THOUGHTS | 2025 WWE ROYAL RUMBLE | WOMEN'S MATCH RANT

CREDIT: FROM WWE

I am writing this in the middle of the Women’s Royal Rumble match. I know about the politics surrounding the country, but since I’m Asian, I’m not as angry as Westerners. The Philippines has been sending workers to the Middle East for more than four decades. Yes, there are horror stories, but they aren't all that bad as long as a person knows their place and has their embassy's hotline.

I know they work from Sunday to Thursday. I also know the Saudis may have saved their time to watch the Royal Rumble, which is why the previous SmackDown had a lot of empty seats.

That said, WWE should reconsider giving Saudi Arabia another Big 4 PPV. The reason is the aesthetics and the atmosphere. I have seen this crowd when I watched the Esports World Cup. I am a DOTA 2 fan, and it was unbearable listening to the crowd whenever Team Falcons were playing. The most basic chant in the Royal Rumble is the countdown, and for some reason, they can’t do it properly.

Also, they came in late. There were a lot of empty seats. I bet the production team was matching the camera angles with the ticket sales. They know the tickets were sold, but because many ticket holders didn’t arrive early, it felt like the match had the energy of a preshow.

I don’t know if they are casuals, but it feels like they don’t know the NXT superstars, and it’s evident that it threw most of the women off. From what we saw during WWE’s Europe trips, the value of the fans is important because the wrestlers feed off the crowd.

At one point, the fans were jumping while chanting “Thank You, Cena,” while most of the women were lying down. Worse, this happened before Nikki Bella entered the match. The crowd was odd, and again, the empty seats didn’t look good.

And the crowd cutaways were so annoying.

IT FELT LIKE IT WAS STAGED.

Hell, it even felt like it was taped. The shots looked too clean. It was like a tripod was set up in front of the subjects so they could get their reaction.

The kid in the crowd looked so shocked that Brie Bella had returned, as if she had been watching old WWE videos from before she was born and all she ever watched were Brie Bella matches.

What wrestling fan would do that?

If WrestleMania gets the same treatment, the event will be awkward and probably an embarrassment of monumental proportions.

However, it felt like the money must be cooler than the moment.

Again, for some reason, it felt like the Women’s Royal Rumble was off. Popular women like Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Nia Jax, and Bayley weren’t as featured. Even Charlotte Flair went almost an hour without really doing anything. There were a lot of NXT women in action, and most of them were doing damage.

Now, I know this is the call of Triple H, possibly with Shawn Michaels at his side, but the crowd wasn’t reacting, and the wrestlers were green. I must admit, Sol Ruca and Lash Legend did well, but I don’t think the rest of them looked relevant. Kiana James looked green to me. Jacy Jayne didn’t feel like an NXT Champion. Kelani Jordan didn’t look good either. Even Giulia didn’t get the right crowd reaction because SmackDown never really established her moveset properly.

And WWE should use the Saudi money to retrieve the wrestlers' most popular entrance themes. Most of the women drew zero reactions, and it's insane.

The crowd was dying to cheer, and it took the shock return of Brie Bella to wake them up. It felt like the production of the match was dead at that point. I get that the new entrant usually gets time to shine, but it became repetitive with no crowd interaction. It was like the new entrant would go to the center of the ring, and whether the wrestler was a heel or a face, everyone would just walk toward them to get their butt kicked.

And what’s up with betrayals caused by miscues? Liv Morgan betraying Raquel Rodriguez. Charlotte Flair accidentally eliminating Alexa Bliss. Kairi Sane accidentally eliminating Asuka. I must admit, the return of Tiffany Stratton and the final sequence were good. Still, I can’t really see WWE doing this unless the money is that good and the arena attendance is full.

I’m telling you, just because they have money doesn’t mean Riyadh is bringing in an enjoyable experience. Because at the end of the day, now that WWE is on Netflix, the trashy events are more accessible to the world, thus the fans can clearly see what's working and what's not.