WWE NXT Champion Bron Breakker made his latest title defense against Grayson Waller in the main event of the Vengeance Day special on Peacock. 

The match started outside of the ring before Bron tossed him into the ring. Bron beat him down in the early going until Waller cut him with a drop kick off the middle rope then a leg drop off the top rope. Waller tied him up in the ropes to do more damage. Bron then made his comeback. Breakker hit a superplex off the top rope. Breakker went over with two spears. Post-match, Carmelo Hayes appeared, pointing at Breakker, an indication he’s next in line. 

How we Got Here

Their first match happened last month at New Year’s Evil when Breakker retained the title by countout. The finish of the bout saw Waller not be able to back into the ring and the match ended in a countout. 

Breakker won the NXT Title for a second time on the April 4th edition of Raw when he beat Dolph Ziggler. Breakker previously won the NXT Title from Ciampa at New Year’s Evil in January from Tommaso Ciampa.

Breakker’s recent title defenses have come against Ilja Dragunov and JD McDonagh at Halloween Havoc, Tyler Bate at Worlds Collide, JD McDonagh in August, and Cameron Grimes on July 5th. 

NXT Tag Team Champions New Day vs. Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) vs. Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) vs. Andre Chase and Duke Hudson were booked at Saturday’s Vengeance Day special. 

The match took place in the middle of the card and was a typical multi-team match where it started slow and built from there with chaotic moments. 

Wolfgang put Hudson through the announce table. Kofi went for a wild dive on the outside from the top rope only to be caught by Pretty Deadly. The finish saw Woods go for an elbow drop. However, he was caught by Wolfgang and Gallus hit their finisher for the win.

New Day defeated Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) on December 10, 2022 at NXT Deadline to win the titles.

WWE holds the fallout episode from this show of NXT on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if WWE continues this feud or goes in a different direction with the Tag Team Titles as New Day are still a main roster tag team. 

What are your thoughts on Gallus winning the NXT Tag Team Titles? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

WWE NXT North American Champion Wes Lee put his championship on the line in a defense against Dijak at Saturday’s WWE NXT Vengeance Day.

The bout opened the show and was a fast paced bout with both stars getting time to shine. Lee got the early start before Dijak took over. Lee had a close near fall when hitting a brainbuster. The two did some near falls down the stretch. 

Lee reversed a powerbomb with a hurricanrana and Dijak had a nasty landing.  Lee hit his finisher for a near fall. 

Lee went over with a head kick after interference by Tony D’Angelo and Stacks. This was a big upset as Dijak was over a -300 favorite to win the title. 

Lee became the champion in his first reign when he defeated Carmelo Hayes, Oro Mensah, Nathan Frazer and Von Wagner in a five-man ladder match on October 22, 2022 at Halloween Havoc in Orlando, Florida. 

Dijak returned from a hiatus after he was sent back to NXT from the main roster following a run as T-Bar a few months ago where he has had his eyes on Lee’s North American Title. 

WWE holds the fallout episode from this show of NXT on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if WWE continues this feud or goes in a different direction. Either way, they put on one heck of a match that delivered. 

What are your thoughts on Lee retaining the North American Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

AEW had ups and downs in 2022 including backstage altercations. Most notably, CM Punk and Ace Steel got into it with The Elite (Young Bucks and Kenny Omega) at the All Out event last September. 

Two AEW stars have admitted that they got into a skirmish in 2022. Those wrestlers are Swerve Strickland and Ricky Starks, who were part of a Tag Team Championship match at AEW Double or Nothing. 

Fightful Select reports it led to a scuffle, according to the two wrestlers. There had been a report last year regarding there being some issues between them after the match over a miscommunication. However, this was the first word of them having a scuffle. 

The issues came down to a “miscommunication late in the match, where there was an unplanned spot that saw Swerve attack Ricky Starks after an attempted pin on Jungle Boy.” 

Starks was originally slated to hit his finish on one of his opponents, but Swerve ended up doing nothing because he thought it would be better to get hit and dumped out of the ring, otherwise he’d be standing there watching it. 

Fightful had heard that they had a follow-up segment on Dynamite after that. However, they made peace after that, and are fine to this day. At Fyter Fest a few months after the show, they worked together. 

