Royal Rumble Match 2018

[7.0] "Being the first women's rumble, this was av very good start. However, looking back, we had questionable entrances. I mean really. Lana? Jacqueline? Torrie Wilson? Vickie fucking Guerrero? I mean come on. Auska was honestly a perfect winner cause she was undefeated at the time."

[9.0] "The first ever royal rumble match for the women of WWE, it was given the responsibility of main eventing the whole show and it was an amazing first women's rumble. Really great action and spots throughout, so many legends return, most of the participants briefly put aside their differences to get rid off Vickie Guerrero, Sasha putting on an amazing iron man performance, Asuka winning the match was the perfect choice, and post match with Ronda Rousey debuting was also great."

[6.0] "We can be honest here. This match has a special place in history for being a first. For being a love letter to then-present and past women's wrestling. It will not be known because it was great. Everything this match stood for is well deserved. Establishing the rising stars at this time while also giving a handful of the legends that help lay the groundwork of WWE women's wrestling their flowers and moments in the spotlight. It is really a feel-good match. It still brings a smile to my face to rewatch and see everyone getting great reactions. But the bout is sloppy and forgettable. There is just an astounding amount of time people are rolling to the outside and staying there for a while. It's so bad that it comes very close to undermining the entire purpose of the match and why it is enjoyable. I can't count how many times the ring looks empty despite there being 3-6 people on the outside. It's completely unnecessary. Then there is the fact that this match was trying to follow what was easily one of the greatest men's Rumble matches in history. This HAD to main event this night, but it kind of shouldn't have considering how stacked and exciting the men's one was. These women just couldn't top it on this night. They are getting strong reactions for sure, but you can tell the audience is kind of drained a little bit from the men's Rumble. And with the benefit of hindsight, they dropped the ball on the red-hot Asuka. Why would you want your first women's Rumble winner to not go down in history as winning the big match? But that is what we have here. A historic match. An important match. A feel-good and very enjoyable match. But really not a good one."

[6.0] "it's ok. For a first ever rumble match for the women's it's ok. I'm happy that they got the winner correct atleast. It is weird having nikki bella as the final 2. Also hated how everyone keeps going in and outside of the ring. Especially when naomi does he little kofi spot it just made everyone lol stupid because they easily could have elimated her. I enjoyed 2 of the hourse woman being the start of the match but would have preferred if it was bayley and sasha. I wasn't crazy with ronda's debut happening after the match overrtaking the result of the first ever woman's rumble match. There was moments like with some of the ladies who should have interacted with eachother but didn't and it was kinda a let down a bit. It's ok but definitely not the best woman's rumble match or even close to it honestly. 3.50 stars"

[7.0] "A really cool way to end the night considering the magnitude of the moment and with a good collection of both current wrestlers and stars from the past it seemed like they managed to fit more than 30 entrants in there. Let's be real the in ring work here wasn't anything great but the nostalgia was all the way up on this one. Michelle McCool had a fantastic performance, Naomi using a ringside computer chair to get back into the ring after being sent ringside, and Vickie Guerrero's return were all special, but to me Sasha Banks lasting as long as she did was the highlight of the match. Asuka going over here was a great choice as she was still an unstoppable buzzsaw at the time. 3.5 stars at best."

[3.0] "It is absolutely mind boggling to me that this has the rating it does. The first time you watch it, it's nice. It's a nice little rumble, but there are decisions made in the match that are baffling. Why is it not Sasha and Bayley to start? Why not have Carmella cash in so you can have Charlotte in the match for the 4 horse women spot? Why did Trish and Lita never interact? Why does Asuka enter SO LATE? ! Why are the final 3 Asuka and the Bellas, who aren't good and never were? Why does Ronda's debut overtake the result of the match? It's nice to see the women of old return. None of them are gonna win. The best Rumbles are the ones where you could see at least half the field win. There's maybe 4 people who could actually win this and it'd make sense. The match is so mid, brought down more by Steph on coms. Stop giving it a pass because it's the first Women's Rumble. It was the 0 somethingth rumble. It's not good, folks."

[10.0] "This is by far my favorite rumble of all time. It was amazing to see the women of the past, today, and tomorrow. They almost planned this perfectly for every single entrant. I wish they would continue to bring in more legends for Royal Rumble matches like this one because it made it more enjoyable."

[6.0] "Was this match any good? Kind of. (Stephanie on commentary dragged it down hard.) But it was exactly what they needed to do for the first women's rumble. The women's roster wasn't particularly deep at this time and it showed, but it was great to see all of the wrestlers from years' past finally get to do a rumble."

