Greatest Royal Rumble

**Greatest Royal Rumble** was a professional wrestling pay-per-view  and WWE Network livestreaming event made by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. It took place on April 27, 2018 at the King Abdullah Sports City's  King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  It aired live in the United States at 12:00 PM EDT, with a pre-show starting at 11 a.m. EDT. At the event, all men's main roster championships were defended, in addition to a 50-man Royal Rumble match. It was the first big event in a ten-year partnership between WWE and the Saudi-Arabian Ministry of Sport.

||Role:||Name:|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan=3|English commentators|Michael Cole||
|Corey Graves||||
|Byron Saxton||||
|rowspan=2|Spanish commentators|Carlos Cabrera||
|Marcelo Rodríguez||||
|rowspan=3|Arabic commentators|Faisal Almughaisib||
|Sultan Alharbi||||
|Jude Aldajani||||
|Ring announcer|Greg Hamilton|||
|rowspan=7|Referees|Danilo Anfibio||
|Jason Ayers||||
|John Cone||||
|Dan Engler||||
|Darrick Moore||||
|Chad Patton||||
|Ryan Tran||||
|Interviewer|Mike Rome|||
|rowspan=4|Pre-show panel|Byron Saxton||
|Jerry Lawler||||
|Jim Ross||||
|Booker T||||

## Matches

- John Cena vs Triple H

The actual pay-per-view started with John Cena facing Triple H. During the match, Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Triple H for a near-fall. Cena attempted another Attitude Adjustment but Triple H countered into a Pedigree for a near-fall. In the end, Cena performed a second Attitude Adjustment on Triple H, a catapult into the corner, and a third Attitude Adjustment to pick up the victory. Following the match, Cena thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their hospitality, and expressed excitement over the event.

- Cedric Alexander vs Kalisto

Cedric Alexander defended the Cruiserweight Championship against Kalisto. The match ended when Alexander countered a Salida Del Sol attempt into a Lumbar Check to retain the title.

- Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy vs Cesaro and Sheamus

The vacant Raw Tag Team Championship was contested between the team of Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy and the former champions, Cesaro and Sheamus. In the end, Hardy distracted Sheamus, allowing Wyatt to perform a Sister Abigail on him. Hardy and Wyatt then performed a wheelbarrow Twist of Fate on Sheamus to win the title.

- Jeff Hardy vs Jinder Mahal

Jeff Hardy then defended the United States Championship against Jinder Mahal. Hardy performed a Swanton Bomb on Mahal to retain the title.

- The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) vs The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso)

The Bludgeon Brothers defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Usos. Harper and Rowan retained the title after performing The Reckoning on Jimmy Uso.

- Seth Rollins vs Finn Bálor vs Samoa Joe vs The Miz

Seth Rollins defended the Intercontinental Championship against Finn Báor, Samoa Joe and The Miz in a Ladder match. Near the end of the match, Bálor attempted to grab the title, only for Rollins to springboard onto the ladder and grab the title belt himself, retaining the championship.

In a segment between matches, four prospects from the recent Saudi tryouts came out to the ring to introduce themselves. Cruiserweight Ariya Daivari and his brother Shawn Daivari, who had not appeared for WWE in many years, came out to interrupt them. The Saudi prospects attacked and cleared the Daivari brothers from the ring.

- AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura

AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. During the match, Nakamura resorted to various illegal tactics, such as a low blow, increasingly frustrating Styles. In the end, both Nakamura and Styles fought outside of the ring, only for the match to end in a double countout. After the match, Styles performed a Phenomenal Forearm to the floor on Nakamura.

- The Undertaker vs Rusev

The Undertaker fought Rusev  in a Casket match. At the end of the match, Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Rusev and rolled him into the casket. Before he could close the lid, English attacked the Undertaker, who retaliated with another chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver before putting English into the casket alongside Rusev and closing it for the victory.

- Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns

In the second to last match, Brock Lesnar (managed by Paul Heyman) defended the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match. Reigns performed three spears on Lesnar for a near-fall. Reigns tried to escape through the door but Heyman pushed the door into Reigns, allowing Lesnar to execute an F5 on Reigns for a near-fall. In the end, Reigns performed a Spear through the cage wall on Lesnar. Despite Reigns touching the floor first, the referee awarded the win to Lesnar, retaining the Universal Championship.

### Main Event

- 50 man Royal Rumble match

Braun Strowman eliminated Big Cass to win the match. Strowman also got the most eliminations of a single Royal Rumble match at 13, beating a record previously held by Roman Reigns with 12. Strowman received a trophy and a green championship belt.

