WWE Royal Rumble 2015 Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights

Every January, 30 of WWE's toughest hombres enter the ring, one by one, and attempt the seemingly impossible task of being the last man standing. The winner of the over-the-top rope battle royale not only enters the history books—he's also guaranteed a shot at the WWE championship at WrestleMania.

This year that winner was Roman Reigns, much to the chagrin of the crowd live. The crowd turned on the match as soon as Daniel Bryan was eliminated, refusing to play along with anything that followed. Reigns was booed early and often, a victim of the WWE fanbase's general discontent more than anything he's done to deserve it.

More than routine excellence, the Royal Rumble is also famous for its surprises. Fans are treated, year-after-year, to both new stars making their debuts and returning legends, desperate for that one last nostalgia pop. This year it was DDP, Bubba Ray Dudley and The Rock, who rescued Reigns from evil at the end but failed at his main mission—transferring his popularity to his young cousin. 

The disappointing Rumble stole the spotlight from an all-time great title match. Brock Lesnar defended his WWE belt against rival John Cena and opportunist Seth Rollins in a match for the ages. He'll now, presumably, go on to face Reigns at WrestleMania.

It doesn't get much bigger than that.

What follows is our trademark instant analysis and letter grades for every bout on the show. Matches are graded not just in comparison to each other, but they're also based on how well they live up to their potential and to fans' expectations.

Disagree with our assessments? Feel free to sound off in the comments.

The New Day vs. Cesaro/Tyson Kidd

Credit: WWE.com

Result

Tyson Kidd pinned Kofi Kingston with a twisting suplex. 

Highlights and Quotes

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd come out with an enormous entourage. Mayweatherian. Seems, um, excessive for the Kickoff Show. Who are you trying to fool? This is a jobber spot.

Big E with multiple backbreakers making Kidd look like easy work.

"Great double-team action by New Day."—Michael Cole. Phrasing?

Cesaro's giant spin into a Kidd dropkick. Great spot.

Cesaro tries to help give Kidd added leverage after a sunset flip. The ref catches him, but that is really creative wrestling.

Grade

B

Analysis

Cesaro is one of the sport's great lost workers. While it's always great to see him wrestle, it's kind of sad he's still toiling here at the bottom of the card. Kidd has also been great down in NXT. It really seems like they are capable of more than this.

Of course, it's not fair to judge a match based on what it might have been in another universe. For what it was, this was perfectly acceptable professional wrestling. 

It was sloppy in places and far from a classic. But it provided the kind of energy necessary to get a show started right. I approve.

The Ascension vs. New Age Outlaws

Credit: WWE.com

Result

The Ascension pinned Billy Gunn with the Fall of Man.

Highlights and Quotes

"If you're not down with that, I've got two words for you..."—Billy Gunn.

"My God, they look so old."—my buddy on a team we watched in college. 

WWE is still running out fake Road Warrior teams in the year 2015. 

The Ascension got the Road Warrior gimmick but George South's musculature. That's a weird combo.

Grade

D+

Analysis

It's hard to look impressive when two geriatrics are tasked with the job of putting you over. A dominant team needs someone to bump around for it and make it look strong.

That's what got the Road Warriors over. That's what got the Steiner Brothers over. The New Age Outlaws can't do that for anybody. Just a brutal match.

The Usos vs. The Miz/Mizdow

Credit: WWE.com

Result

The Usos pinned The Miz after a splash off the top rope.

Highlights and Quotes

"Uso Crazy." Oh, Titan Tron. You slay me.

The Usos do a backbreaker into a top-rope throat chop. That's a pretty good spot for a throwaway near-fall! 

"He's like a Daniel Day Lewis."—JBL on Mizdow.

"He's not exactly on the zombie menu."—Jerry Lawler on Mizdow's brains.

The Miz fakes the tag to Mizdow. What a heel!

Flying Uso ends with a bad landing. Ouch. The Miz isn't big on catching people is he?

Superkick to top-rope powerbomb to flying splash. That's a good finish.

Grade

B-

Analysis

I understand that The Miz is heeling it up by refusing to tag in Mizdow. But why would he want to wrestle a handicap match?

Wouldn't it make more sense to make his stunt double do the hard work, while he chilled on the outside? Isn't that what a stunt double does? He's supposed to make life easier for the star.

I know; it's nitpicky—but these kind of storyline flaws really bug me. 

Oh, the match? It was fine.

The Bella Twins vs. Paige/Natalya

Credit: WWE.com

Result

Nikki Bella pinned Natalya with a running forearm.

Highlights and Quotes

They should have named Paige "Katie Vick." Because she looks like a corpse? Too soon?

Nikki Bella steals a spot from the late, great Mr. Perfect. Love it.

"Her hair is incredible."—my wife on Nikki Bella. It's good to get a woman's perspective fellas.

Grade

B

Analysis

We've been trained for years to treat the Divas match as a bathroom break. That's a mistake. 

