Mr. Tito’s PHAT WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Show Review and Grade
Welcome to my WWE Royal Rumble 2025 review posted exclusively here at NoDQ.com. I would have posted this much earlier, but unforeseen circumstances took me “out of actions” to cause this delay. After I initially scoffed at the ticket prices as seen in THIS COLUMN, as I was trying to get tickets within the inner bowl of the Lucas Oil Stadium and it was costing an arm and a leg, a week later I thought about it…
In my view, I’m predicting that Saudi Arabia is going to host the WWE Royal Rumble for at least the next 5 years. They’ll cut WWE big checks, TKO and Endeavor loves that dollar bill, and Saudis are obsessed with the word “Royal” and buying up stuff to host on their soil. That and with John Cena’s final year plus never seeing a handful of wrestlers live, such as CM Punk, I found a pair of reasonably priced yet not-too-far seats and I went to the Royal Rumble. I was so excited, as I’ve only seen episodes of RAW and Smackdown live before and just 1 PPV/PLE (the Extreme Rules in Pittsburgh from late 2010s).
I even got to meet the BOSS of NoDQ, Aaron Rift, before the show (yes, that is a REAL picture above this column!). We met up at a restaurant before that where I also met his lovely wife and her friend. It was a pleasure to meet all 3 in-person and enjoyed the company before the show! I also saw NoDQ Review occasional panelist Songoshaku at the door of this establishment and as I held the door for several of his friends, I said “hi Son” and he looked at me funny like “who is this?”. LOL
As I walked to the Lucas Oil Stadium, I was amazed by the insane lines of people getting in. This was truly a massive show for WWE, packing a NFL stadium with just over 70,000 people. Took forever to get into the venue and when I got in, I was amazed at the incredible set-up. Then, when you look at the set-up on Peacock/WWE Network/Netflix, you can see why it looked incredible on television. Just a massive sea of people and they were LOUD and excited to be there.
BUT, I only watched 1 match live in-person… The Women’s Rumble. That’s it. I wasn’t feeling well as the event started and I had to tap out early and continued to be ill through the rest of the weekend and into Monday. So I can only tell you my impressions about the Women’s Rumble live in-person, while the rest is what I just watched on Peacock.
Let’s get right into the review…
Mr. Tito’s PHAT WWE Royal Rumble Review
Always good to see Stephanie McMahon out there… That’s a nice touch that Triple H has done to rebuild her confidence after volunteering to step away when her Dad, Vince McMahon, started getting into trouble. She’s a babyface now, as fans feel for her, and they were excited to see here there.
While the WWE lighting set-up looks great on television, it’s just brutal to see in-person. While they weren’t always pointed in my section, I could hear “turn the lights off” from the upper deck portions and I could see which lights were punishing them from the top of the light deck. WWE has to give fans their “bang for their buck” and that includes NOT blinding them at live events. If you’re going to ask anyone to pay $200 to $3,000 to attend a live event, you shouldn’t impair them from enjoying the event. We’re in 2025 and surely, lighting technicians can figure out a better way to make a fantastic presentation for both TV and live attendees at the same time for these massive stadium events.
First match was the Women’s Rumble, the only match that I saw live… But I’ve seen this now in-person and live. I’ve seen online criticisms that this match “sucked”, but I’m baffled as to why anyone hated this. It was arguably the best Women’s Rumble match yet, aside from the very first year that was full of nostalgia. Could it have been better with Becky Lynch or AJ Lee appearing? Sure, but AJ doesn’t want to come back and holding Becky back allowed Charlotte’s return to make a bigger impact. I thought the match, overall, was fun, action packed, and gave a ton of newer female wrestlers big spots to work and be featured.
