Greatest Royal Rumble was a 2018 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by the American company WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live The event took place on Friday, April 27, 2018, at the King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Similar to WWE's annual Royal Rumble event, the Greatest Royal Rumble event centered on the company's largest Royal Rumble match held, a 50-man match titled the Greatest Royal Rumble; a Royal Rumble match is a modified battle royal in which the participants enter a timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time.
This was the first in a series of WWE events held in Saudi Arabia in a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030, the country's social and economic reform program. In addition to the Greatest Royal Rumble match, all of WWE's main roster men's championships at the time were defended. There were no women's matches on the card due to the limited rights women had in Saudi Arabia. WWE was criticized for holding the event without female wrestlers; however, these restrictions would lessen, as beginning with Crown Jewel in 2019, women's matches began to be included at the Saudi Arabian events. This was also WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event to be held on a Friday and the main card aired live at 7:00 p.m. Arabia Standard Time (12:00 p.m. Eastern Time).
The card comprised 10 matches. In the main event, Raw's Braun Strowman won the Greatest Royal Rumble match to win the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Trophy and Championship. In the penultimate match, Brock Lesnar retained Raw's Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match. In other prominent matches, SmackDown's WWE Championship match between defending champion AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura resulted in a double countout, The Undertaker defeated Rusev in a casket match, and in the opening bout, John Cena defeated Triple H. The Greatest Royal Rumble match was the final WWE match for Chris Jericho and Hornswoggle, the final match in the professional wrestling careers of The Great Khali and Mark Henry, and it was also Hiroki Sumi's only match in WWE.
Production
Background
Since 1988, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE has held an annual event titled the Royal Rumble, which was originally a television special before becoming an annual pay-per-view (PPV) event in 1989 and then also available via livestreaming on the WWE Network since 2015. The event is centered on the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time, and the match generally features 30 wrestlers.
On March 5, 2018, WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority advertised a live event titled the Greatest Royal Rumble to be held on Friday, April 27, 2018, at the King Abdullah International Stadium, part of the King Abdullah Sports City, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The event was announced to feature the largest version of the Royal Rumble match, named the Greatest Royal Rumble match, having a total of 50 participants, ousting the 2011 Royal Rumble's 40-man match. The event was the first in a 10-year strategic multi-platform partnership between WWE and the Saudi General Sports Authority in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. It would also be WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event held on a Friday and the main card aired live at 7:00 p.m. Arabia Standard Time (12:00 p.m. Eastern Time).
On March 19, 2018, WWE scheduled matches for all seven of their main roster male championships across the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands at the time: Raw's Universal Championship, Intercontinental Championship, and Raw Tag Team Championship, SmackDown's WWE Championship, United States Championship, and SmackDown Tag Team Championship, and 205 Live's Cruiserweight Championship. The event was livestreamed on the WWE Network, as well as traditional pay-per-view in the United States and internationally. The event was also WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event with Arabic commentary.
In the weeks leading up to the event, WWE held tryouts in Saudi Arabia. From these tryouts, eight were selected to receive training by WWE, which would include an opportunity to earn a spot at the Greatest Royal Rumble event itself.
Storylines The card comprised 10 matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live.
On April 9, Brock Lesnar, who had renewed his WWE contract, was scheduled to defend the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match as a rematch from WrestleMania 34. On the Raw following WrestleMania, Reigns expressed frustration about not being told about his future matches and opponents, singling out the steel cage match with Lesnar. Reigns alleged that there was a conspiracy against him. Samoa Joe, who had been out with an injury since January, came out and warned Reigns that Lesnar would beat him again.
On March 26, WWE scheduled a ladder match between then-champion The Miz, Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, and Samoa Joe for the Intercontinental Championship. At WrestleMania 34, The Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Rollins in a triple threat match that also included Bálor, thus making Rollins the defending champion. Both Miz and Joe were traded to SmackDown while Rollins and Bálor remained on Raw.
On March 26, Cesaro and Sheamus were scheduled to defend the Raw Tag Team Championship against The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy). At WrestleMania 34, however, Cesaro and Sheamus lost the titles to Braun Strowman and 10-year-old Nicholas. The following night on Raw, Strowman and Nicholas relinquished the titles due to Nicholas being a fourth grader. Cesaro and Sheamus demanded their titles back, but Raw General Manager Kurt Angle instead scheduled them to face the winner of the four-team Tag Team Eliminator tournament for the vacant titles at the Greatest Royal Rumble. "Woken" Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt won the tournament by defeating Titus Worldwide (Apollo Crews and Titus O'Neil) and The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson). Cesaro and Sheamus were then traded to SmackDown during the Superstar Shake-up.
