WWE Royal Rumble 2016 Results: Full Grades for Each Superstar at PPV
A quite incredible night at WWE's Royal Rumble 2016 pay-per-view saw a new champion crowned and a new face arrive at the company.
AJ Styles is now a full-fledged WWE star after making his debut in the Rumble match, and Triple H is the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion after surviving the rest of the field to win the traditional 30-man bout.
But how did those two and the rest of the card perform on the night?
Here are grades for each and every Superstar who competed on Sunday night, including the entirety of the 30-man field.
Grades are based not only on in-ring performances but entertainment value brought to the match, in particular the marquee Rumble match. We're also going to take up numerous slides for the Rumble match itself, with the final slide paying closer attention to the lead characters in the bout.
Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens
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WWE already has a certified contender for best match of the year, and we're still only in January.
Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens pushed each other to the very limit, with some phenomenal spots and some real bruising moments throughout their Last Man Standing tussle.
Highlights include Owens' going through two tables he himself assembled at ringside, which brought an end to the match, and Owens' breaking the security barricade by acting as a human cannonball to try to slow Ambrose's momentum.
They both deserve the top grade here for sure, but Owens gets a marginally higher one for his overall attitude throughout the match.
He's far and away WWE's biggest heel, and assembling chairs so he could sit on them in the middle of the ring while Ambrose reeled and hurled abuse back at WWE fans throughout just added to his overall performance.
Ambrose: A
Owens: A+
The New Day vs. The Usos
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Armed with a new trombone, Xavier Woods again played sidekick for Big E and Kofi Kingston as they defended the WWE Tag Team Championships.
The heels had looked to have stalled a little of late, but their thrilling promo before the match and the successful retaining of the belts kept the trio on top of WWE's tag mountain right now.
The Usos couldn't recover from Big E's catching Jey in midair before he was hit with the Big Ending, but expect this rivalry to roll on, probably through to WrestleMania 32.
The performances? All four men shined, but Big E was the standout here. All four men, however, have exceptional in-ring chemistry with one another.
Big E: B+; Kofi Kingston: B
Jimmy Uso: B; Jey Uso: B
Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto
3 of 8
You wonder why WWE opted to pin the United States Championship on Kalisto for a few short days on Raw earlier this month if the grand plan was for him to beat Alberto Del Rio at a major pay-per-view all along.
Crowning glory at the Royal Rumble would have been a big boost for him, so this just felt like more "hot potato" work with the title he now owns again for a second time.
As for the match, there were a few blips here and there, but this was generally another exciting addition to the card.
Del Rio would be better off moving away from Kalisto now and setting his sights on someone else, allowing Kalisto to give the belt fresh impetus.
There were a few botches here and there which stunts the grades, but this was another decent effort.
Alberto Del Rio: C+
Kalisto: C
Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch
4 of 8
There was a great promo video before this match which rounded off what had been a pretty solid build for it all.
Becky Lynch and Charlotte have something pretty cool going on at the moment, but WWE opted to bizarrely go down the route of putting the spotlight on Ric Flair yet again.
It was another match that had a few missed spots here and there, which didn't help the flow of it.
But Flair's kissing Lynch just overshadowed some good work lately from Becky, who will surely take a tumble back down the pecking order thanks to Sasha Banks' appearance after the bell.
And even though she wasn't directly competing, Banks' breakthrough moment deserves a grade.
