ROYAL RUMBLE, Year 2

Match 1. CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes - WWE Intercontinental Championship
Punk wrestled Cody around. Cody caught him off the ropes with a powerslam. Cody then set Punk up in the corner and hit the Muscle Buster. Punk landed the running knee/bulldog combo, but got a near fall. Cody connected with Cross Rhodes and won.

Damn. Shedding the 'Stardust' gimmick has gone well for Cody so far.

Match 2. Sting vs. Braun Strowman

Sting went for a clothesline, but he knocked the ref instead. Braun landed a press slam. Sting brought the match to the outside. He then got a near fall off a Samoan drop. Sting landed the tombstone piledriver, but Braun kicked out. Braun kicked out of the Scorpion Death Drop. After countering a suplex, Sting hit another finisher to win.

After the match, Sting continued the attack on Strowman.

Sting fought the giant and came out on top. He isn't done yet.

Match 3. The Shield vs. The New Day - WWE Tag Team Championship

Big E hit Reigns with a sit-out spine buster. E got a near fall on Dean after a double suplex. He then hit a super fall away slam. He continued the attack in their corner. He finished with a Big Ending with the help of Kofi to get the win.

The New Day kept Reigns out of the ring for 90 percent of the match. Smart move by them.

Match 4. The Rock vs. Kevin Owens - WWE Championship

These two went back and forth with Owens coming out on top. Rock fought back and destroyed Owens for minutes. Owens broke out of the Sharpshooter. Owens came back with a package powerbomb and buckle bomb. Rock hit the Rock Bottom out of nowhere and kicked out of the pop-up powerbomb. Rock countered a second one. Owens busted Rock open with like 15 punches. Rock hit a second finisher, but Owens grabbed the ropes. Owens came back and hit the powerbomb to win.

Wow. What a championship match. That was awesome. Rock had the match won a couple of times.

Match 5. Sami Zayn vs. Austin Aries
Zayn quickly hit a reverse DDT. Aries hit a back breaker/neck breaker combo. He later took Zayn down with a sweeping STO. Aries landed a German suplex and then hit a diving elbow through the table. Oh my God! Zayn got a near fall after an exploder suplex. After a brain buster, Aries pinned Zayn with his feet on the ropes, but got a near fall. Aries kicked out of Zayn's finishers and won with the brain buster.

A busted-open Zayn left, but kept jabbing at Aries. Great match, though.

Match 6. AJ Styles vs. Edge - NXT Championship

AJ came out with a clothesline at the opening bell. Edge countered a suplex, but AJ immediately left the ring. He went for a chair, but Edge blocked him. Edge later hit the Impaler. AJ connected with the Pele kick. After targeting the legs, he landed a reverse hurricanrana. Edge hit the spear out of nowhere, but AJ kicked out. After the Styles Clash, AJ won with the Calf Killer.

Not as good as the World title match, but this was much faster. Was this AJ's first win with the Calf Killer?

Main Event. 30-man Royal Rumble

The first two participants are...Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, both from WWE. No. 3 is Bobby Roode. He immediately went after Angle. No. 4 is Batista. Some big names in there already. Jericho DDT'd Batista. No. 5 is Rey Mysterio. Roode eliminated Angle and then focused on Rey. No. 6 is Shinsuke Nakamura! The King of Strong Style is here! He picked his spots when to attack. No. 7 is Neville. He along with Jericho and Nakamura eliminated Rey. Roode busted Batista open with a DDT. Batista eliminated Roode. No. 8 is The Miz. Neville tossed out Jericho. Nakamura eliminated Batista. No. 9 is Bray Wyatt. Bray dodged a 450 corkscrew. No. 10 is Jushin 'Thunder' Liger. Oh my! Nakamura hit Bray with a Michimoku Driver. No. 11 is Johnny Mundo. Liger landed a straightjacket powerbomb on Shinsuke. Nakamura eliminated Bray. Miz dropkicked Neville over the top.

No. 12 is John Cena. Here we go! He went after Mundo. No. 13 is James Storm. Liger eliminated Miz. Storm eliminated Liger. No. 14 is Hideo Itami. Nakamura hit Storm with a driver and Itami followed it up with a double knee stomp. Cena eliminated Mundo. No. 15 is Finn Balor. Nakamura eliminated Storm. No. 16 is Drew Galloway. There is one more surprise entrant left. Cena caught Balor in mid-air for an AA as Galloway kicked Nakamura off the apron. No. 17 is Dolph Ziggler. The ring is getting full again. No. 18 is Cesaro. He eliminated Balor. Galloway hit Ziggler with a release German suplex. No. 19 is Tye Dillinger. If only he was number 10. He eliminated Galloway. Hideo kicked Cena in the head and knocked him off the apron. No. 20 is Triple H. Time to play the game. He was immediately tested by Cesaro. He was then tossed over the top by Cesaro. Wow. No. 21 is Tommy Dreamer. Let's get extreme!

I still can't believe how quickly Trips was eliminated. Dreamer eliminated Itami. No. 22 is Shelton Benjamin. Cesaro eliminated Dillinger. No. 23 is Sheamus. He quickly eliminated Ziggler. No. 24 is Seth Rollins. Cesaro is still holding on. He eliminated Dreamer. No. 25 is Samoa Joe. He and Shelton eliminated Cesaro. No. 26 is Rusev. He and Rollins wore down Joe. No. 27 is Ric Flair. Joe eliminated Shelton. Seth eliminated Sheamus. Rusev eliminated Flair. Joe went for the Coquina Clutch on Rollins, but Rusev interrupted. No. 28 is Baron Corbin. Corbin eliminated Rollins. No one from WWE is left. The winner will be from NXT. No. 29 is Wade Barrett. Joe suplexed Corbin and took a while to get up. He eliminated Rusev. Barrett eliminated Corbin. No. 30 is Apollo Crews. The three stared at each other. Barrett and Crews locked up. Joe got involved and took out both men. Crews eliminated Barrett. After a little back-and-forth, Joe clotheslined Crews over the top to win.

Recap: Joe will get a shot at the NXT champion at WrestleMania. There were some good surprises in the Rumble match, the biggest one being Nakamura. I hope we see him again soon. Three new champions on SmackDown.

Stats: Three men led with four eliminations (Joe, Nakamura, Cesaro). Triple H was eliminated the fastest.