WWE Royal Rumble 2020: Live updates, results and match ratings – CNET

This year’s Royal Rumble is the most unpredictable in years, which is great news for WWE fans. Broadcasting live on the WWE Network on Sunday night, the event will see two Royal Rumble matches (one for the men, one for the women) as well as two high-profile championship matches. Bray Wyatt defends his Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan in one, while Asuka competes for Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship in the other.

WWE Champion Brock Lesnar is on the card, but he won’t be defending his title. Instead, and unusually, he’ll be in the men’s Royal Rumble match. And not only that, he’s entering in the number one spot. Whoever can eliminate The Beast is probably on track for a WWE Championship shot, whether they win the Rumble or not. 

We’ll be updating this page with results and analysis as the main card begins (4 p.m PT, 7 p.m. ET).

Becky Lynch vs. Asuka

A return match from last year’s show, Becky Lynch defends her Raw Women’s Championship against Asuka next in what should be a winner of a match.

The Fiend Bray Wyatt is still Universal Champion

Daniel Bryan is an absolute magician. For the second time, he convinced an arena that he could beat Bray Wyatt and win the Universal Championship. But just like Survivor Series, it was not to be. The Fiend retained his title in the strap match after a mandible claw slam and pinfall. 

It was a great match, but it started slow. Wyatt worked over Bryan, welting him up with the strap and beating him around the ring. Eventually Bryan hit a comeback, with multiple running knees, a gnarly-looking Yes Lock with the strap and, as with every good Bryan match, a well-timed small package. But after hitting a running knee for a two count, The Fiend pops up, invincible like, and got the mandible claw for the win.

Rating: 4 stars. 

Bayley retains her SmackDown Women’s Championship

A thought for these women, who were in the dead zone having to follow the Royal Rumble. After an OK match, Bayley pinned Lacey Evans after she countered a moonsault attempt.

The match wasn’t anything special, but both women worked hard. The truth is that they never really had a chance, considering what they were following. Admittedly, they did get pockets of the crowd into it — so good for them. And Lacey Evans, though she did botch one springboard attempt, has shown huge improvement from where she was just a few months ago.

Rating: 2 stars. It was fine. Big props to Lacey Evans though, who’s showing noticeable improvement. 

Charlotte Flair wins women’s Royal Rumble

This was a very good Royal Rumble match. Charlotte Flair may have won, but the two big stars were actually from NXT: Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler. 

Alexa Bliss and Bianca Belair were started as number one and two. Halfway through the match, Bliss and Belair were the only women left in the ring. Belair eliminated eight women alone. Key eliminations included Lana, who was quickly eliminated by Liv Morgan, and Liv Morgan, who was subsequently (illegally) by Lana. Mandy Rose was thrown out of the ring, but landed on Otis, intent on winner her affections, in such a way that her feet never touched the ground. Later, Rose was thrown out and caught by Otis again. Belair then tossed Sonya Deville onto Otis and Rose, eliminating both Rose and Deville. 

After some back and forth, Belair eliminated Bliss. She was then met in the ring by Charlotte Flair. After a few minutes, Belair was eliminated by Flair. The second half of the match was quiet, thickening the field in the ring after everything was essentially reset halfway through. 

Number 30 was Shayna Baszler, who eliminated seven women, including Beth Phoenix. Baszler had great fire, and looked like a star. It came down to Baszler and Flair, with Flair skinning the cat and throwing over Baszler.

Surprise entrants included Mighty Molly Holly, Beth Phoenix (who got bloodied up bad on the back side of her head), Kelly Kelly, a returning Carmella and, uh, Santina Marella. 

Rating: 3.25 stars. There were some quiet periods, and some of the women looked lost or sloppy at points, but overall this was a well laid-out Rumble match, and a mostly well-executed one too. 

Roman Reigns defeats Baron Corbin

These two have been feuding for months now, hopefully this Falls Count Anywhere match is the end. After what felt like a very long bout, Roman Reigns pinned Baron Corbin with a atop a dugout in Houston’s Minute Maid Park arena. 

The match began in the ring, where Reigns dominated. But it quickly turned into a generic brawl, with the two scrapping around the arena. There were some nice spots: Corbin hit a impactful chokeslam through the ringside announce tables for a 2, and interference from The Usos, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode led to one of the Usos landing a dive from the sound stage onto Roode and Ziggler on the concrete floor. At one point, Reigns threw Corbin into a portaloo and tipped it over. That was… something.

But really, nothing stands out about this match. Both men will be in the Rumble later tonight, so the story is unfortunately likely to continue there.

Rating: 1 star. Long and boring. 

Kickoff Show results

Sheamus pins Shorty G: No surprise here, as this is Sheamus’ return match. It wasn’t a squash, as Gable got some offense in, but ultimately Sheamus won with a Brogue Kick.

Andrade retains the US Championship: These two had a nice, long match, ending with Andrade winning via rollup.