Japanese stars reign at Royal Rumble
Shinsuke Nakamura won the 2018 30-man Royal Rumble match. Photo by WWE.com
Captivating the western world, Japanese stars Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka will now have a chance to strut their stuff at the grandest stage of them all after winning their respective Royal Rumble matches on Monday (Manila time) in Philadelphia.
Nakamura emerged victorious in the 30-man Royal Rumble match, eliminating Roman Reigns last to book a ticket to the main event of WrestleMania.
Entering at number 14, the King of Strong Style spent 44 minutes in the ring and survived a tough challenge from the final six competitors in the match, namely Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Finn Balor, John Cena, and finally, Reigns.
Nakamura didn’t waste time in naming who he wants to face as he picked AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans in April.
It was an eventful Rumble match that saw NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas (No. 7) and Undisputed Era leader Adam Cole (No. 23) make surprise appearances.
Former WWE Cruiserweight Champions Mysterio (27) and The Hurricane (21) also made shock entries in the all-star list.
Ronda Rousey made a shock appearance after Asuka won the first ever 30-women Royal Rumble match. Photo from WWE.com
The Empress of Tomorrow also dominated in the 30-women Royal Rumble match after entering 25th and last eliminating Nikki Bella.
A lot of surprises also made waves in the match, with legends Lita (5), Torrie Wilson (9), Molly Holly (12), Michelle McCool (14), Vickie Guerrero (16), Kelly Kelly (19), Beth Phoenix (24), Brie Bella (28), and Trish Stratus (30) all making their presence felt.
NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon (23) and Mae Young Classic winner Kairi Sane (6) also entered the historic match.
But the biggest shock came after the match when Ronda Rousey emerged and hinted at a possible WrestleMania match while Asuka was making a decision between SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte and Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss.
Brock Lesnar retained his WWE Universal Championship as he pinned Kane after an F5 in their brutal triple threat match, which also included Braun Strowman.
Styles also survived a handicap match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn after reversing the Pop-up Powerbomb to a rollup following a controversial tag call by the referee.
Cesaro and Sheamus became four-time Raw Tag Team Champions after topping Seth Rollins and an injured Jason Jordan, while The Usos swept the 2-out-of-3 falls match against Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable to keep their SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
In the kickoff show, Bobby Roode beat Mojo Rawley in his US Open Challenge to retain the United States Championship.
The Revival also avenged their loss at Raw 25 after beating The Club, while the masked trio of Kalisto, Gran Metalik, and Lince Dorado defeated TJP, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, and Drew Gulak.