[10.0] "This is a love letter to WWE women's wrestling, not just the current superstars like Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Asuka but also the most legendary returns like Trish Stratus, Lita, Michelle McCool, Jacqueline, Molly Holly, Torrie Wilson, Beth Phoenix and even some NXT superstars like Kairi Sane & Ember Moon. The emotional level I had that day was top wrestling for me, no other match has achieved to get me there."

[6.0] "I remember enjoying this rumble a lot more, but it was actually a bit worse than that. They heavily relied on the legends returning, unfortunately a lot of the returning legends just weren't very good, not in their primes and certainly not in 2018. Still a fun rumble though, 6/10"

[7.0] "This was pretty fun. It was awesome to see Asuka win, and then Ronda Rousey's appearance afterward felt like a big moment. My only real complaint was that there were too many moments where wrestlers were outside of the ring, especially during Nia Jax's dominating segment, and it wasn't clear who was still in the match. ***1/2"

[8.0] "The best Women's Rumble ever. I loved the booking of the match, the surprises and the winner, the right one. This was truly an homage to all those women's that have sacrificed a lot for our entertainment. (**** 1/4)"

[6.0] "I was happy for Asuka, but little did I know that WWE was ready to screw her over and over. The match was okay but not amazing, way too surprise girls that made little sense. Plus, a match with the Bellas is always a bad match"

[8.0] "This is fun from start to finish. It gets a lift from the fact that it is the first of its kind. It's clear that this was put together very carefully, and it is executed pretty well. The work is often sloppy, and you can see and hear girls talking to each other a whole lot. They clearly entrusted this match to Becky and Sasha and they were right to do so, because there were no major issues. Becky's hand is over her mouth half the match though. Pace is good, commentary is not but it's also not that bad. All of the old-timers that deserved to be in it are in it, and they all get great spots and moments where the audience can show their appreciation.In the final four you can see the author laughing at his reader when it comes down to the companies two best "workrate" wrestlers teaming up against the two most infamous for being bad workers. See, this is the kind of postmodern touch that works well in wrestling, not the blatant winking at the camera crap you see all the time. At the very least, it's a nostalgia trip of the who's who of women's wrestling in the previous eras. All the girls on the current roster do owe a debt to their predecessors and this is a nice way to celebrate that, even if it means including Vickie Guerrero screaming into a microphone. This is probably the only time she'll get cheers for doing that. Would watch again. EDIT: Bumping this up to an 8. Recommended viewing."

[8.0] "First women's Rumble and I think still the best. Asuka winning was a great moment and the right pick."

[8.0] "**** - good drama, some amazing entrants, was a really good Rumble match for the first Women's match. Steph on commentator is awful"

[6.0] "The women's first Royal Rumble Match was a historic event, but it was not without mistakes. The combat level was really good but there were other problems. 30 women is really a lot, the WWE roster is much smaller and you have to replenish the card with returns and retired players; many of the returns were very weak, usually for only a few minutes and it was certain that such a person would not win, which was not very exciting. In my opinion, it would be much better if the fight involved 20 women instead of 30, then the returns would be more meaningful and exciting. The second drawback was a very predictable ending, with The Bella Twins and Asuka left it was obvious how it would end, I think it would be a lot more interesting if Asuka and Sasha Banks were left at the end."

[9.0] "I loved every second of this. The first Women's Royal Rumble was a good match to anyone to liked the divas of the past and also featured the debut afterwards of Ronda Rousey coming out to challenge the winner, Asuka. Fun time watching this one."

[10.0] "WWE's love letter to their last 18 years of women's wrestling. Right final 3, great surprise at the end, and really fun throughout. The match made me happy. That was enough for me."

[7.0] "Way too much time spent on the outside by everyone it seemed, wasn't bad but was more sentimental than good"

[6.0] "Maybe not everyone agreed, but for me it was okay that they put this match in the main event. The only problem is that after they put the guys match in the middle of the show the audience "dies", whether watching from home or live. That's a real problem if they go ahead with two Royal Rumble matches. The match itself wasn't much, but it wasn't below some of the messes of the last few years. They wanted to do with Sasha Banks what they did with Balor, but it didn't work for them, because Sasha is Sasha, they'd rather go with Becky Lynch. I liked what they tried to do with the surprise entrants, that they gave them a pretty big role, except the Vickie Guerrero segment. And the fact that Michelle McCool had the most eliminations says something. Of those, only Michelle, Beth Phoenix and Trish Stratus can still be full-time, too bad none of them want to. Lita made a fool of herself, and Torrie Wilson and Kelly Kelly were weak. The finish was lackluster, Nikki Bella screwed up here, although the elimination should have looked cool. There would also be the fact that many of them were too short to get over the last rope, but new ways of elimination need to be found here."

[7.0] "At first, I thought it wasn't that good. Despite it being the first ever women's rumble, it was underwhelming. It didn't help that the men's one was amazing. Watching it again though made me appreciate it for the efforts, even if there's some sloppy movements."

