Getting a grip: Greatest Royal Rumble offers intrigue; Ronda Rousey track revealed

Brian Fritz

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Getting a grip: Greatest Royal Rumble offers intrigue; Ronda Rousey track revealed image

Each week, Sporting News runs down the biggest stories in the world of professional wrestling.

Greatest Royal Rumble preview

Just a few weeks after WrestleMania 34, WWE is putting on another major event. This one is in another country.

The Greatest Royal Rumble event from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia airs on Friday, live in front of a sold-out stadium of more than 50,000 people and streaming on the WWE Network at noon ET.

MORE: Baron Corbin interview with Sporting News on Greatest Royal Rumble

It’s a loaded card with every men’s championship on the line (more on the in a moment), a 50-man Royal Rumble match that will include Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and The Great Khali, and even John Cena facing Triple H one-on-one for the first time in a decade. Even The Undertaker is taking part, facing Rusev in a Casket Match, which shows how massive and important the event is.

Here is the lineup for the show:

— Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in a Cage Match for the WWE Universal Championship

— 50-man Royal Rumble match

— AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship

— The Undertaker vs. Rusev in a Casket Match

— Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz vs. Samoa Joe in a Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

— John Cena vs. Triple H

— Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt for the vacant "RAW" Tag Team Championship

— The Bludgeon Brothers (c) vs. The Usos for the "SmackDown" Tag Team Championship

— Jeff Hardy vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE United States Championship

— Cedric Alexander vs. Kalisto for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

There are some fascinating subplots heading into the event, the most talked about surrounding Roman Reigns' quest to (finally) defeat Brock Lesnar and become the WWE Universal Champion.

WWE may decide that this is the right place in front of a likely pro-Reigns audience to have him finally conquer “The Beast." That won’t stop American fans from booing him next week on “RAW” and may infuriate them even more. 

But when is the right time? WrestleMania is the biggest stage of the year but WWE punted on doing the title change then, afraid of the intense negative reaction Reigns would have received from the crowd.

It feels like a no-win situation at this point for WWE in its quest to have fans celebrate Reigns and it’s time to either pull the trigger or pick someone else to win the title.

Could this be the last time we see Lesnar in the WWE for a while? No matter what his new deal is that he recently signed — and there are still plenty of questions about how long its for and what it allows him to do outside WWE — Lesnar could be stepping away to begin training for a rumored UFC return or simply to step away for a while. Or he could remain champion and have another match as soon as Backlash in a couple of weeks.

What other championships could change hands? The best bet would be The Miz winning back the Intercontinental Championship and Mahal regaining the United States Championship. You have to think that at least one championship — and probably more — has to switch considering the enormity of this show.

Could The Undertaker come back for more matches? The “Deadman” looked to be moving around the best he has in years at WrestleMania 34 and he could return for some bigger events rather than his annual ‘Mania appearance.

WWE has faced criticism for holding this event considering that women are now allowed to take part in it due to Saudi Arabia’s culture. Paul “Triple H” Levesque addressed the situation in an interview with The Independent:

"I understand that people are questioning it, but you have to understand that every culture is different and just because you don’t agree with a certain aspect of it, it doesn’t mean it’s not a relevant culture.  You can’t dictate to a country or a religion about how they handle things but, having said that, WWE is at the forefront of a women’s evolution in the world and what you can’t do is affect change anywhere by staying away from it.   

“While, right now, women are not competing in the event, we have had discussions about that and we believe and hope that, in the next few years they will be. That is a significant cultural shift in Saudi Arabia.  The country is in the middle of a shift in how it is dealing with that — the position is changing, and rights are changing, as are the way women are handled and treated in society. We think that’s a great thing and we’re excited to be at the forefront of that change.”

Bottom line is that there is so much money involved in this new, 10-year deal with the Saudi Sports Authority that WWE was willing to overlook this issue, even though it means going against its commitment towards women.

Ronda Rousey rollout

We’re starting to get a look at how WWE will approach the start of Ronda Rousey’s singles career.

