Royal Rumble 32 is live, the first live WWF PPV since Royal Rumble 31, it is in Tampa, in front of the Thunderdome Virtual Audience. There are no dark matches. The inauguration was a week and a half prior; Vince and a still comotose Linda leave the White House.
The announcers are Scott Stanford; in his 3rd PPV; Paul Heyman, in his 20th as an analyst; and Samoa Joe, in his 6th.
Open with the clip package of Rumble history...
1989....Hulk Hogan going nose to nose with Andre the Giant...
1990...Randy Savage just bludgeoning Rick Martel with a chairshot...
1991...Shawn Michaels superkicking Marty Jannetty...
1992...Shawn and Owen Hart exchanging a series of cradles...
1993...Curt Hennig hitting the PerfectPlex on Ric Flair...
1994...Owen Hart using the WWF Fork on Randy....
1995...The Undertaker Tombstoning Dick Murdoch...
1996...Hakushi hitting a Space Flying Tiger Drop on Sean Waltman
1997...Stone Cold Stunner on Vader...
1998...Shawn Michaels with the elbowdrop on the Undertaker...
1999...Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn in the Octagon...
2000...Angle Slam on Davey Boy Smith...
2001...Kurt Angle hitting 8 consecutive suplexes on the Rock...
2002...Austin kicking out of the Diamond Cutter...
2003...TLC -- Jeff Hardy with a death defying table bump...
2004...Brock Lesnar F5ing Mick Foley into the barbed wire...
2005...Christian putting Flair away....
2006....Matt Hardy and Edge in an Empty Arena....
2007...Punk hitting the Pepsi Plunge on Matt...
2008...Punk hitting the Go To Sleep on Jeff...
2009...Randy Orton with the RKO on RVD...
2010...Edge and Matt Hardy attacking a handcuffed Punk in the steel cage...
2011...Rey Mysterio getting the pinfall on Bryan Danielson...
2012...John Cena getting the pinfall on Punk....
2013....Chris Jericho and Punk exhanging strikes...
2014...Claudio Castagnoli with a series of European uppercuts on Leviathan Batista...
2015...Roman Reigns with the Superman punch on Wade Barrett...
2016...Reigns with the Superman punch on Hunter...
2017...Dean Ambrose brawling with Langston...
2018...Generico hitting his top buckle brainbuster on Mysterio...
2019...Ronda Rousey pounding away at Becky Lynch...
2020...AJ Styles and Bryan Danielson nose to nose...
1. DEFIANCE (RANDY ORTON/DAMIAN PRIEST) d. MUSTAFA ALI/OTIS
-Opening tag; Orton had been in a funk since getting squashed by the Fiend; his old partner John Cena returned, cajoling Orton to find that old Viper, he has and has reformed Defiance, grabbing Priest from Developmental. This match is just designed to push that act; Ali is a good worker but there's not anything for him in the foreseeable future and he's just enhancement here.
2. NATTY NEIDHART d. ASUKA
-Neidhart turns heel in this match; Asuka for years had been the ace of the women's division, she lost the title to Banks, Neidhart has been underneath for years, this is a significant upset, procured when she uses brass knucks; celebrating via Thunderdome are Tyson Kidd and Harry Smith, who are visible but not pointed out by commentary.
3. TYLER BLACK d. NICK NEMETH (W/SHELTON BENJAMIN)
-Black led the Bullet Club attack on Angle; ending his run with the promotion, that led to Lesnar's busting the Bullet Club apart - but there was no revenge on Black, as he beat Lesnar at Mania in the title defense. Shoot Nation looks to avenge that here but is unsuccessful as Black defeats Nemeth; as was the case in the build, where Black was on the short side of some numbers - that happens again when he survives a fight with Nemeth/Benjamin postmatch. It's not a turn, but we are supposed to see Black as overcoming some odds. Just to file away.
4. HORSEWOMEN (RHEA RIPLEY/SHAYNA BASZLER, W/ SHAFFIR&DUKE) d. BIANCA BELAIR/TONI STORM
-Ripley replaced Rousey in the Horsewomen; Baszler won and lost the Women's Title, they've remained the ass kicking heel stable, they set upon stomping out Belair, up from Developmental, after she beat Baszler - it's Ripley who gets the fall here, over Storm - we're supposed to see Belair and Baszler as comparable, their rivalry continuing.