Total Divas has prevented some snobby hardcore fans from recognizing greatness growing right under their noses. The Bellas are the truth. They are turning into really, really good workers. Skip their match at your peril.

John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins (WWE Championship)

Credit: WWE.com

Result 

Brock Lesnar pinned Seth Rollins with an F5 after a classic match. 

Highlights and Quotes

"Shades of SummerSlam."—Michael Cole as Lesnar German-suplexes John Cena.

Lesnar is a suplex machine. It's like he trained for this bout with Dan Severn and Taz. 

Rollins drops a knee on Lesnar as he's in the midst of a Kimura attempt. That's exciting stuff!

"Boo! Boo!"—the Philly crowd wants nothing to do with Cena.

Lesnar kicks out at one. He doesn't have a second to spare.

Lesnar interrupts the five-knuckle shuffle with a suplex. 

"If you designed a fighting machine, it would look like Brock Lesnar."—JBL. Or a tank? Either way.

Lesnar catches Rollins in midair for an F5. What a beast.

Cena spears Lesnar through the barricade outside. Then Rollins nails him with a Randy Savage elbow drop through the announce table. He's carted off on a stretcher.

Rollins brought enough A-game to share with the other two guys. Incredible action.

Cena with the Attitude Adjustment (AA) on both members of J&J Security simultaneously. 

Rollins hits a corkscrew 450 splash only to be suplexed on his head by a returning Lesnar.

Lesnar is a way better pro wrestler than he is a UFC fighter. If he leaves WWE, it will be a travesty.

Grade

A+

Analysis

The Triple Threat match is one of my least favorite gimmicks. It normally involves a bunch of contrived spots that force one guy to pretend to be injured for minutes at a time, while the other two wrestle.

It's a match normally wrestled in fits and starts. It's not a bout well-suited to produce an all-time classic.

It did here. This was the best Triple Threat match I've ever seen. The action was intense, nonstop and, most importantly, it made sense.

We'll be talking about this match in 11 months when it's time to choose the match of the year. It was that good.

Royal Rumble Match

Credit: WWE.com

Result 

Order of Elimination (The Miz, R-Truth, Bubba Ray Dudley, Curtis Axel, Luke Harper, Boogeyman, Sin Cara, Zach Ryder, Tyson Kidd, DDP, Fandango, Daniel Bryan, Adam Rose, Kofi Kingston, Stardust, Goldust, Mizdow, Titus O'Neil, Big E, Ryback, Jack Swagger, Wade Barrett, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Kane, Big Show, Rusev) 

Winner: Roman Reigns

Highlights and Quotes

"Whomp, there it is."—R. Truth on the cutting edge of 90s rap music.

Bubba Ray Dudley returns to WWE after years as a mainstay of rival TNA Wrestling. 

Boogeyman comes out to outweird even the Wyatt Family. 

"This is Bray Wyatt's year."—Bray Wyatt.

"Sin Cara is Spanish for 'You're eliminated.'"—JBL. But like three minutes after Sin Cara was eliminated. Some jokes are too good to abandon I guess.

Bray Wyatt just hanging out in the corner. I love it when guys lounge through the match.

Stardust and Fandango with dueling Shawn Michaels spots.

"They teach that in yoga class?"—JBL as DDP hits the Diamond Cutter. DDP doesn't look a day over 70. Yoga must be really good for the body.

"Boo! Boo! Boo!"—crowd not amused by Daniel Bryan's elimination. Not sure why WWE didn't have a popular act set to come out and re-energize the audience.

"Daniel Bryan! Daniel Bryan!" —The fans are not going to forget. The match is dead. Roman Reigns hears it from the crowd when he comes out. 

Big E with an amazing overhead belly-to-belly on Rusev.

Big Show comes out and overpowers the entire roster. But nothing is rescuing this show from a pissed-off fanbase. 

"Bulls--t! Bulls--t!"—Fans not pleased with how this has gone. People are legitimately mad. Worse than last year, because they've been mad for most of the match now.

The Rock comes out to rescue Reigns from The Authority. But, though the fans didn't boo him, he didn't succeed in giving Reigns the rub. 

Grade

D

Analysis

There is stubborn, and then there is WWE. Despite the crowd's obvious love for Daniel Bryan, the promotion has decided to go with its handpicked babyface Roman Reigns. He's a promising talent—but he's nowhere near ready for a main event role.

Everyone seems to know this. Everyone but WWE CEO Vince McMahon. The organization insisted on going with Reigns and eliminating Bryan early. The audience live, and on Twitter, wasn't having it. 

Even an appearance by The Rock, designed as a way for him to give his official blessing to Reigns, failed miserably. For the second year in a row, the WWE has planned a main event at WrestleMania no one wants to see. 

Will it rescue itself from the brink this year as it did last year? Or will it risk further alienating its audience? At this point the meta-show is every bit as entertaining as the show in the ring. I can't wait to see what happens.