WWE Greatest Royal Rumble: Match card, predictions, entrants, rumours, date, start time and how to stream
After the spectacle that was WrestleMania 34, we were already looking forward to what we thought would be the first post-Mania dual-brand pay-per-view – WWE Backlash 2018.
But while that May event is still in the calendar, something else has snuck in ahead.
Being honest, we originally thought the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia would be completely missable.
But with it now airing on the WWE Network and with a clutch of title matches added, it’s emerged as a genuine PPV in its own right.
We’d be lying if we didn’t admit to having a few reservations.
Given the great strides made in the WWE towards LGBT visibility and allyship (Finn Bálor and pro-wrestling is for EVERYONE), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia feels an odd place to have a major event like this, given its repressive and violent laws against LGBT people.
And that’s before we note that there are ZERO women’s matches on the card, presumably at the hosts’ insistence. So much for the Women’s [R]evolution.
If you can put all that to one side, you’ll want to tune in at 12pm ET/9am PT on Friday, April 27 (5pm in the UK) for all the action from the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia .
The one-hour Kick-Off show starts an hour earlier at 11am ET/8am PT (4pm in the UK), and here is everything you need to know.
What’s the full match card and predictions for the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble?
Greatest Royal Rumble Match [50-man Royal Rumble Match]
Confirmed Greatest Royal Rumble Entrants:
A. Fifty. Man. Royal. Rumble. It literally doesn’t get bigger than this. We don’t know if it’ll be fought on traditional Royal Rumble rules (one entry every 90/120 seconds) or Battle Royal rules (they all start in the ring at the same time).
Logistics surely suggest the former, though that means this will take some time…
As for who wins it’s as open as they get, and we’ve only had two-fifths of the entrants announced so far.
From there the standouts are Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, a returning Chris Jericho and Big Show, and of course Braun Strowman, the Monster Among Men.
We’re going to stick our necks out and say that despite the inevitable ganging up on Braun (especially from those bitter tag teamers after WrestleMania), he’ll still have far too much for anyone else.
It promises to be a spectacle and a half, whoever wins.
PREDICTION: Braun Strowman
WWE Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Roman Reigns [Steel Cage Match]
Well, this is an odd one. It’s hard to think of a WrestleMania main event that had quite as much antipathy from the crowd as Reigns/Lesnar II did earlier this month.
Their WM31 battle wasn’t universally welcomed in advance, but the story told won over most of the crowd long before Seth Rollins made his shock entrance. Not so in New Orleans.
We’re not quite sure why this rematch is happening. RR had his chance at Mania and missed it. His Elimination Chamber card has been validated and can’t be re-stamped.
But here we go again. Round Three. What we don’t want to see is Roman Reigns kicking out of a dozen F5s, cheapening one of the formerly strongest finishers in the WWE.
There’s nothing wrong with someone wriggling out of a finisher, or just managing to dodge it over and over.
But when it hits flush and is just ignored repeatedly, it loses any sense of impact or weight – and the story does too.
With Brock Lesnar signed up to a new WWE contract, the smart money is on him retaining. Against all the odds though, we’re expecting a massive and significant shock and a Reigns victory.
PREDICTION: Roman Reigns
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Finn Bálor vs. The Miz vs. Samoa Joe [Ladder Match]
Seth vs Miz vs Finn didn’t quite steal the whole show at WrestleMania, but it did set a fine benchmark as the first match on the main card.
How to top that? Well, how about adding Samoa Joe. And some ladders.
It’ll have to go some to beat the NXT North American Championship match at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans but we think it could well do it.
These are four guys with nicely contrasting styles, and when you chuck in a few ladders there’s the potential for something very special indeed.
Despite not having any sense of champions’ advantage due to the stipulation, we think Seth’s experience in this type of match will mean he just manages to retain (and do it again vs The Miz at Backlash 2018 a short while later).
PREDICTION: Seth Rollins
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: Cesaro and Sheamus vs ‘Woken’ Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
After ‘Woken’ Matt Hardy successfully sentenced Bray Wyatt to The Ultimate Deletion, it always seemed likely the two would pair up.
It happened at the finale of the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and the Odd Couple have since hit the ground running.
With a couple of strong wins on WWETV, the second of which against Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder, they’ve been catapulted all the way to a title shot.
That just leaves The Bar, still smarting at their loss to Braun Strowman and Nicholas.
And while neither Wyatt nor Hardy have quite the same intimidating presence and pure strength of Nicholas, they’ll still have enough to become your new Raw Tag Team Champions.
PREDICTION: ‘Woken’ Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
John Cena vs Triple H
Both these men are coming off the back of chastening WrestleMania losses.
Together with Stephanie McMahon, Triple H took one hell of a beating at the hands of Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey.
And after spending over a month calling out The Undertaker, John Cena got way more than he bargained for when the Deadman returned and pretty much squashed him on the grandest stage of them all.
So both need a morale-boosting victory, but only one man can come out on top in this first battle between the two in eight years.
There’s no gold on the line, but the wealth of experience they bring plus the prestige of these two part-timers going at it (yes, Cena is now a part-timer) make this quite the match-up.
We’re going to go for the COO, if only because we think he’ll be much more willing to bend and break the rules should he need to in order to get that pinfall.
PREDICTION: Triple H
The Undertaker vs Rusev [Casket Match]
The Undertaker was thought dead and buried after his loss to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33.