The report noted they spoke with each other about the scuffle while on the Jericho Cruise for an upcoming episode of Swerve’s podcast.

Both Seth Rollins and Logan Paul worked this year’s 30-Man Royal Rumble match as Paul entered the bout at the 29th spot. 

It was a surprise return for the YouTuber after he was injured in his match with Roman Reigns at the 2022 Crown Jewel event.

Paul eliminated Rollins from the Royal Rumble match after Rollins had been in the match for 37 minutes.

Rollins Sounds Off

While speaking on Instagram Live, Rollins went off on Paul in storyline and noted that Paul is not a real wrestler and he’s only in the WWE to further his popularity.

“Alright, look. I was going to avoid this topic but since I’ve seen a few of you guys asking so far about Logan Paul, I don’t know. I don’t know about Logan Paul. All I know is that I don’t really like Logan Paul. I’ll just say it. A lot of us don’t really like Logan Paul. We don’t. I don’t like Logan Paul, I don’t really need him in my locker room, in my space. Great, the guy is ultra talented as far as athletic ability is concerned.”

Rollins noted that it was his fault that Paul eliminated him from the bout because he took his eyes off the ball. 

“It’s probably the coolest thing Logan’s ever gonna do in his life. I just advise him to stay in his lane. He’s had what, three or four matches? Again, athletic freak, no doubt about it. But, at the end of the day, he’s just not a wrestler. He doesn’t want to be a wrestler. He just wants to be famous, he doesn’t care about the industry. He’s not a wrestler. It’s best for him to just stay in his lane, whatever his lane is, I don’t know, buying counterfeit Pokémon cards. If that’s your lane, stay in that lane. Don’t come knocking on my door cause I’ll knock you out.”

Rolllins said that Paul doesn’t have his brother as backup because he’s about to get cooked in his upcoming boxing ring. He said that Paul shouldn’t be bragging about the Rumble elimination. 

All signs point to Rollins wrestling Paul at WrestleMania. For Now, Rollins will compete in the Men’s Elimination Chamber match for the United States Championship on February 18.

H/T to Fightful

ROH is slated to start filming episodes for its weekly TV show heading into Supercard of Honor.

Fightful Select’s Will Washington reports the promotion will start taping content almost a year after Tony Khan bought the promotion. It was said that ROH talent had been told tapings will take place in Orlando, Florida, during the last weekend of February.

The Venue

The assumption is that it would be at Universal Studios, where AEW regularly films its Dark series. Voices Of Wrestling previously reported information about the dates.

Although VOW didn’t have more details past that, those Fightful spoke with think it will serve as tapings leading into the Supercard of Honor PPV on March 31. 

The report added that several wrestlers were signed by AEW as far back as last spring with the intent of using them on ROH programming.

2022 closed up the first year under Khan’s ownership and creative vision for the brand. Final Battle was the most recent ROH PPV event, which drew over 25,000 pay-per-view buys (19,000 streaming and 6,400 cable) based on first-week estimates.

The other 2022 pay-per-view events for ROH were ROH Supercard of Honor in April, with 23,000 buys, and ROH Death Before Dishonor in July, with 37,000 buys.

WWE CEO Nick Khan has publicly commented on when the possibility of a WWE sale will happen. 

Khan appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box to talk about Thursday’s earnings call. During it, he noted that he feels a sale of the company will happen “quick” and speculated it might be a done deal within three months. 

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter had previously reported the company had been hoping to sell by mid-summer.

Comcast Out of The Race?

Co-host David Faber told Khan that he has heard “probably not at this point” regarding Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, buying WWE. NBCU has had a longtime partnership with WWE and currently has the TV rights to WWE Raw, NXT, and WWE Network content on Peacock in the United States. 

Another co-host mentioned the likes of Amazon and Netflix could be buyers, while Faber also brought up Endeavor, who owns the UFC. 

Khan added that “we’re still bullish on Comcast being possible.” He mentioned they got a warm reception in the marketplace for those who are interested and they want to get a sale done before the TV rights deal not to eliminate any potential buyers. 

