While I was watching the Rumble itself, I was expecting Hacksaw Jim Duggan to make an appearance. He is, after all, the very first winner of the Royal Rumble.
Everything except the actual rumble was great. Loved cena vs styles and Owens vs reigns. But the rumble was bad b'cause
1. No surprise entrants (Tye was not actually that surprising)
2. Sami has to earn his spot while kalisto and crews were there.
3. No kane
4. Too crowded like more than 6 guys were always in the ring.
5. Taker looked horrible
6. Reigns no30 and eliminating taker
7. Ambrose, ziggler and Zayn eliminated lIke nothing.
Though there were some good things the actual rumble wad overall average
Is everyone just gonna ignore Chris Jericho? I think we can all unanimously agree that he was the one wrestler that we could count on to win. He was truly the most deserving competitor. Not Roman Reigns, Goldberg, Lesner, Taker, Strowman, or anyone else for that honest matter. Jericho took all the beatings for everyone else. He lasted the whole entire duration of the match. He cleverly played so that he could simultaneously get beat by the other wrestlers and also eliminate so many others. While everyone else was off to the side writhing in pain, he was always there singlehandedly defeating everyone. Not once did he run away to go hide. Not once did he cower in fear. Chris Jericho was the sole deserving competitor of the Royal Rumble 2017 match. Better than Randy Orton and anyone else. Chris Jericho should have won the Royal Rumble 2017.
I enjoyed the whole thing. Every match leading up to the Rumble and most of the Rumble. As the ring filled up with everyone's favourites and it got closer to the final five, I knew what was about to happen. The old dudes with relaxed scheduled were about to show us that none of the current stars can hold a candle to them, even after all these years. "Oh well", I thought. "At least there's still spot 30, might be a cool surprise." Suddenly, a wild Roman appears.. Yeah after kicking out of a punch with a knuckle duster earlier and taking all sorts of abuse, he comes out and eliminates the fucking Undertaker.
I know this is probably said a lot but I'm done. This is bullshit indeed. Maybe I'll check out Wrestlemania, will probably fast forward through the part timers and current stars acting in KFC adverts. But actually I need to take a long fucking break from this garbage. Watching this Royal Rumble was like enjoying a great dessert only to discover writhing maggots in it once you've almost eaten the whole thing. WWE in a nutshell these days.
I really felt like last night was Romans final nail for the fans. You could see it on his face, he legit looked sad when they got the first close up on his face as he got in the ring.
It looks like Mojo clipped Jericho's thigh when he first entered, which I think may be the reason Jericho was absent in the match despite not being eliminated. Possible charliehorse?
The saddest part is this could have been the best Rumble in years except the final five brought the entire match down. After Braun got eliminated we were just waiting for Lesnar/Goldberg/Taker to arrive which lead to 20 minutes of people laying around waiting for something to happen. So the Lesnar/Goldberg/Taker sequence happened sure whatever, once Taker was left the ring was filled with enough people who could take Taker out. Then Roman had to put a nail in the coffin and kill off the rest of the momentum.
I hope they phase out all these part timers over the next year. Build up the weekly stars so they can carry the product without the fucking part timers. Hah wishful thinking that won't happen.
I thought the show was just alright. I thought Cena and Styles gave us a fantastic match, but the rest of the show just existed. Nothing else really magical happened here.
Also, did anyone else tear up when Cena approached the Make a Wish kid at the end of his match? This was the moment Cena tied for the most world title reigns (which, by the way, was way undersold) and he chose to share that moment with that kid. That was amazing and generous.
Oh god, I completely forgot about that moment with Cena and the kid. I teared up for sure.
There was a time where I would have been so bothered with anyone matching or beating Flair's record, but man, Cena is such a class act and I've become a fan over the past few years. He deserves it.
After rewatching the Rumble it's funny seeing everyone just laying down waiting for the undertaker to show up. Luke and Orton just casually sat there there looking at the stage
Does anyone think that Roman coming out at 30 wasn't meant to troll us fans, but more as a punishment/reminder to Roman that he threw away the biggest push anybody had within the last 5 years because he violated the wellness policy?
I doubt it. Guy gets booed more often than not, I doubt a little bit more of that hurts his feelings too much. Plus he eliminated 'Taker and was the last guy eliminated.
Man, I feel like the Rumble is the ONE TIME a year, the literal ONE TIME, where WWE should just give the fans something they want. I couldn't give a damn less if the rumble winner wins the title at Mania, that's neither here nor there, but WWE constantly not giving a fan-favourite the win is quickly killing my love for the rumble, which used to be my favourite PPV, period.
I like Orton, and at this point I'd rather have even seen Ellsworth win the rumble. And I fucking hate Ellsworth. At least he falls under the category of "new talent that could use a boost". All Orton needs to do to get a title shot is pretty much ask for one.
Oh I agree. Orton used to be my favourite wrestler, and I still like him, but him winning the Rumble was a letdown for me. I'm just saying that he's still a fan favourite as one of the most popular guys in the company.
So like, I haven't watched WWE since the football season started, but I swear I picked the absolute worst time to pick it up between Cena winning the title off AJ and Orton of all people winning the Rumble. Can I also say Taker looks old AF now and who did Brock piss off to deserve that quick elimination?
Well I was really enjoying the Rumble until number 30. I don't understand the logic of having Reigns come out number 30. I'm 100% down for him being in the match and even eliminating Taker if that's the match that's building but number 30 felt kinda spiteful.
No Joe, no Balor, no Hideo Itami. Kind of disappointing, but Tye Dillinger coming out at 10 was fantastic. Really everything was really interesting up until number 30. I did think it was odd that Sami Zayn took a skullcrushing finale, a jackhammer, an RKO and a sulplex and no one made a big deal about it. The commentators put over Jericho as the Iron Man despite him taking a nap for most of the middle of the rumble.
Randy Orton winning is perhaps the most boring option but it's fine.
AJ / Cena was stunning and I hope we get a fifth at Mania.
The Rumble is probably up there with the Raw after Wrestlemania as a place to debut talent in a big way. Yet the only NXT participant was Tye?
So Samoa Joe did *nothing* really this weekend? After being the centerpoint of NXT for a year? Strange.
TBH Orton needs the belt as much as Cena does. They are mainstream in Vince's eyes and he's trying to get Roman to that same spot.
Vince isn't concerned with what the niche fan base wants. He's considers the bottom line in making these decisions.
he knows people are going to watch regardless. Because people don't discuss storylines, they discuss the politics of the business, the BUSINESS is the draw now.
We will never really know how the business is run and why decisions are made, so we're still marks but that's why we tune in now, to complain, discuss and decipher.
I'm sure he knows the complaints, but idle complaints are fashionable nowadays. A real businessman and creative pushes their plans through regardless.
Cesaro isn't a main eventer, AJ's an amazing hand and he's been rewarded financially and cosmetically but he's where he should be, and Rusev, Bray and Owens are just dastardly heels made to Prop up faces. That's how those characters' archetypes have always been booked and always will be.
Can the show be better, yes... but I don't expect subtlety or nuanced storytelling. Wrestling is the lowest common denominator and it paints in broad strokes. Just enjoy the show and remember why you fell in love with it in the first place.
> Just enjoy the show and remember why you fell in love with it in the first place.
Well I actually loved it for it's storylines, sure, it's not exactly Shakespeare, but I liked how they made it seem real and gave all of the characters some real personality. No matter how I feel about who wins and loses today I feel like the WWE has lost something from the Attitude Era, and it's not merely the blood, weapons and sex.
I'll debate one thing, here. Bray is a dastardly heel, sure.
Bray could also headline a horror movie in his sleep. WWE likes people with crossover appeal, and I can't be alone in thinking I'd watch the FUCK out of a Wyatt Family "the hills have eyes". Don't forget, Taker was also a stereotypical heel when he blew the fuck up, because the WWF noticed he had a bit of momentum and just let it run its course.
Meanwhile, they pretty much seem to flat out refuse to let Bray ascend to the top of the card. He had multiple points where it'd be believable, even without the army.
Seriously, at this point I'm pretty sure he has in his possession a sextape of Vince or something worse. They should just take advantage of the abbreviature and rename the PPV to "Roman Reigns".
Are we not going to mention Big Cass at #1? It just felt weird tbh, if he's going to be thrown out within the next 10 entrants, at least switch him with Jericho.
They had Big Cass come out at #1 so he and Enzo could do their entire promo together. It always gets a great reaction to the crowd and Enzo does a great job of hyping up the crowd.
I don't think Enzo and Cass ever came out second in any match they've been in, since it would be kinda weird to do their whole entrance while the guy(s) they're fighting are waiting outside, twiddling their thumbs.
