The Greatest Royal Rumble ever could be the beginning of bigger things
This time next Friday afternoon, the Greatest Royal Rumble Ever will be underway, and this could be the first step in WWE testing out oversea pay-per-views.
A few months ago, I wrote an article on how the success of New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom pay-per-view could push the WWE to try a pay-per-view of their own overseas. Fast forward, and now we are a week away from that test. When the Greatest Royal Rumble Ever was first announced, many didn't think much of it and believed it would be a glorified house show.
However, as more details were released, it piqued interest, and once it was announced that every championship, outside of the two women's titles, would be defended, fans began to question if this would air on the WWE Network, and once that was announced, we have an official pay-per-view event.
The Greatest Royal Rumble Ever will be taking place at the King Abdullah International Stadium, nicknamed "The Shining Jewel". It has a capacity of 62,241, which would rank it in the middle of the pack of WrestleMania attendance records. With such a stacked card and tickets being relatively cheap, I expect the event to be close to a sell-out.
The only issue is that the event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Saudi Arabia time, which is Noon Eastern Time and 9 a.m. Pacific Time. This probably wouldn't be a big issue on a weekend, but it is on a weekday, so I'm not sure how many people will be watching live, since, most people will be at work or school at this time. So, if WWE is testing the waters for an overseas pay-per-view, a weekday isn't an ideal day to test it.
The match card itself is stacked and has a mini-WrestleMania feel to it. There are 10 matches currently scheduled for the show, with two WrestleMania rematches, as Brock Lesnar will defend the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns and AJ Styles will defend the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura.
I fully expect Styles to retain here, the question is whether it will be clear or not. Lesnar vs. Reigns, on the other hand, can go either way, as I can see Lesnar retaining and breaking CM Punk's record, but I can also see Reigns winning in front of a Reigns-friendly audience. We will also see a WrestleMania rematch as Seth Rollins will defend the Intercontinental Championship against Finn Balor and The Miz, but this time it will be in a ladder match, and Samoa Joe will be added, I feel like this match can steal the show.
Jinder Mahal will invoke his rematch clause for the United States Championship against Jeff Hardy. The only scenario where I can see surprise results is if Miz regains the Intercontinental Championship back and brings it to Smackdown. If that happens, I see Mahal defeating Hardy to bring the United States Championship back to RAW. Cedric Alexander will face a mystery opponent for the Cruiserweight Championship.
In the tag team division, The Bar will face the team of Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt for the vacant RAW tag team titles, while on the Smackdown side, The Bludgeon Brothers will defend the Smackdown tag team titles against The Usos.
Given the fact that the Hardy-Wyatt team is fresh and hot, as well as the fact that The Bar are going to Smackdown, it's clear that Hardy and Wyatt will win. On the Smackdown side, the Bludgeon Brothers just won the belts and are an interesting team, so I don't see them dropping the belts here.
John Cena will return to face Triple H, both men are coming off of losses at WrestleMania, and this match is really a throw away so I can see this going either ways. In one of the most confusing matches in recent memory, Rusev will take on The Undertaker in a Casket Match.
The reason this match is confusing because this match was originally Rusev, but a short time after was changed to The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho in the same match type then was later changed back to Rusev vs. The Undertaker.
The Undertaker is rumored to be wrestling multiple times this year and given that this is his match and who he is facing, I expect Undertaker to win in convincing fashion. In the main event of the evening, we will witness the biggest and "greatest" Royal Rumble ever, as there will be 50 men in this match. I believe there are only two real options for the winner of this match and that is Daniel Bryan or Braun Strowman.
Essentially, everyone in the match is either a low-mid card act or an established veteran that doesn't need the win. Bryan is establishing already and doesn't need the win, but it would receive a huge reaction from the crowd if he does, and Strowman could use the win after his confusing WrestleMania storyline and he needs to get some momentum going again.
With that being said, if the Greatest Royal Rumble goes off without a hitch, and it is a big hit with the fans in attendance and people actually watch live, then the Greatest Royal Rumble could be the beginning of bigger things and more overseas pay-per-views in the future.