WWE Royal Rumble 2019: Star Ratings For All 10 Matches
2. Brock Lesnar Vs. Finn Bálor - Universal Title Match
Not quite the best possible version of itself, this dramatic firecracker of a match nonetheless smashed its remit.
Just, what - a month ago? - Finn Bálor was a midcard body dug up from irrelevance whenever Vince fancied putting over one of those larger men he's demonstrably more interested in. Oddly, he didn't even put them over, but rather tossed off some trademark 50/50 programmes. This breathless, urgent fight was virtually antithetical to the Bálor norm. Bálor here got over more in defeat than he perhaps ever has in victory, at least on the main roster. The layout flattered him immensely.
You have to believe in a babyface. Many were disengaged from him because he seems unaware of his plight. Going nowhere but seemingly ecstatic about it, his disposition was almost infuriating. Didn't he know?
Here, he knew.
He knew exactly how to mount a challenge to the insurmountable. Targeting the Beast's weak spot - the diverticulitis-ravaged gut that acted as the impetus behind his return to WWE - Bálor wrestled with intelligent strategy and fearless fire in a whirlwind onslaught that, in its shocking drama and Lesnar's dumbstruck, agonised selling, instantly nullified the size difference.
Lesnar's inability to lift Bálor up added drama and heft to a match that, amazingly, generated an incredible, Coup De Grâce near-fall in spite of the nailed-on result - and the flash submission win put over Brock's invincibility more than it buried Bálor.
Resting somewhere between Brock's matches with Samoa Joe and Daniel Bryan, Bálor emerged as a somebody in its aftermath.
Star Rating: ***3/4