2024 Royal Rumble Results And Review

The 2024 Royal Rumble that took place on January 27, 2024, was a memorable one. From an entertaining fatal-four way to history made in the Men’s Royal Rumble, the entire event was spectacular. The fans at Tropicana Field got their money’s worth, in this writer”s opinion. We’ll walk through the card and then discuss the results and make some observations. Most of what we have to discuss will focus on the Royal Rumble matches but we obviously touch on the two other matches on the card too.

Without wasting any more time, let”s dive in and discuss the 2024 Royal Rumble PLE.

WOMEN’S 2024 ROYAL RUMBLE RESULTS: BAYLEY WINS

Bayley outlasted everyone, coming in at No. 3. This was a coronation for a decade of quality and consistent service to the WWE Universe. Often, Becky and Charlotte have had a bigger spotlight. The same is true of former WWE Superstar Sasha Banks. Bayley has been one of the most consistent and entertaining performers in the company.

She was a glue during the pandemic and has been a mainstay on TV during Triple H’s time as head of creative.

The obvious choice for what”s next is to have her go after Iyo Sky’s WWE Women’s Championship. While a main event with Rhea Ripley would be great, it’s not the story WWE is telling. The rift between Bayley and Damage CTRL has been growing for weeks. Dakota Kai has been interesting herself as the leader of the group. The tension will be high as Bayley wrestles with who she is going to challenge at WrestleMania 40.

Bayley was the right call and will present the best story.

A FEW MORE OBSERVATIONS FROM THE 2024 WOMEN”S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH 

Jade Cargill Was Awesome

Fans were waiting to see what the debut of Jade Cargill would look like, and she did not disappoint. She immediately showed herself to be one of the most powerful performers in the ring. Her confrontation with Nia Jax was excellent and jaw-dropping. That’s exactly what WWE was hoping for. Her mere presence across from Bianca Belair has us thinking of a WrestleMania 40 match. The fans were seemingly excited about such a possibility. We don’t know what brand she’s going to sign with, but we can’t wait to see what’s next for her.

Jordyanne Grace Was Impressive

The TNA Knockouts Champion Jordyanne Grace was very impressive. Reportedly, she blew everyone away in WWE from the female Superstars she worked with to many in the back. The mixture of TNA women in the Rumble is a nice touch and could lead to more fun storylines and pairings down the road. She’s a great talent, and getting her back in a WWE ring sooner than later would be welcome. Anything WWE can do to introduce their audience to TNA talent would be awesome. Hopefully, we see this more often!

Welcome Back Naomi

A former WWE Women’s Champion that should have never left in the first place returned last night. Noami looked great and showed the crowd in Tampa why she’s one of the most interesting performers on the roster. She”s loved by the WWE Universe, and they showed it when the bell rang. It was a very cool moment for someone who had spent their last few years in the WWE a bit underappreciated.

No Sasha Banks

The internet seemed split on where Sasha Banks was going to end up. More established writers like Sean Ross Sapp stand by their report that she”s going to AEW. The Wild West of internet speculation had her showing up in the female Rumble though. Clearly, they were wrong. Of course, until she shows up in AEW, we’ll continue to wonder if she might show up on WWE programming, but anyone who swore she’d pop up at the Rumble was sorely mistaken.

2024 ROYAL RUMBLE FATAL 4-WAY RESULTS – ROMAN REIGNS RETAINS

Matches like these are hard for fans. The outcome is so clear before the bell rings, and at such a big event, it’s easy to get distracted. You know that no matter what happens Roman is not losing. What’s harder is that Roman continues to win with the exact same script from match to match.

The opponent has him beaten. They cover him for the three count and the ref is either unable to make the count or misses it completely. In any regard, it feels tiring to watch the match. We’ve spoken about the Roman Reigns issue before. Matches lose their intrigue, and it was never more apparent than last night.

If you’re looking for a positive, the action was good. LA Knight got a big pop and still looks to have a good connection with the audience after his red-hot 2023.

2024 ROYAL RUMBLE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH RESULTS – LOGAN PAUL RETAINS AFTER KEVIN OWENS DISQUALIFIED

Paul proved again that for a guy who has very few matches under his belt, he’s a natural at it. Owens was, as always, great in the match. He and Logan had fantastic chemistry.

The match turned on a Grayson Waller and Austin Theory interference. They gave Paul brass knuckles after distracting the referee and some ringside crew/security. Paul failed to use them as KO saw them in enough time to avoid an attack. Owens removed them and punched Paul”s lights out with those very brass knuckles. However, he forgot to remove them as he went for the pin. Somehow, the WWE ref had eagle-eye abilities as he spotted the knuckles right before hitting the three count.

That resulted in a DQ for Owens, giving Paul the win.

It was exactly the type of ending to make Paul look worse and protect Owens. It also continues Owen’s feud with all three men.

We don’t know who Logan Paul is going to face at WrestleMania. Some have speculated that it will be LA Knight, but you’d need to build to that. However, seeing Owens and Paul go back at it would be a welcome sight. Maybe in a No DQ match, perhaps?

