WWE Royal Rumble live recaps and results: Becky Lynch wins women’s Royal Rumble

There was a very strange energy inside of Chase Field just before the bell rang for the Raw women’s championship match at the Royal Rumble. Fans were collectively excited to see the match, but the feelings for Ronda Rousey were decidedly mixed.

There was a vocal contingent of Rousey fans, but the support of Becky Lynch has stretched so far that the spectre of Lynch finally getting a chance at Rousey turned other parts of the crowd against the Raw women’s champ. At the same time, there were plenty of Sasha Banks supporters, but even as different sections of the crowd got louder or more quiet, there was a buzz to see how everything would play out.

Rousey and Banks battered each other from pillar to post, each taking out an arm of their opponent, but in the end Rousey absorbed everything Banks had to give and held on just a little bit longer to secure the victory. Despite the intensity and level of physicality in the match, the lasting image of this match happened after the bell. As Rousey shook Banks’ hand, Banks pulled away and put up the four-finger hand salute of the Four Horsewomen — a moniker that the NXT quartet of Banks, Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Bayley use, but also one Rousey and her trio of compatriots currently in NXT have utilized.

As far as the match went, there was no pulling punches at any point in the contest. Rousey embraced the role of the heel early on as she mocked Banks by pulling out Eddie Guerrero’s “three amigos” trio of suplexes. Banks stifled that combo, though, and managed to control a good chunk of the match with flying knees, kicks and punches — anything that could hit.

Banks eventually got cocky, though, and that allowed Rousey to roll through with a swinging neckbreaker that looked truly brutal. From that point on, both in and out of the ring, Rousey and Banks traded submission attempt after submission attempt. Rousey caught a suicide dive at one point and got Banks to tap out on the outside — highlighting Rousey’s inexperience and lack of situational knowledge, as that tap out would not ultimately count.

Banks got control back once action returned to the ring, and locked in a modified surfboard stretch that look agonizingly painful. Both women attacked from creative angles, but both worked most of the tail end of the match clutching one of their arms. They modified their offense in kind, though, and Banks seemingly had the match on a razor’s edge by utilizing part of her ring gear to lock in the Banks statement.

Rousey resisted, though, and while Banks rolled through to the middle of the ring and trapped Rousey’s arm, the champion rolled through and hit a combination suplex and powerbomb. She picked Banks up, spun her around and dropped Banks on her head to secure the win.

The suggestion that a battle of the four horsewomen is palpable, but we’ll have to wait until the end of the women’s Royal Rumble to see the picture a little more clearly.

SmackDown tag team championships: The Miz & Shane McMahon def The Bar (c)

Before tonight’s challengers joined forces, the SmackDown tag team division was strong. The addition of the compelling combination of The Miz and Shane McMahon has increased it even further. The unlikely duo found themselves in a position to capture the SmackDown tag titles just a month after establishing themselves as a team. Their partnership was built on the basis of Miz living up to his father’s expectations, a feeling McMahon knew all too well.

Would the shiny new toy or well-oiled two-year experienced team prevail?

The match began with McMahon spearing Sheamus to kick things off in intense fashion and the early sequences maintained that tempo with a lot of back and forth action. The first big spot of the match occurred when McMahon appeared ready to perform one of his patented elbow drops from the turnbuckle onto Cesaro who was lying on the announcers table. Miz was holding down Cesaro, but Sheamus interfered and Cesaro broke free.

McMahon, still perched on top of the ropes, changed his target and hit a top rope clothesline onto Sheamus.The advantage didn’t last long, however, and the Bar took control back inside the ring with a number of double team tactics on The Miz.

Eventually, Miz made the hot tag to McMahon and unleashed a flurry of strikes onto Sheamus. A few sequences later, McMahon had both Sheamus and Cesaro set up in the middle of the ring and appeared poised to deliver his patented coast-to-coast dropkick. However, as jumped off the turnbuckle, Cesaro caught him mid flight and performed an extended version of the Cesaro swing. After the swing, McMahon immediately turned the tides locked in a triangle choke, but flying knee by Sheamus off the top rope broke the hold.

In an effort to close out the match, Cesaro held Shane up to allow Sheamus connect with a Brogue kick, but Miz shoved Cesaro in front of the kick and caught Sheamus with a skull crushing finale and rolled him out the ring.