Charlotte: C+
Becky Lynch: C
Sasha Banks: A-
Royal Rumble Match: 1-10
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2. Rusev: What a shocking 12 months it has been for a guy who was in the final two in last year's Rumble. An almost pointless existence in the match here being fed to Reigns, but he did look fairly strong in the beatdown that ensued. C-
4. Tyler Breeze: Prince Pretty had very little to do or work with here, and he was gone fairly quickly. D
5. Curtis Axel: There were doubts over his elimination last year (at least in his own mind), but this year was fairly conclusive. E
7. Kane: A decent showing on return for Kane, who adds to his record of eliminations that will take some going to be topped. C+
8. Goldust: WWE dropped the ball in having Goldust eliminated before Stardust entered the match. A quiet night. C
9. Ryback: The Big Guy had flashes of brilliance, but a 12-minute run and zero eliminations is not impressive. C
10. Kofi Kingston: The traditional moment of brilliance had a comedic twist to it this year, and further certified The New Day as one of WWE's hottest acts. B-
Royal Rumble Match: 11-20
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11. Titus O'Neil: Dumped out by Big Show after a fairly promising start, it was a night to forget for Titus. C+
12. R-Truth: WWE once again went down the comedic route with R-Truth's involvement, and although it was fun, it wasn't really needed. D
13. Luke Harper: If The Wyatt Family ever splits again, WWE has to do something worthwhile with Harper. He's a breakout star in the making and was impressive here, with four eliminations. B
14. Stardust: It's difficult to know where Stardust's gimmick is going now, and he offered little to the Rumble match. C-
15. Big Show: His confrontation with Strowman was a cool moment, but aside from eliminating Titus, he didn't have much to do. C-
16. Neville: Some might have expected a bit more drama from Neville in a match like this, but what he did do, he did very well. C+
17. Braun Strowman: WWE is really trying to tell us that Strowman is a beast in the making, especially as he dumped out Kane and Big Show. C
18. Kevin Owens: KO dumped out AJ Styles, and his "Welcome to WWE!" line before eliminating the former TNA icon was a good moment that hopefully sets them up for a feud. It was good to see Owens-Zayn again, too. B-
20. Sami Zayn: Zayn got the big score by eliminating Kevin Owens, but after that, his presence in the match faded quickly. C+
Royal Rumble Match: 21-30
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21. Erick Rowan: Rowan looked in menacing form alongside Luke Harper and Braun Strowman and played his part in the match well. C+
22. Mark Henry: Henry won on the pre-show to earn his spot in the match but didn't even last a minute in the bout before elimination. What a shame. D-
24. Jack Swagger: Like Henry, Swagger was another former major champion who couldn't even score a minute of action in the Rumble. E
25. The Miz: The cunning tactic of staying on commentary until most of the big names had gone was something different, but The Miz's presence in the Rumble was rarely felt. C-
26. Alberto Del Rio: There were no eliminations to speak of for Del Rio before he became one of Roman Reigns' victims. C
28. Dolph Ziggler: There was a really nice interaction between Ziggler and Triple H as Dolph eyed a major scalp late in the match, and he looked in fine form, like always. B-
29. Sheamus: WWE has a big challenge on its hands to freshen up Sheamus after a disastrous WWE World Heavyweight Championship run. He did score a big elimination here by disposing of Bray Wyatt, though. C
Royal Rumble Match: The Main Men
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1. Roman Reigns: His removal for almost three quarters of the Rumble match made little sense, but when he was in the ring, Reigns looked decent. He was the focal point of the match clearly, and his shock elimination at the hands of Triple H sets things up for a feud to end it all at WrestleMania. B-
3. AJ Styles: As far as debuts go, almost half an hour in the Royal Rumble match isn't a bad way to kick things off. From the minute he stepped into a WWE ring for the first time, Styles looked comfortable and exciting. The crowd were into him from the word go, and WWE booked his exit right, as only Kevin Owens could really be justified as the guy to eliminate such a popular character like Styles. A-
6. Chris Jericho: Jericho was incredibly quiet throughout the early part of his stay in the Rumble match but did come to life towards the end. He became more involved in the main fights within the bout, and his elimination by Dean Ambrose could hint at a potential rivalry there. But to last over 50 minutes in total was a great effort from Y2J, who's been far from actively competitive lately. B+
19. Dean Ambrose: There was a feeling at one point that WWE would alter its landscape dramatically and pin a major title on Ambrose at long last. It wasn't to be, but the back-and-forth he and Triple H had at the end of the match was really enjoyable. Ambrose deserves major props for pulling double duty, too. B+
23. Brock Lesnar: The Beast didn't walk away with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but he completely changed the dynamic of the match all on his own. It had stalled somewhat until Lesnar emerged as No. 23, and he got the crowd's interest levels back up ahead of the all-important finish. Brock vs. Bray seems inevitable now. A
27. Bray Wyatt: Amazingly, Bray Wyatt didn't get a single elimination on Sunday night. There was a brief moment where you felt as if Wyatt was about to sell out when he received orders from Triple H to attack Reigns, but defying the boss was a smart move, as it lets Wyatt and his family stand out on their own. He continues to impress. B-
30. Triple H: The new WWE World Heavyweight Champion played his part in a thrilling conclusion to the Royal Rumble and produced the crowd's moment of the night when he finally saw off Roman Reigns near the end. His reaction was one of a guy who is enjoying what he's doing right now, and he even worked well in the ring with Dean Ambrose in the final two. It was a solid effort from the COO. B-
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