Greatest Royal Rumble

WWE Greatest Royal Rumble[1] was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event[2] and WWE Network event[3][4] promoted by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. The event was held on April 27, 2018 at the King Abdullah Sports City's King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.[1][5] The event was scheduled for 7:00 p.m. local time. It aired live in the United States at noon EDT, with a pre-show starting at 11 a.m. EDT.[6] At the event, all men's main roster championships were defended, in addition to a 50-man Royal Rumble match.[7]

WWE Greatest Royal Rumble
Theme
song(s)
"When Legends Rise" by Godsmack[8]
Information
PromotionWWE
Brand (s)Raw
SmackDown
SponsorSaudi General Sports Authority
DateApril 27, 2018
Attendance60,000[9]
VenueKing Abdullah International Stadium
CityJeddah, Saudi Arabia

Event

Preliminary matches

Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
English commentators Michael Cole
Corey Graves
Byron Saxton
Spanish commentators Carlos Cabrera
Marcelo Rodríguez
Arabic commentators Faisal Almughaisib
Sultan Alharbi
Jude Aldajani
Ring announcer Greg Hamilton
Referees Danilo Anfibio
Jason Ayers
John Cone
Dan Engler
Darrick Moore
Chad Patton
Ryan Tran
Interviewer Mike Rome
Pre-show panel Byron Saxton
Jerry Lawler
Jim Ross
Booker T

Preliminary Matches

  John Cena vs Triple H

The actual pay-per-view opened with John Cena facing Triple H. During the match, Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Triple H for a near-fall. Cena attempted another Attitude Adjustment but Triple H countered into a Pedigree for a near-fall. In the end, Cena performed a second Attitude Adjustment on Triple H, a catapult into the corner, and a third Attitude Adjustment to pick up the victory. Following the match, Cena thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their hospitality, and expressed excitement over the event.[10]

  Cedric Alexander vs Calisto

In the following match, Cedric Alexander defended the Cruiserweight Championship against Kalisto. The match ended when Alexander countered a Salida Del Sol attempt into a Lumbar Check to retain the title.[10]

  Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy vs Cesaro and Sheamus

Next, the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship was contested between the team of Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy and the former champions, Cesaro and Sheamus. In the end, Hardy distracted Sheamus, allowing Wyatt to perform a Sister Abigail on him. Hardy and Wyatt then performed a wheelbarrow Twist of Fate on Sheamus to win the title.[10]

   Jeff Hardy vs Jinder Mahal

Jeff Hardy then defended the United States Championship against Jinder Mahal. Hardy performed a Swanton Bomb on Mahal to retain the title.[10]

  The Bludgeon Brothers vs The Usos'

After that, The Bludgeon Brothers defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Usos. Harper and Rowan retained the title after performing The Reckoning on Jimmy Uso.[10]

  Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor vs Samoa Joe vs The Miz

Next, Seth Rollins defended the Intercontinental Championship against Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and The Miz in a Ladder match. Near the end of the match, Balor attempted to retrieve the title, only for Rollins to springboard onto the ladder and retrieve the title belt, thus retaining the championship.[10]

In a segment between matches, four prospects from the recent Saudi tryouts came out to the ring to introduce themselves. Cruiserweight Ariya Daivari and his brother Shawn Daivari, who had not appeared for WWE in many years, came out to interrupt them. The Saudi prospects attacked and cleared the Daivari brothers from the ring.[10]

  AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura

Later, AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. During the match, Nakamura resorted to various illegal tactics, such as a low blow, increasingly frustrating Styles. In the end, both Nakamura and Styles fought outside of the ring, only for the match to end in a double countout. After the match, Styles performed a Phenomenal Forearm to the floor on Nakamura.[10]

  The Undertaker vs Rusev

After that, The Undertaker fought Rusev (who was accompanied by Aiden English) in a Casket match. At the end of the match, Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Rusev and rolled him into the casket. Before he could close the lid, English attacked the Undertaker, who retailiated with another chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver before putting English into the casket alongside Rusev and closing it for the victory.[10]

 Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns

In the penultimate match, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match. Reigns performed three spears on Lesnar for a near-fall. Reigns tried to escape through the door but Heyman pushed the door into Reigns, allowing Lesnar to execute an F5 on Reigns for a near-fall. In the end, Reigns performed a Spear through the cage wall on Lesnar. Despite Reigns touching the floor first, the referee awarded the win to Lesnar, thereby retaining the Universal Championship.[10]

Main Event

  50 man Royal Rumble match

Braun Strowman, eliminated Big Cass to win the match. Strowman also achieved the most eliminations of a single Royal Rumble match at 13, beating out a record previously held by Roman Reigns with 12.[11] Post-match, Strowman received a trophy and a green championship belt.[10]

Results

No. Results Stipulations Times[10]
1 John Cena defeated Triple H Singles match[12] 15:45
2 Cedric Alexander (c) defeated Kalisto Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship[13] 10:15
3 Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy defeated Cesaro and Sheamus Tag team match for the vacant WWE Raw Tag Team Championship[14] 8:50
4 Jeff Hardy (c) defeated Jinder Mahal (with Sunil Singh) Singles match for the WWE United States Championship[15] 6:10
5 The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) (c) defeated The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) Tag team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship[16] 5:05
6 Seth Rollins (c) defeated Finn Bálor, Samoa Joe, and The Miz Ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship[17] 15:05
7 AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura ended in a double countout Singles match for the WWE Championship[18] 14:25
8 The Undertaker defeated Rusev (with Aiden English) Casket match[19] 9:40
9 Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Roman Reigns by escaping the cage Steel Cage match for the WWE Universal Championship[20] 9:15
10 Braun Strowman won by last eliminating Big Cass 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble match for the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Championship[21] 1:17:20
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Greatest Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations

  Raw
  SmackDown
  NXT
  Free agent
  – Winner
Draw Entrant Brand Order Eliminated by Time[22] Elimination(s)
1Daniel BryanSmackDown48Big Cass1:16:053
2Dolph ZigglerRaw12Kurt Angle21:442
3Sin CaraSmackDown1Dolph Ziggler01:180
4Curtis AxelRaw2Mark Henry02:000
5Mark HenryFree agent5Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler03:273
6Mike KanellisRaw3Mark Henry00:030
7Hiroki SumiFree agent4Mark Henry00:460
8ViktorRaw6Daniel Bryan00:510
9Kofi KingstonSmackDown14Elias16:341
10Tony NeseRaw9Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods07:131
11Dash WilderRaw7Daniel Bryan and Hornswoggle01:260
12HornswoggleFree agent8Tony Nese01:001
13Primo ColónSmackDown11Kurt Angle05:100
14Xavier WoodsSmackDown15Elias09:561
15Bo DallasRaw10Kurt Angle01:340
16Kurt AngleRaw16Elias07:593
17Scott DawsonRaw19Bobby Roode11:440
18GoldustRaw18Bobby Roode10:040
19KonnorRaw13Elias02:250
20EliasRaw41Bobby Lashley34:045
21Luke GallowsSmackDown20Rey Mysterio09:160
22RhynoRaw25Roderick Strong16:220
23Drew GulakRaw17Tucker Knight01:470
24Tucker KnightNXT23Big E10:081
25Bobby RoodeRaw29Baron Corbin17:442
26FandangoRaw21Mojo Rawley03:420
27Chad GableRaw24Apollo Crews08:170
28Rey MysterioFree agent37Baron Corbin20:251
29Mojo RawleyRaw27Randy Orton08:522
30Tyler BreezeRaw22Mojo Rawley00:160
31Big ESmackDown33Braun Strowman13:591
32Karl AndersonSmackDown26Randy Orton04:250
33Apollo CrewsRaw28Randy Orton03:261
34Roderick StrongNXT30Baron Corbin06:001
35Randy OrtonSmackDown39Elias10:584
36Heath SlaterRaw34Braun Strowman07:380
37BabatundeNXT31Braun Strowman05:530
38Baron CorbinRaw38Randy Orton07:083
39Titus O'NeilRaw35Braun Strowman04:420
40Dan MathaNXT32Braun Strowman02:010
41Braun StrowmanRawWinner22:1413
42Tye DillingerSmackDown36Braun Strowman00:290
43Curt HawkinsRaw40Braun Strowman00:200
44Bobby LashleyRaw45Braun Strowman14:382
45The Great KhaliFree agent42Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley00:310
46Kevin OwensRaw47Braun Strowman10:430
47Shane McMahonSmackDown44Braun Strowman08:070
48Shelton BenjaminSmackDown43Chris Jericho04:230
49Big CassSmackDown49Braun Strowman07:231
50Chris JerichoSmackDown46Braun Strowman03:181

References

  1. WWE.com staff (March 5, 2018). "Saudi Arabia to host the Greatest Royal Rumble". WWE. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  2. "WWE Greatest Royal Rumble to be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office". Sky Sports. March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  3. WWE.com staff (April 4, 2018). "Greatest Royal Rumble to stream on WWE Network Friday, April 27, at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT". WWE. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  4. Mike Johnson (March 12, 2018). "WWE NETWORK TO BROADCAST GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE". PWInsider. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  5. "Saudi Arabia to host the Greatest Royal Rumble". Saudigazette. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  6. "WWE Network confirms Greatest Royal Rumble start time, Kickoff". WWE. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  7. "Seven title bouts, 50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Match announced for Greatest Royal Rumble". WWE. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  8. "Let's rumble like never before. "When Legends Rise" by @godsmack is an #OfficialThemeSong for the Greatest Royal Rumble event. #WWEGRR". WWE on Twitter. April 27, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  9. "First-ever WWE Greatest Royal Rumble wows 60,000 in Jeddah". Arab News. April 27, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  10. Powell, Jason. "Powell's WWE Greatest Royal Rumble live review: 50-man Royal Rumble match, Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in a cage match for the WWE Universal Championship, AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship, John Cena vs. Triple H, Undertaker vs. Rusev in a casket match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  11. Martin, Adam. "WWE Royal Rumble PPV results 1/26/14 - (30 man Rumble)". WrestleView. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  12. Benigno, Anthony. "John Cena def. Triple H". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  13. Powers, Kevin. "WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander def. Kalisto". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  14. Wortman, James. ""Woken" Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt def. Cesaro & Sheamus (new Raw Tag Team Champions)". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  15. Melok, Bobby. "United States Champion Jeff Hardy def. Jinder Mahal". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  16. Wortman, James. "SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers def. The Usos". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  17. Benigno, Anthony. "Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins def. The Miz, Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe (Ladder Match)". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  18. Melok, Bobby. "WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura ended in a Double Count-out". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  19. Clapp, John. "The Undertaker def. Rusev in a Casket Match". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  20. Melok, Bobby. "Brock Lesnar def. Roman Reigns in a Steel Cage Match to retain the Universal Championship". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  21. Benigno, Anthony. "Braun Strowman won the first-ever 50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Match to become the Greatest Royal Rumble Champion". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  22. "50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Match statistics: Entrant order, eliminations, times and more". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2018.

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