Khan doubled down on his previous comments from the earnings call that Vince McMahon is willing not to be part of the company if the buyer doesn’t want him part of it. 

A CNBC article noted that “McMahon’s potential future involvement in WWE has become an early sticking point in preliminary talks with various buyers, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.”

Batista, real name Dave Bautista, was supposed to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those plans were nixed. 

The pandemic forced all wrestling companies to hold shows in front of no fans. WWE not only nixed the Hall Of Fame that year, they moved WrestleMania from a stadium to an empty Performance Center. 

The Class of 2020 inductees eventually got their ceremony the following year and was paired with the 2021 class. It was pre-taped inside the virtual WWE ThunderDome.

However, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion decided to pull out of the 2021 ceremony “due to previous obligations.” 

Although he noted that WWE honored his request to induct him at a “future ceremony” because he wants “to properly thank the fans and people who made [his] career possible,” it has yet to happen. 

While speaking with ComicBook.com’s Liam Crowley at the premiere of his latest movie, “Knock At The Cabin,” Batista said he’s “trying” to be part of the 2023 ceremony.

As of this writing, WWE has yet to announce any inductees for the class this year. 

Aliyah has been off TV for months, and it looks like that will not be changing any time soon. 

The SmackDown star went down with an elevated first rib and AC sprain in September. She was teaming with Raquel Rodriguez on the blue brand at the time of the injury, which kept her out of in-ring action for a few weeks. However, her absence from television isn’t due to injury any longer. 

Aliyah Update

In a post on Twitter, the WWE star told a fan that she’d been cleared since October 27, 2022. A fan asked her where she has been as of late, and she responded with a Britney Spears meme with the caption, “Umm, i don’t know…”

In a response to a fan that suggested she film backstage content, she responded with, “If only I was backstage,” indicating she hasn’t been brought to events. 

She also indicated that she would not be at the Elimination Chamber show in Montreal on February 18 when she wrote the following in response to a fan who hoped to see her there: “Sorry to let you down,”

She also tweeted, “Sorry to let you down” in response to a fan who hoped that she would be in the upcoming WWE 2K23 video game.

Former NJPW star Kota Ibushi is now on the free agent market after departing from New Japan Pro Wrestling and he knows he will have promotions interested in him including AEW. 

AEW/ROH owner Tony Khan has signed some of the biggest stars in today’s wrestling and is interested in talking with Kota about potentially being the next to become All Elite. 

During a his weekly Wednesday morning appearance on Busted Open Radio, Khan was asked about Ibushi.

Ibushi said in an interview today that he thinks he will talk with AEW after he opens a wrestling school in Japan.

When his contract expired, NJPW issued a statement, wishing him luck in his future endeavors.

Kota has been sidelined for over a year as his last match happened in October 2021 with a dislocated shoulder suffered in the G1 Climax finals. GCW has already announced that Ibushi is slated to work Bloodsport and Spring Break during WrestleMania weekend in Los Angeles.

2K Games has released a new gameplay trailer for WWE 2K23, this time showing the video game debut of an NXT star and what WarGames, a fan favorite match, looks like in the virtual world. 

The game is still a month away, but this new trailer highlights Roman Reigns, Logan Paul, John Cena, The Undertaker, and Bad Bunny. It also features the details gone into making WarGames look as real as possible. 

• Pre-Order WWE 2K23 Now from Amazon

WarGames

WarGames is making its WWE video game debut this year after the company brought back the match type in 2017 for NXT. Although WWE first used WarGames on the main roster for last year’s Survivor Series event, the match will only be able to take place in one WarGames arena modeled after the 2021 event.

Also, NXT’s Cora Jade and Alba Fyre are featured as Jade hit Fyre with a Glory Bomb. It should be noted that it looks like she will have her babyface gimmick in the game, which marks her video game debut. 

The game is slated to be released on March 17, 2023. Fans who  pre-order the standard edition of the game early will be able to play as Bad Bunny and those get the Deluxe or Icon editions will have access to the game on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. 

The January 31, 2023 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center. 

