WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Results: Power Ranking Every Match at PPV

With over 52,000 fans watching from the stands and millions watching via its streaming network, WWE presented its annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view, an event featuring a handful of tremendously wrestled matches.

From an intense war of a match between Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship to the awe-inspiring showdown pitting John Cena against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship, the undercard alone was worth the price of admission or network subscription.

Then there was the Rumble match—a controversial bout whose outcome was uninspiring to some and whose surprise No. 30 entrant was unpopular, to say the least.

Now that the event is in the books, relive the contests that electrified, infuriated, excited and captivated the fans, ranked from worst to best.

8. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

The worst match of Sunday's Royal Rumble card was an encounter that saw Sasha Banks square off with Nia Jax.

Fundamentally flawed from the beginning, it essentially saw Jax squash The Boss in dominant fashion, elevating her star and setting her up for a championship opportunity as soon as February's Fastlane pay-per-view.

The one-sided nature of the match was only one issue facing it.

The other was the lack of fight in the Banks character. Other than a generic babyface comeback executed late in the match, The Boss succumbed to Jax's offense easily.

Part of that played into the story being told, with Banks weakened by a knee injury exploited by Jax, but the trademark ferocity that has defined the babyface was nonexistent.

There is a better match to be had, using the same formula involved here, but this was not it. 

7. Six-Woman Tag Team Match

SmackDown Live's six-woman tag team match never had the opportunity to realize its full potential, thanks to an abbreviated match time and a half-empty stadium.

Thrown into the dreaded curtain-jerking spot, the six women worked hard to get their stories across despite the circumstances.

Even then, the contest was little more than a typical TV match.

None of the programs involved were advanced, although Naomi's victory likely earned her a championship opportunity against Alexa Bliss.

On a night that swayed heavily toward Raw, it was disappointing to see the SmackDown Live brand's women shortchanged as severely as they were.

6. Raw Tag Team Title Match: Sheamus and Cesaro vs. The Club

Sheamus and Cesaro are at a point in their careers where a bad match involving them—either as opponents or partners—is seemingly impossible. Sunday night, they delivered the first strong match of the show, defending their Raw Tag Team Championships against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

The match was everything you would expect from the duos: a hard-hitting, high-impact affair that captured the attention of the gradually increasing audience.

The presence of a second referee not only forced the performers to incorporate a different psychology, but it also led to a finish that allowed the babyfaces to save face while switching the titles.

Anderson capitalized on a Brogue Kick from Sheamus to one official by rolling Cesaro up and grabbing a handful of tights out of the view of the second referee.

The heels are new champions, and Sheamus and Cesaro have a credible argument for a rematch somewhere down the road.

5. Cruiserweight Championship Match: Rich Swann vs. Neville

Neville defeated Rich Swann for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in the best match the division has produced to date.

The King of the Cruiserweights dominated the action, but a late-match surge from Swann threatened his victory. Unfortunately for the champion, Neville proved unbeatable on that night, grabbing hold of the babyface and forcing a tapout, courtesy of the Rings of Saturn.

A match with a distinct story from start to finish and a compelling character in Neville for fans to invest in, this succeeded at a level that its predecessor cruiserweight bouts have not.

More importantly, it gave fans a champion to look forward to and a series of rematches to anticipate.

4. Raw Women's Championship Match: Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair

The Raw Women's Championship kicked off the pay-per-view portion of Sunday's show, with Bayley seeking to prove the cocky, arrogant and entitled champion Charlotte Flair wrong.

Flair once again proved why she is the lead character in the women's division. The nastiness with which she approaches every match and the condescending nature in which she toys with her opponent are easy for fans to recognize and react to.

As a result of her actions, beloved babyface Bayley was able to mount the electrifying comeback that nearly netted her a momentous victory.

Instead, Flair seized an opportunity and delivered Natural Selection for the pinfall victory.

A structurally outstanding match that needed a hotter finish and a Bayley win to reach greatness, it was enough to whet the appetite of a fanbase eager to see the babyface unseat Flair at the top of the division.

3. 2017 Royal Rumble Match

The Royal Rumble match was not without its flaws.

Yes, it bogged down in the middle as too many meaningless midcarders filled the ring.

Yes, it was the wrong decision to make the match so back-heavy and then eliminate the biggest stars in short order. Goldberg, Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar were all in the ring for less than 10 minutes, making the decision to feature them so prominently in the pre-match hype that much more curious.

Depending on one's feelings regarding Roman Reigns, his arrival at No. 30 was a disaster.

But the match was not without its bright spots.

Reigns was responsible for a moment that set up a marquee WrestleMania program. Braun Strowman was dominant as he tore through the competition, only to be eliminated by Baron Corbin in a moment that enhanced The Lone Wolf's star immensely.

There was Sami Zayn's heroic performance that began from the No. 8 spot and lasted until the closing moments of the bout. And what about Chris Jericho, whose resourcefulness allowed him to stick around for well over an hour while doing the absolute least possible?

More so than ever, this year's Rumble match was a story of individual stories rather than one collective tale. That does not endear it to all fans or critics, but that does not make it the utter disaster it is being portrayed as by some.

2. Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens

Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens are superb brawlers, excelling in matches where rules are relaxed and plunder is plentiful.

Sunday, without the tired booking crutch of Chris Jericho's interference to bail them out, the Superstars wrestled a brutal and violent match with more than a few cringe-worthy spots.

One saw Owens obliterate Reigns with a frog splash from the top rope through a table at ringside. That the champion landed on his challenger's face only added to the brutality of the maneuver.

Later, Owens constructed what commentator Corey Graves referred to as an "Erector Set" of steel chairs. Unfortunately for the Quebec native, he suffered a Superman Punch that sent him from the top rope through the chairs in a moment that caused more than a few gasps.

Late-match interference from Braun Strowman, who did not forget the spear he suffered at the hands of Reigns a few weeks earlier on Raw, doomed the babyface to defeat and allowed Owens to score the win.

Structurally, the match was fantastic. Each major spot increased in risk before Strowman arrived, building excitement and drama. Owens controlled the pace, and Reigns once again delivered a superb pay-per-view performance that everyone but him will get credit for.

Owens' tainted victory is the only thing holding this bout back from even more praise.

1. WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. AJ Styles

WWE will not produce another match as good as the WWE Championship bout between John Cena and AJ Styles from Royal Rumble.

A marquee match featuring two of the best wrestlers WWE has to offer, it seemingly brought a close to their rivalry and provided the promotion with its first Match of the Year candidate.

The contest featured several high spots and false finishes. Unlike other bouts guilty of overdoing both of those things, they were intricately placed to play off of their previous encounter at last August's SummerSlam.

From Cena's disbelief that the super Attitude Adjustment did not put Styles down for the count to The Phenomenal One's inability to put the determined Cena away with two of his Styles Clash finishers, the contest had fans on the edges of their seats, even if most assumed the babyface would be leaving with his 16th world title.

On a night when the event's namesake match left fans scratching their heads, and dissatisfaction with some of the plans laid out by WWE Creative's booking decisions reigned supreme, two of the greatest professional wrestlers of this generation wowed audiences with a classic, the likes of which fans can hold up as a representation of their love and admiration for the sports-entertainment industry.