Royal Rumble Weekend - Part 2

Went to WWE Royal Rumble last week taking place at Minute Maid Park. I got into downtown Houston near noon. Got food at Flying Saucer as its one few places open around downtown on a Sunday.

Walked around the area which include Houston Dynamo soccer stadium nearby. I should make note of eating at Biggio's next time.

They already got merchandise stands outside the stadium including the overpass. Got in line early because of disastrous waiting in line fiasco at Wrestlemania 32. The doors were to be opened at 3 PM that fans around me did the countdown only to delayed by 20 minutes which isn't bad. Got in and witness how setup the ring. They tarp the grass which will be regrown before the season starts. Outside seats are closed off. Found out later during show the show its one of areas they shot off pyro. The roof remained closed the entire time. Made it to my seats located on third level right above the entrance. I also like bottomless souvenir cup drinks they offered.

Pre-show have Sheamus booting Shorty G Chad Gable for the win and Andrade retaining US title over Humberto Carrillo and appearance of R-Truth who didn't appear in the Rumble.

The main show started with Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin fighting all over the stadium field and ended with Reigns spearing Corbin on top of dugout for the win.

Next up is the women's Royal Rumble starting off with Alexa Bliss and Bianca Belaire. First surprise is appearance of Molly Holly under her "Mighty Molly" gimmick she had in 2001. Lana ranted on her way in and is first eliminated by Liv Morgan. Glad to see Mercedes Martinez in it after spending two decades on the independent scenes. Otis saving Mandy Rose from elimination is one of many highlights of the match. Next set surprises were Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix who got busted open during the match, and Santino Marella under his "woman" character Santina. Santina used the cobra on herself and stumbled out to eliminate herself from the match is funny visual to see. Naomi returned and did one of her how not get eliminated from match. I expected Shayna Baszler to win it but Charlotte eliminated her to win the women Royal Rumble and a women title shot at Wrestlemania.

Bayley defeated Lacey Evans to retain Smackdown women championship. The Fiend Bray Wyatt snuffs Daniel Bryan out in a strap match to retain WWE championship. Becky Lynch exorcise her demons making Asuka tap out to retain RAW women championship.

Then the main event of Royal Rumble. It was tale of two stories into one match. WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar decimating and eliminating first 13 wrestlers that entered. It was one of those carnival type deals where ringmaster (Paul Heyman) daring anyone to eliminate the baddest, meanest, toughest man (Brock). Some of his past ghosts (Kofi Kingston and Rey Misterio) tried to get rid of him but they fell victim to him. See interaction of Limitless Keith Lee and Brock teasing potential of one-on-one match of the two in the future. The crowd might have got tired of Brock act later on til Drew McIntyre came out at 15. He claymore kicked Brock out of the match to big time huge cheer from the crowd. It was coming of age for him after being named "The Chosen One" was back in 2009. His elimination of Brock made the fans view him as "The Chosen One" to unseat Brock Lesnar from Universal title. That isn't the biggest pop of the night. The biggest one was return of Rated R Superstar Edge. Edge was forced to retired 9 years ago due to serious neck injury. No one thought we could see in action ever. Once entry 21 came and the words "You Think You Know Me" echoed through the speakers the crowd lost in all forms of excitement.

For any wrestling fan how can you not love this return. The bad part is A.J. Styles hurt his shoulder in the match and have to be eliminated earlier than expected. Edge lasted as final three competitors with Reigns eliminating him. He and Drew McIntyre battle on with McIntyre giving him the claymore kick and threw him out to win the Royal Rumble and title shot for Wrestlemania. As booking shows he picked Universal champion Brock Lesnar as his opponent for Wrestlemania.

This was fun evening at Royal Rumble. My voice took it rough from the screaming and yelling as it took few days to get back to normal. It's one of those "You have to be there." to experience it. Here few entrance videos I took from the Rumble