Finn Bálor vs. Samoa Joe vs. The Miz
Okay, here’s where I put my fantasy booking hat on and make some bold predictions. Let’s get right into it…
I’m picking The Miz to win the Intercontinental Championship in this match and take the title to SmackDown. While there, he’ll break the all-time record for cumulative days as champion while also tying Chris Jericho for most IC Title reigns. I think we’re heading towards a Miz vs Daniel Bryan feud pretty soon, but I think WWE will try to hold off until SummerSlam to pull the trigger.
In the meantime, I think Miz will align himself with a certain 7 Foot Tall wrestler who recently arrived on SmackDown. Seeing as Big Cass has already attacked Daniel Bryan to make his debut on the blue brand, I could see him being the heavy for Miz, someone Bryan would have to get through in order to get at Miz. Sure, that could happen without the IC Title, but having Daniel Bryan end The Miz’s historic run would be excellent, plus Bryan retired as IC Champion. He never lost the title and obviously hasn’t had a rematch for it. I’d love to see WWE bring that up and have him win back the title he retired with.
Also, I could be totally wrong on this pick, as Rollins and Miz are currently scheduled for a rematch at Backlash on May 6, and it’s possible the title change happens there. This is the problem in having so many big cards so close together. Plus, I’m not 100% sure if winning the title brings the title to the brand of the wrestler or the wrestler to the brand of the title. Ugh, this is confusing.
Winner: The Miz
United States Championship Match: Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Jinder Mahal
This shouldn’t be a surprise pick given my booking in the previous match.
I pick Mahal to win the US Title back from Hardy and then bring the title over to Raw, effectively swapping the mid-card titles. There’s nothing much more to add, only that I think moving Jeff to SmackDown while Matt is Broken/Woken on Raw was an excellent decision. Jeff still has drawing power as a singles guy and WWE needs to utilize that now.
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Casket Match – The Undertaker vs. Rusev
Well, this is a weird one. We all know about the swapping in of Chris Jericho and then the swapping out of Chris Jericho in this match, so I won’t add to that. I really think Rusev was better off not being in the match, as Undertaker is not in great shape and I don’t see how he’ll have a good match with the Bulgarian Brute.
I’m picking Undertaker because I just don’t see him losing on such a big and historic show. I’d love to see WWE surprise me here, but they seem dead set against doing anything fun with Rusev so I just assume he’ll lose everything forever until he shows up on the indies under a name that will be less fun than Rusev.
Winner: The Undertaker
John Cena vs. Triple H
A clash between two part-time guys in their forties. That’s what this match is in 2018. I think they’ll both put on a great match, but it’s so weird that this match is just a random throw away on an even weirder Network event. I don’t imagine there will be any storyline advancements coming out of this match, which makes the result pretty easy to pick.
I’m picking Cena to win. Not just because he’s Cena, but because he lost that strange match with Undertaker at Mania and unlike Trips, he’s actually got some regular runs left on the main card, so I see him getting a win here to right the ship.
Winner: John Cena
WWE Championship Match – AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Here’s where things get tough. I could see Nakamura winning the title soon after his heel turn, but I wonder if WWE will pull that trigger in Saudi Arabia. With Backlash coming up just 9 days after the Bigly Huge Gigantic Large Sizeable Rumble I think that will be Nakamura’s best chance to end up with the WWE Title. Soooo…
I’m picking AJ Styles to retain the WWE Title. I think WWE will try to make the crowd happy, and having the face retain will do just that. I look for Styles to drop the title at Backlash, though.
Winner: AJ Styles
Universal Championship Steel Cage Match – Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns
This match seems like the backup plan from Mania. WWE’s goofy “Brock Lesnar is a no-show” gimmick didn’t make the crowd magically fall in love with Roman, so there wasn’t going to be anything but a chorus of boos from the crowd had he won the title at Mania. I don’t think that’ll be the case in Saudi Arabia. Not that I know much about the place. In fact, I don’t even know what they believe when it comes to pro wrestling. Do they know it’s a work? As an American, I’m naturally stupid about other cultures. (Editor’s note: They have some smarks. But not as many as the western culture.)
Regardless of my ignorance, I’m picking Roman Reigns to capture the Universal Title. I think the crowd will react positively to the babyface winning the title. If this is true, how sad is it that WWE had to go to the middle east just to get a babyface pop for Roman?
Winner: Roman Reigns
50-man Royal Rumble match
Okay, this is the strangest match in the world to predict, but I actually like my pick because of the rationale I’ve created around it. Let’s get right to it.
I’m picking Daniel Bryan to win the Make The Royal Rumble Great Again match and here’s why: The 62,000 in attendance. I think WWE wants to have an historic moment take place at the “Shining Jewel” that is the King Abdullah International Stadium. They want that shot that can be replayed over and over again. What better shot to get than 62,000 people pointing to the sky and chanting “Yes! Yes! Yes!” over and over as Daniel Bryan gets his first big win since coming out of retirement? I think it makes perfect sense. But I have a statistical 98% chance of being wrong, so who knows? (Editor’s note: The numbers don’t lie, and they spell disaster for you, at the Greatest Royal Rumble.)
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Okay, so that’s it for the picks, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the issue with the Women superstars and this show. I don’t know if I like the idea of WWE running a show where women are banned. We’re supposed to be in the middle of a Women’s Revolution, and yet this huge show has a “No Girls Allowed” sign on the door. It seems like a step backwards. But, perhaps this is a step in breaking another barrier. I’m hopeful that perhaps WWE will eventually break ground by having women compete in next year’s event (yep, they’ll be another one next year). The fact that women can even attend this event is a great sign of progress in an area that has just recently started allowing women to get driver’s licenses. There’s a long way to go before everything is “good” with Saudi Arabia and their treatment of women and the LGBT community, the latter of which is also allowed to attend but could be flogged if they engage in “homosexual activity,” but hopefully the signs of progress continue to grow in the area. Perhaps that’s just wishful thinking on my part though. If things don’t change for the better, WWE shouldn’t go back… but they probably will regardless.
That’s the card. Agree with my picks? Hate them? Wanna chime in? Be sure to let us know @TWMNewsUK or just yell at me personally @THExWilliam.