One of the most fun matches to watch.
And to start it off - new world tag team champions, the New Age Outlaws!
And to start it off - new world tag team champions, the New Age Outlaws!
Royal Rumble
- Thread starter michaelrr1
- Start date
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty much tired of most old blood guys.
I wasn't the biggest Batista fan before. I'm not a real fan of the forcefed comeback.
No Bryan at #30? Rey Mysterio gets that spot? Then Batista eliminates Reigns of course now the only hope I have for the WWE for the next 3 months is that Bryan gets the belt really soon and we get a heel Batista heading in to Mania.
Wow, internet is fired up tonight with Bryan not in the rumble after having the match of the night/year open the show. It will be an interesting 2 months leading up to Wrestlemania to see if they try to salvage Batista as a good guy, or embrace him as a bad guy at this point.
Raw is going to be pretty salty tomorrow. Have to wonder how far WWE is going to push fans before they turn it off by not giving them what they want. They are experts at it, so this should be fun to watch.
Raw is going to be pretty salty tomorrow. Have to wonder how far WWE is going to push fans before they turn it off by not giving them what they want. They are experts at it, so this should be fun to watch.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I was only able to follow results online, but I assumed that having Bryan lose a hotly contested first match was designed to set up Bray Wyatt as a top guy (which they followed up on with the Cena thing) and allowing him enough time for a spectacular Rumble appearance.
Stinks that he wasn't in the match. It's obvious that fans want him on top right now, so I understand that the WWE has to poke and prod with this, because nothing seems to keep wrestling fans tuned in like ticking them off, but dang it, not what I wanted.
I knew Rey was in the rumble so after 29 was announced I knew Rey was last one. But they wasted spots by giving ones to the nxt guy, the torito bull person and I stepped away but was one of the entrants JBL?
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
My take on the Royal Rumble:
First of all, I went into this match knowing it was going to be Batista. Just like last year with Cena winning the Rumble to go on to WM to face the Rock (so that Cena still doesn't have a title win over Punk), and the year before that with the E bringing Shamus back so he could take the title off of Daniel Bryan (in an attempt to bury Bryan once again....), this was telegraphed, predictable, and uninspiring. Heck, the last 8 have been easy to write, and not surprised anyone (except maybe giving it to Del Rio, but that's only in the "the E isn't really going to ignore all the signs and still give him the main slot at WM, are they?" sort of way).
So, on to the review.
The preshow match. Let's be honest here, the average age of the performers in this match was 42. And it showed, at least on one side of the ring. Kip and Brian were never the most talented workers in the world, and they've slowed down in their old age. And while the nostalgia crowd popped a little bit for their return, like they always do, but the Old Age Outlaws just can't go anymore. There was one reason to take the titles off of Cody and Goldy, and that was to free up the Brothers Rhodes for bigger and better things. Now, they seeded a potential falling out between them in the Rumble, which would qualify. But if you're going to take the titles off of the Brothers, why not put it on a tag team that could actually be elevated by them? PTP? The Uso's? Why put the titles on a 45 year old and a 51 year old, men that couldn't wrestle in their prime? What does the company gain from a New Age Outlaws tag title run? Oh right, forgot who they were friends with....
HHH boys with wins at RR2014: 1/1.
The first match of the night on the actual PPV was, without question, the match of the night. Daniel Bryan continues to be the MVP of the entire company, whether said company wants to admit it.
Small mini-rant about Daniel Bryan here: Bryan Danielson was only given as hot in the WWE because of his relationship with Shawn Michaels. Despite the most respected wrestling publication in the world declaring him the best wrestler in the world for each of the 4 years prior to his signing with the WWE, having worked 2 Matches of the Year in the two years previous to signing with the WWE, he only got a tryout because Shawn Michaels and consummate workhorse William Regal went to bat for him. He got over with the fans immediately in FCW (what became NXT) and then was an immediate fan favorite on NXT (which used to be Tough Enough and then became Tough Enough again). Despite this, he was the very first person eliminated from that show. To put that into perspective, here are a couple of the names that the WWE decided we wanted to see more than we wanted to see DanielBryan: Wade Barrett, David Otunga, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Darren Young, and Skip Sheffield (who became Ryback).