WWE NXT Results 

• Indus Sher def. Creed Brothers
• Zoey Stark def. Indi Hartwell
• Dijak def. Von Wagner (w/ Mr. Stone).
• Tyler Bate def. Axiom.
• Stevie Turner def. Dani Palmer.
• Drew Gulak def. Charlie Dempsey 
• Duke Hudson & Andre Chase def. Mailk Blade & Edris Enofe and Duke Hudson & Andre Chase and The Dyad (Rip Fowler & Jagger Reid).

Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

Final Build

What did WWE do for the final build for the steel cage match between Bron Breakker and Grayson Waller at Vengeance Day? 

They did a video package where both stars were talking trash. Waller vowed to become the champion and go viral while Breakker vowed to break him. 

The New Day Tag Team Invitational

The Dyad vs. Edris Enofe & Malik Blade vs. Andre Chase & Duke Hudson took place in The New Day Tag Team Invitational with the winners being added to the fatal 4-way bout at Vengeance Day. That upcoming bout will also see NXT Tag Team Champions New Day vs. Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) vs. Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson).

The match served as the main event when Chase U went over with their finisher on Reid. 

Tag Team Match

Indus Sher vs. The Creed Brothers in a tag team bout was booked. 

Following The Creeds’ victory against Drew Gulak & Hank Walker on last Tuesday’s NXT, Indus Sher and Jinder Mahal confronted them and challenged them to a match.

The match opened the show. Juilus knocked Ivy off the apron and this led to the finish where he was pinned after taking a chokeslam. 

Let’s Talk

Roxanne Perez responded to last week’s attack by Toxic Attraction’s Jacey Jayne and Gigi Dolin where she was put through a table. Perez will defend the NXT Women’s Title against them this Saturday in a triple threat match. 

They did a split interview where Perez was on one side while Toxic Attraction were on the other. Perez talked about how surreal everything is to here to get to this moment. Toxic said that she has no chance to win. Jayne said that Perez peaked at 21 years old and it is all coming to an end. Dolin said that she messed up when she went up against Toxic. Perez went to the other room and a brawl broke out. 

Kenny Omega is slated to be back at this week’s AEW Dynamite after not appearing on AEW television since January 11 due to a visa issue. 

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported on Tuesday that Omega will be at Dynamite in Dayton, Ohio. As of this writing, it’s unclear whether Omega will be appearing on the show as he hasn’t been advertised for the episode.

Omega being cleared to travel again should pave the way for the future title defense of Trios Champions The Elite against Top Flight & AR Fox, which has been in the planning stages for weeks. Up to this point, AEW was not able to announce the date because of the visa issue.

The Elite won the titles on the January 11 episode of Dynamite in Los Angeles by defeating Death Triangle (PAC, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) in a ladder match.

Updated AEW Dynamite Card

• Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page III
• Bryan Danielson vs. Timothy Thatcher
• TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Red Velvet
• TNT Champion Darby Allin defends against Samoa Joe in a no holds barred match
• Konosuke Takeshita vs. Brian Cage
• AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed vs. TBA

Although Kurt Angle recently made some statements that worried fans, the representative of Hulk Hogan has assured fans that he is doing just fine. 

On his Kurt Angle Show podcast last week, the WWE Hall Of Famer stated that the legendary star can’t feel his legs after back surgery and needed a cane to walk around.

“He had the nerves cut from his lower body,” said Angle. “He can’t feel his lower body. He has to use his cane to walk around. I thought he was using his cane because he had pain in his back. He doesn’t have any pain. He has nothing at all. He can’t feel anything. He can’t feel his legs so he has to walk with a cane, so that’s pretty serious.”

The Olympic gold medalist noted that Hogan told him this while they were talking about their health and injuries backstage at WWE Raw’s 30th anniversary episode.

The Statement

Hogan’s representative told Entertainment Tonight through a statement that Hogan is doing well and is not paralyzed. The representative added that Hogan is able to walk without a cane.

When hogan appeared on Raw’s 30th anniversary show on January 23, he was walking around without assistance as he and Jimmy Hart kicked off the episode as a way to welcome everyone to the anniversary celebration.

Over the years, Hogan has done a lot of damage to his body, especially due to his finisher, the leg drop. Hogan has stated in past interviews that he wishes he had picked another finishing move. 

