Rumble Thoughts?

[Shaun Hewitt]

Pretty flat for me.

- SPOILERS AHEAD...obviously! -


Womens rumble was better than the mens.

- More legends (had to, seeing as they released alot of their talent). I'd have preferred them to be a surprise, bar Lita. I think they are utlizing Lita well. Rousey winning, I'm not so upset over. She's been away, and this is a decent way to build her into WM without just slotting her into the Main Event.

Almost as soon as Brock dropped the title, you just knew he was going to win. Lack of legends and surprises really hurt the rumble. That and it felt almost like it lacked star quality. Brock winning was so dumb. He is such a threat, you could have had someone like Riddle (who was initially planned to win the thing from reports) or AJ Styles use that momentum. You know Riddle, Styles, Cesaro (not even in the rumble)...heck even Rhoode can all go and would benefit greatly from the Rumble win.

Brock is the last person that needs this. He has pre-written stories to go against Lashley (Revenge) or Reigns (Heyman) without needing to win the rumble to be a viable challenger.

 

[azzah72]

First match was good.
The rest of the card was meaningless and forgettable.
I don't understand wasting the rumble for having Brock win.
They had a perfect WrestleMania story lined up without needing the rumble.
It was a waste and didn't elevate anyone.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

First match was good.
The rest of the card was meaningless and forgettable.
I don't understand wasting the rumble for having Brock win.
They had a perfect WrestleMania story lined up without needing the rumble.
It was a waste and didn't elevate anyone.

Pretty much my feelings.

Also, tired of seeing Shane O Mac being made a seemingly big deal. Sure his coast to coast is good to see, and he's know for falling off things...but why have him enter so late? Why is this guy, able to be in the final 3 of a Rumble? Why has he feuded with Braun Strowman, Undertaker, Kane, AJ, DX...... He doesn't even move like a wrestler and you pit him against the most formidable opponents?

Vince was a bit different, his feud with Stone Cold was legendary....and then when he feuded with say HBK, it was that Vince was a boss and pulling the strings...easy to make believable stories for

Also, who the **** is Bad Bunny? I've only ever seen him on WWE TV.

 

[azzah72]

Pretty much my feelings.

Also, tired of seeing Shane O Mac being made a seemingly big deal. Sure his coast to coast is good to see, and he's know for falling off things...but why have him enter so late? Why is this guy, able to be in the final 3 of a Rumble? Why has he feuded with Braun Strowman, Undertaker, Kane, AJ, DX...... He doesn't even move like a wrestler and you pit him against the most formidable opponents?

Vince was a bit different, his feud with Stone Cold was legendary....and then when he feuded with say HBK, it was that Vince was a boss and pulling the strings...easy to make believable stories for

Also, who the **** is Bad Bunny? I've only ever seen him on WWE TV.

Bad bunny is a rapper, famous in the states.

I've personally not listened to him bit apparently he's wildly popular.

I'll give him credit however, seems to be a big fan and seems to at least put in the work.

His WM match was oddly entertaining.

 

[mackdadday]

When the Shield music hit, that was pretty epic. Seth Vs Roman was the only decent match on the card. They real phoned it in, especially in the mens rumble. It's like they actually worked hard not to make it interesting. At least the women's one had moments (Ivory was awesome, Rhondas music hitting), the men's one was just blah..i mean how hard is it to get at least one decent surprise with the way wrestling is today.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

I was honestly expecting X-pac in, as he was recently cleared to return, or Moose as they were promoting about the Forbidden Door.

Another option I thought may have turned up was Scotty II Hotty, simply because I know he's been working in the ring since his release as a trainer

 

[mackdadday]

I was honestly expecting X-pac in, as he was recently cleared to return, or Moose as they were promoting about the Forbidden Door.

Another option I thought may have turned up was Scotty II Hotty, simply because I know he's been working in the ring since his release as a trainer

Im not sure Moose has the industry wide notoriety that a Samoa Joe or AJ Styles had when working for TNA. You think they could have chucked some money at Wyatt, Straunman, guys people might have seen as threats. X-Pac would have been alright. I think Booker T does stuff occassionally too. Ryback would have been hilarious but like Steiner he is never gracing a WWE ring again.

 

[Marshall_magic]

There is one story going on in the entire mens main roster, so 3 matches revolved around it. Completely lacklustre rumble. It was a half decent lineup yet it was boring, probably due to the 20 rewrites on the day. I was happy when Shane returned in 2016 but he’s fallen into the same trap as Steph, thinking he’s a marquee draw when he isn’t.

I would have liked to have seen Riddle win, beat Lashley at mania then have RK Bro be the 2022 version of Jeri-KO resulting in Riddle turning on Orton for a Summerslam match (or Mania if you can keep the steam up for 12 months).

Women’s match was fine, no issues with Rhonda winning whatsoever. Not sure Charlotte needed to be in the rumble however. Just have Rhonda win and challenge her at Mania. Solid but unspectacular.

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Both RR's were crap. It felt more like an old fashined battle-royale than the Rumble, no true surprises in the men's Rumble and the same surprises in the women's Rumble as the last number of years (Impact's Rumble a few months back had better surprises FFS!). Very little energy, it just felt flat the whole way. As for the PPV/"Premium Live Event" - poor at best.

