WWE Royal Rumble, Sunday January 30th 2022, 12pm AEDT

[Wickzki]

I didn't quite realise how long it'd been since I'd watched WWE. What's Boogz story? Why did he skip NXT and become a guitarist? The guys body is one of the best in the company. But then in a little cameo during this rumble he looks like someone who really could've used some NXT seasoning (although I guess you were better off being on SD than on 1.0 a year ago...)

I also don't think I've ever seen a Doudrop match.

And yet the end of the rumble was still predictable even to me, even before the Lesnar/Lashley match.

As everyone else has said, the men's rumble sucked. No surprises, entirely predictable. And they've really managed to kill the prestige of the final 4 - something that had been built up over 25 years - stone dead in just the last couple of years.

What was Shane's story? Had he been teased or anything? Cos as someone who hasn't really watched much if anything since WM Backlash last year, that looked a hell of a lot like a nepotist son getting his heat back on a 10-month old feud that 1) didn't matter, 2) no one remembers, and 3) was completely pointless - in fact entirely counter productive - in the context of the current product.

I did enjoy the women's rumble a lot more. I thought it spaced/flowed better, there were good/adequate surprises, Rousey was a surprise to me, I don't follow the product enough to have expected it.

It'll be interesting to see where Rousey goes here - much as most of us didn't love it 3-4 years ago cos Charlotte was forced into it, I suspect the money match for WM is a title unification triple threat/rematch from a few years ago with Becky, Charlotte and Rousey.

This sums up my feelings pretty well.

I had read the Rumble spoilers about Rousey but she just had a baby in what, September? I figured this was a WWE fan boi fantasy.

Then again she has two more months to get into ring shape which given how hard she's consistently trained since she was a teenager she'll do comfortably.

The women's match just hit right. Nostalgia, especially Ivory, and set up the right future matches. Would love if we got a Molly Vs ASH mini feud out of this.

 

[RossFC]

No NXT entrants was interesting. Surely any of Breakker, LA Knight, Waller, Mandy Rose etc could have got a spot.

 

[Lynchy04]

No NXT entrants was interesting. Surely any of Breakker, LA Knight, Waller, Mandy Rose etc could have got a spot.

Would much rather have seen Cesaro Balor LA Knight Apollo Ciampa Dunne and Breaker even Mahal in the rumble than Boogs , Academy , Dirty Dawgs, Profits.

Basically none of the tag teams included in the rumble meant anything because as far as I can remember only Moss/Corbin and Riddle/Orton did anything together.

Could have used it to plant the seeds for Riddle/Orton or Mysterio split..

Instead of the academy or Ziggler/Rhoode in there could at least had Cesaro in and keep adding to the story with Sheamus and Holland.

 

[Cleavy]

?

They called him Mox on commentary all night

Cole called him Ambrose once or twice I think, but McAfee called him Mox

 

[Wickzki]

Gotta admit that a 2015 Wrestlemania main event rematch, as a triple threat from the start, excites me much more than a straight up Brock Vs Roman match ever could.

 

[TTIOT]

I cant believe how bad and disappointing this shit was for me.......


You can really hear the crowd blowing the roof of the place after Rhonda's Rumble win, and when she's pointing at the Wrestlemania sign so awkwardly almost like shes being forced to do it and to top it off the lamest pyro I've ever witnessed happens...

 

[TTIOT]

Graves banging on about how Maryse is married to "The Edge" or is it Miz?

 

[EskimoPAFC]

Used to be a fan but only watch one show a year nowadays - the Royal Rumble. For some reason I got my day wrong this year (isn't it usually on a Sunday USA time?), so watched the replay.

Really didn't seem to have much for such a big show.

Lesnar/Lashley was weirdly the match of the night, it had a solid hype video and I have to say I laughed hard when Roman Reigns interrupted the "dream match".

It vs Grit was silly and botch-heavy but it was what it needed to be - might have been better a minute or two shorter.

The first two title matches seemed so predictable that it was hard to really get in to them - not saying that the four wrestlers involved didn't have serviceable performances because they did, but neither match really seemed worthy of a RR.

The rumbles... wow. I'm pretty shocked at some of the posts and reviews about the women's rumble, I thought that was one of the worst RRs I've ever seen. I felt genuinely embarrassed for them, it seemed it went beyond parody with how many old-timers came back. The thing I thought was surely there must be some sort of covid lockdown which has ripped through the female locker room and prevented all the good current female wrestlers from being in there? In 2022 I have zero interest in seeing more than 1 (or at absolute most 2) of: Bella 1, Bella 2, K2, Michelle McCool, Melina, Mighty Molly, Lita, Summer Rae, Ivory, Cameron, Mickie James, Alicia Fox. That's more than a third of the rumble being old cameos. Then on top of that you have Charlotte in there for what seemed like no reason at all? Seemed especially bizarre given how good the last two rumbles have been, especially Belair's run in 2020.

