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

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

WWE Royal Rumble 2019 Shinshuke Nakamura Rusev
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

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.