### Greatest Royal Rumble match entrances and eliminations

-  – Raw
-  – SmackDown
-  – NXT
-  – Free agent

|Draw|Entrant|Order|Eliminated by|Time|Elimination(s)|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|Daniel Bryan|48|Big Cass|1:16:05|3|
|2|Dolph Ziggler|12|Kurt Angle|21:44|2|
|3|Sin Cara|1|Dolph Ziggler|01:18|0|
|4|Curtis Axel|2|Mark Henry|02:00|0|
|5|Mark Henry|5|Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler|03:27|3|
|6|Mike Kanellis|3|Mark Henry|00:03|0|
|7|Hiroki Sumi|4|Mark Henry|00:46|0|
|8|Viktor|6|Daniel Bryan|00:51|0|
|9|Kofi Kingston|14|Elias|16:34|1|
|10|Tony Nese|9|Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods|07:13|1|
|11|Dash Wilder|7|Daniel Bryan and Hornswoggle|01:26|0|
|12|Hornswoggle|8|Tony Nese|01:00|1|
|13|Primo Colón|11|Kurt Angle|05:10|0|
|14|Xavier Woods|15|Elias|09:56|1|
|15|Bo Dallas|10|Kurt Angle|01:34|0|
|16|Kurt Angle|16|Elias|07:59|3|
|17|Scott Dawson|19|Bobby Roode|11:44|0|
|18|Goldust|18|Bobby Roode|10:04|0|
|19|Konnor|13|Elias|02:25|0|
|20|Elias|41|Bobby Lashley|34:04|5|
|21|Luke Gallows|20|Rey Mysterio|09:16|0|
|22|Rhyno|25|Roderick Strong|16:22|0|
|23|Drew Gulak|17|Tucker Knight|01:47|0|
|24|Tucker Knight|23|Big E|10:08|1|
|25|Bobby Roode|29|Baron Corbin|17:44|2|
|26|Fandango|21|Mojo Rawley|03:42|0|
|27|Chad Gable|24|Apollo Crews|08:17|0|
|28|Rey Mysterio|37|Baron Corbin|20:25|1|
|29|Mojo Rawley|27|Randy Orton|08:52|2|
|30|Tyler Breeze|22|Mojo Rawley|00:16|0|
|31|Big E|33|Braun Strowman|13:59|1|
|32|Karl Anderson|26|Randy Orton|04:25|0|
|33|Apollo Crews|28|Randy Orton|03:26|1|
|34|Roderick Strong|30|Baron Corbin|06:00|1|
|35|Randy Orton|39|Elias|10:58|4|
|36|Heath Slater|34|Braun Strowman|07:38|0|
|37|Babatunde|31|Braun Strowman|05:53|0|
|38|Baron Corbin|38|Randy Orton|07:08|3|
|39|Titus O'Neil|35|Braun Strowman|04:42|0|
|40|Dan Matha|32|Braun Strowman|02:01|0|
|**41**|**Braun Strowman**|****|**Winner**|****|**13**|
|42|Tye Dillinger|36|Braun Strowman|00:29|0|
|43|Curt Hawkins|40|Braun Strowman|00:20|0|
|44|Bobby Lashley|45|Braun Strowman|14:38|2|
|45|The Great Khali|42|Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley|00:31|0|
|46|Kevin Owens|47|Braun Strowman|10:43|0|
|47|Shane McMahon|44|Braun Strowman|08:07|0|
|48|Shelton Benjamin|43|Chris Jericho|04:23|0|
|49|Big Cass|49|Braun Strowman|07:23|1|
|50|Chris Jericho|46|Braun Strowman|03:18|1|

- By eliminating 13 men, Braun Strowman broke the record of 12, set by Roman Reigns at the 2014 Royal Rumble.
- Daniel Bryan broke the length record for lasting 1:16:05, previous record held by Rey Mysterio (lasting 1:02:12) at the 2006 Royal Rumble.

## Infobox (wrestling event)

- **name**: WWE Greatest Royal Rumble
- **theme**: "When Legends Rise" by Godsmack
- **promotion**: WWE
- **brand**: Raw (WWE brand), Raw
SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown
- **sponsor**: General Sports Authority, Saudi General Sports Authority
- **date**: April 27, 2018
- **venue**: King Abdullah Sports City, King Abdullah International Stadium
- **attendance**: 60,000
- **city**: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- **lastevent**: WrestleMania 34
- **nextevent**: Backlash (2018)
- **lastevent2**: _First_
- **nextevent2**: Crown Jewel (2018)
- **event**: WWE in Saudi Arabia