The Biggest Takeaways From WWE’s The Greatest Royal Rumble

All-In on Daniel Bryan

Not long ago, the idea of Daniel Bryan wrestling again at all was considered a lost cause, and now he’s being given the spot of the Iron Man of this match, surpassing Rey Mysterio’s previous record by over 10 minutes.

That is quite impressive of a feat by itself, without even factoring in his injuries and the time he’s spent away from the ring.

It goes to show that WWE not only has faith in him as a top star like he should be, but that they’re willing to actually push him and not just keep him off on the sidelines for a while, or limit the amount of interaction he has with his opponents.

It was said that Bryan was back to being a full-time active member of the roster, and it very easily could have been a situation like with The Undertaker’s promise of not only appearing once a year, and then disappearing.

Bryan could have wrestled at WrestleMania and then maybe every other week on SmackDown, or been given a cushier spot closer to the end of this Royal Rumble match, but he was given the hardest spot of them all and lasted until the final three.

Having Big Cass eliminate him was a good move for Cass, as he needs the heat, and even though this feud isn’t what we all would have opted for right now, the way Bryan was treated here goes to show that WWE isn’t going to let him get lost in the shuffle, and there’s plenty of options for him to go in the future.

Braun Strowman’s Crowning Achievement

Despite perpetually showing off his strength and looking quite impressive, Braun Strowman hasn’t really amounted to all that much in the past few years.

He’s beaten down some tough people, but ultimately lost to the likes of Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns and others who could have given him something of a true moment, as even his Raw Tag Team Championship win at WrestleMania was played off for a gag and he dropped it the very next night, which proved that it was utterly meaningless.

This, however, was a true spotlight shined upon him in two different ways.

Not only was he the winner of this event, being given a trophy and a belt and the ability to close out the show, but he was the most dominant person in the match who happened to surpass the previous record of most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble previously set by Roman Reigns.

For over 10 years, Kane’s record stood as something nearly impossible to usurp, and when Reigns was given that accolade, it felt a lot more forced than this did.

This felt natural, because Strowman has continued a path of destruction for long enough and towers over nearly everybody in such an imposing way that you buy into him being the current Andre the Giant of sorts.

Now, it’s not just how Strowman has the potential to succeed and be a main event player that can achieve his goals rather than just keep coming up slightly short, he’s actually proven that he can get the job done, and I hope this is the first sign that there is a red strap coming around his waist sooner than later.

Those are the biggest things I felt were broadcast to me throughout this event, but what do you have to say? What were your impressions of how things went down? Drop a comment below and keep the discussion going!