4 takeaways from 2020 Royal Rumble

The Road to WrestleMania has begun following last night’s Royal Rumble in Houston. In a night filled with drama, surprises, and loud pops, the Royal Rumble met its expectations and opened 2020 the right way regarding pay-per-view events.

As the first pieces of the puzzle that is WrestleMania 36 were put into place, here are four takeaways from the 2020 Royal Rumble.

So much for Shayna

When Shayna Baszler lost the NXT Women’s Championship to Rhea Ripley on the December 18th, 2019 edition of NXT, the thought of Shayna going to the main roster began to grow.

Many began to speculate and spread around that Shayna would appear in the Women’s Royal Rumble and outlast 29 others to punch her ticket to WrestleMania.

As the clock hit zero for the Women’s Rumble's final entrant, Shayna came out to a thunderous ovation from the crowd and marched her way to the ring, hoping to fulfill the destiny that many fans set out for her.

Shayna would make it to the final two with Charlotte Flair, who was also looking to win her first Rumble. Just as Shayna was going to throw out Charlotte to confirm everybody’s speculation, the momentum suddenly shifted.

Charlotte would eliminate Shayna, and The Queen would point at the WrestleMania graphic in Minute Maid Park to let fans know where she was going.

Given that fans already can’t stand Charlotte due to the push she gets from the company and is consistently at the top of the mountain in the women’s division, how did you think fans would take the news?

Spoiler: not very well

For many fans, the Royal Rumble serves as an opportunity for somebody deserving of massive push in the company. While this sometimes could translate to repeated winners such as ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, if a newcomer can come in and rise to the top, all would be right in the world.

If that’s the reason for somebody to win the Rumble, another would be to see somebody have the first crowning moment before their bigger moment on the grand stage of WrestleMania.

In the example of Charlotte reigning supreme at the Rumble, I can’t blame fans one bit. You have somebody who’s already broken the record of most Women’s Championships and been in many “first-ever” matches such as the first women’s Hell in a Cell match, women’s Money in the Bank ladder match.

Of course, her biggest accomplishment is most likely being part of the first-ever women’s main event at WrestleMania last year.

Whatever it may be, it’s been a lot for the daughter of Ric Flair.

Reports from numerous wrestling dirt sheets and outlets continue to state that eventually, Shayna will find her way to a high profiled match at WrestleMania, which is expected to be against Becky.

If that’s the case, why couldn’t Shayna have a special moment and embrace the crowd, rather than drawing the ire of fans and finding another creative way for Charlotte to receive her WrestleMania match?

Despite all this, the latest rumor involves Charlotte challenging Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship instead of picking the Raw or SmackDown women’s champion. ​

Whatever it may be, this is just another example of added to the many frustrations of seeing Charlotte Flair keeping her title as “Queen.”

Welcome home, Rated R Superstar

During the pre-show of SummerSlam back in August 2019, as Elias was making fun of Toronto’s sporting teams with his guitar, Edge surprised his home crowd and came out to a thunderous ovation. Edge did what we all thought was impossible without saying a word and hit Elias with a spear.

For those who don’t know, Edge was forced into retirement following WrestleMania 27 due to a lingering neck injury he obtained earlier in the year. Doctors let Edge see if he continued to wrestle, the chances of paralysis would grow stronger than ever if one move in the ring backfired.

However, as soon as Edge hit that spear on Elias, many began to speculate if Edge was preparing to return to the ring for one possible victory lap. With reports of getting cleared by WWE doctors, a long contract signing, and his role in the Royal Rumble match, Edge continued to post on social media, denying his return reports. ​

As the Men’s Royal Rumble match progressed, when it came time for the 21st entrant to make his way into the rumble, everybody truly on this day saw clearly.

Edge returned to the ring with a monstrous roar from the crowd and joy on social media, and all felt right in the world.

Edge finished the night with one of the Royal Rumble match's best performances, including making it to the final 3. He reminded us of his past with Randy Orton in “Team Rated RKO,” to which you saw Orton tell his old teammate, “it’s so good to be back.”