5. ROMAN REIGNS (w/JEY USO) d. JEFF HARDY
-Reigns cuts his promo after entering; he wants Thunderdome to Acknowledge him; he's the head of the table; he's about to demolish Jeff Hardy. And he does - it's a squash.
6. BOBBY LASHLEY (w/GABLE) d. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA
-It's Lashley's biggest WWE win; pinfall over the former WWF Champ; Reigns re-enters postmatch - Lashley has been positioned with Reigns/Langston/McIntyre, four men in similar roles in their stables, similar positons on the card, similar spots in the promotion - Reigns enters - doesn't attack - Lashley is at the ready - but Reigns just smiles, nods, then exits - we see him go up the ramp as the first half of the show ends.
Midpoint of the show - an in ring promo from GDI (Cole/O'Reilly/Fish/ and now, Strong, who just joined). Cole is the new Dark Ride Champ, having taken from Ciampa when Strong joined GDI - lot of targets in the promo - oGDI is a target; those two factions have been low key sniping at each other for months, but not face to face, given they are on separate ends of the promotion. But now - with Cole holding the Dark Ride belt, GDI gets a little more pointed - maybe Old GDI should pick a new name in the new year, they're tarnishing the brand. It's pointed enough that, in the back, Black hears some component of this and flashes anger - threatening to run to the ring, he's calmed down, asked to leave, and we will see him exit the building.
Then the promo turns to the title defense coming up - Cole will be defending against Devitt. Devitt enters, there's a tease of something physical - Devitt showing no fear despite being hugely outnumbered - Heyman interrupts for the last word - says he has an announcement - whomever wins the Cole/Devitt match will be defending, here in Tampa - in front of 25,000 people - when live crowds return to the WWF, in a dark match at Wrestlemania 37 --- against --- and on the video wall -we see Walter, from the UK, holding up his Dark Ride belt, which he has never relinqushed. We've got Cole v. Devitt coming up - and then the winner v. Walter as dark matches return to the WWF at Wrestlemania.
7. NO DQ: EDGE d. CHRISTIAN
Long clip package to cover the full Edge/Christian arc - from Young Boys and "Let Them Play" through the Kliq and the long feud with the Hardys and Dudleys, through Edge's Triple Crown, the Matt feud, the Punk feud, the Montreal Match, Christian's return to WWF, the show the two men did at the Network in retirement, Edge's return a year ago to win the tag belts, Christian revealing himself as Edge's attacker.
One of them, probably both of them, cut promos in the build saying this isn't a chapter, it's the end of the book.
It's a match really hurt without a live crowd; so during the mid show promo and the long clip package, workers filed in, so Thunderdome now also includes bodies in seats.
Best brawl they can have - callbacks to the entire Edge/Christian run - it's an epic match, Edge, obviously, puts Christian away. That wraps Christian up.
8. WWF TAG TITLES: NEW DAY (LANGSTON/WOODS W/KINGSTON) d. HOOLIGANS (SHEAMUS/MCINTYRE) & MIZ/NITRO
Clip package of every WWF Tag Champion coming down the ramp to the Royal Rumble ring holding their belts - followed by the New Day coming to the ring holding their belts.
1989...Arn/Tully/and the /Brain - the Brainbusters....
1990...Shawn and Marty....the Rockers...
1991...Hawk and Animal....the Road Warriors...
1992...the Road Warriors...
1993...Rick..Scott...the Steiner Brothers...
1994...The Steiner Brothers...
1995...Bret...Anvil....the Hart Foundation...
1996...Razor...Diesel...the Kliq...
1997...Marc Mero and Bart Gunn...
1998...Rock...DLo...the Nation of Domination...
1999...Rock...DLo...the Nation of Domination...
2000....Bubba...DVon...the Dudley Boys...
2001...Taz and Raven...
2002...The Dudley Boys...
2003...Chris Benoit....Eddy Guerrero...the Horsemen...
2004...HBK....HHH....the Kliq...
2005...Kurt Angle...Shelton Benjamin...Team Angle...
2006...Booker T...Bradshaw...
2007...RVD...Sabu...
2008...HBK...HHH...the Kliq...
2009...Edge...Christian...
2010...Nick Nemeth...Jack Swagger....Division One...
2011...Kingston...Killings....Young Money...
