WWE Royal Rumble 2020: Top 5 performers from the event
Depending on who you ask, the Royal Rumble was either good, bad or a mix of both. While the event had some good matches, like the Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan and the men's Royal Rumble match, the event was lacking in some aspects. Lacey Evans and Bayley had an awkward match. The pre-show matches were okay but nothing special.
Despite featuring more than 10 women from WWE NXT, this women's Royal Rumble match was probably my least favorite so far. I wasn't a fan of how quickly so many women were eliminated right as they entered. People will say that the same thing happened during the men's match with Brock Lesnar, but the crowd in attendance in Houston didn't react to most of the women from NXT. When the likes of Keith Lee and Matt Riddle showed up and were eliminated, the crowd cared.
Lesnar's dominance helped set the tone for how eventual winner Drew McIntyre would be received. In the women's Rumble match, it seemed like the only four women mattered - Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Shayna Baszler and Bianca Belair. Beth Phoenix and Natalya did make the final four, but after some other important full-time names were dropped in the first 15 spots (Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Nikki Cross) there wasn't much intrigue surrounding the potential winner.
Part of that dichotomy was because of the lack of build in the women's match. The women's division is also in one of the toughest spots its ever been in due to injury. Not only are three great stars like Ruby Riott, Ember Moon and Nia Jax out with injury but Sasha Banks, one of the presumptive favorites, had to be taken out last minute due to injury. Those bits as well as relying on Kelly Kelly and Santina instead of the IIconics were among the strange decisions surrounding that match.
For those reasons, there wasn't a long list of people on the card who were great. Usually at an NXT TakeOver event, it would be hard to pick only five top performers. It's not to say that there weren't some extremely memorable performances. This year's Royal Rumble was made by a few Superstars and here are the five top performers from Sunday, in no particular order.
#5 Bianca Belair
Keith Lee had his shining moments at Survivor Series. At the Royal Rumble, it was an NXT woman's turn to shine and that woman was Bianca Belair. The EST of NXT looked extremely strong and got eight eliminations and lasted the longest in the match (33:20). Without a usual iron man or woman, Belair filled that role in 2020.
It's been apparent that she's a star for the future due to being prominently featured throughout her time in NXT. She's will challenge NXT Women's Champion Rhea Ripley next. Belair was also a part of both WarGames and the NXT team at Survivor Series.
Belair would likely have already been a Champ in NXT but Baszler has ruled over the women of the brand for over two years. She might not get a title in NXT, but after such a dominant performance at the Royal Rumble, Belair will be a huge addition to any brand she's a part of going forward.