John Cena was one of the names rumored to work WWE WrestleMania 39 in addition to Steve Austin and The Rock. 

With the event just over 60 days away, it’s been reported that Rock doesn’t feel like he is in good enough ring shape to work a main event match with Roman Reigns while Austin has reportedly turned down matches against Brock Lesnar and Reigns. 

For months, it’s been rumored that Cena would work Mania, but his acting schedule may keep him away from WWE television for the majority of the build up to the match itself. 

Movie Shooting

According to Variety,  the upcoming R-Rated comedy Ricky Stanicky, starring Zac Efron and the former WWE Champion will start production next month in Melbourne, Australia and run through March.

The WWE PLE is scheduled for April 1-2 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. This filming schedule won’t prevent Cena from working the show. It’s possible that he will film segments that he can send to WWE to build up whatever they have planned for him. 

His rumored opponent is current United States Champion Austin Theory, who dropped references to Cena on recent episodes of Raw. Theory reportedly filmed a backstage segment while Cena was in town for the December 30 edition of SmackDown in Tampa, FL where Cena came back to work a tag team match with Kevin Owens for a win over Reigns and Zayn. 

 Theory has been pushing for a match with Cena for years.

WWE has set up two of the bigger matches slated to take place at WrestleMania 39. 

On Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, it was confirmed that Roman Reigns will defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Title against Cody Rhodes and Charlotte Flair will defend the SmackDown Women’s Title against Rhea Ripley. 

Rhodes won the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match while Ripley won the Women’s Royal Rumble Match this past Saturday night. 

The Segments

In the opening segment of the show, Rhodes name-dropped Reigns in his post-Royal Rumble victory promo by noting that they will clash at Mania. He vowed to become the Undisputed WWE Champion Universal Champion. 

Later in the show, Rhea did a promo segment where it was hyped whether she would challenge Flair for the top prize for the women on SmackDown or challenge Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s Title. Ripley decided to go to the blue brand and Flair’s title. This is a rematch from WrestleMania 36 where Flair retained the NXT Women’s Title over Ripley. 

WrestleMania 39 is scheduled to be held as a two-night event, taking place on April 1 and 2, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in LA. 

WWE made history in 2019 when they had Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey, and Becky Lynch work a triple threat match with the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Titles on the line in the headliner of WrestleMania 35. 

It was a winner take all match. The original bout was Lynch vs. Rousey, but Charlotte was inserted into the match by Vince McMahon. 

Flair recently appeared on Busted Open Radio where she discussed the bout. She agreed with the sentiment that she was the glue in the match. 

The Match

“Yes, I do. You have this hot babyface, Becky Lynch, that the fans love. You’ve got this woman [Rousey] who paved the way and showed that women could main event pay-per-view in UFC. I definitely feel like I made it all come together. Yes, the narrative is fun to say that I was shoe-horned or however the inside circle wants to talk about me, but I know what my purpose was. Looking back now, I’m okay with that.”

Flair continued by noting that she had never put down other talent to prop herself up but sees the constant hate from fans towards her. She said that despite the hate, no one will be able to take away the accolade of headlining WrestleMania. 

Lynch went over to win both titles while Rousey went on hiatus to start a family before returning in January 2022. 

H/T to Fightful for the transcription

Pat McAfee has commented on what WWE originally had planned for him at the Royal Rumble where he made his surprise return. 

The SmackDown announcer revealed today on his radio show that he was supposed to be in the men’s Royal Rumble match. He had been away since last September due to his commitments to ESPN’s College GameDay

He said his goal was to enter the Rumble match but decided against it because he felt he wasn’t in good enough shape to do so.  

The Moment

“A lot of people thought I was going to be in the Royal Rumble, a lot of people thought that I was going to be there. That was not figured out until late last week. I mean, that really came together pretty quick. Not that there was any bad relations or anything, it’s just my schedule for the last five months and everybody’s schedule, especially in WWE… My wife’s pregnant, with what the schedule was… There was no bad beef or anything. It was just like ‘I don’t want to have to train enough to go into that Royal [Rumble].’

