Xavier Woods vs. Jinder Mahal—US Championship Tournament Semi-Finals
Winner: Jinder Mahal Khallas
The New Day cuts a promo on pancakes, and how they are similar to the United States. They have a valid point—eggs, milk and flour are great on their own, but when put together, become fantastic. The New Day seem to also be like pancakes. Woods further proved that he could hustle as a singles competitor, but the match wouldn’t have been nearly as entertaining without Kofi and Big E there with him. Who else would throw food at the Singh brothers?
Just when I thought the New Day may be drying out, they just seemed to get better and better. Jinder Mahal, however, seems to be doing the opposite. For weeks, I’ve been bored by his redundant, basic “I hate America, my country’s the best” gimmick and I wouldn’t be disappointed if he had less TV time.
Various Royal Rumble promos
AJ Styles tells Renee Young that Kami (Kevin + Sami) is going to lose at the Royal Rumble. I found it surprising that this was the only appearance from all 3 of these men all night.
I have found that I very much prefer promos for the Rumble when they’re shot professionally instead of on cell phones taken as selfies. I really want to believe that Tamina could be a serious competitor, but it’s hard to focus on what she’s saying when the poor lighting behind her accentuates the flyaways in her hair. Somehow, almost every woman looked worse than they should’ve and it was distracting.
Sarah Logan needs to work on her microphone work for sure and I’m not the only one who thinks she’s been brought up to the main roster prematurely. Her teammate Liv Morgan, however, seems to be thriving in promos. Natalya and her cat references are annoying, but we already knew that.
Mojo Rawley vs. Bobby Roode
Winner: Bobby Roode
Mojo puts on a decent match, good work as a heel when asking Roode if he cracked his rib and then hammering the ribs some more.
Roode hits Glorious DDT, wins
Singh bros come out and beat up Roode, Jinder says hell win
Roode suggests the match is tonight, Bryan agrees
Mojo seems to be getting a little better in the ring. He lacks great technique, but is starting to play up the heel-ness while he has an advantage, for example, when he asked Bobby Roode mid-match if he had cracked his rib and then deliberately beat on his ribs some more.
After the match, Jinder Mahal sends the Singh brothers to attack Roode. Roode then calls out Mahal and proposes that the final match be tonight, which Daniel Bryan agrees to. This is a great move for Bobby Roode—it makes him look like the babyface hero who has the strength and endurance to face two matches in one night and defeat the bad guy. This is the king on top of a cake that reads “Bobby Roode deserves to be United States Champion”.
Charlotte, Naomi, and Becky Lynch vs. the Riott Squad
Winner: Riott Squad
While the Riott Squad doesn’t look terrible in and out of the ring each week, they have been booked as a poor man’s (or woman’s) Absolution. By introducing these two stables at the same time, WWE is bound for fans to compare them. When Absolution dominates every week on Raw, the Riott Squad only seems to get the upper hand half of the time.
The Riott Squad also seems to have copied the storyline Absolution started weeks ago—heel female stable vs. 3 babyface friends who have come together to try and defeat them. However, Ruby Riott and her companions haven’t been as successful, weakening them by putting them against 3 of the best women in wrestling today. I’m confused: do they want to make the Riott Squad look strong, or do they want to make the returning Becky Lynch look strong? Liv Morgan getting the pin was good, but just didn’t seem to be enough for this team.
Benjamin and Gable attack the Usos backstage
It is unclear where WWE will want to go with the Uso Penitentiary following the Royal Rumble due to Jey Uso’s DUI arrest. One thing that’s for sure is that the feud between the twins and Benjamin and Gable is entertaining both in and out of the ring. The Usos confused their names when talking to Dasha Fuentes to prove a point: Gable and Benjamin know who they are and they know they’ll win at the Rumble. When they’re attacked by Benjamin and Gable, they’re told their names are “former” and “champions”. Nice.
Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal—US Championship Tournament Final
Winner: Bobby Roode
Noted that Bryan and Shane are getting along, came together and banned Singh bros from ringside
Jinder is in control for most of the match
Bobby wins his first main roster title
As the match begins, it’s noted that Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon worked together seemingly well by removing the Singh brothers from ringside for this match. Maybe they’ll get along after all?
Jinder takes control of most of this match, beating down on Bobby Roode as Roode gets some offense here and there. What’s subtly played up is the fact that Roode can endure great amounts of offense—two matches in one night, including a beat down from Mahal that he bounced back from. It is no surprise that Roode won the US Championship, he may be the one who deserves it most on the SD roster right now.
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