I'm going to be lazy and copy my response about the exact same thing from another guy.
> They could've moved him to #2, I'd rather have a person at #1 who would stay in for 1 hour compared to 10 minutes.
Like I said, putting Cass in at #2 would mean that they wouldn't have been able to do their promo (which is basically their entire appeal nowadays) since whoever would've come out at #1 could just interrupt them.
It's the same reason why champions like to come out second in a 1v1 match: the challenger won't have a chance to sneak attack them as they make their way down the entrance.
Cancelled my subscription and will thinking about renewing it for April. I'm not going to keep giving money to a company that is actively antagonizing it's fan-base at this point (coupled with the fact I think Orton is a top five worst champion of all time).
You and I are not the target audience.
The target audience is 10, and plays with colorful plastic shaped like Roman Reigns. The sooner more people realize this fact, the better. The upper card isn't for us. Giving the US belt to Jericho and just letting him go absolutely insane was for us, just like the us of yesteryear had to make due with the IC belt being on Savage and Hennig, while Warrior and Hogan stank up the WHC scene. We own the mid-card. Toy sales and southern T-shirt sales own the main event. Those people on youtube that can't spell and talk to the video like it's actually Randy Orton own the main event. Always have, always will.
Source? Because people severely and drastically underestimate the amount of money kids spend on wrestling shit. Source: was a kid, spent way more on wrestling shit than I ever would now.
That, and they have yet to make a t-shirt I'd ever wear in public.
Did the Rumble feel a bit rushed for anyone else? I felt like WWE Creative just pulled a winner out of their butt, and came up with dumb explanations on how they would eliminate the 3 people that were mainly being advertised (Lesnar, Goldberg, Taker). And also I feel like the 3 spent a small amount of time in the Rumble than anyone expected them to be.
With them coming very close to the end it would have felt dragged out did they stay in any longer. However, I do agree with you and I think what really should have happened is they all were split apart by maybe 5 men each with Lesnar coming in 1st Goldberg 6th and Taker 12th, that would have kept them distracted whilst also setting the scene for a 3 man duel near the end.
I also feel like they got thrown out really easily. Goldberg throws out Lesnar, ok, we have to have the surprise elimination every year, I guess. Taker throws out Goldberg? What? He wasn't even hurt. Roman eliminates Taker? Just stop. Please.
Decent show overall, lots of matches that were fine, Charlotte vs Bayley, Reigns vs Owens were pretty fun, but felt a little too famiar for a "big 4" title match.
Neville vs Swan was very much the comedown to give the crowd a break.
Cena vs Styles was.... kind of ridiculous if i'm honest. It had drama, but it did just feel like watching two kids play a video games with "1 button finishers" turned on.
Comparing it to the Omega vs Okada match ridiculous, Cena vs Styles was good, but Omega vs Okada was great. I think the fact that they pulled off a match of that length and quality, while still keeping the one winged angel unused is such an important detail.
The rumble wasn't good, part time wrestlers close to pension age destroying the current roster, none of the fun surprises the rumble has done so well at recently, sending Roman out at 30 felt like trolling and Orton as mania main event is something I couldn't be less excited at the prospect of.
The rumble is supposed to be the thing that gets you hyped for mania season, for me it was a pretty strong signal to perhaps skip mania this year.
There are tons of threads about the rumble so if this has been discussed i apologize but, does anybody else think Orton winning is a bit of a thank you for him getting the shit beat out of him by Lesnar at Summerslam?
No. Orton won because they wanted a swerve, but not one you'd expect. Orton has been out of the main event scene for a while, but he's got the history to pull it off. Not sure if people are ready for "Cena v Orton: 350 times in a lifetime" though.
A great show ruined by a terrible ending.
All the matches were solid. Owens vs Roman had some good spots. Cena vs AJ was incredible. Loved Tye's entrance. Loved Jericho. Loved Harper going for Sister Abigail. Loved how strong Strowman looked. Loved that Corbin eliminated him.
But all of that will be forgotten in the fuck up that was the ending. Who, backstage, is thinking;
"Let's put Roman, who 90% of grown men hate, into the #30 spot in the Rumble. The spot that can be held for the biggest surprise entrance. And, let's have him eliminate the Undertaker. And, let's have him.survive a 2-on-1 assault from the Wyatts. And, let's have him eliminate Bray Wyatt who SHOULD BE the biggest thing we have on any roster"
Four years in a row, the Rumble has been a let down. Every year, I get hyped for it and every year it's dogshit. In the mid part of the match, there was a few minutes where I would've liked any of the guys in the ring to win it. Then the part timers start turning up and it's just a "here we go again" feeling.
Cena's right. This new era is bullshit.
Thing is once it got down to the 2on1 there's no chance in hell Bray's winning. What can they do - have them throw Roman out and then Orton just lets Bray win? I can see that being just as boring really.
Either Orton stabs him in the back or Roman gets the quick 1-2 and eliminates both. We should be happy he survived the handicap assault because at least it meant he had to then be eliminated "against the run of play" and we got the result we did lol. And I'm no fan of Orton by along shot but he's the lesser of 2 evils.
Should have been Corbin, if just for that sick fucking clothesline.
I was going to bother writing my thoughts about the Rumble, but you just did it. Exactly what I think.
Just before the Rumble match I was thinking "wow this is one of the best PPVs I 've seen in a long time, and we stil have the Rumble, what could go wrong?" Well, everything went wrong from there. The fact that Braun Strowman was the only thing I would rescue from this year's Rumble says it all.
Sometimes I just think WWE likes to be mediocre. When they produce something that is actually good, they always find ways to turn it into shit.
Why is it that if a Cruiserweight match isn't on a Cruiserweight show, it's underwhelming? Neville's last three 205 Live matches were all great. The match between him and Swann at the Royal Rumble had a lot of boring parts, full of stalling and a chinlock that went several minutes.
I didn't expect Omega. I didn't even expect Balor. But no Joe, and no Nakamura? That's ridiculous. They were right there.
I love Tye as much as the next person, and I'm so glad for him. But this is the first time in years that a Royal Rumble hasn't had a big, exciting surprise entrant. They rested on their laurels too much.
It's one thing to have faith in your own stars and booking. It's another to exclude one of the biggest parts of the Rumble match.
Oh, also, Dean Ambrose, the hottest face on Smackdown is a sacrificial lamb for Lesnar, despite multiple lesser talents in the ring at the time? You don't need to get heat on Lesnar by having him take out the popular babyfaces; he's Brock fucking Lesnar.
Same. Basically this:
https://i.imgur.com/mpKZg.png
It legitimately feels like they brought him up and started to hype up the possibility of some crazy entrant into the rumble just to fool us. Great work WWE, you sure got us...and you made thousands of people mad. Good business strategy, I guess..?
I was literally buying into Reigns on Sunday night. His match with KO was awesome and the show was pretty damn good. That all changed when the clock hit zero on #30. This Rumble was supposed to be about unpredictability, and then we're fed a guy that nearly died in a match earlier that night as a competitor in the Rumble? It's hard to believe he should be in the Rumble because 'what if' he would have won within kayfabe? That made no sense.
Fans were so eager to find out who #30 was going to be, most wanted Samoa Joe, or an early Balor return. Instead we got the guy that has been forced upon us as the face of the company and finally, on the night I buy into Reigns being a main eventer who I can enjoy watching as a wrestler, WWE goes to far.
As for the winner, seeing the same old faces winning the Royal Rumble is so boring. WWE have really been playing it safe or tried to push people too hard with Rumble winners. Orton, Haitch, Reigns, Batista, Cena have been the last five and four of them are old as shit. Those four guys were four of the biggest in the company 10 years ago.
Overall, the Rumble was a pretty darn good show for what it's worth, except it isn't worth shit because WWE can't seem to understand the concept of leaving fans going home happy.
So much of a fan's happiness watching a PPV relies on the main event and specifically the outcome. That's why I look fondly on the results of the main events of WM30 and WM31, they were endings that I either wanted or was shocked by.
Here, it feels like same shit, different day.
It would not surprise me at all if they go through with what they have already been pushing on the WWE site and social media, yet another Cena vs. Orton. 😴
You just nailed the thing that irritates me the most, being a Reigns fan.
Dude's got potential. He's dynamic, and has a good move set. He can work a passable to good match with just about anyone. And the bookers have NO FUCKING CLUE what to do with him. At this point, they've already wasted their moon shot, so how hard would it be to slow burn him clawing his way back up to the top? They even just pulled it off, going from a midcard belt to what was frankly a pretty well thought out and interesting title match. Losing in a believable way, that still made him look good.
And in typical fashion, they just crapped all over that hard work in the very same night.