But you wanted him to return. John Cena wanted him to return and return he did at WrestleMania 34 in style.
Rusev had a less successful WrestleMania 34, missing out on the WWE United States Championship to Jinder Mahal, on Rusev Day no less.
And things have gone from bad to worse… after being booked to face the Deadman, on Rusev Day no less coming round again (it gets sooner every year), he was switched for Chris Jericho.
But despite being shunted from the match amid all sorts of rumours, it was later announced that Rusev WOULD be back in the bout against the Deadman. We can’t keep up.
Anyway, it’s the first Casket Match in the WWE since Daniel Bryan beat Kane in 2015. It’s The Undertaker’s first Casket Match since he beat The Big Show in 2008.
Taker’s been in 15 Casket Matches to date. He’s won 11 of them. We think he’ll be extending that tally by one this month.
PREDICTION: The Undertaker
WWE United States Championship: Jeff Hardy (c) vs Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal winning the US Title was perhaps the biggest surprise of WrestleMania 34 (Nicholas notwithstanding).
Many people expected either Randy Orton to retain, or Rusev to finally win back the title he did so much for a few years ago.
He didn’t hold on to the title for long though, losing it a week after Mania just moments after his move over to Raw from SmackDown Live.
And with a resurgent Grand Slam Jeff Hardy in possession, we don’t think he’ll be giving it up any time soon.
We’re predicting a long Hardy reign as US Champ, hopefully elevating the belt with him, while Jinder will have to make do with battling with recent NXT upstart No Way Jose.
PREDICTION: Jeff Hardy
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) (c) vs. The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso)
After waiting so many years for their WrestleMania debut, The Usos are probably now wishing that they gave the show a miss.
In one of the shorter matches of the night, Jimmy and Jey lost their hard-earned titles to a storming and brutal performance from The Bludgeon Brothers.
The New Day aren’t a factor this time around having lost a qualifier to The Usos, which simplifies things.
Nevertheless, Harper and Rowan have proven over the last few weeks (and with that Mania performance) that they are absolutely the real deal.
Expect them to retain, and to do it in as swift a fashion as they did earlier in the month. Uso Penitentiary has been busted open.
PREDICTION: The Bludgeon Brothers
WWE Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura
AJ Styles retained his WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania, but the new bad boy of wrestling Shinsuke Nakamura isn’t quite done with him.
If Roman Reigns got a freebie rematch despite a WrestleMania loss, Nakamura was probably within his rights to insist on one, too.
And while we were underwhelmed by their first WWE battle, we think this could well be Match of the Night.
With their rivalry finally having the edge that it lacked earlier in the month, there’ll be enough needle and nastiness to carry the weight of expectation (which itself will be less oppressive).
But that dark side turn still won’t be enough for Nakamura to take the title… not yet, anyway.
PREDICTION: AJ Styles
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Cedric Alexander (c) vs TBD [Mustafa Ali?]
Cedric Alexander will still be holding his hard-won title after WrestleMania, and this will be his first major defence of it.
As for his competitor, we can’t really say just yet, with the winner of a Gauntlet Match on 205 Live getting the spot.
We’ll hazard a guess that Mustafa Ali will get a rematch after his strong Mania performance, despite the strength in the division/
Regardless of who he comes up against, we think that Cedric Alexander will hold on to the title for a while yet.
He’s one of the best performers on an always-improving show, and while we’ve got a very soft spot for Mustafa Ali, our head is pointing us towards Cedric here.
PREDICTION: Cedric Alexander
What date and start time is the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble in the UK?
The WWE Greatest Royal Rumble is on Friday, April 27 and the event’s start time is 5pm. The Kick-Off show starts one hour earlier at 4pm.
What date and start time is the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble in the US?
The WWE Greatest Royal Rumble is on Friday, April 27 and the event’s start time is 12pm ET (9am PT). The Kick-Off show starts one hour earlier at 11am ET (8am PT).
How do I watch the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble?
If you haven’t bought a ticket to be there in person at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (on sale from April 13), your options are either the WWE Network, which we highly recommend, or if you don’t have a fast, reliable internet connection the more traditional – and expensive – pay-per-view.
How do I live stream the Greatest Royal Rumble on the WWE Network?
The WWE Network is priced at £9.99 per month in the UK and $9.99 per month in the US – first-time subscribers get a month free.
You can access it via the following platforms and devices – click for info on how to access with each app:
- Google Chromecast
- Kindle Fire/Kindle Fire TV
- Android devices
- Android TV
- Apple TV
- iOS devices (iPhone and iPad)
- LG Smart TVs
- Panasonic Smart TVs
- PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4
- Roku via the WWE App
- Samsung Smart TVs (2013 and 2014 models)
- Sony Internet-connected TVs and Streaming Blu-ray Players
- WWE.com
- Windows 10
- Xbox One and XBox 360
How do I watch the Greatest Royal Rumble on WWE pay-per-view in the UK?
You can buy the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble on pay-per-view in the UK via Sky Sports Box Office – priced at £19.95.
How do I watch the Greatest Royal Rumble on WWE pay-per-view in the US?
You can buy the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble on pay-per-view in the US via your local provider – full list here.
What are your predictions for the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble? Let us know at @digitalspywwe.
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