By Daniel Mfoniso
Cody Rhodes and Bayley both outlasted 29 other Superstars to win the male and the female Royal Rumble matches respectively and earned the right to challenge a World Champion at The WrestleMania, while, Roman Reigns retained his universal heavyweight champion in Triple treat match, as Logan Paul continue his reigns as a united states champion.
The 48,044 spectators of the Tropicana field stadium, witnessed Rhodes became the second person in WWE history to win the Royal Rumble match in back-to-back years when he outlasted 29 other men in the over-the-top battle royal (Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1997/ ‘98 is the other.). Also, Bayley overcame other female stars to win her first rumble match in her career on a cold Saturday night at St Petersburg, Florida.
WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH:
Natalya and surprise entrant Naomi — returning to WWE for the first time since she and Sasha Banks walked out of the company in November 2022 — kicked off the match. They fought back and forth before Bayley (No. 3) joined the fray.
Sequentially, other competitors made their way to the after every 5 minutes till the 30th person Liv Morgan made her way to the ring with each competitor fighting to be the last woman standing.
Roughly one-third of the competitors were still in the ring when Liv Morgan entered, the final three came down to Bayley, Liv Morgan and Jade Cargill, the powerhouse former AEW star who was making her in-ring WWE debut. Bayley teamed up with Morgan to attack Cargill on the apron and finally was able to eliminate Cargill before she quickly kicked Morgan out of the ring, too.
WINNER: BAYLEY.
UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: –
ROMAN REIGNS (c) vs. RANDY ORTON vs. L A KNIGHT vs. AJ STYLES.
The smile on Reigns’ face was quickly wiped off by fists and boots. The champion had hoped that tension between his opponents would benefit him but the three challengers immediately cornered him. It was a short-lived alliance.
Predictably, The Bloodline had an impact on the match. Solo Sikoa pulled the ref out of the ring to save Reigns from being pinned by the viper after he delivered the RKO to Reigns.
Later on, Knight lined up for the BFT, but he was interrupted by a Phenomenal Forearm attempt as the Tribal Chief landed the Superman Punch on the Megastar. Then, Reigns hit Styles with The Spear for the win.
WINNER: ROMAN REIGNS.
UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: LOGAN PAUL (c) vs KEVIN OWENS.
Paul surprisingly tried to offer a handshake, but KO was having none of it. He immediately started unloading on the social media star with chops and punches.
Owens had an upper hand when Austin Theory, interfered alongside Grayson Waller, slid the foreign object to Logan Paul, who attempted to use it, only for Owens to get a hold of them and used it to his advantage.
On the count of two, the referee saw the bracelet on Owens and call for a disqualification and a win to logan Paul.
Kevin Owen made his frustration known by attacking Paul during celebration.
WINNER: LOGAN PAUL.