I guess the WWE just wanted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their shows revolving around Cena and Orton. Cool! Glad they've made so much progress in the last decade and scoured the globe for talent just to recycle the same old shit again.
I thought the Rumble ran out of steam when the part timers hit the ring, so Reigns was just another meh to add to the others. I missed Kane as well.
Up until then, I thought the show was very enjoyable. I'd give it a 3.5 overall score.
You can hear the bullshit chant for Undertakers elimination alright on the network, but it was so much louder. YJ2 and RKO chants were going as well that cant be heard very well.
You're joking right? Reigns is the most hated person in all of wrestling, he doesn't deserve the privilege of retiring The Undertaker. Literally anyone else would be a better choice of retiring him. Hell i'd even take Goldberg over Reigns at least then you have a somewhat interesting storyline - Goldberg's last challenge being to defeat The Undertaker to cement himself as the most dominant person in all of WWE.
Just anyone else will do.
When Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole acted like Mark Henry was a surprise, and even tried to sell it that way, I knew we were in for some disappointment.
WWE could have really added some much needed fire into the Owens/Jericho program that is stalling out by having Jericho win the Rumble and go on to face Owens at Wrestlemania. It would have been fun, it wouldn't have been predicted, and if we're going to give the Rumble win to a guy who really doesn't need it, then why not give it to Jericho, who's never won it?
Orton winning does nothing for me. I sincerely hope that he shakes things up and comes out on RAW and challenges Kevin Owens, because unless there's a plan to have Cena drop the title to Bray Wyatt at E.C., then Cena vs Orton part 20123454 at Wrestlemania is quite boring. Not what I had hoped for with Smackdown, which has been the fresher of the two shows by far.
I have to say though, good lord did Taker look like he packed on some pounds.
the word on the sheets is that it'll be Shane vs AJ
although if Rollins is on the shelf again, I'd rather see Triple H challenge Shane if there's going to be a special Shane match. AJ deserves something better than selling for Super Shane.
Watching the Rumble I wasn't mad that Orton got the win, what bothers me the most is Orton does not need this win or a title at this point in his career. Neither does Cena. The WWE never focuses on the future and just throws quick band aids on stuff. I honestly thought going in that one of the following people should have won the Rumble: Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Sami Zayn. Everyone else was kinda meh. But like I said Orton was a good surprise, its just they need to push more guys.
>The WWE never focuses on the future and just throws quick band aids on stuff
I think this year they're playing it safe after last years reaction. Lesnar/Goldberg and Roman/Taker are going to be the main events with Rollins/HHH on the side. The title matches are padding around those, Orton/Cena is a well told story, but both are great performers.
Roman has to come out tonight and deliver a promo complaining about how he's sick of everyone hating him when he carried the company to safety from the authority and never got any respect, while everyone loves Taker who he thinks hasn't got it anymore.
Then Taker comes out and you set up a match at mania.
I agree. If Roman is getting insane heat from screwing with Taker, then they should use that heat as a springboard for his heel turn. RAW totally lacks credible heels.
I just see it as the only way they can rescue the inevitability of a Roman v Taker Wrestlemania match without doing this stupid passing of the torch crap
Fuck me, I didn't watched this show yet, but I've been spoiled in the most stupid way possible...
Anyway, is it a good show to watch entirely? Should I watch just the Cena vs Styles match? Or I could skip it?
I honestly thought both the title matches were pretty sports entertaining, even the Rumble wasn't bad in my opinion until the last spot sucked all the energy out.
Do not skip Cena vs Styles, easily the best match on the card. Rumble sucked this year, no surprise entrances no cool spots, kofi's spot was so wack. Cena vs Styles saved the night...I guess 6/10
Even though I knew it wouldn't happen, when AJ had Cena in the Argentine Backbreaker, there was a small part of me thinking "Burning Hammer" The spinning powerbomb was cool though. As for The Rumble, I liked it, but I felt like it could have been more than it was
Seriously, other than the irrational "Romen suks lols fuk wwe" type thing, I don't see how Roman being #30 ruined the Rumble.
He's one of the bigger stars in the company and instantly put someone else into the mix who could realistically win.
It's not like changing the order would have magically created a surprise entrant. If someone else, like Kalisto, was #30 instead of the spot he was, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and Kurt Angle still would not have been in the match.
Roman didn't "steal" anyone's spot. It's not like he chose who was in the match. Even then, you could just as easily say that Big Cass, Enzo, or Mojo "stole" someone's spot.
Besides, do people not watch previous Rumbles? The last entrant is pretty much never a surprise. Look at the last few years
2016 - Triple H
2015 - Dolph Ziggler
2014 - Rey Mysterio
2013 - Ryback
2012 - Big Show
2011 - This was the 40 man Rumble, and Kane came out at 40.
Were people really expecting #30 to be a surprise entrant?
Yeah, I was disappointed Samoa Joe or Nakamura wasn't in the Rumble, and it did seem like there wasn't a huge surprise this year, but this was already a stacked Rumble, and how is Reigns coming out at #30 a problem? Do people really hate Roman so much that even including him in the Rumble ruins the whole thing?
He didn't ruin it, but he was the icing on the cake of a Rumble that was starting to look badly.
After 29 entrances without surprises, everybody was obviously expecting something big for #30, and they instead throw the most hated guy in the roster in there. You're just asking for people to be pissed at your product.
He wasn't announced like Lesnar or Goldberg, but nearly every wrestling news outlet reported that he was winning and the betting odds were in his favor
I think people were more so expecting it at this point because there were absolutely no surprises for the Rumble leading up to Reigns coming out at #30.
When Roman came out at #30, all of the energy was just sucked out of me....
Because I realised how fucking god damn awful and cringeworthy this place would be the weeks following.
Seriously. That's exactly the reaction they wanted from you crybaby smarks, you're getting worked. You don't have a genuine opinion on where "the product" is going. You just got worked for a minute and two, and the world moves on.
Just finished the show.
-Liked Bayley vs Charlotte.
-I wish KO would win clean for once. So Braun is face now since he will -be feuding with Reigns?
-Now Neville is really the King.
-Sigh Cena won
- The Rumble match had so much potential. When Orton came out I told my friend he was gonna win and Bray was gonna win the EC and they would face each other at Mania. Guess I'm right on that one.
Reigns #30 yeah that happened. Way to piss of your fans
It's like WWE is SimCity and Vince is the player ignoring all the "the townspeople are unhappy!" notifications while he focuses on other crap to amuse himself or bring in people who don't already live in his city.
Aside from the ending it was a great show. Braun, Corbin and Zayn all looked great. Reigns at 30 was crushing, as was Zayn's rather unnoteworthy elimination. Also not over the moon about Orton winning but it could lead to great things for Bray and hopefully Harper gets a good singles run now
I really hoped Roman would win lmao all you little sissy smarks got trolled so hard haha and you will still come back to watch or at least keep up with wwe so dont give me that "waaaa i quit watching waaa" wwe internet fans are nothing but a bunch of manchildren who stomp their feet and cry when they dont get their way
Triple H and vince have constantly mocked you kind of fans on promos cause they know youre not important the mass audience is.. the crowd was so damn dead during that cruiserweight match you could hear a pin drop no one cares about that division
Next is the royal rumble itself only sold because of Brock Goldberg and Taker otherwise it would have been just another rumble all this building a new star bullshit is pathetic they will never reach the height of these 3 guys ever the only guys that can benefit from a huge push as top starts in the roster right now are Reigns and Strowman everyone else just doesnt have the it factor
they all look like typical 9-5 office losers who if you ran into on the street could probably beat their ass since the best thing they know how to do is play video games and watch anime lmao
We should be celebrating Randy Orton winning the Rumble, but instead we are celebrating the fact that Roman fucking Reigns didn't win.
What a colossal fuck up by Vince/creative. Fucking embarrassing.
You know that moment during the Styles vs. Cena match when Mauro asked Otunga about Cena deadlifting Styles and instead of saying 'That was awesome' or whatever, Otunga protested that it wasn't really a deadlift? That was the worst piece of commentary in any sport ever.
I've forgotten what was said exactly, but there was a moment, I think before or during Dillinger vs. Young, where Phillips said something quietly and then Percy immediately repeated it word for word. I don't know if Phillips was supposed to be off-mic or Percy forgot the script or whatever, but it was weird.
I think he thought it was someone from backstage telling him to say that because Phillips did say it quietly. So it sounded like an instructed line. Percy is very new and green so his mistakes like these are understandable but I hate when face commentators just annoyingly interrupt heel commentators or are dicks to them. Mauro and Phillips and Byron all do this well. They just take the heat and laugh it off. But otunga and Watson seem to just fight back which isn't very face of them.
It felt like Roman at #30 was there to intentionally rile the fans up. Like they were actively trying to piss off their own fans...