McAfee stated that when he left, the company thought the Rumble was the perfect time to return. 

“They said immediately, Hunter and everybody and Nick, and Stephanie at the time, were like, ‘You know, Rumble, that’s like a perfect time to come back because that’s when people come back, and it’s after college football season or whatever.’ And I was like ‘perfect, alright’ because I actually need something to keep me in shape. I always get fat. I actually need something to keep working out for and I tried. Everybody saw me, I was getting after it there.”

McAfee praised Kevin Dunn and other people in WWE for keeping his return a secret. He had also kept his return a secret from Michael Cole, who has become good friends with the former NFL punter. 

McAfee also noted that he had an issue with his plan and other travel arrangements had to be made so he arrived to the venue less than 30 minutes before the event started. 

H/T to F4Wonline.com

To start off the WWE Royal Rumble PLE, Pat McAfee made his surprise return to the company by joining Michael Cole and Corey Graves at the announce table to call the show that started with the 30-Man Royal Rumble match. 

WWE brought him in last year to be part of SmackDown, and he has been praised for his one-liners and energy during shows. Wade Barrett replaced McAfee while he was gone on SmackDown, and WWE has used Booker T in NXT to replace Barrett. 

The Shock

McAfee’s return was kept very close to the vest to prevent the news of his return from leaking out, according to a report by PWinsider. It should be noted that there were rumors on the day of the show that he may be returning.

According to this report, Cole, who has become good friends with McAfee, was legitimately surprised by the return.  On the broadcast, Cole said that he had spoken with McAfee that day, but the fellow SmackDown commentator didn’t tell him he was returning. 

WWE went as far as keeping those working in production in the dark. Not only were there rumors of him returning, but it was just a matter of time before he was back due to the college football season being over and the belief that he would return once he had finished up his duties with ESPN for the season.

Early Sunday morning, McAfee took to Twitter to deliver a “massive thank you” to the fans who were in attendance at the Royal Rumble.

Roman Reigns made his latest title defense as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion against Kevin Owens, a rematch two years in the making. However, it was the post-match angle that had people talking. 

The title match at Saturday’s WWE Royal Rumble premium live event featured a back and forth affair to start things off. Although Owens got the upper hand after hitting a back splash on the floor, Reigns took over with a slower pace.

Owens did manage to hit a frog splash off the apron to the floor before getting back into the ring where Reigns connected with a powerbomb for 2. Reigns missed a spear, leading to a superkick and swanton bomb by Owens for 2. Owens missed a moonsault and Reigns hit a spear for 2. There was a referee bump. Although Zayn got a chair as Reigns asked him to do so, Owens managed to hit a stunner for 2. Reigns speared him through the barricade, bounced Owens’ head off the steel steps and hit a spear for the win. 

Post-match, The Bloodline beat down Owens. Zayn pleaded with Reigns to top the attack. Reigns wanted Zayn to hit Owens with the chair. Zayn hit Reigns in the back. Reigns, Solo and Jimmy Uso beat down Zayn, but Jey walked out. 

In recent months, Owens has been a thorn in the side of Reigns and The Bloodline. At Survivor Series: WarGames, Owens was on the opposite team, although he fell short thanks to Sami Zayn. 

At the 2021 Royal Rumble event, Owens and Reigns battled in a Last Man Standing bout, but dealt with interference from The Bloodline and other factors, eventually leading to his loss against “The Tribal Chief.” 

The winner of this year’s women’s Royal Rumble match has been revealed and it’s Rhea Ripley. Now, her journey to WrestleMania 39 begins.

It started off with Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan before Dana Brooke and Emma followed. Shayna Baszler was #5 while Bayley was out at #6. B-Fab was #7 but was quickly eliminated by Ripley. NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez entered next then Dakota Kai. IYO SKY was next out. 

Brooke was eliminated then Emma. Perez was taken out by Kai, Bayley, and SKY. Natalya entered the match next followed by Candice LeRae. NXT’s Zoey Stark and Xia Li were the next entrants. Lee was eliminated by Damage CTRL. Becky Lynch was #15. Tegan Nox was out at #16 and Asuka at #17. Piper Niven was next out (Doudrop name dropped). #19 was Tamina. Chelsea Green was #20 but was eliminated right away by Ripley. Kai and SKY were eliminated by Lynch. Bayley eliminated Lynch. Morgan eliminated Bayley. Zelina Vega was #21 and eliminated Li. Raquel Rodriguez was #22. 

