Jey Uso, John Cena and Real Winners and Losers of WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Match Card – Bleacher Report
Almost 70,500 fans were in attendance at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to see a wild 2025 Royal Rumble event.Two title contenders were crowned in the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches: Jey Uso and Charlotte Flair, respectively.Saturday also saw the end of two major rivalries: Cody Rhodes defeated Kevin Owens in a ladder match and DIY survived two out-of-three Falls against the Motor City Machine Guns.This was a special night that allowed many stars to stand out, but not everyone could be a winner.These are the real winners and losers from Royal Rumble 2025.When Chelsea Green first returned to WWE in the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble match, she lasted just five seconds. In 2024, she lasted 17 minutes before elimination.In 2025, she may have still been an early elimination, but stood out, pulling off two eliminations while lasting longer than her previous two years combined.The early stretch of this contest relied on the women’s United States champion’s comedic timing setting a strong foundation.It may take several more years for Green to get to the final stretch of the Rumble, but her steady improvement and integral role in WWE is clearer than it has ever been.WWE did little to hype anyone but Charlotte Flair as an option to win the women’s Royal Rumble match. This left fans to speculate on possible dark-horse candidates.Bianca Belair stood out due to the potential of a fresh rivalry with Rhea Ripley, but that speculation did not play out in this contest in any way.The EST of WWE showed off her athleticism throughout the contest, but that was about the extent of her role.She was eliminated in a mass of bodies by Nia Jax, not even allowed to stand out in her final minute in the contest. This also allowed Jax to break Belair’s elimination record held since 2020.It was a tough showing for The EST, who might still be considered for a match with Ripley come WrestleMania 41.It took just one year for Bayley’s Iron Woman record to fall, and that record was broken by her new rival, Roxanne Perez.With an official survival time of 1:07:47, The Prodigy made a lasting mark on the women’s Rumble as she continued her transition to the main roster.The former NXT women’s champion got about the biggest spotlight of anyone without winning, and the crowd was completely behind her pulling off the upset victory by the end.It’s a shame WWE was not bold enough to let Perez win, but it was still a career-defining moment that should have led the 23-year-old straight to the title scene on the main roster.Becky Lynch will return to WWE, but opportunities for a big return continue to pass without her reappearance.The Man was arguably the most likely woman to win the Rumble outside of Charlotte Flair, but it was Alexa Bliss, Trish Stratus and Nikki Bella who took the surprise spots in the match.Perhaps the goal was not to diminish Lynch’s return by having her lose the Rumble to the Queen.At this point, though, WWE needs to come up with something special for Lynch’s return in the coming weeks if she is going to be involved in WrestleMania 41 season.Charlotte Flair has made history. She is the first woman to win two women’s Rumbles, and she did it after over a year out of action.The Queen was likely to play a major role in the build to WrestleMania 40, but she tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus in December 2023.The 38-year-old’s recovery was tough, but she is back to play a key role in the women’s division ahead of WrestleMania 41.The best bet would be that Flair will challenge Tiffany Stratton in a much-anticipated first-time clash. This is a guaranteed money match to sell The Show of Shows.With The Queen and Alexa Bliss returning as well, and Becky Lynch and Asuka also waiting, the road to WrestleMania could massively change the direction of the division.Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley made their premium live event debut in front of the biggest audience Motor City Machine Guns have ever competed in front of.For that reason, they will forever look back on this night fondly, but it does not make it a successful moment for the pair.The crowd was not involved for much of this WWE Tag Team Championship battle, treating this more like a kickoff match than one of the four contests on one of WWE’s biggest shows.DIY won in unconvincing fashion and were helped by The Street Profits, who will now focus primarily on getting revenge against Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.Hopefully, WWE will do more to make the WWE Tag Team Championship scene more exciting on the road to WrestleMania, but Sabin and Shelley are struggling to stay relevant.Three straight PLE losses to anyone is tough to take, even losses to Cody Rhodes. But Kevin Owens was thoroughly defeated over the past several months by The American Nightmare.Rhodes was the overwhelming favorite going into Saturday’s ladder match, but there was a glimmer of hope that The Prizefighter would finally win.Instead, he was taken down with confidence by Rhodes, who stood over him like a man who had completely surpassed his rival.It is tough to imagine Owens easily recovering from this latest loss. Even with a potential alliance forming with Drew McIntyre and Sami Zayn, he will not be seen as a true world title contender again for a long time.Ludwig Kaiser remains in the shadow of Gunther, and he also lives in the shadow of Santino Marella after a near-record-breaking moment in the men’s Rumble.Ludwig Kaiser was in and out of the contest in two seconds, thrown out by Penta.It was a painful moment for the Imperium member, who is struggling to find his spot on the roster beyond The Ring General.This is not the end of the road for Kaiser. He will rebound and eventually find his place on this roster.However, his chances in 2025 already look underwhelming, to say the least.Bron Breakker may not have lasted long in the men’s Rumble, but he maximized his minutes. Only Roman Reigns could stop the dominant showing of the Intercontinental champion.Breakker’s four eliminations defined the early thinning of the men’s contest, which was much different from the women’s Rumble.😣😣😣#RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/MoG0vKiGKDThis came off as a one-year-too-early moment for the 27-year-old, who could have a huge run next year in the Rumble. He may even break the elimination record.For now though, this will hopefully lead to a major spotlight on the Intercontinental Championship going into WrestleMania 41.It feels appropriate to bundle Roman Reigns, CM Punk and Seth Rollins together after their ending in the men’s Royal Rumble.These were three presumed favorites in the men’s match who more or less took each other out of the action.Clearly, this is setting the stage for a heated road to WrestleMania where all three men will look for a chance to still go after the world title.It is an exciting and volatile time for WWE, and anything could still happen, especially since it is unclear what Jey Uso will do after his Rumble win. But the path for a WrestleMania main event just got a lot harder for all three stars.John Cena promised his last year in WWE would be a ride, and he certainly made a point of that in the men’s Royal Rumble.The GOAT almost won it all and tied “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s three Rumble victories on his road to a 17th world championship.Instead, Jey Uso caught him, and Cena will be left questioning his road to WrestleMania as much as many other top names in the business.This is likely the best result for the 47-year-old, who can tell a story separate from the expectations of main-eventing ‘Mania, but that doesn’t make it any easier to accept at the moment.Fans of Cena will tune in weekly with more uncertainty than ever about his future.Jey Uso has long held the moniker “Main Event,” and he has aspirations for greatness. He has now earned that nickname.Uso is going to the main event of WrestleMania 41, and it is a genuine shock. Just days removed from a heartbreaking loss to Gunther, it was hard to see the immediate path forward for him.If the 39-year-old faces The Ring General again, the two men will need to step up in a big way to sell their match as worthy of The Grandest Stage of Them All.If Uso faces Cody Rhodes, it will be a fresh opportunity, but much will need to be done before The Show of Shows to sell him on the level of The American Nightmare.Uso will face the ultimate test, and he will have to decide whether he deserves this spot over Roman Reigns, CM Punk, John Cena, Seth Rollins and others.If WWE believed in him at this level, though, perhaps it’s time for fans to reevaluate his “main event” credibility.