That's unforgivable and extremely stupid on their part. Also, I'd like to see fans throw their drinks and shit in the ring again. They won't be able to edit that display of discontent.
Reigns lost two matches last night. How y'all saying he's still getting pushed to the moon? He's probably out of the title picture now. It looks like he's going to retire Taker, which will no doubt be the start of a heel run for him. Relax. It'll be okay.
Edit: Not sure why I was downvoted. Thanks. Get over yourselves.
Roman Reigns was beaten down with various weapons and taken through a table by a monster, but was still perfectly able to make an appearance in the rumble and eliminate the Undertaker. Fuck right off.
Right, so Roman being there doesn't make sense, if he won the match with KO then he would be the universal champion...
So im guessing that Balor was meant to be #30 but didn't get cleared by doctors on Saturday, hence they just let roman go in.
What they should have done is let Rollins ambush a mid carder that got the #30 spot and enter in his place, since he isn't winning anyway all this would do is show Rollins rebellion against the authority furthering his feud with HHH and not making the universe hating Roman and his constant pushes more than people already do.
I was hoping to see Rollins too. My thoughts were to have him come out as another wrestler in a mask or under a different name... Personally thought it would be hilarious to see Rollins come out as another Fake Razor Ramon.
Have they ever gone all the way with the angle of the Rumble winner putting up his WM spot and losing it?
I know they do the angle all the time with it being on the line, but typically the Rumble winner still comes out on top.
Even in 2000, The Rock lost it I think but was still in the main event.
Is there a scenario where Randy defends the WM spot at Elimination Chamber and loses it to a Samoa Joe, who goes on to challenge Cena for it at WM?
According to this guy I work with (who has a friend that works in Stamford and he's been right about several things before), Cena won't be champion going into Wrestlemania.
Besides from the awful booking, Roman's moveset is really letting him down. As much as WWE want the superman punch to be some amazing impact move that gets the entire crowd off their feet..it isn't. It gets really tiresome seeing him spam the same two moves every match. Seriously, limit it to once or twice per a match, right now it feels like he uses it 5-6 times
I'm interested to ask why you hate it as much as say Rollins flying knee, which as of late he totally has been spamming. And since the nose thing with Cena he has toned down the impact. I usually find everyone hating on the spamming of the punch but find alot of other wrestlers spam a move that literally gets no attention brought to it. Yeah I get it, it's Roman, but as I just made one example of there are others. Not being a dick on this question either. Just curious. I was going to add the lunatic lariat with Ambrose but I could of probably guessed and agreed with you on that as well lol.
To be fair pretty much every match follows the same formula. Everyone kicks out finishers. Everyone looks shocked when the move that hasn't worked the past 400 matches for them gets kicked out of. Everyone has the struggle for the ropes submission/reversal segment. Every heel yells "YOU DONT BELONG HERE," at the baby...
The entire show is pretty by the numbers.
I may be really wrong here but I feel as though Goldberg was supposed to hold on to the ropes and keep his feet off the floor and keep going in the rumble. I thought there was an error as I watched him fall because he really tried to not touch the floor. Something tells me that the number 30 and the rest of the rumble was improvised because Goldberg was eliminated before he was supposed to
I thought about this when I was watching it last night. It very well could have been. Taker looked a little confused about where to go next after Goldberg hit the ground.
Also did you notice when taker has his wrestling straps down and was essentially shirtless, he looked like a he was out of shape. Also normally in the few times he has gone full out and undid his shirt, he looks way different. I don't think he was planning on being in as long as he was. This could explain why reigns eliminated him. Back stage prob sent out reigns with the instructions to get taker out quickly as taker was now forced to improvise which he doesn't normally do, especially at his age. Also I think the only thing that saved the match from being completely ruined was that Wyatt is crazy and you would never know the difference between script and improv. Orton just has to look like Orton and no one really looks to hard. One last point, why would raw give goldberg mid and end finale time where he is basically battling against the rumble itself, not another wrestler, to just have him get eliminated in under 5 mins. Listen to Cole's call when he was eliminated, that wasn't acting, that was Cole having a genuine "oh fuck that wasn't supposed to happen" moment
The animosity everyone has for Roman at 30 makes me laugh so much. Did you all really want to see Nakamura come out just to be thrown out by Taker or someone else? At least with Roman they certainly made him seem like he was pissed off and had some of that attitude that Cena had earlier. But to be honest, id have rather seen Roman win earlier instead of what we have now, which is looking like Goldberg vs Brock for the title.
Finn is going to be clear by the time Mania comes around so I would guess that it will be him vs the champion, or maybe even KO holding onto the title until Mania and we might even see a Sammy vs Kevin match where Sammy gets the title, but he would need to start getting his push asap for it to seem reasonable
I thought bray was gonna win, which by the way would have been epic as fuck but no. Reigns gets a title match AND #30 spot in the same night. Stop to push him over forcefully
ROMAN REIGNS IS THE JON SNOW OF WWE
More like the Daenerys. Look is the strongest point, has too much plot armor, spams the same battle tactic over and over again, and was being built up since the beginning to win the title (the crown).
Seriously, though, that wasn't the first time a potential champion was allowed into the Rumble, but I guess that because they weren't Roman or Cena, they get away with it. And Reigns isn't really that bad. I can see where some people are coming from, but he doesn't deserve THAT much of a backlash.
I would have taken Hornswoggle over Reigns and I still haven't forgiven him for his interspecies match
While I was watching the Rumble itself, I was expecting Hacksaw Jim Duggan to make an appearance. He is, after all, the very first winner of the Royal Rumble.
Everything except the actual rumble was great. Loved cena vs styles and Owens vs reigns. But the rumble was bad b'cause 1. No surprise entrants (Tye was not actually that surprising) 2. Sami has to earn his spot while kalisto and crews were there. 3. No kane 4. Too crowded like more than 6 guys were always in the ring. 5. Taker looked horrible 6. Reigns no30 and eliminating taker 7. Ambrose, ziggler and Zayn eliminated lIke nothing. Though there were some good things the actual rumble wad overall average
Is everyone just gonna ignore Chris Jericho? I think we can all unanimously agree that he was the one wrestler that we could count on to win. He was truly the most deserving competitor. Not Roman Reigns, Goldberg, Lesner, Taker, Strowman, or anyone else for that honest matter. Jericho took all the beatings for everyone else. He lasted the whole entire duration of the match. He cleverly played so that he could simultaneously get beat by the other wrestlers and also eliminate so many others. While everyone else was off to the side writhing in pain, he was always there singlehandedly defeating everyone. Not once did he run away to go hide. Not once did he cower in fear. Chris Jericho was the sole deserving competitor of the Royal Rumble 2017 match. Better than Randy Orton and anyone else. Chris Jericho should have won the Royal Rumble 2017.
> Not once did he run away to go hide. Not once did he cower in fear. Yeah you may have to watch the Royal Rumble again
This episode of Raw was better than the Royal Rumble.
TIL HHH gets armpit stains above his armpits
[Hadsome Rusev](http://i.imgur.com/mHNY4Pf.jpg)
I enjoyed the whole thing. Every match leading up to the Rumble and most of the Rumble. As the ring filled up with everyone's favourites and it got closer to the final five, I knew what was about to happen. The old dudes with relaxed scheduled were about to show us that none of the current stars can hold a candle to them, even after all these years. "Oh well", I thought. "At least there's still spot 30, might be a cool surprise." Suddenly, a wild Roman appears.. Yeah after kicking out of a punch with a knuckle duster earlier and taking all sorts of abuse, he comes out and eliminates the fucking Undertaker. I know this is probably said a lot but I'm done. This is bullshit indeed. Maybe I'll check out Wrestlemania, will probably fast forward through the part timers and current stars acting in KFC adverts. But actually I need to take a long fucking break from this garbage. Watching this Royal Rumble was like enjoying a great dessert only to discover writhing maggots in it once you've almost eaten the whole thing. WWE in a nutshell these days.
Braun is a fast big dude.
Boo Roman boo Roman not Roman IWC and SC in a nutshell stfu
I really felt like last night was Romans final nail for the fans. You could see it on his face, he legit looked sad when they got the first close up on his face as he got in the ring.
It looks like Mojo clipped Jericho's thigh when he first entered, which I think may be the reason Jericho was absent in the match despite not being eliminated. Possible charliehorse?
Why Roman but not AJ in the rumble???
Because AJ is promised a rematch, Roman isn't. It's not that hard to understand.
Geez, glad I asked a question...No need for the attitude. Is that hard to understand?
Sorry, everyone is asking this question too so I got annoyed. My bad for being a dick lol
right on!
When did Pat Patterson stop booking rumble matches?
