The WWE's brand of sports entertainment took the show to Saudi Arabia on Friday as the "Greatest Royal Rumble 2018" results unfolded via the WWE Network. As part of a stacked card, several matches packed with excitement were part of the first two hours of the latest event. In one match, "The Game" Triple H took on superstar John Cena in a match that hasn't happened in eight years. In the other match, fans were captivated as Seth Rollins defended his WWE Intercontinental Championship in a Fatal Fourway Ladder match.
Cena vs. Triple H
In the opening bout, fans got their money's worth as John Cena vs.
Triple H had the leadoff spot for the pay-per-view. The two veteran superstars would put on quite a battle too, as they fought back and forth valiantly. Throughout the match, each superstar teased their finisher with the opponent finding a way to escape. Eventually, they each would manage to hit a few of their trademark moves. At one point, Triple H even mocked Cena by doing a Five Knuckle Shuffle, after also giving a DX crotch chop.
The Game had control of things for a good portion of the match and hit several spinebusters for near falls. However, John Cena ended up managing to kick out each time HHH thought he had him beat. In the end, it was John Cena who managed to hit an Attitude Adjustment and then catapulted his opponent into the corner turnbuckle so he could hit a second AA.
With that, Cena scored the three count. Following the big win, he thanked the crowd for their support and being such gracious hosts, before walking up the ramp to slap hands with fans. It was a great way to get the crowd warmed up for the rest of the "Greatest Royal Rumble" event.
IC title ladder match
In the best match of the early portion of the "Greatest Royal Rumble 2018" results, Seth Rollins put the Intercontinental title on the line.
His opponents included The Miz, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe for a Fatal Fourway Ladder match. This match certainly didn't disappoint as it brought out the "This is Awesome" chant from the crowd based on the exciting spots they witnessed.
One of those spots included a superplex of both Finn and Seth off the corner turnbuckle. In another spot, The Miz managed to hit a Skullcrushing Finale on Samoa Joe face first into a ladder on the mat.
Later, Miz ended up taking Finn's Coup de Grace while laying on top of a ladder. However, the finish provided something fans haven't seen in recent ladder matches.
#CoupDeGrace = Pain.#CoupDeGrace onto a ladder = UNFATHOMABLE pain!@FinnBalor #WWEGRR #LadderMatch pic.twitter.com/Im89zh0GyA
— WWE (@WWE) April 27, 2018
With Finn Balor seeming ready to become the WWE Intercontinental Champion, he made his climb up the ladder and was nearing the title belt. Out of nowhere, Seth Rollins emerged on the side apron, climbed onto the top rope and leaped onto the ladder, quickly scaling it and grabbing the title before falling to the mat. With that, the man who has held the IC title belt since "WrestleMania 34" is still the champion.
Other results
There was at least one title change during the first few hours of the show as the vacant WWE "Raw" tag team titles were up for grabs. In that match, the recently-formed team of Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt captured the titles by defeating The Bar. Also, Jeff Hardy was able to retain the WWE United States Championship against Jinder Mahal, and Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title in his match against Kalisto. The Bludgeon Brothers also managed to keep hold of the WWE "SmackDown" tag team titles by defeating The Usos in their match.
The WWE's "Greatest Royal Rumble 2018" results for the other big matches including the 50-man match as well as Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal title in a steel cage match were still to be determined.