Just think on that for a second: Heath Slater and David Otunga.
But,they recognized that he had something, so they had him compete in a filler feud with the Miz, because the E thought they may have had something on their hands with the Miz. Make this kid better, they said, so Bryan did.
Then the NXT invasion happened, and despite very little provocation, they fired him. Months later they hired him back after massive blow back from the fans.
And, he just kept getting over. And getting over. And getting over. Despite being put in a program designed to push their new Mickie James (AJ Lee) to the top over his rotting corpse, he got over. Despite (and in fact, because of...) getting buried in an atrociously insulting fashion at WM two years ago, he got over. As a face, all he has to do is say YES! And he's over. As a heel, all he has to do is say NO! And he's over. You don't see entire stadiums for top 25 basketball teams doing the You Can't See Me or the Randy Orton Pedophile Pose, but you do get them doing the YES! Chant.
He's too small for the big leagues, they told him. The indie style of wrestling wont fly with the regular audience, they said. He doesn't have the charisma or talent to work on a big stage, they said.
But to say that he's proved them wrong is an understatement. To say that he's over is also an understatement. Daniel Bryan doesn't get over, Over tries to get Daniel Bryan.
Rant over.
This match was AMAZING with a capital AMAZING written in the margin of every individual and capitalized letter of the word AMAZING. It was AAMAZINGMAMAZINGAAMAZINGZAMAZINGIAMAZINGNAMAZINGGAMAZING Amazing. Rotunda (Bray Wyatt) lived up to the promise and proved that he has the ring chops to go with the charisma. Fans of NXT knew it was there all along, but hadn't gotten a chance to shine. He proved to be the perfect opponent for Bryan shine against (adding to a long line of perfect opponents... give us DB vs. Ambrose, Rollins, Punk, Dolph, Sandow, Cody... please!) to make Bryan look amazing. The Storytelling points were spot on, allowing us to get behind Bryan has he worked up little heads of steam, then slapping them down just in time to keep us riveted. I could have watched another 5-10 minutes of it, honestly. The ending was perfect, because it means we may get to see it again. The price of the Rumble was worth this match.
But that being said, Rotunda is one of H's boys. The new generation, but still, one of them.
HHH's boys with wins at RR2014: 2/2
The second actual match of the PPV doesn't need a lot said. It was filler, pure and simple. They put a part time guy over an aging guy in the last year or two of his career in a way that looked brutal but required no skill (just one feat of strength that was, honestly...astounding. Not quite AAMAZINGMAMAZINGAAMAZINGZAMAZINGIAMAZINGNAMAZINGGAMAZING, but still pretty awesome). It was slow paced and required neither of them to work too hard for very long. Satisfying for what it was.
H had no personal horse in this race other than the Brock Lesner cash cow.
HHH boys with wins at RR2014: 2/2 still.
The WWE World Heavyweight Champion of the World of Heavyweights in the WWE Championship match was about as boring as a wrestling match could be. This match was boring. Holy balls was it boring. The WWE catches a lot of crap for posting false twitter trending updates, but this time they weren't far off with their #Rematch report (it got up to seventh before they posted, then the rush of statements that #Rematch wasn't the number one trend managed to push it up to third). The problem was, by and large, if you watched the #Rematch live stream, the tweets went a little something like this:
“I couldn't give two craps about this #Rematch.”
and...
“This #rematch is the most boring wrestling I've seen in forever!”
or my favorite...
“Did they just photoshop @RandyOrton over the Rock from last year's Wrestlemania for this #Rematch?”
So, not exactly a proud moment.