2024 MEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE RESULTS – CODY RHODES WINS BACK-TO-BACK RUMBLES

There were three realistic winners to predict: CM Punk, Gunther, and Cody Rhodes. It came down to Rhodes and Punk. To us, Punk looked a bit slower than normal. Still, the story was great. 

Cody dumped CM Punk over the top rope after Punk gave him the Pedigree and tried to give him a second GTS. Rhodes winning is the right move, depending on how you look at it. If he goes on to WrestleMania and finally “finishes his story,” this win will have been worth it. If he falls short again then it feels like a waste. Why would Rhodes run it back for the same result?

If nothing else, the win will have people split on what is going to happen at WrestleMania. Many had Cody winning last year, and the decision to have him lose has been debated heavily ever since.

Of course, Roman has Hulk Hogan’s modern-era title reign looming over him and a few months from now he could surpass it. Whether or not WWE wants to do that depends on how much they care about it. We don’t think they should care about a fake record that doesn’t mean much. Roman passing him doesn’t make him a bigger star than Hogan was. Although, WWE might like new records to set up a new era….for whatever that would be worth to them.

Cody winning was as good a decision as Punk winning. Both of their paths were likely set long before the Rumble took place. Punk [was] on a collision course with Seth. Rhodes, barring an announced match with The Rock, seems to be ready to face Roman again.

We can all agree that Roman and Cody have something special, so the build to WM40 should be great.

MORE OBSERVATIONS FROM THE MEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE

The Royal Rumble for the men was a bit different from what we normally expect. There was a lot of great stuff that went down in this match, which we”ll go over below. Yet it seemed to also miss some of the things that make it incredibly exciting. We should also mention that some people were disappointed because we did not see some of the rumored names that WWE may or may not have signed. This was a bit unfair, as WWE cannot be blamed for some of those issues.

Lack of Surprises

We would have hoped for more surprises. Of course, that would have meant having a returning Big E or Shaemus. That might not have been possible, given their health status. While you can’t blame anyone if guys are not healthy, it would have been nice to get a few pops for returning superstars. (Apologies to Andrade who did come back to a good pop. It is good to see him back in a WWE ring).

Bron Breakker Looked Awesome

Bron Breakker acclimated himself well to the main roster. Unlike Carmelo Hayes, Bron has been kept from the main roster talent. Unless you count the main roster workers like Baron Corbin who have gone back down to NXT. Last night was his first real dance with other top talent, and he looked like he could easily be a RAW or Smackdown Superstar. He”s supposedly headed to one of the two big brands very soon, likely SmackDown based on a small segment from WWE RAW recently.

Jimmy & Jey Uso

For those that thought this would be the start of something came away disappointed. Jimmy and Jey Uso did lock up as the first and second entrants. Beyond that, it was a big nothing burger. With three months before WrestleMania there’s still plenty of time to make that happen. Last night was the perfect opportunity to get something started though, and it never did. They beat up each other a bit during the match but it did not feel like it meant anything. It”ll be interesting to see how they make this match happen.

Gunther & Cody Rhodes

It feels like we’re heading toward something with these two. This is the second year in which Cody eliminated Gunther from the men”s Rumble. That doesn’t happen by accident. What story are they going to tell?

Our best guess is that this simmers until after WrestleMania. If Cody comes up empty, then they can ignite the feud. Gunther has a legitimate bone to pick with the “American Nightmare.” Having Cody compete for the IC title would feel like a step backward. If Gunther loses the title at WrestleMania and Cody fails to defeat Roman, then the path is clear for them to go into a feud. The matches they could have would be great.

Of course, Gunther could also be an interesting first opponent for Rhodes should he walk away with one of the World Titles. Depending on which one it is.

Sami Zayn

It was nice to see Sami Zayn back in action. He’s been out with an injury and now looks like he’s got his sights set on Drew McIntyre. Zayn is a great storyteller, so his build with Drew should be good. We often feel Sami is best when playing an underdog.

It would be interesting to see Sami Zayn and Gunther go toe-to-toe at WrestleMania this year. Now that it seems Brock is out of the picture for Philadelphia, it would be a great build for Zayn and Gunther. The potential opponents for Sami are endless, and all will be entertaining.

No MJF

The award for the most laughable rumor of the night goes to the speculation that MJF would appear in the men”s Rumble. That turns out not to be the case. Look, no one knows exactly what MJF is or is not doing. He”s certainly signed with AEW and is rehabbing injuries. Could we be wrong? Of course. Will we be wrong? Not likely. It has been reported for several weeks that MJF did not even contact WWE before re-signing his newest deal with AEW. Yet the company still wanted to make a big deal about his departure and make it seem like he was negotiating with a lot of people, then chose them.

A Great Future For WrestleMania

We have three storylines shaping up: Rhodes vs. Reigns, Punk vs. Rollins [probably not now], and Sky vs. Bayley. The rest of the card remains a mystery. Too many times, the WM card was so clear months in advance that RAW and Smackdown felt boring. Now, we have stories to tell for titles and superstars. This is what makes the road to WrestleMania worth watching every week.

We have a lot of matches to schedule before April. WWE programming will be better for it.