Did you like the alliteration in the title? I liked it. Anyway, here are my live reactions to WWE's first Saudi Arabia pay-per-view, the Greatest Royal Rumble.
- At the start of the show, I noted how incredibly rabid this crowd was. Over-saturation in the American market is a very real thing, and being in front of a new audience helped give this show a very unique feel.
- John Cena and Triple H kicked off the show with a very old school style match. Lots of working the crowd, a very slow pace and just allowing the fans to get a chance to settle into the show. Cena got a nice pop for his win, so it was a good start to the show.
- I always love me a Cedric Alexander match on the main card, and I though he had a fun, flippy affair with Kalisto. It was a nice counter to the first match, although the crowd didn't seem to care about it at all.
- The fate of the Raw Tag Titles was mostly already decided, given Cesaro and Sheamus being drafted to SmackDown. Their match with Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt was unspectacular, and I feel like they could've done a lot more.
- The only thing I have to offer on this match is Jeff Hardy completely missing the Whisper in the Wind, and f***ing Jinder Mahal bumping like a madman, despite no physical contact whatsoever. WTF guys?
- At this point, the Saudi crowd went on their prayer break, which seemed to confuse a lot of people on Twitter. This was certainly more than a little uncomfortable, especially since guys like Chris Jericho and Daniel Bryan were cutting promos to absolutely no reaction.
- The Bludgeon Brothers dominated The Usos again, and won in dominant fashion. Really all that needs to be said.
- A ladder match involving The Miz, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins sounded amazing on paper, and was even better in execution. These guys went from spot to spot, and also kept more than just two people in the ring at a time, which was appreciated. Plus, that finish was unbelievably creative, and so impressive from Seth, springboarding onto the ladder to steal the belt.
- AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura more than redeemed themselves after their lackluster showing at WrestleMania, putting on a great match that got the crowd going by the end. The double countout was disappointing, but the feud continues, and now has new life.
- The Undertaker and Rusev had a better match than anyone could've expected, and of course, the Deadman got the win. A fine match, and it's cool to see Casket matches back in WWE.
- Once again, I though Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar put on a better match than their encounter at WrestleMania. The finisher spam wasn't great, and the pacing was very wonky, but it was still enjoyable. The finish came completely out of nowhere, and it definitely looked like Reigns won, but oh well.
- The Greatest Royal Rumble itself wasn't particularly great, although it picked up near the end when there were a lot more big names. Braun as a winner was very predictable, although I'm still happy for him. A fine ending to the show.
7/10
Nothing special on this card, and certainly not the best pay-per-view of the year. For what it was, it was enjoyable although a little long, and the Greatest Royal Rumble match killed the crowd at the end. A show I liked watching, but will never watch again.
- At the start of the show, I noted how incredibly rabid this crowd was. Over-saturation in the American market is a very real thing, and being in front of a new audience helped give this show a very unique feel.
- John Cena and Triple H kicked off the show with a very old school style match. Lots of working the crowd, a very slow pace and just allowing the fans to get a chance to settle into the show. Cena got a nice pop for his win, so it was a good start to the show.
- I always love me a Cedric Alexander match on the main card, and I though he had a fun, flippy affair with Kalisto. It was a nice counter to the first match, although the crowd didn't seem to care about it at all.
- The fate of the Raw Tag Titles was mostly already decided, given Cesaro and Sheamus being drafted to SmackDown. Their match with Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt was unspectacular, and I feel like they could've done a lot more.
- The only thing I have to offer on this match is Jeff Hardy completely missing the Whisper in the Wind, and f***ing Jinder Mahal bumping like a madman, despite no physical contact whatsoever. WTF guys?
- At this point, the Saudi crowd went on their prayer break, which seemed to confuse a lot of people on Twitter. This was certainly more than a little uncomfortable, especially since guys like Chris Jericho and Daniel Bryan were cutting promos to absolutely no reaction.
- The Bludgeon Brothers dominated The Usos again, and won in dominant fashion. Really all that needs to be said.
- A ladder match involving The Miz, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins sounded amazing on paper, and was even better in execution. These guys went from spot to spot, and also kept more than just two people in the ring at a time, which was appreciated. Plus, that finish was unbelievably creative, and so impressive from Seth, springboarding onto the ladder to steal the belt.
- AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura more than redeemed themselves after their lackluster showing at WrestleMania, putting on a great match that got the crowd going by the end. The double countout was disappointing, but the feud continues, and now has new life.
- The Undertaker and Rusev had a better match than anyone could've expected, and of course, the Deadman got the win. A fine match, and it's cool to see Casket matches back in WWE.
- Once again, I though Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar put on a better match than their encounter at WrestleMania. The finisher spam wasn't great, and the pacing was very wonky, but it was still enjoyable. The finish came completely out of nowhere, and it definitely looked like Reigns won, but oh well.
- The Greatest Royal Rumble itself wasn't particularly great, although it picked up near the end when there were a lot more big names. Braun as a winner was very predictable, although I'm still happy for him. A fine ending to the show.
7/10
Nothing special on this card, and certainly not the best pay-per-view of the year. For what it was, it was enjoyable although a little long, and the Greatest Royal Rumble match killed the crowd at the end. A show I liked watching, but will never watch again.
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