I would like to point out that the wrestler that got the biggest pop in this match was Daniel Bryan. Second place was Bray Wyatt. Y2J came in at third, and the Undertaker came in at fourth. You'll notice that neither of the wrestlers in the match are on that list, and that list included no one that was in the match. Just, you know, thought I'd point that out.
By the way, as an aside, how awesome was that moment during the Bryan vs. Wyatt match when half the crowd was chanting “YES!YES!YES!”and the other was chanting “DANIEL BRYAN! CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP,”and, even while competing with other people popping for Bryan, each chant was still louder than the pop for either star in the WWEWHCotWoHitWWE Championship match? Pretty awesome, I say.
In the end, Randy Orton beat Cena in a tainted win (because Cena has only lost like six times clean on PPV since 2002), in a match that took like, eleven years to wrestle.
Seriously, how long did that match take? I'm actually writing this review next wednesday.
HHH guys with wins at RR2014: 3/3. Hrmm.....
Onto the actual Rumble!
I will not comment again about how predictable this match was. It was. I'm over it. I expect nothing less than a telegraphed ending toRoyal Rumble any more. I just hop for a good match.
I wont go through the whole match step by step, but I will bring out some good points and some bad points.
Good: They let Roman Reigns, who is going to be a horse for them when it comes to the future of the company, shine like a samoan god out there.
Bad: They wasted slots that could have gone to better wrestlers on The Great Khali, El Torito, JBL, Rey Mysterio, and Kevin Nash. Seriously, how much must the E hate you (Wade Barrett, Christian, Curtis Axel, Zeke Jackson, Xavier Woods, and Zach Ryder) if a midget in a bull costume gets in the Rumble but you don't.
But hey, it's ok. HHH made sure that his buddy Big Sexy got another big pay day.
Actually, Road Dogg, Kip James, Shawn, and Kevin all got paychecks tonight. Hrm.....
Anyway....
Good: They only jobbed a few actual good wrestlers to horrible wrestlers a couple times.
Bad: ....seriously, a midget in a bull costume.
Good: Uhm... I got home before 10....
Bad: Every single second that Rey was in the ring was painful to watch. Not even the 5 Star Factory CM Punk can make that little troll look like a good wrestler any more. Put him out to pasture, make some glue out of him.
Good:…. Heath Slater, David Otunga, and Jhinder Mahal weren't in the Rumble this year, I guess....
Bad: They wasted #26 on Ryback, #27 on Alberto Del Rio (I'm pretty sure the first guy into the Consol Energy Center that morning to unlock the door and turn on the lights got a bigger pop than Del Rio), and #30 on Rey. I'm not sure I remember a less inspiring and exciting last-5 in a long time.
Good:… uhm.... we only got one point to the sign during the match this year, which is way down....
Bad: WWE got the main event at their third biggest show of the year, booed through the last 15+ minutes of the pay per view (once Rey was announced, they started booing, the match went on for 13 more minutes, then there was at least a 2 minute celebration/kicker,through which they continued to boo.)
Good: …the winter storms hitting northern Iowa haven't hit Ames yet....
Bad: The biggest pop for a wrestler during your Royal Rumble match was a wrestler that wasn't in the match.
Good: … friday night, at the bar, I got a phone number of a really great girl that likes Megadeath...
Bad: Seriously, they booed the Royal Rumble. That's bad, folks. That's real bad. This isn't New Jersey where they heel mark just because they can, or Chicago who mark out for the heels because they understand wrestling better than everywhere else in the world. No,this is Pittsburgh, a traditionally very Face friendly town.... And they booed the guy who is supposed to be the big face going into Wrestlemania.
You've got a lot of work ahead of you, WWE, to make us give a crap...
If they're smart, they'll go with it, have Batista be a heel, and give us a heel vs. heel title match, wrapping the MOST OVER WRESTLER INTHE WORLD into the frey somehow because, seriously, weren't you listening to 15, 715 of Daniel Bryan's closest relatives tonight?
Ah well, at least....
HHH boys with wins at RR2014: 4/4.