[5.0] "The rumble was average, but made it good was the fan service that they provided. I love how they gather almost every women legend in one match, it was good them all back in action one more time. Asuka being the winner was nice, but it got greatly overshadowed by the certain suprice apearence that occured right after the match ended."

[4.0] "I'll be harsh on that one but this wasn't good. Nobody was really over, even the big legend weren't that over and the wrestling in this match was horrendous, botch after botch, mistakes after mistakes. They had some cool story in it but this was no good. (**)"

[5.0] "An okay royal rumble match but REALLY showed just how small and the current women's roster actually is."

[5.0] "This was pretty fun, popped hard for Lita and Trish. Some of the other appearances from Kelly Kelly and Michelle McCool were REAAAAL bad though. Asuka winning is now bittersweet as she's currently stuck looking like a buffoon thanks to Ellsworth. Can't have anything nice."

[9.0] "I was sports entertained throughout. Watched it a few times. The audience and the wrestlers seemed to be having a good time, and that colors my experience of it as well. A romp."

[6.0] "30-Woman Royal Rumble [** 3/4] The first ever WWE Women's Rumble takes the main event! I was a bit worried if they'd pull it off, and while it had its down portions, they delivered an entertaining Rumble filled with nostalgia from the diva era as well and giving the most obvious result ever. And then Ronda Rousey came out to great fanfare and did? close to nothing. Just some pointing at the WrestleMania sign and said hi to Steph. At least things are shaping up for the #1 show of the year."

[8.0] "I feel like an 8 is too high, but a 7 is too low. I'll settle with giving it an 8 but clarifying that the men's rumble was definitely better. But this was not bad at all, Sasha getting the ironwoman role was a a good move (even though she wasn't always in the ring) and Asuka vs Nikki Bella was a great final 2 that made sense. This match did rely far too much on legends; some of them were great moments like Trish, Lita, and Beth (I'm sure I'm forgetting some), but some didn't make much sense like Michelle McCool eliminated 5 women (more than anyone else). Overall good stuff, but could have been better if WWE had more trust in their current roster, and if Charlotte was here. ***3/4"

[4.0] "Asuka winning was the right decision but they relied too much on Legends to try to make it legitimate. Not having any trust for their current talent. For a second I thought Trish or Lita was gonna win. No AJ Lee."

[0.0] "When you need 10+ returns and NXT callups, something tells me your Women's division is not as strong as you portray it to be. Plus the match sucked. Many of them were divas, comedy acts, non-athletes, etc. No drama at all, a bad finish, and a lot of undeserving main eventers. It is really a shame..."

[4.0] "A fine rumble match, having a lot of women from the past kinda dragged down the quality of the match but it was cool to see them there. Also Lita almost dies doing a moonsault. **1/2"

[10.0] "Perfection. Everything about this worked! Every surprise entrant besides Kelly and Vickie offered something to the fans. Aa a fan of female wrestling since childhood, this was a dream come true."

[6.0] "This is definitely a difficult match to grade solely based on one aspect. There were a ton of positives in this match, there were a ton of surprise entrants (maybe chalk that to them not having full-timers for a battle royal of 30), and many of them looked great (Trish, Molly, Beth, etc. ) and there were some genuinely awesome moments (Naomi channel her inner Kofi, Ember-Asuka, Asuka winning, Sasha teasing her heel tendencies). But the match does suffer from the awkwardness of many of wrestlers rolling out of the ring, some awkward lulls between transitions to the next entrant and goodness, many of them struggled with that over the top bump. However, I'm glad I saw it, I'm glad it happened and ultimately it made Asuka look very, very good."

[6.0] "The definition of a mixed bag, the first ever Women's Royal Rumble ranged from excellent to (at times) downright cringeworthy. While most of the active crop of women killed it, with Sasha, Nia and Asuka giving especially great performances, some of the returning "legends" were in no condition to work in such a large stage, resulting in some pretty bad wrestling. That said, seeing the different generations clash was fun and the Rumble itself was nicely booked. Asuka winning was, in my opinion, the right choice and Rousey's post-match appearance was at least intriguing. An enjoyable, if uneven Royal Rumble. ***1/4"

[3.0] "Booking is adeguate, but the fighting actions are awful. It is too difficult launching women over the top rope for a lot of wrestlers. A lot of women are in embarassing conditions, in fact they were awful performers when they fought regularly. There are a lot of botches and too much chaos in ring and out of it. I can't understand who were eliminated beacouse there are too many women out of the ring. Nikki Bella vs Asuka is decent, but inadeguate, in fact the last eliminated couldn't have been Nikki. Pretty segments with James-Trish, Sasha-Bayley. Natalya-Phoenix."

