The street to WrestleMania 41 formally started on Saturday (February 1) with the Royal Rumble. Greater than 70,000 followers packed Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to witness the grand spectacle. A homecoming of kinds for former Colts participant and present WWE commentator Pat McAfee, who was key in bringing the occasion to the town. When the mud settled, Jey Uso and Charlotte Aptitude survived 30 different members of their respective over-the-top elimination battle royal matches to punch their tickets to Las Vegas.
It’s in Sin Metropolis they’re assured to face the champions of their selecting at WWE’s largest two-night extravaganza of the 12 months on April 19 and 20. The Rumble comes within the midst of an organization scorching streak, only a few weeks after its flagship collection Uncooked was moved to Netflix. Together with the 2 Rumble matches, the Tag and Undisputed World titles had been additionally on the road. Let’s break down an evening of shocks and surprises that set the stage for what’s to come back.
‘WrestleMania’ Major Occasion Jey Uso
WWE
Rey Mysterio and new acquisition Penta kicked off the boys’s Rumble at numbers 1 and a pair of in a dream situation, particularly for lucha libre followers. There was some controversy with arguments made that Penta’s toes hit the ground within the opening minutes. That wouldn’t matter as he was eradicated by Finn Balor after a powerful 42 minutes. When Akira Tozawa couldn’t compete, viral YouTuber Velocity (I Present Velocity) took the quantity 8 spot. It didn’t take lengthy earlier than Bron Breakker tore him in half with a spear and despatched him excessive rope with a gorilla press slam. Otis caught him solely to dump him over his head like a sack of potatoes. Ouch.
The temper of the match modified as soon as the “Samoan Werewolf” Jacob Fatu entered the combination and performed a collection of eliminations. TNA Champion Joe Hendry received the gang on its toes by coming into occasion. A product of the working relationship between TNA and WWE. The hits saved coming with Roman Reigns coming into at quantity 16. He rapidly took out The Miz, Sheamus, Breakker, and Henry. The stadium erupted when the “Tribal Chief” stood face-to-face with Fatu in a Bloodline standoff. One other Reigns enemy Drew McIntyre entered subsequent., which led to a double crew.
The star energy grew much more with the ultimate entries together with the return of AJ Kinds at quantity 21. John Cena began his farewell tour at quantity 23, eliminating Braun Strowman and Balor. To not be outdone, CM Punk and Seth Rollins added to the stacked group at 24 and 25. Logan Paul was the ultimate entrant of the match and performed just a little flooring is lava with the weather across the ring. From there, the herd thinned out when Punk took a chance to dump Rollins and Reigns out. Paul surprisingly took out Punk. Rollins snapped going after Punk and Reigns at ringside. This left Jey Uso, Cena, and Paul as the ultimate three. Cena managed to take out Paul, that means all that was left for him was the king of Yeet. The gang was divided with “Let’s go Cena” and “Cena Sucks” chants just like the previous days. Cena carried out his trademark strikes till Jey hit him with a superkick and tried to toss him over. Cena and Jey each discovered themselves on the ring apron at one level working to hold on and constructing as much as a suspenseful end. Jey pulled off one of many largest upsets of all time by eliminating Cena. It’s YeetMania!
Hail to the Queen
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – FEBRUARY 01: Charlotte Aptitude celebrates her win throughout the Girls’s Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 1, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photograph by Andrew Timms/WWE by way of Getty Photographs)
Former WWE Co-CEO and Chairwoman Stephanie McMahon kicked off the proceedings. Her look coincided with the latest announcement of a brand new ESPN+ collection Stephanie’s Locations coming in March. Io Sky and Liv Morgan started at numbers 1 and a pair of. NXT was represented effectively all through with Roxanne Perez, Lash Legend, Jaida Parker, Stephanie Vaquer, and Girls’s Champ Giulia. B-Fab was the primary eradicated within the match by Chelsea Inexperienced, who had a standout efficiency. The depth of the ladies’s division was actually on full show. Jordynne Grace, recent off her unbelievable run in TNA Wrestling, made her first look as a WWE-signed expertise at quantity 19. Grace got here in scorching, eliminating Parker, however was despatched excessive rope by Giulia.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – FEBRUARY 01: Nikki Bella makes her entrance throughout Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 1, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photograph by Georgiana Dallas/WWE by way of Getty Photographs)
Within the first of a number of shock entries, Alexa Bliss made her much-anticipated return to the ring at quantity 21. This particularly turned heads, given web hypothesis she couldn’t come to phrases on cash with WWE. That was clearly not the case as Bliss emerged for the primary time in two years. She has since grow to be a mother and has been having fun with wedded bliss with pop star Ryan Cabrera. Trish Stratus entered at quantity 25. The WWE Corridor of Famer simply so occurred to be celebrating 25 years since her WWE debut and even had the identical look from again within the day.
Aptitude made her triumphant return at Quantity 27. The second-generation competitor eradicated Michin to begin a powerful stretch. Quantity 30 turned out to be Nikki Bella (Nikki Garcia), who was knocked off this season of The Traitors. The WWE Corridor of Famer was final within the ring three years in the past. Nia Jax had a dominating evening and narrowed the sector with a collection of eliminations together with Bella. Aptitude knocked off Jax and Perez to win the match. The Queen has her sights subsequent on reclaiming her throne.
Cody Rhodes Retains WWE Gold
WWE
Issues had been private between former pals Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens. Therefore the ladder match stipulation with the Undisputed WWE Championship hanging within the stability. The weeks main as much as the battle Owens had been parading himself as the true champ with the dormant Winged Eagle title in his possession. They didn’t maintain again as they used the unforgiving ladder as a weapon and fought by the gang to offer it that bar-fight vibe.
At one level Owens broke out a smaller ladder to troll Rhodes and the viewers. The mini ladder got here into play with every utilizing it to cease the opposite from climbing and securing the dear cargo. Owens choked Rhodes with a bit of the ladder, beating him down in hopes WWE’s quarterback would keep down. Each threw every part at one another to the purpose physicians and officers had been checking to see if he may proceed. Sami Zayn, who was pals with the champion and challenger, got here out to examine on the combatants. Rhodes and Owens continued the battle. Rhodes was capable of maintain Owens down with a spinebuster by a ladder to retrieve the gold and retain. Nevertheless, it was revealed that Rhodes incurred some accidents, so we’ll must see what this implies for his “end the story” title reign.
Avenue Income Ship Message
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – FEBRUARY 01: Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa of DIY make their entrance throughout Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 1, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photograph by Andrew Timms/WWE by way of Getty Photographs)
The Motor Metropolis Machine Weapons (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) challenged DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) in a two-out-of-three falls match. The motion was scorching and heavy with Ciampa taking the primary fall on Shelley after hitting him with a knee to the jaw. Shelley tied issues up by scoring a pinfall after hitting the Cranium and Bones finisher with Sabin. After a collection of close to three-counts on a number of events, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins of the Avenue Income nailed the Machine Weapons with crutches to price them the titles. The Avenue Income confirmed no affiliation with both crew after additionally hitting DIY with the weapons after the match. They want to regain the tag titles.
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