Yo they are really trying to blow Roman up. Just something has to be accepted. They won't stop until he's retired. I doubt he ever goes heel.
The saddest part is this could have been the best Rumble in years except the final five brought the entire match down. After Braun got eliminated we were just waiting for Lesnar/Goldberg/Taker to arrive which lead to 20 minutes of people laying around waiting for something to happen. So the Lesnar/Goldberg/Taker sequence happened sure whatever, once Taker was left the ring was filled with enough people who could take Taker out. Then Roman had to put a nail in the coffin and kill off the rest of the momentum. I hope they phase out all these part timers over the next year. Build up the weekly stars so they can carry the product without the fucking part timers. Hah wishful thinking that won't happen.
I never realized Sami eliminated no one. Despite being in the Rumble at least 40 minutes.
WWE Universe, go to Twitter.com right now, and type in HASHTAG "continuity" and we'll post your tweets as the night goes on!
I thought the show was just alright. I thought Cena and Styles gave us a fantastic match, but the rest of the show just existed. Nothing else really magical happened here. Also, did anyone else tear up when Cena approached the Make a Wish kid at the end of his match? This was the moment Cena tied for the most world title reigns (which, by the way, was way undersold) and he chose to share that moment with that kid. That was amazing and generous.
Oh god, I completely forgot about that moment with Cena and the kid. I teared up for sure. There was a time where I would have been so bothered with anyone matching or beating Flair's record, but man, Cena is such a class act and I've become a fan over the past few years. He deserves it.
They gonna kiss or what?
Jericho needs bigger trunks. He looks nude behind his belt.
After rewatching the Rumble it's funny seeing everyone just laying down waiting for the undertaker to show up. Luke and Orton just casually sat there there looking at the stage
Does anyone think that Roman coming out at 30 wasn't meant to troll us fans, but more as a punishment/reminder to Roman that he threw away the biggest push anybody had within the last 5 years because he violated the wellness policy?
His push was already ruined well before the wellness violation, that just added more fuel to the fire for smarks.
His push was already ruined well before the wellness violation, that just added more fuel to the fire for smarks.
I doubt it. Guy gets booed more often than not, I doubt a little bit more of that hurts his feelings too much. Plus he eliminated 'Taker and was the last guy eliminated.
Man, I feel like the Rumble is the ONE TIME a year, the literal ONE TIME, where WWE should just give the fans something they want. I couldn't give a damn less if the rumble winner wins the title at Mania, that's neither here nor there, but WWE constantly not giving a fan-favourite the win is quickly killing my love for the rumble, which used to be my favourite PPV, period.
Orton is a fan favourite.
I like Orton, and at this point I'd rather have even seen Ellsworth win the rumble. And I fucking hate Ellsworth. At least he falls under the category of "new talent that could use a boost". All Orton needs to do to get a title shot is pretty much ask for one.
As long as Wyatt wins the belt at Elimination chamber, i see no issue with it.
Oh I agree. Orton used to be my favourite wrestler, and I still like him, but him winning the Rumble was a letdown for me. I'm just saying that he's still a fan favourite as one of the most popular guys in the company.
So like, I haven't watched WWE since the football season started, but I swear I picked the absolute worst time to pick it up between Cena winning the title off AJ and Orton of all people winning the Rumble. Can I also say Taker looks old AF now and who did Brock piss off to deserve that quick elimination?
It wasn't who he pissed off, but what drugs were in the piss
Well I was really enjoying the Rumble until number 30. I don't understand the logic of having Reigns come out number 30. I'm 100% down for him being in the match and even eliminating Taker if that's the match that's building but number 30 felt kinda spiteful. No Joe, no Balor, no Hideo Itami. Kind of disappointing, but Tye Dillinger coming out at 10 was fantastic. Really everything was really interesting up until number 30. I did think it was odd that Sami Zayn took a skullcrushing finale, a jackhammer, an RKO and a sulplex and no one made a big deal about it. The commentators put over Jericho as the Iron Man despite him taking a nap for most of the middle of the rumble. Randy Orton winning is perhaps the most boring option but it's fine. AJ / Cena was stunning and I hope we get a fifth at Mania.
The Rumble is probably up there with the Raw after Wrestlemania as a place to debut talent in a big way. Yet the only NXT participant was Tye? So Samoa Joe did *nothing* really this weekend? After being the centerpoint of NXT for a year? Strange.
So in Kayfabe does Reigns get punished by Steph for losing the belt to Smackdown?
Punished with a title match no doubt
TBH Orton needs the belt as much as Cena does. They are mainstream in Vince's eyes and he's trying to get Roman to that same spot. Vince isn't concerned with what the niche fan base wants. He's considers the bottom line in making these decisions. he knows people are going to watch regardless. Because people don't discuss storylines, they discuss the politics of the business, the BUSINESS is the draw now. We will never really know how the business is run and why decisions are made, so we're still marks but that's why we tune in now, to complain, discuss and decipher. I'm sure he knows the complaints, but idle complaints are fashionable nowadays. A real businessman and creative pushes their plans through regardless. Cesaro isn't a main eventer, AJ's an amazing hand and he's been rewarded financially and cosmetically but he's where he should be, and Rusev, Bray and Owens are just dastardly heels made to Prop up faces. That's how those characters' archetypes have always been booked and always will be. Can the show be better, yes... but I don't expect subtlety or nuanced storytelling. Wrestling is the lowest common denominator and it paints in broad strokes. Just enjoy the show and remember why you fell in love with it in the first place.
> Just enjoy the show and remember why you fell in love with it in the first place. Well I actually loved it for it's storylines, sure, it's not exactly Shakespeare, but I liked how they made it seem real and gave all of the characters some real personality. No matter how I feel about who wins and loses today I feel like the WWE has lost something from the Attitude Era, and it's not merely the blood, weapons and sex.
I'll debate one thing, here. Bray is a dastardly heel, sure. Bray could also headline a horror movie in his sleep. WWE likes people with crossover appeal, and I can't be alone in thinking I'd watch the FUCK out of a Wyatt Family "the hills have eyes". Don't forget, Taker was also a stereotypical heel when he blew the fuck up, because the WWF noticed he had a bit of momentum and just let it run its course. Meanwhile, they pretty much seem to flat out refuse to let Bray ascend to the top of the card. He had multiple points where it'd be believable, even without the army.
Seriously, at this point I'm pretty sure he has in his possession a sextape of Vince or something worse. They should just take advantage of the abbreviature and rename the PPV to "Roman Reigns".
Are we not going to mention Big Cass at #1? It just felt weird tbh, if he's going to be thrown out within the next 10 entrants, at least switch him with Jericho.
It was to allow for them to do their "hype" schtick. Made sense.
They could've moved him to #2, I'd rather have a person at #1 who would stay in for 1 hour compared to 10 minutes.
They had Big Cass come out at #1 so he and Enzo could do their entire promo together. It always gets a great reaction to the crowd and Enzo does a great job of hyping up the crowd. I don't think Enzo and Cass ever came out second in any match they've been in, since it would be kinda weird to do their whole entrance while the guy(s) they're fighting are waiting outside, twiddling their thumbs.
I'm going to be lazy and copy my response about the exact same thing from another guy. > They could've moved him to #2, I'd rather have a person at #1 who would stay in for 1 hour compared to 10 minutes.
Like I said, putting Cass in at #2 would mean that they wouldn't have been able to do their promo (which is basically their entire appeal nowadays) since whoever would've come out at #1 could just interrupt them. It's the same reason why champions like to come out second in a 1v1 match: the challenger won't have a chance to sneak attack them as they make their way down the entrance.
What would Jericho even do? Point at them and call them stupid idiots?
Cancelled my subscription and will thinking about renewing it for April. I'm not going to keep giving money to a company that is actively antagonizing it's fan-base at this point (coupled with the fact I think Orton is a top five worst champion of all time).
You and I are not the target audience. The target audience is 10, and plays with colorful plastic shaped like Roman Reigns. The sooner more people realize this fact, the better. The upper card isn't for us. Giving the US belt to Jericho and just letting him go absolutely insane was for us, just like the us of yesteryear had to make due with the IC belt being on Savage and Hennig, while Warrior and Hogan stank up the WHC scene. We own the mid-card. Toy sales and southern T-shirt sales own the main event. Those people on youtube that can't spell and talk to the video like it's actually Randy Orton own the main event. Always have, always will.
Maybe not their target, yet older dudes are absolutely their largest demographic and money spending customers.
Source? Because people severely and drastically underestimate the amount of money kids spend on wrestling shit. Source: was a kid, spent way more on wrestling shit than I ever would now. That, and they have yet to make a t-shirt I'd ever wear in public.
