The first PPV (I refuse to call them Premium Live Events) of 2024 took place on Saturday evening when the Royal Rumble event occurred at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. It’s been forever and a day since I’ve done a PPV recap here on the site… in fact it’s been since 2020! The last show I reviewed was 2020’s Survivor Series, ironically enough also in Florida and was the last show prior to the WWE’s ‘Thunderdome’ (remember that from COVID) being relocated to none other than… St. Petersburg, Florida.
(All photos courtesy WWE.com)
Vince McMahon
I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the shitstorm of news about Vince McMahon that’s come out in recent days. Long and short, the more you dig into the story the worse it gets. I’m sure it’ll be covered either in another blog post or on a podcast in the near future. I’m adding this footnote here merely for historical purposes. If what they say is true, while Vince may be the GOAT wrestling promoter, he’s also a despicable human being who most likely deserves to be in jail.
Royal Rumble 2024 Results
With two 60-plus minute rumble matches, we only had FOUR total matches on the card. A women’s and men’s match plus a four-way for the Universal Championship and a singles match for the US title. That said, even at nearly 4 hours this show really didn’t seem to drag. Oh yeah… Pat McAfee is a national treasure. I’ll take as much of him as I can get.
Bayley Won The Royal Rumble
It’s really difficult to try to do a review of a Royal Rumble match cause there’s just SO much going on. It really boils down to how I ‘feel’ during the match, how much fun I have watching it, surprise returns, etc. I think this was the 7th female Royal Rumble in history and without going back and re-watching the previous 6 matches I can’t think of one that I enjoyed more. There may be some recency affect going on here, but this was a super enjoyable rumble match with plenty of returns and surprises (Naomi, Jade Cargill, etc.) plus some really good in-match story telling .
I’d be lying if I said I knew Bayley was going to win this one, but in retrospect it did start to feel like she was hanging around and may be there in the end about midway through the match. I’m pumped to see where they go with Bayley and Damage Control as we head toward WrestleMania.
Roman Reigns Defeated AJ Styles, LA Knight, and Randy Orton To Retain the WWE Universal Championship
I was sort of surprised to see this match be second out of the gate. It was a decent match, clocking in at just under 20 minutes but it wasn’t really anything we haven’t seen a bunch of times during Reigns current… reign. I could have done without the interference but I loved the finish. I was shocked that we didn’t get The Rock here. I’ve been convinced for a couple of years now that the only way the ‘Bloodline’ story ends is with Rock vs. Roman. I totally think that’s where we’re headed and I sort of love that I don’t know how we’ll get there.
Logan Paul Defeated Kevin Owens to Retain the WWE United States Championship
If you still think of Logan Paul as a ‘celebrity’ and not as a ‘wrestler’ you’re not paying attention. Dude is just amazing. It doesn’t hurt that he was going against one of my favs here in Kevin Owens. I’m typically not a fan of DQ finishes, especially on PPV, but this one sort of made sense. It keeps the title on Paul heading into Mania (where he and his social media following will obviously be there) and it keeps Owens strong.
Cody Rhodes Won The Royal Rumble
Another above average rumble match here. Good to see Andrade back in the WWE but that was the only ‘surprise’ that I can remember. We got a final four of Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Gunther and Drew McIntyre and I appreciated that all four of those guys could have legit won the match.
I’m absolutely LOVING Punk’s current WWE run. I’ve been a fan of him forever and regardless of his shortcomings I’m firmly of the belief that pro wrestling is better with CM Punk a part of the WWE Universe. Not sure if he’s doing a really good work job but he really seems like he’s changed after a decade away.
The fact that Roman has held the title for so long is really throwing a wrench into my fantasy booking for WrestleMania season. If not for the fact that he was so close to Hogan’s record I’d say having Cody take the title from him in Philadelphia is a no brainer. That said, as I mentioned earlier, I can’t for the life of me NOT see Rock challenge the ‘head of the table’ and ‘head of the family’. Bottom line… it’s going to be a fun ride for the next 70 days.
Final Thoughts
The Royal Rumble has historically been one of my favorite shows of the year. Nope, that’s not true… it is my FAVORITE PPV of the year and that includes Mania.
The build to WrestleMania is upon us and with Bayley and Cody as your Rumble winners the sky’s the limit. There’s a TON of talent at the top of the card with Punk, Gunther, Seth Rollins, The Rock(?), Randy Orton and many more. Roll out John Cena, sprinkle in a tag title match, a stipulation match or a Battle Royal and we’ve got the beginnings of an amazing two-night WrestleMania card.
If you haven’t watched much Raw or Smackdown lately, now’s the time. It is, by far, the best time of the year to be a wrestling fan – time to point at that Mania sign!
Did you watch the 2024 Royal Rumble? Let me know what you thought in the comments below!
“Pat McAfee is a national treasure. I’ll take as much of him as I can get.”
All your credibility has gone out the window.
Ha! Not a fan? 😉