WWE Greatest Royal Rumble

Since 1988, the Royal Rumble has been an annual January event held by WWE, shown on pay-per-view since 1989.[8] The event is highlighted by the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The match generally features 30 wrestlers.[9] The Greatest Royal Rumble included the largest version of the match to date, aptly named the Greatest Royal Rumble match, having a total of 50 participants, ousting the 2011 Royal Rumble's 40-man match.[10]

On March 5, 2018, WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority advertised the Greatest Royal Rumble, a live event to be held on April 27, 2018, at King Abdullah International Stadium, part of the King Abdullah Sports City, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.[10][11] The event was the first in a 10-year strategic multi-platform partnership between WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program.[2][12]

On March 19, 2018, WWE scheduled matches for all seven of their main roster male championships at the time: the Universal Championship, WWE Championship, Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship, SmackDown Tag Team Championship, and WWE Cruiserweight Championship. As revealed on March 22, 2018, the event was streamed live on the WWE Network.[5] It also aired on traditional pay-per-view in the United States[13] and internationally.[3] The event was also the first WWE pay-per-view with Arabic commentary.[14]

In the weeks leading up to the event, the WWE held tryouts in Saudi Arabia. From these tryouts, eight were selected to receive training by WWE, which would include an opportunity to earn a spot at the Greatest Royal Rumble event itself.[15]

The card comprised ten matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands.[16][17] Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live,[18] and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live.[19]

On April 9, Brock Lesnar, who had renewed his WWE contract, was scheduled to defend the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match as a rematch from WrestleMania 34.[20][21] On the Raw following WrestleMania, Reigns expressed frustration about not being told about his future matches and opponents, singling out the steel cage match with Lesnar. Reigns alleged that there was a conspiracy against him. Samoa Joe, who had been out with an injury since January, came out and warned Reigns that Lesnar would beat him again.[22]

On March 26, WWE scheduled a ladder match between then-champion The Miz, Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, and Samoa Joe for the Intercontinental Championship.[23] At WrestleMania 34, The Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Rollins, thus making Rollins the defending champion.[24] Both Miz and Joe were traded to SmackDown while Rollins and Bálor remained on Raw.[25][26]

On March 26, Cesaro and Sheamus were scheduled to defend the Raw Tag Team Championship against The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy).[23] At WrestleMania 34, however, Cesaro and Sheamus lost the titles to Braun Strowman and 10-year-old Nicholas.[24] The following night on Raw, Strowman and Nicholas relinquished the titles due to Nicholas being a fourth grader. Cesaro and Sheamus demanded their titles back, but Raw General Manager Kurt Angle instead scheduled them to face the winner of the four-team Tag Team Eliminator tournament for the vacant titles at the Greatest Royal Rumble.[22] "Woken" Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt won the tournament by defeating Titus Worldwide (Apollo Crews and Titus O'Neil) and The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson).[25] Cesaro and Sheamus were then traded to SmackDown during the Superstar Shake-up.[26]

At WrestleMania 34, The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) defeated The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and The New Day's Big E and Kofi Kingston in a triple threat tag team match to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.[24] On the following SmackDown, The Usos defeated The New Day to earn a title match at Greatest Royal Rumble.[27]

A match between John Cena and Triple H was scheduled on March 26.[23]

The Undertaker was originally scheduled to face Rusev in a casket match, the first match of its kind in three years.[28] Due to reasons not entirely clear, Rusev was temporarily replaced by Chris Jericho[29] — this was explained with Rusev's wife Lana complaining about her husband competing in a casket match[30] — but eventually reinserted back into the match. Jericho was restored to his original participation in the Greatest Royal Rumble match.[31]

At WrestleMania 34, Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Rusev in a fatal-four-way match to win the United States Championship.[24] Mahal was then traded to Raw and lost the championship to Jeff Hardy and Mahal invoked his rematch clause for the Greatest Royal Rumble.[25] Hardy was then traded to SmackDown the following night.[26]

At WrestleMania 34, AJ Styles successfully defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. After the match, Nakamura showed his respect to Styles but then attacked him with a low blow and a Kinshasa, turning heel.[24] On April 17, after repeated attacks on Styles by Nakamura, a rematch between the two was scheduled for the Greatest Royal Rumble.[26]

On the WrestleMania 34 pre-show, Cedric Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali in the WWE Cruiserweight Championship tournament final to win the vacant title.[32] Two nights later on 205 Live, Buddy Murphy attacked the new champion during his celebration.[33] Murphy was then scheduled to face Alexander for the title at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but he failed his mandatory weigh-in when he weighed 207 pounds, 2 pounds over the 205 pound weight limit. He was then removed from the match and banned from competing on 205 Live until he met the weight requirement.[34] The following week, Kalisto earned a Cruiserweight Championship match at the Greatest Royal Rumble by winning a gauntlet match.[35]