As Cesaro laid in the middle of the ring, McMahon hit a beautiful shooting star press and secured the championships for his team and the two celebrated with the ringside Mr. Mizanin.

Will the Miz and McMahon duo flourish now that they have the straps or will the pressure of being the top team in a stacked division be too much? Many predict that their partnership will derail heading towards WrestleMania. Time will tell.

SmackDown Live women’s championship: Asuka (c) def. Becky Lynch

When you’re building a major show the size and scale of Royal Rumble, you need something to kick the card off with a bang.

By starting the show with the SmackDown women’s championship match, WWE accomplished a few things at once. They got an electric reaction for Becky Lynch, they got a tremendous match and, most importantly, a shocking result that did wonders for both women involved.

Just over a month after losing the United States championship to Rusev on SmackDown, Shinsuke Nakamura regained that title on the Royal Rumble Kickoff. The end of the match saw Nakamura remove the top turnbuckle cover, which brought Lana up to the apron to complain. The distraction led to a sequence in which Nakamura tricked Rusev, slipped out of the way and caused Rusev to crash into Lana – the second time he’s done so in recent weeks. In the confusion, Nakamura hit a Kinshasa knee and earned a pinfall victory.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com3h ago

Some might question Asuka defeating Lynch — likely the most popular star of the moment — cleanly in the middle of the ring. To those in opposition, there may yet be a sound explanation by the end of the night. In the meantime, there’s no doubting the reclamation project for Asuka is complete heading into the busiest time of year.

From the opening bell, this title clash was a stiff, technical affair. Lynch shook off some brutal kicks from the beginning, and that set the tone for everything to follow. Asuka certainly got her shots in, but Lynch easily gave as good as she got. A Bex-ploder suplex into the ring barrier was an indicator of just how far and how hard these women were willing to go in this match.

Asuka and Lynch flew all over the ring, used every part of the ring to batter each other back and forth, and each struggled to get a definitive edge until the match started to peak. Everything hit another level when, after a major struggle on the apron ended with a brutal-looking fisherman’s neckbreaker by Asuka that sent both women crashing to the ground.

As they slowly climbed to their feet, they traded open-handed slaps and stared death into each other’s eyes. Lynch blocked a backfist, but couldn’t quite turn it into a Dis-arm-her. A top rope Bex-ploder only got a two count, and a follow-up top rope leg drop missed.

Asuka was able to sink into the Asuka lock, but then turned it into a dis-arm-her. Lynch responded by stealing Asuka’s submission, but it all spun into a pinfall attempt. Finally, as Lynch and Asuka each fought to lock in their signature submissions, Asuka finally got the upper hand. When the Asuka lock wasn’t quite enough, she flipped over on her head and put Lynch in what I can only describe as a variation of Daniel Bryan’s old pre-WWE finisher, but that was enough to get the win.

Let the speculation of Lynch being in the women’s Royal Rumble begin, but for now, Asuka picked up a signature win, to say the least.

Kickoff show:

Cruiserweight championship: Buddy Murphy (c) def. Akira Tozawa, Hideo Itami and Kalisto

ESPN Staff Writer

In a match that featured the creativity and acrobatics you would hope for in a four-way Cruiserweight Championship match, Buddy Murphy pinned Hideo Itami to retain his title in a match that also involved Akira Tozawa and Kalisto. The finish came via a Murphy’s Law, after a crazy sequences of knee strikes and stiff blows between all four competitors. The match might not have been on the main card, but if that was the reason they got 15-20 minutes to shine, then it was well worth the pre-show placement. (Photo from @WWE205Live)

Matt Willis, ESPN Staff Writer3h ago

United States championship: Shinsuke Nakamura def. Rusev (c)

Just over a month after losing the United States championship to Rusev on SmackDown, Shinsuke Nakamura regained that title on the Royal Rumble Kickoff. The end of the match saw Nakamura remove the top turnbuckle cover, which brought Lana up to the apron to complain. The distraction led to a sequence in which Nakamura tricked Rusev, slipped out of the way and caused Rusev to crash into Lana – the second time he’s done so in recent weeks. In the confusion, Nakamura hit a Kinshasa knee and earned a pinfall victory.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com3h ago

Still to come:

Men’s Royal Rumble

Universal championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Balor

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