WWE Royal Rumble 2019: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best

By Jack Pooley / January 28, 2019

9. WWE United States Title: Rusev (C) Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

WWE.com

Result: Nak murders Ru-Ru with the Kinshasa to win the strap (10:15).

Rating: In the span of a year, Nakamura's gone from winning a Royal Rumble to...this.

One one hand the match existed solely to get Lana out of the Women's Royal Rumble, but on the other, wasn't it nice to see a kickoff match which actually had a significant impact on the outcome of a marquee bout?

Either way, this was a solid battle that took a while to ramp up but proved surprisingly competitive by the end, and Nak's win was nothing if not a surprise (if, arguably, also a bit of a shame given the brevity of Rusev's reign).

Rusev getting distracted by Lana's injury was Lazy Booking 101, but at least it had a clear storytelling purpose. 6/10