2012...Wade Barrett...Justin Gabriel...Empire
2013...Randy Orton...Giant Bernard...Defiance...
2014...Tyler Black...Dean Ambrose...Langston...The Shield
2015...The Shield...
2016...Kingston...Langston...Woods...The New Day...
2017...Claudio Castagnoli...Neville...Trash...
2018..Jimmy Uso...Jay Uso...The Usos...
2019...Sheamus...McIntyre...w/Miz....Hooligans
2020...Kevin Steen..Rey Mysterio...
New Day keeps - this is a 3 Way Dance, so that's an elimination match; WWF does milti-man matches both ways, Miz pins Sheamus; Langston pins Nitro.
This is the final severing of Miz from the other two Hooligans - the two pairs start off seeing if they can work together to eliminate the champs, but Nitro cheapshots Sheamus and Miz has a clear decision to make - he makes it, siding with Nitro - and the two are full heels, unprepentant in cheating as they eliminate Hooligans, Miz grabbing Nitro's hand for leverage as he pins Sheamus. McIntyre wants to destroy Miz right now, but Sheamus talks him down - the New Day part of the story is Langston really carries the load, Woods is in constant trouble, Langston saving multiple times, then Langston runs wild and gets the fall to keep the belts. Whenever Langston and McIntyre are in the ring together they are positioned as equals and a head above everyone else in the match.
9. WWF WOMEN'S TITLE: SASHA BANKS d. BAYLEY
Clip package with each women's title match from Rumble history.
2015...Paige taking the belt from Natty...
2016: Charlotte keeping her belt from a Becky challenge...
2017: Sasha takes Charlotte's belt in the 2/3 Falls match...
2018: Becky keeps the belt against Asuka, losing via countout...
2019...Asuka keeps over Ember Moon...
2020...Baszler keeps the belt over Asuka...
Banks and Bayley are both babyfaces; they are, however, in different babyface factions, Bayley with Hooligans and Banks with New Day, and that rivalry is on again/off again - it's been on again in this build, with the tag title match accompanying it - Banks keeps in a competitive match - the other 3 members of New Day enter postmatch - all 4 going to the turnbuckles to hold up their title belts postmatch. Big night for New Day.
10. IC TITLE: CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI d. AJ STYLES
Clip of each IC Champ as they entered the Rumble ring...followed by AJ Styles entrance.
1989...Bret Hit Man Hart...
1990...The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase...
1991...Bret...
1992...Rowdy Roddy Piper..
1993...The Rocket Owen Hart...
1994..The Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels...
1995...The Bad Guy Razor Ramon...
1996...HBK
1997...Cactus Jack...
1998...The World's Most Dangerous Man Ken Shamrock...
1999...Stone Cold Steve Austin...
2000...Lionheart Chris Jericho...
2001...His Lordship Steven Regal...
2002...The Human Suplex Machine Taz...
2003...The Whole Fucking Show Rob Van Dam...
2004...Chavo Guerrero Jr...
2005...The Lizard King Chris Jericho...
2006...The Canadian Crippler Chris Benoit...
2007...Spreekiller Shane Helms...
2008...MVP...
2009...MVP...
2010...HBK...
2011...Johnny Nitro...
2012...Sheamus...
2013...Nick Nemeth...
2014...Dean Ambrose...
2015...Luke Harper...
2016...AJ Styles...
2017...Rusev...
2018...Brock Lesnar...
2019...Prince Devitt...
2020...Ricochet...
Claudio wins, becoming the 76th IC Champ - all babyface match; pure workrate match, AJ is nominally the heel in the match as Claudio has the stakes - his win makes him the newest Triple Crown winner.
Following the match - the highlight reel of all the previous Triple Crown winners plays:
PEDRO MORALES
BRET HART
SHAWN MICHAELS
OWEN HART
STEVE AUSTIN
CACTUS JACK
EDDY GUERRERO
REY MYSTERIO
CHRIS BENOIT
CHRIS JERICHO
EDGE
NICK NEMETH
AJ STYLES
BRET HART
SHAWN MICHAELS
OWEN HART
STEVE AUSTIN
CACTUS JACK
EDDY GUERRERO
REY MYSTERIO
CHRIS BENOIT
CHRIS JERICHO
EDGE
NICK NEMETH
AJ STYLES
BROCK LESNAR
And then the final name - and a shot of Claudio Castagnoli from moments before appears on the video wall -- Gargano enters - he and Claudio embrace - the workers who still are in the crowd and the Thunderdome fans do the old "Hey" chant as Castagnoli becomes the 15th man in WWF history to hold the Hart-Guerrero Triple Crown.
