WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Results: Reviewing Top Highlights and Low Points
As always, the WWE Royal Rumble had the gargantuan task of setting the tone for the rest of the year as well as the opening steps on The Road to WrestleMania 36.
A good Rumble event can pump up the fans so much that people can't wait until April, but a bad show can have a seriously negative effect on the company.
Was this event a sign of turbulent times ahead or a happy omen that the next few months might be worth getting invested in?
What were the biggest positives and negatives that stood out from the rest of Sunday's pay-per-view?
Presented in order of appearance, here are the highlights and low points from the 2020 Royal Rumble.
Full Match Results
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WWE Royal Rumble 2020 results
- Sheamus defeated Shorty G by pinfall.
- Andrade defeated Humberto Carrillo by pinfall to retain the United States Championship.
- Falls Count Anywhere Match: Roman Reigns defeated King Corbin by pinfall.
- Charlotte Flair won the 30-Woman Royal Rumble.
- Bayley defeated Lacey Evans by pinfall to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship.
- Bray Wyatt defeated Daniel Bryan by pinfall to retain the Universal Championship.
- Becky Lynch defeated Asuka by submission to retain the Raw Women's Championship.
- Drew McIntyre won the 30-Man Royal Rumble.
Kickoff Pre-Show Breakdown
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With two hours of pre-show content, there were a few ups and downs along the way.
Highlights
- R-Truth on the mic is always a win. His confusion about entering or undeclaring himself for the Royal Rumble was hilarious.
- Sheamus had been sorely missed. It's great to see him back in action and that he came out on top.
- WWE made the right decision keeping the United States title on Andrade.
Low Points
- Shorty G and Humberto Carrillo couldn't generate much support from the crowd to get fans invested in their matches. They were largely unimpressive segments.
- With only two matches over the two hours, far too much time was wasted. These feuds aren't complicated enough to need that much analysis.
- Not using the tumbler to select entry numbers for the Rumble match will always be a disappointment every year it is neglected.
The Kickoff show again proved nonessential, which is unfortunate. The only way WWE will convince casual fans to tune in to the pre-show is to make the content worth viewing, rather than nearly two hours of nothing and the least interesting matches on the card.
Middle of the Road: Falls Count Anywhere Match
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Roman Reigns and King Corbin took the Falls Count Anywhere stipulation to heart as they battled throughout Minute Maid Park in Houston.
For those watching at home, it was interesting to see them fight around the dugout, the stage and lighting equipment and more. For everyone in the arena, it was most likely difficult to follow and annoying to have to watch the screens.
Some of the spots were fun, but it's arguable there wasn't a single big takeaway that will be memorable beyond Sunday night. At best, it was when The Usos got involved and one of them jumped into frame for a splash.
This was fine for an opening match but nothing fantastic happened, so it was far from a highlight.
30-Woman Royal Rumble Match Breakdown
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Clocking in at over an hour, the Royal Rumble matches were filled with too much content to narrow down to a simple highlight or low point, so here's a breakdown of the pros and cons of the women's match:
Highlights
- Returning legends Mighty Molly, Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix were pleasant surprises.
- Plenty of NXT talent was featured, with Bianca Belair being the standout star among the bunch.
- Santina Marella's return was a fantastic comedy spot and completely unexpected.
- Naomi saving herself by jumping on the barricade was something we hadn't seen before and these are always fun moments.
Low Points
- It's disappointing Charlotte Flair was victorious, as this may lead to what feels like the millionth match between her and Becky Lynch, instead of something different.
- WWE missed an opportunity to keep the feud between Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai going like they did with Liv Morgan and Lana.
- No Sasha Banks at all?
It remains to be seen what the end result of Flair's win will be and how all the other pieces of the puzzle will be put together, but this was a great match.
Low Point: Bayley vs. Lacey Evans
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Following all the action in a Royal Rumble match is a difficult task, and Bayley and Lacey Evans weren't up for the challenge.
This match was uneventful with an even less impactful ending as the SmackDown women's champion pinned The Sassy Southern Belle following a failed moonsault. Normally, a spot like that would be a near-fall, so the audience wasn't even ready to react to the finish.
As a result, this felt more like a buffer match than a fight between the top titleholder on SmackDown and her No. 1 contender.
Low Point: Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan
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Strap matches normally have to be won by touching all four corners of the ring, which would have at least made this something different. Instead, this was a regular pinfall or submission match, meaning the strap did nothing but hinder Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt.
After the elongated entrance with a silent audience, the crowd stayed quiet for most of this segment. It took Bryan putting on the LeBell Lock for everyone to wake up for a moment.
It's not hard to see why, as this was mostly just the two men whipping each other. When they bothered to do something else, it was slow and quickly turned into another rest spot.
If all you wanted in this was to see Wyatt lumbering around, you got what you hoped for. But if you wanted something more on Bryan's level of quality in-ring action, this was beyond disappointing.
Highlight: Becky Lynch vs. Asuka
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This match would have had a more epic feel if the crowd had been more animated, but it was a great contest nevertheless.
Asuka gave Becky Lynch more than a run for her money, which was fitting as The Empress of Tomorrow had been built up as The Man's biggest obstacle yet.
There were moments when it seemed Lynch didn't have it in her to seal the win, so when she was able to put Asuka down, it felt like a true triumph.
As this was more energetic than the match before it, it also helped wake up the crowd more in preparation for the main event.
30-Man Royal Rumble Match Breakdown
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As with the women's Royal Rumble, the 30-man event requires a more intensive examination of its highs and lows.
Highlights
- While it was frustrating to see Brock Lesnar run through half the match, it made sense. The Beast Incarnate has consistently been the most dominant Superstar and this kept up that continuity.
- As far as surprising entrants go, MVP was an interesting addition to the match. Of course, Edge was the biggest takeaway and it was amazing to see him back in action.
- Royal Rumble wins are wonderful tools to push someone into the main event scene and a potential first title win. Giving this to Drew McIntyre fits that billing and could lead to him becoming a top talent.
Low Points
- John Morrison's quick elimination meant we were deprived of seeing him save himself after starting that trend many years ago.
- Kofi Kingston was also swiftly dispatched by Brock Lesnar, breaking his run of enterprising ways to save himself. Those moments are fun and it's a shame we only got Naomi's.
- Could the camera angles have been any worse for Edge's return? Fans didn't get to see Edge's spear of Dolph Ziggler because of a flub on the production side in which they showed fan reaction instead.
- WWE missed an opportunity to have Matt Riddle in the ring at the same time as Lesnar after Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reported a backstage row between the two.
All in all, this was a fun main event and a good way to set up WrestleMania 36.
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
