Huge 'Greatest Royal Rumble' Takeaways - Rusev Day Is Officially Buried

When rumors of the a pay per view taking place in Saudi Arabia first arose there was very little in the way of information as to how this was all going to work. Well the event has now been and gone and it featured an awfully stacked card. Seven championship matches, a casket match, John Cena versus Triple H plus last but not least a 50 man Royal Rumble. Needless to say there was a lot to takeaway from the event in Jeddah on Friday.

7. John Cena And Triple H Open Proceedings

There are a lot of wrestlers who claim if you're not in the main event then you want to be in the opening match. The crowd will likely be at their hottest and you get the chance to set the tone for the evening. That was clearly the intent at Greatest Royal Rumble by having John Cena versus Triple H kick things off. Two men who are no strangers to one another although they hadn't gone one on one for eight years before Friday. Although it was a big match on paper once both men were in the ring it showed that there had been no build and it was effectively an exhibition match. Both men basically went through the motions and Cena emerged victorious.

6. The Expedition Of Gold Is Complete

For the last three weeks Raw has been without a set of Tag Team Champions. That's because Braun Strowman and ten year old Nicholas, who won the titles at WrestleMania, had to relinquish the championships since the latter had to go to school rather than go on the road and defend his newly won gold. That meant the match between former champions The Bar and the weird and wonderful team of Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy was to decide a new set of champions. With Sheamus and Cesaro now on SmackDown Live it was highly unlikely that they were going to win on Friday and that proved to be the case. The Deleter Of Worlds won the match and we now once again have Tag Team Champions on Raw.

5. Seth Rollins Retains His Title In Style

For the most part the first two hours of Greatest Royal Rumble were pretty slow going to put it mildly. The four way ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship promised to change all that though. Four of the best Superstars in WWE right now all giving it their everything for the chance to become Intercontinental Champion in The Miz, Finn Balor, Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe. There was also the possibility of the title switching brands too. That did not happen but the match did drastically improve the show. It's not a ladder match without a few great spots and this bout had that. A Skull Crushing Finale for Joe onto the ladder and a Coup De Grace onto the ladder too, pretty painful stuff. A sprightly Architect managed to win the match though, racing up the ladder much to the surprise of Balor and snatching the title with the Irishman just inches away.

4. Shinsuke Nakamura Tries And Fails Once Again

Shinsuke Nakamura has tried and failed a couple of times to become WWE Champion over the course of the past year so at WrestleMania The King Of Strong Style turned over a new leaf. It wasn't a very admirable leaf of course as the Japanese star is now a heel but it was a new leaf nonetheless. Is Nakamura's new outlook on life going to help him finally become WWE Champion though? That question was answered at Greatest Royal Rumble as he and Styles competed for the company's biggest prize in a WrestleMania rematch. It didn't end how many fans would have expected or wanted though with both men being counted out. That means Styles is still champ and Nakamura is still without a title, even as a heel.

3. Rusev Day Has Officially Been Buried

Aside from the Greatest Royal Rumble match itself the bout that managed to generate the most buzz heading into Friday's event was the casket match between Rusev and The Undertaker. First Rusev was in it, then he wasn't then he was again, it was all very confusing. The match went ahead as originally planned though and actually wound up being longer and better than most fans probably expected it to be. The Bulgarian Brute got a little bit of offense in as opposed to none at all but eventually he was the one in the casket. Plus The Deadman threw Aiden English in there as well for good measure.

2. And Still Your Universal Champion...

At WrestleMania Brock Lesnar shocked the world by retaining the Universal Championship when everyone thought that he was in fact leaving WWE. In the days that followed it quickly seemed as if the plan was to instead have Roman Reigns defeat him for the title at Greatest Royal Rumble in front of a much more Big Dog-friendly crowd. Well now we know that wasn't the plan either. Both men stepped inside a steel cage inside the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium and to begin with it was the same old, same old when it comes to The Beast Incarnate. Reigns ate a bunch of suplexes and F5s but eventually managed to somehow turn the tide. In fact if it wasn't for Paul Heyman slamming the cage door shut we may have crowned a new Universal Champion. Instead the match ended when Reigns speared Lesnar through the side of the cage. Officials deemed that The Beast hit the ground first but that is definitely up for debate.

1. Braun Strowman Is The Greatest Royal Rumble Winner

No matter what happened beforehand whether good or bad we could take solace in the fact that the night would be ending with a 50 man Royal Rumble match, the Greatest Royal Rumble. The first of its kind match was full of surprises and also some downright big moments. Hornswoggle returned, some big NXT stars graced the ring for the match, and Braun Strowman threw Shane McMahon from the top of the turnbuckle through an announce table. That was one of the final big moments in the match as a matter of fact as The Monster Among Men carved his way to a win. Big Cass eliminated Daniel Bryan after a record breaking time in the match and then Strowman dumped the seven footer out. Perhaps this is finally the start of something very big for Raw's Resident Monster.