Side note, the best thing about it was Cameron, Melina and Alicia Fox being in the same match

The mens felt better just by comparison and opened perfectly with Nakamura/Styles, but just never really seemed to go anywhere, then just sort of gradually dropped off to the finish. Even without watching lately it seemed insanely unlikely McIntyre would go back to back, so the final five guys were just Bork and four guys with no shot? Beyond me why they didn't give those final spots to guys like Owens, Priest, or Big E that could at least have an air of possibility to them - even keeping in RKO with Riddle would have been better. Was a problem across both rumbles that the final 4 and final 2 spots have basically disappeared. Compare that to any older rumble when there was at least the f4 staredown and a couple of false finishes and some actual fighting in the last two.

Not the worst RR event I've seen but certainly seemed to just be going through the motions.

 

[RossFC]

 

[Cleavy]

According to PW Insider, Riddle was the original planned winner

 

[EskimoPAFC]

According to PW Insider, Riddle was the original planned winner

Just came here to post this. Maybe I don't know enough about Riddle but I couldn't possibly see him going one on one vs Reigns or Lashley.

 

[mickelboy182]

I don't know how anybody could conceivably find WWE more appealing than AEW at this point. Most Dynamites are better than that Royal Rumble PPV.

 

[JP Sauce]

According to PW Insider, Riddle was the original planned winner

I don’t buy it, Brock was the favourite for a while. Weird that this wasn’t even mentioned in passing prior to the Rumble.

 

[SnakeMan86]

I don’t buy it, Brock was the favourite for a while. Weird that this wasn’t even mentioned in passing prior to the Rumble.

Mate of mine had Lesnar at $5's on the 30th. Odds crashed to $1.50 as the PPV started.

 

[Wickzki]

Just came here to post this. Maybe I don't know enough about Riddle but I couldn't possibly see him going one on one vs Reigns or Lashley.

In a real fight Riddle would run rings around both of them with his hands tied behind his back

They could easily build on Riddle's real fight history.

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

In a real fight Riddle would run rings around both of them with his hands tied behind his back

They could easily build on Riddle's real fight history.

Run rings around Lashley? The guy is legit.

 

[The Sultan]

First PPV I’d watched in long time. I was into NXT for a while until the WWE’d it, and changed it to two hours etc.

Was all pretty meh. I’ll probably watch wrestlemania via the high seas and only the matches that interest me once I see the card

 

[Wickzki]

Run rings around Lashley? The guy is legit.

So is Riddle. He was a main card UFC ppv fighter.

From his Wikipedia page

finished his UFC career ranked 3rd in UFC history for takedown defense (89.3%) and 8th for the total of strikes that have been landed (1350),[39] and without positive marijuana tests would have held an octagon record of 10–3 with a streak of five consecutive victories.

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

So is Riddle.

We know.

 

[ULTIMATE_WARRIOR]

I don't know how anybody could conceivably find WWE more appealing than AEW at this point. Most Dynamites are better than that Royal Rumble PPV.

Lol

 

[mickelboy182]

Lol

You disagree? I just didn't think there was much redeeming that event. First match was good with a questionable finish, rest ranged from mediocre to downright bad.

 

[ULTIMATE_WARRIOR]

You disagree? I just didn't think there was much redeeming that event. First match was good with a questionable finish, rest ranged from mediocre to downright bad.

I disagree.

Outside of ordinary booking decisions in the mens Rumble match, which granted is the main draw of the PPV, the event was pretty solid.

For those paying attention, the opening match told a much better story with the DQ than any pin or submission from either character. It wasn’t your everyday run-in DQ. And it opens up the certainty of a continuing of that story.

And not everybody is seduced by generic Indy guys, flip and flop spot fests, and guys who look like school children. In fact I’d suggest the majority aren’t, and that could be measured in almost every metric. So no I don’t think most Dynamites are better but each to their own.

 

[mickelboy182]

I disagree.

Outside of ordinary booking decisions in the mens Rumble match, which granted is the main draw of the PPV, the event was pretty solid.

For those paying attention, the opening match told a much better story with the DQ than any pin or submission from either character. It wasn’t your everyday run-in DQ. And it opens up the certainty of a continuing of that story.

And not everybody is seduced by generic Indy guys, flip and flop spot fests, and guys who look like school children. In fact I’d suggest the majority aren’t, and that could be measured in almost every metric. So no I don’t think most Dynamites are better but each to their own.

I mean that last paragraph to me kinda gives you away as a fanboy but go off I guess.

 

[ULTIMATE_WARRIOR]

I mean that last paragraph to me kinda gives you away as a fanboy but go off I guess.

Fanboy!!? Yeah, right. Good one

You didn’t know how anybody could conceivably find WWE better than AEW. You were provided some examples why. Don’t get your back up

 

[mickelboy182]

Fanboy!!? Yeah, right. Good one

You didn’t know how anybody could conceivably find WWE better than AEW. You were provided some examples why. Don’t get your back up

Your examples were shit and pretty much false in regards to the AEW product. Dynamite has been giving away 5 star matches for free, don't know how you could call the Omega/Danielson or Page/Danielson matches spotfests.

But I guess if you reaaally like big muscly dudes that is certainly something WWE has more of. No judgment.