The announcement of the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble match is set to make history on January 28, 2018.
Stephanie McMahon marched to the ring at the end of this past weeks’ Monday Night Raw, and commended all the women around her for taking a stand against the glass ceiling, creating new and exciting opportunities for women within the sport and becoming role-models little girls could finally look up to. She then made the historic announcement that on Sunday the 28th of January, at the annual Royal Rumble PPV, there will be the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble match. So, what’s going to happen?
It’s fantastic. I know that isn’t exactly a hot-take or a controversial opinion; the majority of the wrestling world is excited and intrigued by this idea. It’s a concept that has been thrown around for the past number of years but the talent pool within WWE hasn’t been up to the standard it currently is and management clearly wasn’t taking the idea seriously. But now, with the incredible work rate and quality within the women’s roster, it makes total sense to do this now – at least just to see how it will go. There are, of course, many questions left unanswered – how many women can enter? Does the winner get a title shot of whichever brand she chooses or is she shackled to her brand at the time? But these are questions that are sure to be answered over the next five weeks.
What is incredibly important, however, is how this match is booked. It’s no secret the first ever Women’s Money in the Bank match was booked so terribly after essentially a man won the entire thing- so the WWE is treading on eggshells with this one. If the winner is treated as a joke/receives help from another male (Ellsworth thankfully isn’t around to help Carmella win another accolade anymore) then the match type could crumble and fans may not want to see it again. If however, the match is fun with a few surprise debuts and returns – it could be incredible.
Hopefully, they will use this opportunity to trial a few people from NXT aka The Iconic Duo, Ember Moon, Nikki Cross etc whilst also be giving a few legends a chance to come back – much like they do with the male Rumble match. The biggest talking point though is that it is currently hotly debated that this is how Vince and Co will be debuting Ronda Rousey to our screens which would be VERY interesting.
Overall, a fantastic idea that has plenty of positives and a statement made by WWE; we care about our women and we hope you do too.