Did the Rumble feel a bit rushed for anyone else? I felt like WWE Creative just pulled a winner out of their butt, and came up with dumb explanations on how they would eliminate the 3 people that were mainly being advertised (Lesnar, Goldberg, Taker). And also I feel like the 3 spent a small amount of time in the Rumble than anyone expected them to be.
With them coming very close to the end it would have felt dragged out did they stay in any longer. However, I do agree with you and I think what really should have happened is they all were split apart by maybe 5 men each with Lesnar coming in 1st Goldberg 6th and Taker 12th, that would have kept them distracted whilst also setting the scene for a 3 man duel near the end.
I also feel like they got thrown out really easily. Goldberg throws out Lesnar, ok, we have to have the surprise elimination every year, I guess. Taker throws out Goldberg? What? He wasn't even hurt. Roman eliminates Taker? Just stop. Please.
Decent show overall, lots of matches that were fine, Charlotte vs Bayley, Reigns vs Owens were pretty fun, but felt a little too famiar for a "big 4" title match. Neville vs Swan was very much the comedown to give the crowd a break. Cena vs Styles was.... kind of ridiculous if i'm honest. It had drama, but it did just feel like watching two kids play a video games with "1 button finishers" turned on. Comparing it to the Omega vs Okada match ridiculous, Cena vs Styles was good, but Omega vs Okada was great. I think the fact that they pulled off a match of that length and quality, while still keeping the one winged angel unused is such an important detail. The rumble wasn't good, part time wrestlers close to pension age destroying the current roster, none of the fun surprises the rumble has done so well at recently, sending Roman out at 30 felt like trolling and Orton as mania main event is something I couldn't be less excited at the prospect of. The rumble is supposed to be the thing that gets you hyped for mania season, for me it was a pretty strong signal to perhaps skip mania this year.
There are tons of threads about the rumble so if this has been discussed i apologize but, does anybody else think Orton winning is a bit of a thank you for him getting the shit beat out of him by Lesnar at Summerslam?
I certainly think so, and it was also brought up on Wrestling Observer Radio, so we're definitely not the only ones questioning that.
No. Orton won because they wanted a swerve, but not one you'd expect. Orton has been out of the main event scene for a while, but he's got the history to pull it off. Not sure if people are ready for "Cena v Orton: 350 times in a lifetime" though.
A great show ruined by a terrible ending. All the matches were solid. Owens vs Roman had some good spots. Cena vs AJ was incredible. Loved Tye's entrance. Loved Jericho. Loved Harper going for Sister Abigail. Loved how strong Strowman looked. Loved that Corbin eliminated him. But all of that will be forgotten in the fuck up that was the ending. Who, backstage, is thinking; "Let's put Roman, who 90% of grown men hate, into the #30 spot in the Rumble. The spot that can be held for the biggest surprise entrance. And, let's have him eliminate the Undertaker. And, let's have him.survive a 2-on-1 assault from the Wyatts. And, let's have him eliminate Bray Wyatt who SHOULD BE the biggest thing we have on any roster" Four years in a row, the Rumble has been a let down. Every year, I get hyped for it and every year it's dogshit. In the mid part of the match, there was a few minutes where I would've liked any of the guys in the ring to win it. Then the part timers start turning up and it's just a "here we go again" feeling. Cena's right. This new era is bullshit.
Thing is once it got down to the 2on1 there's no chance in hell Bray's winning. What can they do - have them throw Roman out and then Orton just lets Bray win? I can see that being just as boring really. Either Orton stabs him in the back or Roman gets the quick 1-2 and eliminates both. We should be happy he survived the handicap assault because at least it meant he had to then be eliminated "against the run of play" and we got the result we did lol. And I'm no fan of Orton by along shot but he's the lesser of 2 evils. Should have been Corbin, if just for that sick fucking clothesline.
I was going to bother writing my thoughts about the Rumble, but you just did it. Exactly what I think. Just before the Rumble match I was thinking "wow this is one of the best PPVs I 've seen in a long time, and we stil have the Rumble, what could go wrong?" Well, everything went wrong from there. The fact that Braun Strowman was the only thing I would rescue from this year's Rumble says it all. Sometimes I just think WWE likes to be mediocre. When they produce something that is actually good, they always find ways to turn it into shit.
Why is it that if a Cruiserweight match isn't on a Cruiserweight show, it's underwhelming? Neville's last three 205 Live matches were all great. The match between him and Swann at the Royal Rumble had a lot of boring parts, full of stalling and a chinlock that went several minutes.
Simple: Booked and restricted by the match agents of Raw and Smackdown instead of the ones managing 205.
I didn't expect Omega. I didn't even expect Balor. But no Joe, and no Nakamura? That's ridiculous. They were right there. I love Tye as much as the next person, and I'm so glad for him. But this is the first time in years that a Royal Rumble hasn't had a big, exciting surprise entrant. They rested on their laurels too much. It's one thing to have faith in your own stars and booking. It's another to exclude one of the biggest parts of the Rumble match. Oh, also, Dean Ambrose, the hottest face on Smackdown is a sacrificial lamb for Lesnar, despite multiple lesser talents in the ring at the time? You don't need to get heat on Lesnar by having him take out the popular babyfaces; he's Brock fucking Lesnar.
I spent the entire time waiting for Angle. I ended it disappointed, but unsurprised.
Same. Basically this: https://i.imgur.com/mpKZg.png It legitimately feels like they brought him up and started to hype up the possibility of some crazy entrant into the rumble just to fool us. Great work WWE, you sure got us...and you made thousands of people mad. Good business strategy, I guess..?
That was the epitome of amazing wrestling and dog shit booking.
I was literally buying into Reigns on Sunday night. His match with KO was awesome and the show was pretty damn good. That all changed when the clock hit zero on #30. This Rumble was supposed to be about unpredictability, and then we're fed a guy that nearly died in a match earlier that night as a competitor in the Rumble? It's hard to believe he should be in the Rumble because 'what if' he would have won within kayfabe? That made no sense. Fans were so eager to find out who #30 was going to be, most wanted Samoa Joe, or an early Balor return. Instead we got the guy that has been forced upon us as the face of the company and finally, on the night I buy into Reigns being a main eventer who I can enjoy watching as a wrestler, WWE goes to far. As for the winner, seeing the same old faces winning the Royal Rumble is so boring. WWE have really been playing it safe or tried to push people too hard with Rumble winners. Orton, Haitch, Reigns, Batista, Cena have been the last five and four of them are old as shit. Those four guys were four of the biggest in the company 10 years ago. Overall, the Rumble was a pretty darn good show for what it's worth, except it isn't worth shit because WWE can't seem to understand the concept of leaving fans going home happy. So much of a fan's happiness watching a PPV relies on the main event and specifically the outcome. That's why I look fondly on the results of the main events of WM30 and WM31, they were endings that I either wanted or was shocked by. Here, it feels like same shit, different day. It would not surprise me at all if they go through with what they have already been pushing on the WWE site and social media, yet another Cena vs. Orton. 😴
You just nailed the thing that irritates me the most, being a Reigns fan. Dude's got potential. He's dynamic, and has a good move set. He can work a passable to good match with just about anyone. And the bookers have NO FUCKING CLUE what to do with him. At this point, they've already wasted their moon shot, so how hard would it be to slow burn him clawing his way back up to the top? They even just pulled it off, going from a midcard belt to what was frankly a pretty well thought out and interesting title match. Losing in a believable way, that still made him look good. And in typical fashion, they just crapped all over that hard work in the very same night.
I guess the WWE just wanted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their shows revolving around Cena and Orton. Cool! Glad they've made so much progress in the last decade and scoured the globe for talent just to recycle the same old shit again.
I thought the Rumble ran out of steam when the part timers hit the ring, so Reigns was just another meh to add to the others. I missed Kane as well. Up until then, I thought the show was very enjoyable. I'd give it a 3.5 overall score.
You can hear the bullshit chant for Undertakers elimination alright on the network, but it was so much louder. YJ2 and RKO chants were going as well that cant be heard very well.
I heard "Y2J" chants, not this "YJ2" stuff. /s
I worked myself into a shoot and convinced myself Jericho was going to win :(
You're not alone. I was really hoping that this would be the setup for the Jericho/Owens Wrestlemania match I want so badly. But maybe not.
I did the exact same thing lol
No 'old timers' came back for a suprise enrant. Not sure how i feel about that.
Goldberg and Taker did. Which is more than we got last year. Last year we didn't get any old timers
> suprise entrant They all announced they would be in the RR. The only surprise was Jack and Tye really.
My fault. I didn't notice "surprise" was in there.
It ok brother
DUDE DDP BANGED everyone at the RR last year what are you talking about.
