6 Biggest Takeaways From WWE Royal Rumble 2021

The Royal Rumble was really good, wasn’t it?

Whether you agree with me or not, it is truer than ever that the Royal Rumble is one of the best shows WWE produces. It is exquisite, creative and thrilling. You don’t want to miss a beat as the element of surprise can catch you unaware at any moment.

Yeah, I’m still not over Kevin Dunn missing Edge’s first spear last year.

This year, more so than others, delivered wholesome content for the vision of wrestling fans. They may say they always listen to the fans – that is a lie. However, the Royal Rumble certainly heard us loud and clear.

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6. Drew McIntyre Defeats Goldberg To Retain WWE Championship

Let’s start with the big one; the reason why everyone tuned into the 34th Royal Rumble show, to see Goldberg defeat Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship.

This was a joke, obviously – only WWE wanted to see that but they listened to the fans instead, actually delivering a promising start to the night with the main show kicking off with a Claymore to Goldberg.

Like any other Goldberg match, it didn’t pick up in length and rather in finishing manoeuvres. It was most likely a bonus as he is definitely slowing down in his old age.

He hit a few good spears but as soon as he slammed McIntyre with the jackhammer, I had flashbacks of the Super Show-Down extreme botch with Undertaker. His legs were a bit shaky when the finisher entered its climax. However, McIntyre kicked out and the bout continued.

Luckily, it ended with McIntyre proving Goldberg was next with a Claymore and retaining his WWE Championship. This was inching closer to the return of WWE’s dark age, but thankfully, McIntyre found a way to hold onto the light.

During the post-match, Goldberg raised McIntyre’s hand in respect, relieving us of the worry that they will have a rematch in the future. Furthermore, this accomplished in making Drew McIntyre enter a whole other level on Monday Night Raw.

Within one year, he has beaten Goldberg, Lesnar and COVID-19. What a courageous warrior our champ is.

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5. Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax Regain Women’s Tag Team Title

I know this shouldn’t be the case, but WWE lowered my expectations as soon as these women made their entrance on the pre-show.

Some may argue that the pre-show is a brilliant place to be. It is the show that is streamed on free platforms such as YouTube or Facebook to urge fans to come along to the Network and watch. Therefore, it gains many eyes.

However, I will argue against that and state WWE has conditioned us to believe nothing important will happen on the pre-show. So, as soon as I see Raw Women’s Champion Asuka make her way to the ring, I roll my eyes with disappointment.

The match was average at best, but was more shenanigans than match. Early into the bout, Ric Flair and Lacey Evans made their way down to the ring and started riling up Charlotte with cheap shots and cynical distractions, which finally led to Baszler and Jax regaining their tag team title.

That is okay, but rather pointless because it left us questioning what the entire point in putting the belts on Asuka & Charlotte was in the first place. Personally, I would have had Evans and Royce be the ones to beat Asuka & Charlotte for the tag title, at least it pairs up with the story they are telling. I think the thing that hurt most about this result is Asuka was nowhere to be seen at the end.

This has instantly led me to believe Asuka will also be nowhere near the Raw Women’s Championship by the time WrestleMania rolls around.

• bianca belair
• Edge
• Royal Rumble
• wwe

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