As a longtime fan of Edge, the excitement for myself went through the roof. While I'm usually not in favor of retired superstars making a sudden comeback, if Edge took the time to make sure he was cleared and got advice from some of the best medical personnel out there, then I'm for it.

Health is essential, but it's fair to say Edge wouldn't do something this big if he knew he would be okay after a few bumps in the ring.

The question now is, what’s next for Edge? Does it mean Edge will be looking for more opportunities in the ring with a return this big? Will we see him at WrestleMania? Whatever the case may be, this was a coming out of retirement that was done right. ​

Edge is right where he belongs, in the WWE.

Brock Lesnar is still and always will be a monster

When Paul Heyman announced that his client, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, was entering the Royal Rumble at number one and not putting the title on the line, fans were in an uproar on social media. They continued to do what they do best, complain.

To be fair, who can blame the fans that hate Brock Lesnar as champion? Without the WWE Title on the line at the Royal Rumble, the last time the WWE champion entered the Royal Rumble match was Hulk Hogan in 1991, which he went on to win. Of course, that was before the prize of earning a championship match at WrestleMania was a thing.

When Lesnar opened the Rumble match, he did what he does best, dominate.

Beginning with Elias, Lesnar singlehandedly eliminated the first 13 competitors that entered the Rumble match. As soon as an entrant came in, Lesnar sent them flying over the top rope, leaving him alone for the first half of the Rumble. ​

The best part? Lesnar was terrific in his Royal Rumble performance. Unless you’re playing a Royal Rumble match in a WWE video game, never has somebody continued to make sure they were alone in the ring for an extended period.

Brock Lesnar is, essentially, a monster. His “character” (if we need to speak in kayfabe) is to tear apart his competition in a matter of seconds.

I expected nothing less from Brock and was quickly blown away by what he did. As soon as fans were booing and continuing to complain about Lesnar eliminating nearly half of the Rumble entrants, he did his job.

While he didn’t end up winning, as expected, Lesnar continues to prove you don’t always need to show up week after week to make a statement in WWE.

Drew gets his moment

If you were watching WWE roughly 5-6 years ago, you would remember that Drew McIntyre was wrapping up a lackluster run with the company.

Despite being a promising talent, McIntyre would slowly fade away and was eventually released from the company in 2014. Upon receiving the news, he immediately returned to his native Scotland and the independent scenes and began his transformation.

By the time 2017 was around, McIntyre was bigger, stronger, and was ready to show the world what they were missing out on.

Upon returning to WWE through NXT, WWE fans knew this wasn't the same Drew McIntyre that once played an air guitar with Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater. After a small stint in NXT, McIntyre returned to Monday Night Raw in April 2018. From there, he would begin his rise to the top.

From the get-go, fans wanted to see Drew in a championship opportunity and have him as World Champion. Instead, he started in the tag team scene, becoming champion with Dolph Ziggler and eventually working with Shane McMahon.

As time went on, feuding with the likes of The Shield and Roman Reigns on his own, The Undertaker, Ziggler himself, Drew continued to turn heads. With the Rumble approaching, many wondered if it would have been his moment. As rumors ran rampant that it would be Reigns to win the Rumble, fans began to lose hope for the Scottish Psychopath.

As the Rumble started and Drew came out, he did the impossible after booted Brock Lesnar out and eliminated him, fans in Houston became unglued, and hope was regained.

In the final two with Reigns and McIntyre, the WWE Universe's dream came true and Drew eliminated Roman to punch his ticket to WrestleMania.

The impossible suddenly became a reality, and the expression on Drew's face told the whole story. After becoming that prime prospect, to being fired, reinventing yourself, and returning to earn the biggest opportunity of a lifetime, McIntyre proved to the world that hard work pays off.

Drew's first opportunity for the WWE Championship has finally arrived, and it's against everybody's favorite beast, Brock Lesnar.