Tomorrow - on RAW - as is tradition, will be the ceremony to present Claudio with the Triple Crown; historically the most recent recpient is there to pass along the Cup, as he retains possession until the next winner; so there will be speculation from wrestling Twitter about how WWF will navigate that.
11. #1 CONTENDER: MATT RIDDLE (W/HBK) d. REY MYSTERIO/SAMI ZAYN/KEVIN STEEN
-Matt Riddle will head to the main event of Wrestlemania 37 to face the winner of tonight's WWF Championship match; he gets a submission on Mysterio.
This is a one fall match, as opposed to the elimination match in the tag, to allow for the breaking up of falls. Driving story here is Zayn/Steen - they each break up the other's chances to get the fall - Steen actually has the first chance to do that - say Zayn has a submission hold on Rey, Steen has a chance to break it up --- but does not - but Riddle does. And when Zayn has a similar choice, he does break up Steen's chance at a fall - the two then are basically in their own fight that supercedes this match; it goes outside the ring, they smash into the Thunderdome monitors - whatever brawling spots Edge/Christian did not do, these two do - they completely ignore Mysterio and Riddle, and Riddle gets the fall. Mysterio congratulates Riddle postmatch, Michaels and Riddle celebrate - several of the workers who have been in the building as fans wind up having to separate Zayn and Steen; it is a rivalry that cannot be contained by the ring, we are told by the announce in what seemingly is not a tossed aside turn of phrase.
Before the main event, the taped package - it's every WWF Champion holding the title belt postmatch at the Rumble - but before that it's Danielson's introduction - he demands his music is cut after he enters - and demands the remaining crowd members leave before his match. Danielson says they are not capable of appreciating his art and he does not want them in his arena. So, that taped package then plays while the building empties (that's why some were cleared out in the Zayn/Owens brawl)
1989...Randy Savage...
1990...Mr. Perfect...
1991...Mr. Perfect....
1992...Ric Flair...
1993...Bret Hart...
1994...Bret Hart...
1995...Shawn Michaels...
1996...Bret Hart...
1997...Bret Hart...
1998...Owen Hart...
1999...Owen Hart...
2000...Cactus Jack...
2001...Chris Benoit...
2002...Kurt Angle...
2003...Kurt Angle...
2004...Kurt Angle...
2005...Chris Benoit...
2006...Rey Mysterio...
2008..Shelton Benjamin...
2009...Chris Jericho...
2010...Chris Jericho...
2011...Edge...
2012...Bryan Danielson...
2013...Bryan Danielson...
2014...Bryan Danielson...
2015...Brock Lesnar...
2017...AJ Styles...
2018...Shinsuke Nakamura...
2019...Shinsuke Nakamura...
2020...Tyler Black..
12. WWF TITLE: BRYAN DANIELSON d. RICOCHET (w/BWI)
The 61st WWF Champion is Bryan Danielson. It's his first WWF Title in 7 years; it is Danielson's 3rd reign, tying him with Bret/Owen/Punk as the only men to hold the WWF Championship 3 times.
It's a great match; the lack of crowd the only thing keeping it from being one of the greatest matches of all time; 30 minutes of a full main event style match - Danielson wins clean with a submission.
Joe enters to interview Danielson postmatch - Joe actively dislikes oGDI, it's the thing that bonds he and Heyman, but he and Danielson have a long history - and Joe knows how many years Danielson has worked to climb back to this summit, he tries to communicate that, to maybe have a moment of connection with the Dragon - but Danielson cuts him off - Danielson says the only problem with this moment is there are people still there - he demands that everyone leave - they don't get it - the Thunderdome fans, the referee, the ring announcer - even Samoa Joe - no one understands the nuances, no one understands the intriacies of Danielson's delicate genius. So he demands they all leave - and that Thunderdome is turned off.
They do - Royal Rumble 2021 ends with Bryan Danielson, alone - totally alone in the building, one camera on him - standing alone in a quiet, deathly quiet arena holding aloft the World Wrestling Federation Championship.
That's the Rumble.
The 2 part build to Mania starts next month and in April, live crowds return at Wrestlemania.
