50 Ups & 50 Downs For WWE's Decade: The 2010s
36. The 2018 Royal Rumble
This was wonderful beyond even heightened expectations.
For the first time in a long time, Royal Rumble tropes were well observed - justifying their very reason for being tropes in the first place. Iron Man Finn Bálor gutted his way through 57:38 gruelling minutes (suggesting why he has those abs instead of a gut...) to pair up with fellow long-stayer Shinsuke Nakamura for a clash-of-ages closing showdown with Roman Reigns and John Cena.
Elsewhere in the layered bout, Heath Slater's failure to even make it to the ring made for some great early-match comedy and even paid itself off when the 'One Man Band' managed to surprise Sheamus with an elimination, whilst Kofi Kingston used the power of pancakes as well as positivity to pull off his annual escape.