The actual pay-per-view opened with John Cena facing Triple H. During the match, Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Triple H for a near-fall. Cena attempted another Attitude Adjustment but Triple H countered into a Pedigree for a near-fall. In the end, Cena performed a second Attitude Adjustment on Triple H, a catapult into the corner, and a third Attitude Adjustment to pick up the victory. Following the match, Cena thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their hospitality, and expressed excitement over the event.[36]

In the following match, Cedric Alexander defended the Cruiserweight Championship against Kalisto. The match ended when Alexander countered a Salida Del Sol attempt into a Lumbar Check to retain the title.[36]

Next, the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship was contested between the team of Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy and the former champions, Cesaro and Sheamus. In the end, Hardy distracted Sheamus, allowing Wyatt to perform a Sister Abigail on him. Hardy and Wyatt then performed a wheelbarrow Twist of Fate on Sheamus to win the titles.[36]

Jeff Hardy then defended the United States Championship against Jinder Mahal. Hardy performed a Swanton Bomb on Mahal to retain the title.[36]

After that, The Bludgeon Brothers defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Usos. Harper and Rowan retained the titles after performing The Reckoning on Jimmy Uso.[36]

Next, Seth Rollins defended the Intercontinental Championship against Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and The Miz in a Ladder match. Near the end of the match, Balor attempted to retrieve the title, only for Rollins to springboard onto the ladder and retrieve the title belt, thus retaining the championship.[36]

In a segment between matches, four prospects from the recent Saudi tryouts (including Mansoor) came out to the ring to introduce themselves. Cruiserweight Ariya Daivari and his brother Shawn Daivari, who had not appeared for WWE in many years, came out to interrupt them. The Saudi prospects attacked and cleared the Daivari brothers from the ring.[36]

Later, AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. During the match, Nakamura resorted to various illegal tactics, such as a low blow, increasingly frustrating Styles. In the end, both Nakamura and Styles fought outside of the ring, only for the match to end in a double countout. After the match, Styles performed a Phenomenal Forearm to the floor on Nakamura.[36]

After that, The Undertaker fought Rusev (who was accompanied by Aiden English) in a Casket match. At the end of the match, Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Rusev and rolled him into the casket. Before he could close the lid, English attacked the Undertaker, who retaliated with another chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver before putting English into the casket alongside Rusev and closing it for the victory.[36]

In the penultimate match, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match. Reigns performed three spears on Lesnar for a near-fall. As Reigns tried to escape through the door, Heyman pushed the door into Reigns, allowing Lesnar to execute an F5 on Reigns for a near-fall. In the end, Reigns performed a Spear through the cage wall on Lesnar. Despite Reigns touching the floor first, the referee awarded the win to Lesnar, thereby retaining the Universal Championship.[36]

Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler began the 50-man Royal Rumble match as the first two entrants. Bryan survived until the final three, beating Rey Mysterio for the longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble match of all time at an hour and sixteen minutes. In the end, Big Cass eliminated Bryan and attempted a big boot on Braun Strowman, who countered and eliminated Cass to win the match. Strowman also achieved the most eliminations of a single Royal Rumble match at 13, beating out a record previously held by Roman Reigns with 12.[37] Post-match, Strowman received a trophy and the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship.[36]

  – Raw

  – SmackDown

  – 205 Live

  – NXT/NXT UK

  – Unbranded

  – Winner

• By eliminating 13 men, Braun Strowman broke the record of 12, set by Roman Reigns at the 2014 Royal Rumble.
• Daniel Bryan broke the longevity record for lasting 1:16:05, previous record held by Rey Mysterio (lasting 1:02:12) at the 2006 Royal Rumble.
• Big Show and Kane were scheduled for the match but were pulled from the event due to injury.[57][58]

At the conclusion of the Greatest Royal Rumble, Braun Strowman was awarded a trophy and the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship. According to The Sportster, "the likelihood is that nothing that took place in the main event will have any effect on anything once WWE arrives back in the United States and resume normal service."[59]

The base design is similar to the current design of the WWE Championship, with some differences.[60] Instead of a large cut out of the WWE logo, the center plate is modeled with an Arabic pattern with the WWE logo in the center. Like the WWE Championship belt and other belts introduced since 2016, the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship belt contains two side plates, both separated by gold divider bars, with removable round sections that can be replaced with the current champion's logo; the default plates show the official logo of Saudi General Sports Authority, which is identical to the national emblem of Saudi Arabia. The plates are on a green leather strap resembling the color of the national flag of Saudi Arabia.