Going into the 2018 Royal Rumble, everyone was speaking about the debut of Ronda Rousey and the historic first ever Womens royal rumble but coming out of it the talk was about how good the Mens Rumble match was.
The level of star power in the match was something else and the final six was testament to that. Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, John Cena and a returning Rey Mysterio and they had a stand off of past vs present between the former three and the latter to create an image that will last a lifetime.
The final three being Cena, Reigns and Nakamura, two of Vinces guys vs the fans guy, the WWE had the fan base in the palm of their hand and they kept the tension up. The big dog vs the king of strong style, both rumoured for mania main events and they kept the fans guessing about who would win. Would they give us AJ vs Nakamura at mania following their 5 star classic from Wrestle kingdom 10 or would they tease it then pull the rug out from under us as they have done so many times.
They actually done it. They gave the fans what they wanted. Nakamura, for the first time on the main roster, felt like Nakamura. He felt like the NJPW Nakamura, what WWE paid for when they signed him in 2016. And the pop when Romans feet touch the floor was nothing short of exceptional and after four years of lacklustre rumbles, the fans earned this, and the relief and joy was shown in Philadelphia that night. The roof at the wells fargo centre blew off and some.
Its not just the exceptional final stretch that made this a top tier match, but there was a lot fo small spots through out, Heath Slater eliminating sheamus after being battered down the ramp by the lieks of Baron Corbin and Bray Wyatt for a large pop for the man with kids. Nxt cameos from the lieks of Andrade cien Almas and Adam Cole, both coming off outstanding matches the night before at Takeover Philadelphia. Another cameo from returning legend in the hurricane and he was able to do his spot form the 2002 Royal Rumble but this time on John Cena and Roman Reigns but eventually getting eliminated by the former.
A lot of small cameo fun spots, and outstanding, star studded final six and a winner that popped the crowd and some. Royal Rumble 2018 will go down in history as one of the best rumbles of all time.
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