And damn that Alexa Bliss pop was HUGE. Everybody in that arena jumped to their feet and were screaming when she appeared. Hearing it in person and then listening to it on television plus watching the rest of the matches on television, she had the biggest pop of the night. And yes, there’s that “dirt sheets” attack that’s associated with it, but the FACT remains that Alexa wasn’t coming back UNLESS she was given a brand new WWE contract. Well, WWE caved and gave her a new 5-year deal. That negotiation friction was what many of the reporters were reporting and that actually happened. So don’t spike the football too early yet on the insiders, as they had that story right.
I thought Chelsea Green was a huge hit in the Rumble match. Fans were into her and so proud anytime she escaped defeat or tossed someone over. I thought Zoey Stark looked incredible, as her outfit (silver pants, black top) and the face paint made her look like a badass and I saw a ton of big spots from here. WWE has a ton of youth, length, and energy in the Women’s division that I’m about to REVERSE COURSE on one position that I once had… The US and IC Titles in the Women’s division are needed. There’s a ton of talent out there and adding the likes of Jordynne Grace will only require more things to fight over.
Loved seeing Grace out there… She was such a badass and fans were in awe when she lifted someone 3-4 times her weight like a feather and gave her the Death Valley Driver. I’m so happy that all of that hard work in TNA has paid off for her and she’ll be a tremendous asset for the WWE to enjoy. As a longtime fan, I popped huge for Trish Stratus and like Aaron’s wife, I like the Bella Twins and had ZERO problems with Nikki Bella at #30. Trish and Nikki were the bridges to the older division, as the WWE women’s division is stacked. NXT performers were amazing, too, and should fill out this roster nicely for years to come as the current stars get older and start to move on.
It was good to see Charlotte Flair back… Would I have picked her to win the Rumble? I need to see where this goes before I am critical. For example, if she challenges Tiffany Stratton and has a match with Tiffany that makes Tiffany look like a stronger star, win or lose, then I’ll be OK with it. But if it’s just Charlotte assuming her usual top dominant spot at the top of the roster with her same old “I’m the queen” and “elite because I’m Ric’s daughter” character, then in hindsight, I’ll dislike the move. THAT SAID, as a fan attending the event and mostly liking Charlotte’s work, it was nice to see her having a big moment in-person.
Personally, I would have gone with Bianca Belair. When Bianca entered the Rumble match, she pumped so much energy and excitement into that match by her admission alone as she can practically do anything inside that ring. When Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley get a chance to wrestle at Wrestlemania, it’s gonna be huge. Maybe it’s not this year, but for future years, that’s a massive match-up.
Here’s an overall comment I want to make about the Women’s division… GET BETTER ENTRANCE MUSIC, PLEASE! Your music sucks and nothing stands out to help these ladies get further over. If Triple H and crew really want to make this company blossom into something even larger, take investment in a REAL composer of music and craft themes that get the female wrestlers over instantly rather than you needing the Titantron screen to tell you who is coming out. How is it that I know exactly when Trish and Nikki are coming out but struggle mightily to tell who in the hell is coming out with the rest of the roster? Trish and Nikki have good theme songs crafted for them that you’ll know instantly when they play…
What I saw live was equally as great, if not better, on television.
Now, on to the review of the rest of the show which I’ve seen on Tuesday morning…
As I said on the NoDQ Predictions show, I really wasn’t into the DIY vs. Motor City Machine Guns 2 out of 3 falls match. They were in a tough spot, for one, but their experience as tag teams really didn’t produce a great tag match. Could you imagine giving this spot to the Hart Foundation and Demolition? Hardys and Edge/Christian? I would imagine those teams, among other all time great teams, could have given us more in 14 minutes. I know that Shawn Michaels and Triple H love themselves some DIY, but we’ve had years of them selling Ciampa and Gargano as “great talents” yet they appear to be just consistent as workers and not necessarily evolving into something bigger or greater. And with due respect to Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, there’s a reason why mostly just TNA and Ring of Honor had interest in them. Good tag team for those promotions, but on this stage with 70,000+ people, it just didn’t fit. Sandwiching this match between 2 rumble matches and a ladder match isn’t fair, but I’d argue other tag teams would have LOVED this spot and made something of it. These 4 guys had a rough night in a tough spot, so just pick yourselves up and try again.
Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens was as great, violent, and psychological as advertised. For this one, you could just feel the HATRED that Kevin Owens’s character had for Cody. And with that energy, it pushed Cody to dig deep down into his darker devices and hit Owens right back. That ending was so violent with the Alabama Slam through the ladder. Hopefully, Cody keeps the winged eagle belt as his World Title rather than that TURD “WWE” logo belt. Plus, those massive outside WWE Shops can price gouge people to re-sell the winged eagle title if Cody adopts it. I saw a long line on the Northern end of the stadium that I had to walk through and here it was the WWE’s outside merchandise shop taking everyone’s money.
Folks, this Royal Rumble was the #3 WWE gate of ALL TIME and is only behind Wrestlemania 40’s Night #1 and #2. Think about how absurd that is.
The Men’s Royal Rumble Match was fantastic… Where do I begin? This was the MOST STACKED Rumble in many years, as it was loaded with a collection of top stars and former world champions. Just that moment when CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and John Cena are each staring at each other while AJ Styles is on the mat, selling something… And then Seth Rollins comes in. Just so much star power and it felt like everybody had a moment to shine.
This match made me convinced that WWE’s future is in good hands with Bron Breakker and Jacob Fatu as the next top stars. Damn, they both looked like legit badasses out there. That poor fill-in guy got MURDERED with a spear by Bron Breakker! Fatu looked like he has been in the WWE for years, yet he’s been there less than a year.
WWE really likes what they have with Penta… It was interesting to see him work with Rey Mysterio, as Rey is so polished and smooth and Penta has a rougher, more physical style. WWE Creative gave Penta a huge debut and a long-lasting Rumble debut. Make the most of it, kid! Don’t know what WWE was thinking with Ludwig Kaiser’s 6 second elimination, but oh well. Loved seeing Joe Hendry out there and he deserved that big entrance after the breakout 2024 that he had. Crazy seeing him work with Miz, Roman Reigns, and others. MASSIVE heat for Dirty Dom and Logan Paul, loved it. I personally like the choice of Logan Paul getting #30 and then eliminating CM Punk to make you feel like he’ll really steal this. Yet, Paul would become the second to last person gone when Cena eliminated him.
Jey Uso won the 2025 Royal Rumble and therefore gets to choose which World Title to chase. Now, since I just watched this today after having 2 days to think about this, I don’t know how I would have reacted if I saw it live. If I saw this live, I’d be in Lucas Oil Stadium and within a crowd loudly chanting “YEET” and probably would be happy about it. But not having to write a column instantly allowed me to think on this decision.
On one hand, much of Jey Uso’s career has been as a Tag Team wrestler with his brother Jimmy… BUT, you have to consider Jey’s growth as a singular character since 2020. While Roman Reigns is the central character of the Bloodline, don’t forget it was Jey Uso who first challenged Roman’s turn to the dark side and pushed Roman to his best matches, to date, during the Fall of 2020. Then, he was a supporting character of the Bloodline who could be very versatile by working both as a singles and then tagging with Jimmy again. Don’t forget, however, that it was Jey Uso who really sold the conflict of adding Sami Zayn to the Bloodline during late 2022 and then during 2023. Jey also had another good feud with Roman Reigns.
This “YEET” stuff is unreal, and is pushing loads of merchandise and getting tons of crowd reactions, particularly with his entrances. If you think back, wrestling fans who were like 10 years old during 2020 are now deep into their teenage years and Jey Uso has been “their guy” since they were young. With that, I totally understand the reasoning for Jey Uso winning the Royal Rumble. It’s a reward for everything that Jey Uso has done, on his own and contributing well to the Bloodline, since 2020.