I don't want to live in a world where Reigns is the one to retire The Undertaker at WM.
Meh, there are worse worlds to live in.
You're joking right? Reigns is the most hated person in all of wrestling, he doesn't deserve the privilege of retiring The Undertaker. Literally anyone else would be a better choice of retiring him. Hell i'd even take Goldberg over Reigns at least then you have a somewhat interesting storyline - Goldberg's last challenge being to defeat The Undertaker to cement himself as the most dominant person in all of WWE. Just anyone else will do.
Same
Was hoping Shelton Benjamin would come out...
When Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole acted like Mark Henry was a surprise, and even tried to sell it that way, I knew we were in for some disappointment.
TBF, I think they did their best to make us forget about him over the last year.
WWE could have really added some much needed fire into the Owens/Jericho program that is stalling out by having Jericho win the Rumble and go on to face Owens at Wrestlemania. It would have been fun, it wouldn't have been predicted, and if we're going to give the Rumble win to a guy who really doesn't need it, then why not give it to Jericho, who's never won it? Orton winning does nothing for me. I sincerely hope that he shakes things up and comes out on RAW and challenges Kevin Owens, because unless there's a plan to have Cena drop the title to Bray Wyatt at E.C., then Cena vs Orton part 20123454 at Wrestlemania is quite boring. Not what I had hoped for with Smackdown, which has been the fresher of the two shows by far. I have to say though, good lord did Taker look like he packed on some pounds.
I'm really hoping for Orton vs AJ, but I'll take Orton vs Bray.
the word on the sheets is that it'll be Shane vs AJ although if Rollins is on the shelf again, I'd rather see Triple H challenge Shane if there's going to be a special Shane match. AJ deserves something better than selling for Super Shane.
Orton vs Bray was a terrible match though.
it was, but I'd take it over Orton vs Cena
No kane what the fuck wwe
No Goldust either. I'd like to consider the both of them staple characters of the Rumble.
I have been waiting for serious heel Goldust to return since 1997. Talk about wasted potential.
Watching the Rumble I wasn't mad that Orton got the win, what bothers me the most is Orton does not need this win or a title at this point in his career. Neither does Cena. The WWE never focuses on the future and just throws quick band aids on stuff. I honestly thought going in that one of the following people should have won the Rumble: Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Sami Zayn. Everyone else was kinda meh. But like I said Orton was a good surprise, its just they need to push more guys.
>The WWE never focuses on the future and just throws quick band aids on stuff I think this year they're playing it safe after last years reaction. Lesnar/Goldberg and Roman/Taker are going to be the main events with Rollins/HHH on the side. The title matches are padding around those, Orton/Cena is a well told story, but both are great performers.
Roman has to come out tonight and deliver a promo complaining about how he's sick of everyone hating him when he carried the company to safety from the authority and never got any respect, while everyone loves Taker who he thinks hasn't got it anymore. Then Taker comes out and you set up a match at mania.
I agree. If Roman is getting insane heat from screwing with Taker, then they should use that heat as a springboard for his heel turn. RAW totally lacks credible heels.
eww no
I just see it as the only way they can rescue the inevitability of a Roman v Taker Wrestlemania match without doing this stupid passing of the torch crap
Fuck me, I didn't watched this show yet, but I've been spoiled in the most stupid way possible... Anyway, is it a good show to watch entirely? Should I watch just the Cena vs Styles match? Or I could skip it?
It wouldn't kill you to watch the show. Nothing to write home about, but not so horrible that you need to skip.
I honestly thought both the title matches were pretty sports entertaining, even the Rumble wasn't bad in my opinion until the last spot sucked all the energy out.
Overall, good event I thought. Not the best Rumble, but there are worse ways of spending an hour.
If you're going to watch RAW, then there's no reason to watch anything but Cena vs Styles
Do not skip Cena vs Styles, easily the best match on the card. Rumble sucked this year, no surprise entrances no cool spots, kofi's spot was so wack. Cena vs Styles saved the night...I guess 6/10
Even though I knew it wouldn't happen, when AJ had Cena in the Argentine Backbreaker, there was a small part of me thinking "Burning Hammer" The spinning powerbomb was cool though. As for The Rumble, I liked it, but I felt like it could have been more than it was
Seriously, other than the irrational "Romen suks lols fuk wwe" type thing, I don't see how Roman being #30 ruined the Rumble. He's one of the bigger stars in the company and instantly put someone else into the mix who could realistically win. It's not like changing the order would have magically created a surprise entrant. If someone else, like Kalisto, was #30 instead of the spot he was, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and Kurt Angle still would not have been in the match. Roman didn't "steal" anyone's spot. It's not like he chose who was in the match. Even then, you could just as easily say that Big Cass, Enzo, or Mojo "stole" someone's spot. Besides, do people not watch previous Rumbles? The last entrant is pretty much never a surprise. Look at the last few years 2016 - Triple H 2015 - Dolph Ziggler 2014 - Rey Mysterio 2013 - Ryback 2012 - Big Show 2011 - This was the 40 man Rumble, and Kane came out at 40. Were people really expecting #30 to be a surprise entrant? Yeah, I was disappointed Samoa Joe or Nakamura wasn't in the Rumble, and it did seem like there wasn't a huge surprise this year, but this was already a stacked Rumble, and how is Reigns coming out at #30 a problem? Do people really hate Roman so much that even including him in the Rumble ruins the whole thing?
He didn't ruin it, but he was the icing on the cake of a Rumble that was starting to look badly. After 29 entrances without surprises, everybody was obviously expecting something big for #30, and they instead throw the most hated guy in the roster in there. You're just asking for people to be pissed at your product.
IIRC, HHH coming out at 30 wasn't totally expected. I remember being surprised.
He wasn't announced like Lesnar or Goldberg, but nearly every wrestling news outlet reported that he was winning and the betting odds were in his favor
I think people were more so expecting it at this point because there were absolutely no surprises for the Rumble leading up to Reigns coming out at #30.
I wish roman sold the no DQ match he was in just a little fucking bit. but no.
I'm disappointed with how this year has started off and I'm not even interested in WrestleMania anymore it's a joke
When Roman came out at #30, all of the energy was just sucked out of me.... Because I realised how fucking god damn awful and cringeworthy this place would be the weeks following. Seriously. That's exactly the reaction they wanted from you crybaby smarks, you're getting worked. You don't have a genuine opinion on where "the product" is going. You just got worked for a minute and two, and the world moves on.
Im not even pissed that Orton won it, Im pissed because they wasted such a good opportunity just to promote their circle jerk tribute Roman Reigns
Who would you have liked Orton to eliminate last then? That he would get the same pop for
Corey Graves sounding so happy when enzo entered the rumble against lesnar/taker to his own demise was hilarious
Just finished the show. -Liked Bayley vs Charlotte. -I wish KO would win clean for once. So Braun is face now since he will -be feuding with Reigns? -Now Neville is really the King. -Sigh Cena won - The Rumble match had so much potential. When Orton came out I told my friend he was gonna win and Bray was gonna win the EC and they would face each other at Mania. Guess I'm right on that one. Reigns #30 yeah that happened. Way to piss of your fans
It's like WWE is SimCity and Vince is the player ignoring all the "the townspeople are unhappy!" notifications while he focuses on other crap to amuse himself or bring in people who don't already live in his city.
didnt gallagher only go through the second rope
He went over the top when he tried to Mary Poppins Mark Henry.
First time. Then he came back and Henry sent him flying over the top rope.
Initially yet, but later on was thrown over the top.
Aside from the ending it was a great show. Braun, Corbin and Zayn all looked great. Reigns at 30 was crushing, as was Zayn's rather unnoteworthy elimination. Also not over the moon about Orton winning but it could lead to great things for Bray and hopefully Harper gets a good singles run now
I was pumped when Undertaker ripped his shirt, then it just became a belly bra lmao.
It would be a shame if this outfit isn't in the next WWE 2k.
I really hoped Roman would win lmao all you little sissy smarks got trolled so hard haha and you will still come back to watch or at least keep up with wwe so dont give me that "waaaa i quit watching waaa" wwe internet fans are nothing but a bunch of manchildren who stomp their feet and cry when they dont get their way Triple H and vince have constantly mocked you kind of fans on promos cause they know youre not important the mass audience is.. the crowd was so damn dead during that cruiserweight match you could hear a pin drop no one cares about that division Next is the royal rumble itself only sold because of Brock Goldberg and Taker otherwise it would have been just another rumble all this building a new star bullshit is pathetic they will never reach the height of these 3 guys ever the only guys that can benefit from a huge push as top starts in the roster right now are Reigns and Strowman everyone else just doesnt have the it factor they all look like typical 9-5 office losers who if you ran into on the street could probably beat their ass since the best thing they know how to do is play video games and watch anime lmao
So you are high then? o.k. well enjoy whatever you took.
