Updated WWE Royal Rumble Lineup – SD Women’s Title, Plus Falls Count Anywhere and Strap Match
There were a few additions to the WWE Royal Rumble lineup during last night’s edition of Friday Night Smackdown. The 2019 Royal Rumble takes place at the Houston Astros baseball stadium called Minute Maid Park on Sunday, January 26th, which means it is just eight days away. Here’s a quick summary of what was added last night.
* Bayley will defend the Smackdown Women’s Title against Lacey Evans. That’s because Evans beat Bayley in a non-title match thanks to a Woman’s Right punch that led to a clean pinfall win.
* Daniel Bryan challenged The Fiend to a Strap Match for their Universal Title match that was already announced. It’s been a long time since WWE has done a Strap Match, so that will be unique to see in 2020.
* Roman Reigns defeated Robert Roode in a Tables Match. As a reward for his victory, Reigns was allowed to pick the stipulation for his match against King Corbin at Royal Rumble. Reigns chose a Falls Count Anywhere match. That match will likely take place early on the card because Reigns and Corbin are also in the Royal Rumble match.
* Sheamus will face Shorty G in a singles match after Sheamus dropped Shorty with a Brogue Kick two weeks ago on Smackdown. This week on Smackdown, Shorty took down Sheamus after Sheamus made some short jokes.
* There were also some big Smackdown names that declared themselves in the Royal Rumble match like Braun Strowman and Shinsuke Nakamura.
Here’s how the lineup looks so far.
Men’s Royal Rumble Match – Entrants include: WWE Champion Brock Lesnar (entered himself at No. 1), Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Braun Strowman, Erick Rowan, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Elias, Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Otis, Tucker, Rusev, Bobby Lashley, Aleister Black and Buddy Murphy. That’s 19 names on the WWE.com list. There are 11 more to go although there will be surprise entrants, of course.
Women’s Royal Rumble Match – Entrants include: Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross and Sarah Logan. They’ve only announced four names so far.
Strap Match for the Universal Championship: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
Raw Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Asuka
Falls Count Anywhere: Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin (They are both in the Men’s Royal Rumble match as well.)
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Bayley (c) vs. Lacey Evans
Sheamus vs. Shorty G
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I think they might add The New Day vs. The Miz and John Morrison for the Smackdown Tag Team Titles as well.
The two Royal Rumble matches should run about one hour in length each. Five matches on the undercard is a good amount, so if they add the SD Tag Team Title match then that’s six. There will be some matches on what will be a likely be a two-hour Kickoff Show as well.
We will continue to update the card as we learn more info.