 

[Eelementary]

Imo, the Rumble should be used to create new stars.

But Rousey, and Lesnar, winning - as well as Shane being an ironman - just ruined it all.

 

[Big Pete]

I've only seen the Men's Royal Rumble and I think the biggest problem was that 18 of the participants belonged in tag teams. It's fine to include some tag guys especially when they're your biggest stars like Riddle & Orton but when you start including guys like Ridge Holland, Rick Boogs, Angelo Dawkins, Dominik Mysterio etc. it really becomes weighted down. On top of that I think they really missed having a few vets in there just to call spots and feed for their opponents. Guys like Ridge Holland and Austin Theory looked visibly lost and I thought the match noticeably improved when Ziggler joined in.

The main issue is that the WWE lacks babyfaces the fans want to get behind. All three title matches were heel-heel and the two Rumble winners were heels as well. The WWE may try to claim they're babyfaces in their title programs, but Ronda left a heel and Brock has basically been a career heel. There just isn't anyone to get behind and the big triumphant return of Drew McIntyre fell flat. They really teed that spot up and while it got a positive reaction, it wasn't big enough to carry the rest of the match.

With that said, I don't mind the Rumble winners. Ronda is a huge return that nobody was talking about until Meltzer spoiled it days out from the show. Her return promo was a train wreck, but get her in the ring and she instantly improves the women's division ten-fold. Meanwhile Brock was the most sensible choice and the Brock-Roman feud has been the highlight of the show. I don't mind them doubling down on that and I think it buries the Rumble when you give it to the lesser feud (eg. Del Rio-Edge, Bryan-Sheamus, Orton-Wyatt etc.) Winner of the Rumble headlines the biggest show - simple.

 

[Marshall_magic]

Imo, the Rumble should be used to create new stars.

But Rousey, and Lesnar, winning - as well as Shane being an ironman - just ruined it all.

story doing the rounds that Shane was supposed enter 29 and Orton at 28. This was changed when the wrong music hit. The thought of Orton doing Shane’s entrance makes me wonder what could have been. That alone would propel this to top 5 rumble territory.

 

[___]

Well... WWE screw up yet again!

So... yes I tuned into the Royal Rumble, and this is pretty much the only WWE show I'll actually watch annually, and they screwed up in a way that does not leave me surprised at all. It was SO BAD that Shane McMahon (who both produced and participated in it), was FIRED after it happened (yes you read that right). How on Earth he got fired is beyond me. Maybe it was WWE trying to save face.

My Review:

WWE Championship -- Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Bobby Lashley: So the ever boring Brock Lesnar goes up against Lashley in a match that many people wanted to see. It was a pretty tough tug-of-war match to start with and was looking pretty good, until the Lesnar German Suplex Snorefest started. Then came the F5 which also knocked out the ref. With the ref out, Roman Reigns comes in and gets the belt off the Walrus Man, Paul Heyman, knocks Lesnar out, and Lashley pins him and wins. Walrus Man leaves with Reigns. At least Brock didn't retain - however Lashley winning the way he did was a huge anti climax. As boring as Lesnar is, at least if he won, the feud would've ended legitimately.

Universal Championship -- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Seth Rollins: Reigns got disqualified for not breaking a hold. It was a pretty good match until that point. Pathetic way to end what was an otherwise good match.

Miz & Maryse vs. Edge & Beth Phoenix: So Miz and Maryse made Edge and Beth humiliated on WWE for weeks/months until this match took place. Of course Miz and Maryse were going to lose.

Raw Women's Championship -- Becky Lynch (c) vs. Doudrop: Doudrop is like a fatter, uglier version of Nia Jax FFS. As if she was going to lose to Becky Lynch. Everyone saw this outcome a mile away.

Women's Royal Rumble match: I've always been critical of the Women's Royal Rumble simply because there is not enough female talent in WWE for it to take place. This year proved me right yet again. I lost count of how many retired or unsigned female participants took place in this years rumble. And as predictable as Brock is, Charlotte Flair came in and dominated (snorefest). She finished runner-up to Ronda Rousey, but FFS why was she even in it? WWE should either cut the Women's Royal Rumble down to 20, add NXT females in it, or cut it altogether. It actually got to the point where I wasn't saying "Which wrestler is coming out next?" but rather saying "Which retired wrestler is coming out next?" - and the fact that Mickie James, who is SIGNED TO TNA, participated left my gobsmacked.

Men's Royal Rumble match: There were so many wrestlers who could've won. The fact that Brock Lesnar come out #30 and won it in about 2 minutes left me shaking my head in unsurprised disappointment.

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Bit harsh on Doudrop. Her Viper / Piper Niven work is very good, comparing her to Jax is awful. She's just in a shocking gimmick.

 

[Marshall_magic]

Word is Shane got fired because there was a million rewrites on the day. There apparently were 3 main things that lead to him being let go:
1. Bad Bunny was confused about when he was coming in, and as a big name celebrity who is actually semi decent between the ropes his complaints all fell on Shane

2. Orton was supposed to enter at 28, but the production truck has the wrong entrance order list and played Shane’s theme instead. Orton told Shane he better get out there and go, after it was suggested Orton enter to Shane’s theme.

3. he was ordered to have Rey and Dom in there at the same time so one could eliminate the other. That obviously didn’t happen, leaving weeks of TV segments redundant.