The company was very smart to have her debut in a tag team match and alongside ring generals Triple H and Kurt Angle. The match, which also involved Stephanie McMahon, exceeded expectations and Rousey more than lived up to the hype.

Still, she is very inexperienced and WWE is going to be very careful about who she gets in the ring with. With that, bring on Mickie James — an experienced veteran who can help guide Rousey in the ring and also be an excellent foil.

The two had their first interaction on “RAW” this past Monday when Rousey came out to check her new friend Natalya after she had her knee attacked by James. Rousey received an electric ovation when she got in the ring and slapped an armbar on James who immediately tapped out.

WWE recently announced that Rousey will work some dates on the upcoming European tour including in Paris and the card for that show lists her facing James who is a great choice for her first feud.

It may also explain why Natalya switched to “SmackDown” as part of the Superstar Shakeup. A breakup between the two later this summer leading to a series of matches would give Rousey another seasoned performer to work with and gain valuable, in-ring experience.

WWE Backlash

Right after the Greatest Royal Rumble, the focus will quickly turn to Backlash taking place just nine days later.

The show marks a return to monthly, dual-branded pay-per-views involving talent from both “RAW” and “SmackDown." It will be interesting to see if PPVs going forward will be stacked with nothing but championship matches or if non-title storylines will be included.

Five matches have already been announced: Roman Reigns versus Samoa Joe which may or may not be for the Universal Championship, Nia Jax against Alexa Bliss for the “RAW” Women’s Championship, Charlotte challenging Carmella for the “SmackDown” Women’s Championship, an Intercontinental Title match between Seth Rollins and The Miz as well as Daniel Bryan squaring off against Big Cass.

Another thing to look out for is how long the show will be. Nothing has been officially announced but no one would be surprised if the “B” events like this expanded from three to four hours with both brands involved.

Impact Wrestling rebuild continues

Impact crowned a new world champion on Sunday night when Pentagon Jr. defeated former champ Austin Aries and Fenix in a Triple Threat match at its Redemption pay-per-view.

Slowly but surely, Impact is taking steps to win back fans with straight-forward storylines under the direction of Scott D’Amore. The company is also taking advantage its newly forged partnership with Lucha Underground to bring in talent like the two lucha libre stars in that main event.

Ratings are up for its weekly television show and the company is still hampered by having to tape weeks in advance with spoilers easily accessible. In fact, the company is currently taping its next batch of TV show at Universal Studios in Orlando with several titles changing hands.

Impact still has a long way to go in this reclamation project that has, for whatever reason, included the controversial Scott Steiner. The 55-year-old, who is still as pumped as ever, continues to make the wrong headlines in recent comments about Mexicans during a recent Impact conference call.

It’s not the first time Steiner has made these types of comments and he has never shied away about bashing people whether its due to a personal conflict or his own beliefs. This is more than just a wrestler being in character and cutting a promo on someone but Impact is so far under the radar that it gets little attention or people simply chalking it up to “Steiner being Steiner."

Impact would be better off not having him on its roster and bringing the company bad press at a time where they need as much positive attention as possible.

That being said, Impact does have a really slick video promoting its July 22 Slammiversary pay-per-view that will take place on Toronto.

News and notes

— WWE aired a classy, touching tribute to Bruno Sammartino to open “RAW” on Monday. There is also a documentary on his life and career now on the WWE Network.

— Bad news for Zack Ryder who suffered a knee injury Monday night. No word yet on the severity of it but he is not traveling to Saudi Arabia.

— New attitude, new version of this theme song for Shinsuke Nakamura.

— What did you do on your 41st birthday? Here’s what John Cena did on his Monday. Happy birthday John!

Brian Fritz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrianFritz and listen to his Between The Ropes podcast on Blog Talk Radio.

Brian Fritz

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Brian Fritz is a contributor with The Sporting News covering the NBA and NFL who previously worked at BasketballNews. He is a 20-year veteran of sports talk radio in Orlando, Florida, after graduating from the University of Central Florida. He now resides in Durham, North Carolina.