At WrestleMania 34, The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) defeated defending champions The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) in a triple threat tag team match to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. On the following SmackDown, The Usos defeated The New Day to earn a title match at Greatest Royal Rumble.
A match between John Cena and Triple H was scheduled on March 26.
The Undertaker was originally scheduled to face Rusev in a casket match, the first match of its kind in three years. Due to reasons not entirely clear, Rusev was temporarily replaced by Chris Jericho—this was explained with Rusev's wife Lana complaining about her husband competing in a casket match—but eventually reinserted back into the match. Jericho was restored to his original participation in the Greatest Royal Rumble match.
At WrestleMania 34, Jinder Mahal won the United States Championship. Mahal was then traded to Raw and lost the championship to Jeff Hardy and Mahal invoked his rematch clause for the Greatest Royal Rumble. Hardy was then traded to SmackDown the following night.
At WrestleMania 34, AJ Styles successfully defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. After the match, Nakamura showed his respect to Styles but then attacked him with a low blow and a Kinshasa, turning heel. On SmackDown on April 17, after repeated attacks on Styles by Nakamura, a rematch between the two was scheduled for the Greatest Royal Rumble.
On the WrestleMania 34 Kickoff pre-show, Cedric Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali in a tournament final to win the vacant WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Two nights later on 205 Live, Buddy Murphy attacked Alexander during his celebration. Murphy was then scheduled to face Alexander for the title at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but he failed his mandatory weigh-in when he weighed 207 pounds, 2 pounds over the 205 pound weight limit. He was then removed from the match and banned from competing on 205 Live until he met the weight requirement. The following week, Kalisto earned a Cruiserweight Championship match at the Greatest Royal Rumble by winning a gauntlet match.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael ColeCorey GravesByron SaxtonSpanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraMarcelo RodríguezArabic commentatorsFaisal AlmughaisibSultan AlharbiJude AldajaniRing announcerGreg HamiltonRefereesDanilo AnfibioJason AyersJohn ConeDan EnglerDarrick MooreChad PattonRyan TranInterviewerMike RomePre-show panelByron SaxtonJerry LawlerJim RossBooker T
Preliminary matches The actual pay-per-view opened with John Cena facing Triple H. During the match, Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Triple H for a near-fall. Cena attempted another Attitude Adjustment but Triple H countered into a Pedigree for a near-fall. In the end, Cena performed a second Attitude Adjustment on Triple H, a catapult into the corner, and a third Attitude Adjustment to pick up the victory. Following the match, Cena thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their hospitality, and expressed excitement over the event.
In the following match, Cedric Alexander defended the Cruiserweight Championship against Kalisto. The match ended when Alexander countered a Salida Del Sol attempt into a Lumbar Check to retain the title.
Next, the vacant Raw Tag Team Championship was contested between the team of Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy and the former champions, Cesaro and Sheamus. In the end, Hardy distracted Sheamus, allowing Wyatt to perform a Sister Abigail on him. Hardy and Wyatt then performed a wheelbarrow Twist of Fate on Sheamus to win the titles.
Jeff Hardy then defended the United States Championship against Jinder Mahal. Hardy performed a Swanton Bomb on Mahal to retain the title.
After that, The Bludgeon Brothers defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Usos. Harper and Rowan retained the titles after performing The Reckoning on Jimmy Uso.
Next, Seth Rollins defended the Intercontinental Championship against Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and The Miz in a Ladder match. Near the end of the match, Balor attempted to retrieve the title, only for Rollins to springboard onto the ladder and retrieve the title belt, thus retaining the championship.
In a segment between matches, four prospects from the recent Saudi tryouts (including Mansoor) came out to the ring to introduce themselves. Cruiserweight Ariya Daivari and his brother Shawn Daivari, in his first WWE appearance since 2007, came out to interrupt them. The Saudi prospects attacked and cleared the Daivari brothers from the ring.
Later, AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. During the match, Nakamura resorted to various illegal tactics, such as a low blow, increasingly frustrating Styles. In the end, both Nakamura and Styles fought outside of the ring, only for the match to end in a double countout. After the match, Styles performed a Phenomenal Forearm to the floor on Nakamura.
After that, The Undertaker fought Rusev (who was accompanied by Aiden English) in a Casket match. At the end of the match, Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Rusev and rolled him into the casket. Before Undertaker could close the casket, English attacked Undertaker, who retaliated with another chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver before putting English into the casket alongside Rusev and closing it for the victory.