[6.0] "It was alright, became more enjoyable due to the mass nostalgia factor of the entire thing. A few noticeable botches and a little too much selling on the outside of the ring rather than in the ring. Room for improvement, but a hell of 1st effort."

[7.0] "Forced history is still history I suppose. This wasn't bad by any means, but nowhere near as enjoyable as the Mens Rumble. All the nostalgia acts were decent for their pops, but then showed their rustiness once they got to the ring. Very predictable winner as well that almost feels like pandering after knowing who won the Mens Rumble, ***3/4."

[7.0] "Way better than I expected. Fun to watch. Most of the surprise were shite but I had fun watching them fail. It was the first Rumble so I wasn? t expecting anything amazing."

[5.0] "This was alright. Entirely carried by the surprises, though. The actual action itself was not so great, clunky and awkward. Also, the final 4 was bad 'cause Asuka was the only non no-hoper in there. A serviceable prototype for this, but work must be done in the future."

[10.0] "Pretty comfortably the better of the two Rumbles, though it seems that is a minority opinion. Honestly thought this was fantastic, almost a lesson on the whole modern history of women's wrestling with some cool names from the past mixing it up and really contributing, not just showing up for a nostalgia pop, and the current generation did a great job. Love certain returns especially, like Molly Holly and Vickie Guerrero, and lots of potential for the future, like Kairi and Ruby Riott, not to mention the best stars of today doing their thing. Absolutely the right winner, and a great final sequence. This was one of the best Rumbles I have seen, loved it."

[7.0] "Historic match that works fine. Many returns, big names and some funny moments like Vickie Guerrero getting heat from the other wrestlers. There are so many talentes women here, it's really great and important. ***1/2"

[9.0] "This was so, so much better than i anticipated. I thought it was gonna be an hour long botchfest but it was actually extremely fun and nostalgic. I loved all of the surprises like Kelly Kelly, Molly Holly, Michelle McCool, Torrie Wilson, Lita, and yes even Vickie Guerrero was a nice surprise. The right person definitely won also. Overall, very fun match ****1/4."

[9.0] "A total blast. Very nostalgia heavy and you'd think future women's rumbles should be of more substance, but for a first ever this was superb I thought. Molly Holly, Lita and Trish in particular made me super happy."

[8.0] "7. 85/10. This was exactly what it should have been, a fuckfest nostalgia to celebrate the history of women's wrestling in WWE. And WWE is the best at doing that. Couple that with the perfect winner and the spot with Ronda Rousy post-match and this was solid booking which WWE proved all night long (all weekend long to be honest). Nothing too flashy or crazy but a nostalgia rush and the right woman came out on top. Not for its wrestling, but I enjoyed it, which I haven't said since Sasha vs Bailey"

[10.0] "This was awesome! As a big fan of women's wrestling I loved it, seeing all the legends getting to share the ring with the new era of women in WWE was fantastic, there were really special moments in the match like Becky and Sasha against Lita, Trish and Mickie, Sasha and Trish, Beth and Nia. Nothing to say about the winner, it was predictable, but this was a match full of moments and I really loved it."

[8.0] "I thought this was super fun. Lots of women got a chance to shine - Ruby Riot looked great, Kairi Sane looked great, Mickie James looked great, Becky Lynch looked really good, Nikki Bella looked really good, Ember Moon looked great, Asuka looked great, Sasha Banks looked really great. All the surprise entrants were handled in super enjoyable fashion & all of them looked really good in the ring, too! Overall just a really well structured Rumble match. The post-match w/ Ronda coming out was quite something (that Piper jacket! ) - I LOVED Asuka slapping her hand away when she tried to go for a handshake. All in all, a really good time from start to finish! ***3/4"

[7.0] "Expectations was low but actually this was lot of fun, some of the old names did pretty well , no botches who is the first thing that comes to mind. Nia Jax being the monster was great as always, and Sasha proved again that she is an elite worker. Pretty much everyone tried the best to make this an really fun match. I'm happy with Asuka winning, was predictable but i liked anyway. I don't mind Ronda at all but that overshadowed Asuka's win a little, overall a pretty fun match."

[6.0] "I had very low expectation for this match, but it turned out to be pretty good. No botch, decent action, some great old names coming back ( exclude kelly kelly and bellas ) and 2 nxt names. The vickie guerrero return was really fun. Lita's moonsault was damn good. Sasha banks was the iron woman here for sure. Nia looked pretty good as a monster. The ending was quite predictable but still satisfying enough. Should have been sasha/asuka being last 2. Whatever, i am fine with this because it exceeded my expection."

[8.0] "This match created history. First ever Woman's Rumble was good. Only minus are eliminations Lita by Dana (Really? This no talent woman eliminated legends? ) and Bellas in the end. Yep. When Sasha fell out everyone knew winner... Ending was too predictable."