WWE’s 28th edition of the Royal Rumble PPV took place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and featured a total of five matches (excluding the kickoff show). The reigning, defending WWE World Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar put his title on the line in the Triple Threat match against John Cena and Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins.
The Royal Rumble match ended the show and like every year – was filled with multiple surprises. However, did these surprises hurt or improve the show? Which superstar returned to the WWE after a lengthy hiatus?
With all that being said, here are my overall highs, lows and random thoughts on the 2015 Royal Rumble PPV:
BEST MATCH: The Triple Threat WWE World Heavyweight Title match was the Best Match of the night. All three men looked incredibly strong, especially Seth Rollins. Lesnar looked beastly, Rollins was the bright light and John Cena was the glue that held everything together. Just some of the many highlights include Cena hitting foreign moves like a Pop-Up Power Bomb and a Spread Leg Scoop Suplex and Rollins soaring beautifully through the air with a devastating elbow drop to Lesnar who was sprawled out on the Spanish announce table. The match was fast-paced and entertaining from start to finish.
WORST MATCH: The Bella Twins vs. Natalya & Paige was by far the Worst Match of the night. There were multiple botches, strange and awkward maneuvers and Brie screaming Brie mode – just to name a few of the disappointing actions that took place throughout the match. Also, we didn’t even see Nikki hit her massive Rack-Attack finisher. Instead, Nikki pinned Natalya via pinfall after hitting a forearm smash.
BEST PROMO: Paul Heyman suggesting that Brock Lesnar would solve the Sting problem was the Best Promo of the night. In fact, it was the only lengthy promo of the night aside from the Rock and Roman Reigns answering questions – but that occurred after the Royal Rumble was off the air.
MOST SHOCKING MOMENT: Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler not making it to the final four of the Royal Rumble along with Bubba Ray Dudley returning to the WWE was the Most Shocking Moment of the night. I’ve been a big fan of Bubba’s work, especially the past five years in TNA where he became a legit single’s competitor. It’s great to see him return to the WWE and I’m interested to see if he and R-Truth will form a tag team or if he will finish his career as a single’s guy.The Rock helping Roman Reigns after the Royal Rumble match was great, but kind of expected thanks to the rumblings on dirt-sheets and social media.