Mia Yim was out next followed by Lacey Evans. Michelle McCool entered after sitting in the front row. Indi Hartwell was #26. Sonya Deville was #27 and eliminated Stark. Evans choked out Vega on the top rope and dropped her for the elimination. Shotzi was #28 then Nikki Cross. The final entrant is Nia Jax. Everyone jumped on her and she was eliminated. 

McCool and Evans were eliminated followed by Shotzi and Yim. Niven ate a big boot and was eliminated by Raquel. Ripley kicked Raquel out of the ring. Asuka sent Morgan to the floor. 

Ripley outlasted the likes of Cross, Morgan, and Asuka in the Final Four at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. Ripley and Morgan were the final two. 

With her beating out 29 other stars, she has earned the right to be in one of the main events of Mania and will have her choice to go after one of the top titles in the company. The decision for her comes down to the Raw Women’s Title, which is held by Bianca Belair. The other option is challenging SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.

Royal Rumble List of Entrants

Here’s a list of the entry of superstars who competed in this fan-favorite match:

1. Rhea Ripley
2. Liv Morgan
3. Dana Brooke
4. Emma
5. Shayna Baszler
6. Bayley
7. B-Fab
8. Roxanne Perez
9. Dakota Kai
10. IYO SKY
11. Natalya
12. Candice LeRae
13. Zoey Stark
14. Xia Li
15. Becky Lynch
16. Tegan Nox
17. Asuka
18. Piper Niven 
19. Tamina
20.  Chelsea Green
21. Zelina Vega
22. Raquel Rodriguez
23. Mia Yim
24.  Lacey Evans
25.  Michelle McCool
26. Indi Hartwell
27. Sonya Deville
28. Shotzi
29. Nikki Cross
30.  Nia Jax

The winner of this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match is Cody Rhodes. He outlasted the likes of Logan Paul, GUNTHER, and Seth Rollins in the Final Four at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. 

GUNTHER and Sheamus started off the match. The Miz was out next followed by Kofi Kingston, and Johnny Gargano. Sheamus eliminated Miz with the Brogue Kick before Xavier Woods made his entry. Karrion Kross was out at #7. Chad Gable was #8 followed by Drew McIntyre, who eliminated Kross. Santos Escobar was next out then Angelo Dawkins.

Brock Lesnar was the #12 entrant where he eliminated Dawkins, Gable, and Escobar. Bobby Lashley was the #13 entrant.  Lashley eliminated Brock with a clothesline. Lesnar hit an F5 to Baron Corbin before he left ringside. Seth Rollins was #15 then Otis. Rey Mysterio was #17, but he didn’t come out.  Rollins eliminated Lashley.  Dominik Mysterio walked out with Rey’s mask.  Elias came out then was eliminated and Finn Balor entered the bout where he eliminated Gargano. Booker T came out at #21 before he was eliminated by GUNTHER.  Damian Priest was out at #22 then Montez Ford. Edge came out at #24 where he eliminated Balor and Priest before Balor eliminated Edge, who was trying to toss out Mysterio. Austin Theory was #25.  Bet Phoenix returned to attack Rhea Ripley.

Omos was #26 followed by Braun Strowman, who eliminated Omos. Ricochet was #28. McIntyre and Sheamus was eliminated by GUNTHER. Logan Paul came out at #29 and Cody Rhodes was the final entrant. Paul and Ricochet did a spring board double clothesline spot from one side of the ring to the other. Theory eliminated Ricochet. Rollins hit the stomp to Theory before Rhodes clotheslined Austin to the floor.  Paul eliminated Rollins the Rhodes tossed out Paul. GUNTHER worked over the pec of Rhodes before Rhodes eliminated him. 

Rhodes has earned the right to be in one of the main events of WrestleMania 39 and will have his choice to go after one of the top titles in the company, as a result of beating out 29 other stars.