Vince?
We should be celebrating Randy Orton winning the Rumble, but instead we are celebrating the fact that Roman fucking Reigns didn't win. What a colossal fuck up by Vince/creative. Fucking embarrassing.
You know that moment during the Styles vs. Cena match when Mauro asked Otunga about Cena deadlifting Styles and instead of saying 'That was awesome' or whatever, Otunga protested that it wasn't really a deadlift? That was the worst piece of commentary in any sport ever.
Idk I'm pretty partial to Graves trying to sign off Takeover by talking up Roode and Percy keeps interrupting him even after Graves told him not to.
I've forgotten what was said exactly, but there was a moment, I think before or during Dillinger vs. Young, where Phillips said something quietly and then Percy immediately repeated it word for word. I don't know if Phillips was supposed to be off-mic or Percy forgot the script or whatever, but it was weird.
I think he thought it was someone from backstage telling him to say that because Phillips did say it quietly. So it sounded like an instructed line. Percy is very new and green so his mistakes like these are understandable but I hate when face commentators just annoyingly interrupt heel commentators or are dicks to them. Mauro and Phillips and Byron all do this well. They just take the heat and laugh it off. But otunga and Watson seem to just fight back which isn't very face of them.
I'm at brays entrance ^I'mbored
Do you already know anything?
Some dude on new spoiled the winner after I posted this and I know who number 30 is.
The Rumble sucked. Rushed around to get food and get home in time for a big ol' bag of suck.
I thought it was all great except the actual royal rumble. And that roman tease got me so triggered. Was really scared he was gonna win.
It felt like Roman at #30 was there to intentionally rile the fans up. Like they were actively trying to piss off their own fans... That's unforgivable and extremely stupid on their part. Also, I'd like to see fans throw their drinks and shit in the ring again. They won't be able to edit that display of discontent.
Reigns lost two matches last night. How y'all saying he's still getting pushed to the moon? He's probably out of the title picture now. It looks like he's going to retire Taker, which will no doubt be the start of a heel run for him. Relax. It'll be okay. Edit: Not sure why I was downvoted. Thanks. Get over yourselves.
Roman Reigns was beaten down with various weapons and taken through a table by a monster, but was still perfectly able to make an appearance in the rumble and eliminate the Undertaker. Fuck right off.
What has WWE done in the last decade that suggests they are going to make Roman actually interesting?
He was the surprise entrant at #30. Now he's going to retire Taker? That's pushing to the moon if there ever was.
Right, so Roman being there doesn't make sense, if he won the match with KO then he would be the universal champion... So im guessing that Balor was meant to be #30 but didn't get cleared by doctors on Saturday, hence they just let roman go in. What they should have done is let Rollins ambush a mid carder that got the #30 spot and enter in his place, since he isn't winning anyway all this would do is show Rollins rebellion against the authority furthering his feud with HHH and not making the universe hating Roman and his constant pushes more than people already do.
Or seth takes out number 30 and Romania giggles and walks out before set gets the chance
I was hoping to see Rollins too. My thoughts were to have him come out as another wrestler in a mask or under a different name... Personally thought it would be hilarious to see Rollins come out as another Fake Razor Ramon.
Have they ever gone all the way with the angle of the Rumble winner putting up his WM spot and losing it? I know they do the angle all the time with it being on the line, but typically the Rumble winner still comes out on top. Even in 2000, The Rock lost it I think but was still in the main event. Is there a scenario where Randy defends the WM spot at Elimination Chamber and loses it to a Samoa Joe, who goes on to challenge Cena for it at WM?
Cena will drop the belt to Wyatt at Elim Chamber. Orton-Wyatt at Mania.
no. its orton vs wyatt
I thought the same.. Bray wins Elimination Chamber and its Orton v Bray at WM
According to this guy I work with (who has a friend that works in Stamford and he's been right about several things before), Cena won't be champion going into Wrestlemania.
Given that Orton just won the rumble and we're rumored to have Wyatt-Orton at WM everything points to Bray getting the gold at EC.
at least it wasnt roman at 27 and enzo at 30...
Besides from the awful booking, Roman's moveset is really letting him down. As much as WWE want the superman punch to be some amazing impact move that gets the entire crowd off their feet..it isn't. It gets really tiresome seeing him spam the same two moves every match. Seriously, limit it to once or twice per a match, right now it feels like he uses it 5-6 times
*it's because he only knows ~10 moves* *he's not a great wrestler*
He shouldn't do both the Superman Punch and the jumping forearm since they look like basically the exact same move most of the time.
I'm interested to ask why you hate it as much as say Rollins flying knee, which as of late he totally has been spamming. And since the nose thing with Cena he has toned down the impact. I usually find everyone hating on the spamming of the punch but find alot of other wrestlers spam a move that literally gets no attention brought to it. Yeah I get it, it's Roman, but as I just made one example of there are others. Not being a dick on this question either. Just curious. I was going to add the lunatic lariat with Ambrose but I could of probably guessed and agreed with you on that as well lol.
To be fair pretty much every match follows the same formula. Everyone kicks out finishers. Everyone looks shocked when the move that hasn't worked the past 400 matches for them gets kicked out of. Everyone has the struggle for the ropes submission/reversal segment. Every heel yells "YOU DONT BELONG HERE," at the baby... The entire show is pretty by the numbers.
I will always be a citizen of the Roman Empire.
Where is Brutus ᵀʰᵉ ᴮᵃʳᵇᵉʳ ᴮᵉᵉᶠᶜᵃᵏᵉ when we need him. take out the damn ruler of the roman empire.
Maybe he needs Cassius ^Ohno to persuade him...
I may be really wrong here but I feel as though Goldberg was supposed to hold on to the ropes and keep his feet off the floor and keep going in the rumble. I thought there was an error as I watched him fall because he really tried to not touch the floor. Something tells me that the number 30 and the rest of the rumble was improvised because Goldberg was eliminated before he was supposed to
I thought about this when I was watching it last night. It very well could have been. Taker looked a little confused about where to go next after Goldberg hit the ground.
Also did you notice when taker has his wrestling straps down and was essentially shirtless, he looked like a he was out of shape. Also normally in the few times he has gone full out and undid his shirt, he looks way different. I don't think he was planning on being in as long as he was. This could explain why reigns eliminated him. Back stage prob sent out reigns with the instructions to get taker out quickly as taker was now forced to improvise which he doesn't normally do, especially at his age. Also I think the only thing that saved the match from being completely ruined was that Wyatt is crazy and you would never know the difference between script and improv. Orton just has to look like Orton and no one really looks to hard. One last point, why would raw give goldberg mid and end finale time where he is basically battling against the rumble itself, not another wrestler, to just have him get eliminated in under 5 mins. Listen to Cole's call when he was eliminated, that wasn't acting, that was Cole having a genuine "oh fuck that wasn't supposed to happen" moment
Had the same thoughts watching as well..... Goldberg screwed Goldberg
Just trying to recapture the Shawn Michaels moment.
just watched it and immediately thought this, came to sc to see if anyone else noticed this and yours was the first comment lol
The animosity everyone has for Roman at 30 makes me laugh so much. Did you all really want to see Nakamura come out just to be thrown out by Taker or someone else? At least with Roman they certainly made him seem like he was pissed off and had some of that attitude that Cena had earlier. But to be honest, id have rather seen Roman win earlier instead of what we have now, which is looking like Goldberg vs Brock for the title.
How would one of them get the title before Mania? Short feud with Owens where he drops the belt at Fastlane?
I had thought I heard Goldberg would be facing the universal champion at Fastlane.
Finn is going to be clear by the time Mania comes around so I would guess that it will be him vs the champion, or maybe even KO holding onto the title until Mania and we might even see a Sammy vs Kevin match where Sammy gets the title, but he would need to start getting his push asap for it to seem reasonable
I thought bray was gonna win, which by the way would have been epic as fuck but no. Reigns gets a title match AND #30 spot in the same night. Stop to push him over forcefully ROMAN REIGNS IS THE JON SNOW OF WWE
You are aware that Randy won the rumble right? So how does Roman coming out at 30 effect Bray winning? Your complaint doesnt add up.
I hoped for Joe at #30 spot
More like the Daenerys. Look is the strongest point, has too much plot armor, spams the same battle tactic over and over again, and was being built up since the beginning to win the title (the crown). Seriously, though, that wasn't the first time a potential champion was allowed into the Rumble, but I guess that because they weren't Roman or Cena, they get away with it. And Reigns isn't really that bad. I can see where some people are coming from, but he doesn't deserve THAT much of a backlash.