WWE Royal Rumble: Rhodes, Bayley win; Levesque addresses McMahon lawsuit

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Even in the shadow of sexual-abuse allegations against longtime pro-wrestling executive Vince McMahon, in the world of WWE, the show must go on. On Saturday, the show was the Royal Rumble, one of WWE’s tentpole events of the year, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

Vince McMahon resigns from WWE after sexual-assault allegations

Cody Rhodes and Bayley won the Royal Rumble matches, earning main-event title matches at WrestleMania. Roman Reigns and Logan Paul defended their respective championships.

But much of the talk of WWE over the past week has focused on McMahon, adding a harsh dose of reality to the entertainment so many people love.

McMahon resigned his leadership positions within WWE on Friday, a day after a former employee filed a civil lawsuit accusing the longtime executive of sexual abuse and sex trafficking. The resignation effectively ended more than four decades of McMahon building the company into an international juggernaut.

WWE chief content officer Paul Levesque, McMahon’s son-in-law, diverted several questions about the lawsuit, saying he preferred to “focus on the positive” for the week.

“Look, we just had an amazing week…” Levesque told Jon Alba of Fightful during a postshow press conference. “We just signed a 10-year, $5 billion Netflix deal. … We just sold out the Royal Rumble, put 48,000 people in Tropicana Field. I choose to focus on the positive. Yes, there’s a negative, but I want to focus on that and keep it to that.”

Later, Levesque was asked what was being done to ensure employees were not being taken advantage of by their bosses.

WWE is doing “everything possible,” said Levesque. “That is a very important thing to us. It’s as simple as ‘everything possible.'”

Rhodes, whose main-event victory Saturday further solidified his status as one of the faces of the company, said the allegations “certainly” cast a dark cloud over the week.

“We were finding it out reading the same thing that you guys were reading. As far as [WWE parent company] TKO, [CEO] Nick Khan and the board clearly took it very seriously and acted immediately.”

Bayley wrestled 1 hour, 3 minutes to win the women’s Rumble, entering at No. 3 in the 30-woman match and last eliminating Liv Morgan. Her excitement over the win showed on her face as fireworks erupted and 40,000 people chanted her name. For Bayley wrestled in Orlando-based NXT from 2012 to 2016 as one of its most popular performers. Saturday felt like a career highlight.

Besides Bayley, the dominant performers in the Rumble included Nia Jax, who eliminated more than a half-dozen rivals, and Jade Cargill, a former AEW talent making her WWE debut and immediately drawing raves from the Tropicana Field crowd.

A wrestler from the rival TNA brand, Jordynne Grace made a surprise appearance in the Rumble. Naomi, a Sanford native who most recently worked for TNA under her real name of Trinity Fatu, returned as well.

At the finish, the returning Morgan and Cargill fought on the edge of the ring. Morgan threw Cargill to the floor, then Bayley kicked Morgan out for the win.

Reigns’ title defense in a 4-way match against LA Knight, Randy Orton and AJ Styles was well-constructed and well-worked. All three opponents had time to shine, especially Orton, who hit his RKO finisher on everyone. In the end, thanks to interference from cousin Solo Sikoa and the use of a chair, Reigns retained, pinning Styles after a spear.

Paul defeated Kevin Owens via disqualification to retain the U.S. championship. Paul tried to cheat when his associate, called only “Jeff” in commentary, came to ringside and passed him brass knuckles. Owens stole the foreign object, knocked out Paul and covered him, but the referee spotted the brass knuckles at the count of 2 and disqualified Owens. That made for a fun finish to a match that was devoid of a signature Logan Paul “moment.”

Rhodes’ victory, after he entered at No. 15, was full of moments, especially in the closing minutes after the field of 30 was narrowed to only Rhodes and CM Punk. They worked several intense minutes — some of the most dramatic of the entire show — before Rhodes avoided Punk’s Go 2 Sleep finisher and dumped him over the top.

Others in the final four included Intercontinental champion Gunther and former world champ Drew McIntyre, both longtime top performers who should play vital roles at WrestleMania. Returns and surprises included Andrade (formerly AEW’s Andrade el Idolo) and NXT’s Bron Breakker.

“Those fans who have been with me from the beginning, and those who just jumped on, are completely vindicated by what happened tonight,” Rhodes said. “because they know something that I want to tell all of you: I am the guy. And I have been the guy.”

jreddick@orlandosentinel.com or on X @runninjay.