Royal Rumble List of Entrants

Pat McAfee returned to the announce table before the match. Here’s a list of the entry of superstars who competed in this fan-favorite match:

1. GUNTHER
2. Sheamus
3. The Miz
4. Kofi Kingston
5. Johnny Gargano
6. Xavier Woods
7. Karrion Kross
8. Chad Gable
9. Drew McIntyre
10.  Santos Escobar
11.  Angelo Dawkins
12.  Brock Lesnar
13.  Bobby Lashley
14.  Baron Corbin
15.  Seth Rollins
16.  Otis
17.  Rey Mysterio
18. Dominik Mysterio
19. Elias
20. Finn Balor
21. Booker T
22. Damian Priest
23. Montez Ford
24. Edge
25. Austin Theory
26. Omos
27. Braun Strowman
28. Ricochet
29. Logan Paul
30. Cody Rhodes

WWE Royal Rumble is quickly approaching, and the planned match order has been revealed based on the internal production listing.

Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens will headline the show. 

There are a total of title matches on this card. There are no titles expected to change hands, according to the final betting odds released. The event starts with the Kickoff show at 7 PM EST and the main card at 8 PM EST. 

WWE Royal Rumble Match Order

According to Fightful Select, the current scheduled match order for tonight is as follows:

Men’s Royal Rumble Match: GUNTHER, Austin Theory, Kofi Kingston, Ricochet, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin, Santos Escobar, Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes, Omos, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, Karrion Kross, Dominik Mysterio, The Miz, Brock Lesnar

Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight – Pitch Black Match

WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair vs. Alexa Bliss

Women’s Royal Rumble Match: Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Emma, Zelina Vega, Shayna Baszler, Xia Li, Lacey Evans, Bayley, Dakota Kai, IYO SKY

Country music star Hardy to perform

Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens

The Undertaker has been retired from in-ring action for a few years now but is keeping a close eye on the product. 

Taker got an up close and personal look past Monday night on WWE Raw, where he made an appearance with his American Badass gimmick and rode his motorcycle down to the ring for a segment with LA Knight that led to Taker grabbing him by the throat, then giving him to Bray Wyatt, who laid out Knight with Sister Abigail. 

 It marked the first time in over two decades that Taker made an entrance to the song. This was ahead of Wyatt taking on Knight in the first-ever Pitch Black match at the Royal Rumble.

Praise From The Deadman

While speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, The Undertaker praised Sami Zayn for his storyline with The Bloodline as The Honorary Uce.

“I’ll tell you what, I’m really eyeing right now, Sami, what he’s doing. It really is and it’s the perfect offset to Roman and The Usos. It’s just perfect, it’s different, right? It cracks me up watching him crack those guys up and them trying to keep their composure. Sami…that whole thing has been done so well.”

Bayley had been scheduled to work a steel cage match with Backy Lynch on this week’s WWE Raw 30 show, but the bout didn’t take place. An angle was booked instead, where Bayley, Dakota Kai, & IYO SKY attacked Lynch and laid her out before the bout started.

It was reported that the Trial of Sami Zayn segment went long, which led to the rest of the card being trimmed. Unfortunately for the ladies, their cage bout was impacted the most. The decision was made to do the angle instead of booking a short match. 

While speaking to Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, this was something that Bayley was asked about:

“The outcome of it? Yeah, I felt good. I honestly think it put our story in a whole different place. I think it did a lot for Damage CTRL. So I’m super happy with it,” Bayley stated. 

Bayley noted she wasn’t bummed at all because the match got cut. However, she did see the fan backlash. 

“I did, which is cool. They have our backs and stuff, but I don’t want them to think that women’s wrestling is moving backward or that we’re not seen in the same light of Roman Reigns or anybody like that. We are very appreciated backstage, we’re treated super well, and we are a part of big conversations when it comes to big stories, big matches, big pay-per-views, and big premium live events. We’re in conversations with that. I don’t want the fans to get the wrong idea about what happened, and it was just what happened.  We’re going to make the best of it, and they’re going to see how it made everything so much bigger and better.”

If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit with an h/t to SEScoops for the transcription.