Grading Every Match Result From WWE Royal Rumble 2024
Welcome back to the grades. In this column, we do one thing, and one thing only: evaluate the booking decisions made at a major WWE or AEW event. Who won each match? How? Did each booking decision open up new interesting paths forward or close them down, and what might have happened if the match went another way?
Last time, when we graded AEW World's End, we had 12 full matches to deal with. This time, there are only four. And that isn't even the biggest reason this edition of the grades might not be as spicy as usual — the biggest reason is that, unlike previous shows, basically every booking decision at the Rumble was at about the same level of quality, with very little variance. Again, that's not to say all the matches themselves were all good or all bad — we are talking strictly about winners, finishes, and outcomes. Let's dive in.
Bayley wins the Women's Royal Rumble
There were a number of viable outcomes for this one, but Bayley winning was clearly the best choice. She's never won the Rumble before, so giving her that victory keeps her up there with the rest of the Horsewomen (at least the ones who still work there), and the fact that she entered at #3 allowed her to put in the longest-ever showing in the women's Rumble, which is a big accolade even if it was just an accident of the match reportedly going over time.
But more than that, Bayley was the right choice just because she's the only woman who's had a clear long-running storyline that benefits strongly from her victory. The win puts her in direct conflict with WWE Women's Champion IYO SKY and almost certainly sets up, at long last, a split between Bayley and the faction she founded, Damage CTRL. Sure, Becky Lynch or Jade Cargill or Liv Morgan could have won, but none of those victories would have added as much punch to a story as Bayley's victory did. Plus, she just straight-up deserved it.
Grade: A+
Roman Reigns def. Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and LA Knight (Undisputed WWE Universal Championship)
Not much to say about this one. Reigns' historic reign coming to an end via a random fatal four-way would have been terrible. Styles was the right guy to take the fall, and while it's understandable that some fans are getting tired of the Bloodline interference finishes, they will be much happier when they finally realize that the Bloodline interference finishes are the entire thematic point of the reign and will continue until either the Bloodline turns on Roman or a challenger counters with sufficient interference of their own. That's just what the story is, regardless of whether or not you think it should still be going.
Grade: A
Logan Paul def. Kevin Owens (WWE United States Championship)
Likewise, not a whole lot to talk about here. Logan Paul losing the US title in his first defense would have been a mistake, but having him win by disqualification in a sequence that both (a) played to Paul's character and involved outside interference and brass knuckles, and (b) played to Owens' character in that he lost because he got angry and did something he shouldn't have was a stroke of genius. Paul keeps the title, Owens looks strong but somewhat self-destructive, which is the character he's been playing, and they're set up for a rematch down the road if that's the direction. An Owens victory would have likely closed that door.
As a bonus, the match also got to do a couple things with Austin Theory and Grayson Waller, and even the referee got character development. For a match with a DQ finish, it's hard to do it better.
Grade: A+
Cody Rhodes wins the Men's Royal Rumble
However you feel about Cody Rhodes, it's undeniable that WWE's choice to give him a second consecutive, completely clean Rumble victory was both a massive vote of confidence and an official crowning of Cody as the next top top star — which is to say, he's in a place now where he really should beat Reigns for the title at WrestleMania 40, and I'm someone who remains firmly of the opinion that Reigns winning at Mania 39 is the right call. Cody needed a major victory like this one, which hasn't been done in a quarter of a century and has only been done at all by three other people, to cement his status at the top of the card, and kudos to WWE for not being wishy-washy about it. For what WWE is trying to shape Rhodes into, this was 100% the right call.
Now, is there somebody who could have been made even more by their first Rumble win than Rhodes was by his second? You could make arguments for the likes of Sami Zayn, Damian Priest, and GUNTHER, but even then, it would be hard to top what Cody did Saturday night. Zayn doesn't have a natural storyline with either Reigns or Rollins at this point, Priest already has a path to the championship, and GUNTHER has his own record-shattering reign as Intercontinental Champion to worry about. Drew McIntyre could also have won his second Rumble, but he's doing great heel work lately and you don't want to set up heel McIntyre vs. heel Reigns, and he's already had plenty of title matches against Rollins lately.
The only person who could be considered a better choice is Jey Uso, who could have used a Rumble victory to firmly establish himself as a singles star, set up a WrestleMania re-match with Reigns in a move that would have even more storytelling weight behind it than Rhodes, and truly justify the "Main Event" Jey Uso nickname. It would have had been particularly strong given that he started at #1. Beyond that choice though, which is more a matter of personal taste than anything else, it's difficult to argue with the decision to give Cody his historic win.
And hey, at least they didn't give it to the perennially injured CM Punk, huh?
Grade: A