Welcome once again to Tybo’s Talks! I am Tybo, and I’m sure by now you know that I am the ‘Five Star General’ of this operation we call SLTD Wrestling.
There has been a lot of chatter and rumours recently that WWE could be holding their first ever Women’s Royal Rumble, this is a great idea in theory, but would it pay off?
Personally, I think if it was done right it could be huge, but as we all know there is a fine line between something getting over, and something defiantly not. There are some simple factors to consider, I am going to mention a few below and try to work out if a Woman’s Royal Rumble could be the next step in the Women’s Revolution.
Ever since WWE decided to give the (then) divas some time, effort, and drop the ‘divas’ moniker it’s as if WWE invented Women’s Wrestling. Companies like Impact Wrestling (TNA), Shimmer, and Women of Honour have been putting on competitive women’s matches for years before WWE seen the potential in their woman’s division.
In just three short years, the women’s division in WWE has done a complete 180, they have gone from being the ‘interval’ match on most PPV’s to become one of the main focuses of the whole product. WWE has added to this with the addition of the first-ever, Women’s Hell in a Cell, Women’s Money in the Bank and the first major women’s tournament in WWE history with the Mae Young Classic. Not to mention abandoning the name ‘divas’ and possibly one the worst looking titles in WWE history the ‘butterfly’ Divas Championship, and replaced it with a championship that mirrors the WWE Championship.
When you look at it like this, the next logical step would be a Royal Rumble for the division, there are some things that should be considered first though.
The Depth of the Division
This is probably the most important thing to consider when putting together a Women’s Royal Rumble. If the depth of the division isn’t there then there is no point doing it. I am aware that even in the Men’s Royal Rumble there is a lot of ‘battle fodder’, by this I mean there are a lot of entries that are purely there to fill the ring up until someone big (Lesner, Reigns, Cena etc.) enters and clears the ring to exert their dominance.
I know the Women’s Royal Rumble will be no different, but do WWE have 30 women on the roster? Or will the whole thing have to be scaled down?
With the recent influx of female talent from the Mae Young Classic, there is easily 30 women on the roster, but that does include NXT, and I don’t think it would make much sense to have a 50/50 mix of main roster and NXT as what would be the point of having NXT women (outside of one or two) in the match when it’s clear they wouldn’t win or more to the point why have them win when they are essentially in developmental.
Special Appearances
This could be one option that could make a Women’s Royal Rumble special. There is no denying that one of the things that makes the Royal Rumble so great is that when the countdown hits zero you don’t know who is going to come to the ring, it could be someone you see week in week out, but sometimes its someone you haven’t seen in years. It’s that nostalgia that makes the whole match so unpredictable and such a great watch.
There is no denying that even before the ‘women’s revolution’ there are a lot of iconic women’s wrestlers who have passed through the WWE. Aside from everyone else, if there were a Women’s Royal Rumble and Trish Stratus’ music hit, the crowd pop would be insane. Then there is the addition of ‘divas’ like Victoria, Ivory, Michelle McCool and Kelly Kelly to mention a few. This coupled with NXT call-ups like Payton Royce and Billie Kay and the return of the Bella Twins, a Royal Rumble could be something very special.
The Time
The length of the match is something that I think could be the main issue. There are basically two ways of doing the match.
Firstly, they could make the match as a mirror to the Men’s Royal Rumble, this would mean the match would take just over an hour. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if you add that to a Men’s Royal Rumble on the same PPV that doesn’t leave much time for anything else on the card. I also think two and a half hours of a PPV dedicated to just Rumbles could be overkill.
Secondly, they could shorten the women’s match, so maybe have each entry every 30 seconds, this would basically half the length of the match. The problem with this is that it would take away from the match as it would feel rushed, and take away from the prestige as it would show the two divisions are not as equal as WWE wants you to think.
The Final Four
This is one of the most important factors to consider in this match. As much as WWE would like the final four to be Charlotte four times, and most of the wrestling community would lose their minds over the ‘Four Horse Women’ (Charlotte, Banks, Lynch and Bayley) both scenarios wouldn’t be great for the match.
If they were to do this, it would make sense to have at least one shocker in the final four. Maybe a new NXT call-up, or a return. The perfect scenario would be someone from NXT, (maybe Asuka, or even Payton Royce) a returning superstar, (maybe Nikki Bella, or even Trish/Lita) and someone from Raw and someone from Smackdown.
This way everyone gets the rub from almost winning the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble, including someone in NXT setting them up for a solid run on the main roster.
Wrestlemania
This is equally as important as the actual Royal Rumble. There is no point going to all the trouble of sorting out an all-new concept and opportunity for the Women’s division if WWE doesn’t make a big deal out of the Rumble winners Wrestlemania match. The winners match should essentially co-main event the whole show.
I’m aware that in the past the Royal Rumble winner has not always headlined Wrestlemania, but for the first Women’s Royal Rumble WWE would have to have the women as high as possible on the card, otherwise what’s the point?
I think If a Women’s Royal Rumble was done right it could be a great addition to the WWE schedule, but it could just end up being ‘just another milestone for women’s wrestling’ and get forgotten about in a year or two.
In my opinion, this match must be something WWE can comfortably do, like the Women’s Money in the Bank. The MITB didn’t feel like a stretch and worked well to a point. I will say that if they have a man win the Women’s Royal Rumble, and then have the whole thing re-done on Raw or Smackdown the week after, that will be bad. Overall this could be another great way to show off the WWE Women’s division, and let’s be honest, who doesn’t look forward to a Royal Rumble match?
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