My only worry is that Jey Uso is just Daniel Bryan 2.0, though I’d argue that Bryan is a way better in-ring worker who doesn’t take short-cuts, relies on the spear like everyone, and is prone to having a bad match on an occasion. Such as one of the FEW stinkers of Wrestlemania 40 with his match against Jimmy. That match was AWFUL and a total letdown that would make me question whether to let Jey or Jimmy work as singles ever again. However, it appears that Jimmy might be receiving the bulk of the blame for WM 40 match, as Jey Uso has continued his push throughout 2024 and is now the Rumble champion. Jimmy appears to be a bit player since Wrestlemania 40.
Getting back to my Daniel Bryan comparison, the draw for Bryan was WITH THE CHASE rather than actually winning the championship. Then, after they win the title, it’s like “now what?”. Same thing happened with Kofi Kingston, Miz, Alberto Del Rio, and others… Once they win the title, that’s their biggest accomplishment and the PEAK of their career. I was similarly worried about Cody Rhodes having similar issues after finally defeating Roman Reigns but he seems to be doing moderately well as WWE Champion. I worry about Gunther, whom I thought was more impressive as the IC Champ rather than the World Heavyweight Champion.
We already saw Gunther vs. Jey Uso and the match was OK on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Gunther dispatched of him and if Jey Uso goes after him again, then it proves my point about the value in Jey being the chase and not defending the title against a threat like Gunther. However, I just can’t get excited for Cody Rhodes vs. Jey Uso as a main event… But this is “old man Tito” here who struggles to see a major WWE live event without his health collapsing. Maybe I’m out-of-touch in assessing whether Jey Uso is worthy capturing the WWE Title with all of the lineage that Cody obtained by actually defeating Roman Reigns which Jey Uso could not do.
But I have worries about how Wrestlemania 41 may be rebooked… Hearing rumors of Roman now wrestling Seth Rollins rather than CM Punk, though I could see this becoming a Triple Threat instead. I really wanted CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns as a epic Wrestlemania match this year, especially if getting denied Rock vs. Roman for the 492948824777472th time. BUT, WWE is expanding its fanbase with younger folks who are buying up Jey Uso merchandise for a reason.
Honestly, I’m torn… I like what Jey Uso has accomplished and feel that he’s one of the key contributors to the WWE product since late 2020. These “YEET” chants are massive, but I remember the “YES!” chants being massive and they died down quickly after Wrestelmania 30 and weren’t as loud whenever Bryan returned. I just don’t see “it”, in terms of a “larger than life” MAIN EVENT star like you see in the Rock, John Cena, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth Rollins (to a degree), Brock Lesnar, Macho Man, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Batista, and others who have made it to the top and can sustain drawing power once they are champion. I see more value in Jey Uso chasing the title rather than winning it because once he’s won it, in my opinion, that’s his peak.
Rather than just throw Jey’s 2025 Rumble win over the bus, I’m going to take a fair “wait & see” approach and go from there. I want WWE to prove that he’s the next big thing and I have some trust with Triple H and his creative team that they may be right… I’ll be delighted to be proven wrong, but would be extremely worried about the time and opportunity wasted if I’m right.
LAST WORD: Atmosphere, besides the bright lights blinding everybody, was incredible with this packed stadium. Match quality was strong with 2 great rumble matches and Cody/KO killing each other. The DIY and MCMG tag match should have never been on this card, as it could have drawn 70,000 fans as just a 3 match card. But hey, the tag match was the true “piss break” of this show and you need those with the long lines for everything that this stadium had. I hope that the sporting commission who paid WWE handsomely for the Rumble, SummerSlam, and Wrestlemania to be in Indianapolis are better prepared to handle the massive crowds for the latter 2 events. Getting into the arena, getting food, and going to the bathroom were time consuming events.
I’ll go [ A- ] (A minus) for the overall show because I HAVE to include the tag match which just didn’t compare to the rest of the card. Furthermore, I need to see where Charlotte Flair and Jey Uso go as Rumble winners to assess whether their wins were great decisions or not to possibly enhance the grade of the show.
Sorry for the delay on the column review, but if you only knew what I went through, you’d understand. I am retiring from seeing major events live.
Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