It's good to know the boss.....
First of all, I went into this match knowing it was going to be Batista. Just like last year with Cena winning the Rumble to go on to WM to face the Rock (so that Cena still doesn't have a title win over Punk), and the year before that with the E bringing Shamus back so he could take the title off of Daniel Bryan (in an attempt to bury Bryan once again....), this was telegraphed, predictable, and uninspiring. Heck, the last 8 have been easy to write, and not surprised anyone (except maybe giving it to Del Rio, but that's only in the "the E isn't really going to ignore all the signs and still give him the main slot at WM, are they?" sort of way).
So, on to the review.
The preshow match. Let's be honest here, the average age of the performers in this match was 42. And it showed, at least on one side of the ring. Kip and Brian were never the most talented workers in the world, and they've slowed down in their old age. And while the nostalgia crowd popped a little bit for their return, like they always do, but the Old Age Outlaws just can't go anymore. There was one reason to take the titles off of Cody and Goldy, and that was to free up the Brothers Rhodes for bigger and better things. Now, they seeded a potential falling out between them in the Rumble, which would qualify. But if you're going to take the titles off of the Brothers, why not put it on a tag team that could actually be elevated by them? PTP? The Uso's? Why put the titles on a 45 year old and a 51 year old, men that couldn't wrestle in their prime? What does the company gain from a New Age Outlaws tag title run? Oh right, forgot who they were friends with....
HHH boys with wins at RR2014: 1/1.
The first match of the night on the actual PPV was, without question, the match of the night. Daniel Bryan continues to be the MVP of the entire company, whether said company wants to admit it.
Small mini-rant about Daniel Bryan here: Bryan Danielson was only given as hot in the WWE because of his relationship with Shawn Michaels. Despite the most respected wrestling publication in the world declaring him the best wrestler in the world for each of the 4 years prior to his signing with the WWE, having worked 2 Matches of the Year in the two years previous to signing with the WWE, he only got a tryout because Shawn Michaels and consummate workhorse William Regal went to bat for him. He got over with the fans immediately in FCW (what became NXT) and then was an immediate fan favorite on NXT (which used to be Tough Enough and then became Tough Enough again). Despite this, he was the very first person eliminated from that show. To put that into perspective, here are a couple of the names that the WWE decided we wanted to see more than we wanted to see DanielBryan: Wade Barrett, David Otunga, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Darren Young, and Skip Sheffield (who became Ryback).
Just think on that for a second: Heath Slater and David Otunga.
But,they recognized that he had something, so they had him compete in a filler feud with the Miz, because the E thought they may have had something on their hands with the Miz. Make this kid better, they said, so Bryan did.
Then the NXT invasion happened, and despite very little provocation, they fired him. Months later they hired him back after massive blow back from the fans.
And, he just kept getting over. And getting over. And getting over. Despite being put in a program designed to push their new Mickie James (AJ Lee) to the top over his rotting corpse, he got over. Despite (and in fact, because of...) getting buried in an atrociously insulting fashion at WM two years ago, he got over. As a face, all he has to do is say YES! And he's over. As a heel, all he has to do is say NO! And he's over. You don't see entire stadiums for top 25 basketball teams doing the You Can't See Me or the Randy Orton Pedophile Pose, but you do get them doing the YES! Chant.
He's too small for the big leagues, they told him. The indie style of wrestling wont fly with the regular audience, they said. He doesn't have the charisma or talent to work on a big stage, they said.
But to say that he's proved them wrong is an understatement. To say that he's over is also an understatement. Daniel Bryan doesn't get over, Over tries to get Daniel Bryan.
Rant over.
This match was AMAZING with a capital AMAZING written in the margin of every individual and capitalized letter of the word AMAZING. It was AAMAZINGMAMAZINGAAMAZINGZAMAZINGIAMAZINGNAMAZINGGAMAZING Amazing. Rotunda (Bray Wyatt) lived up to the promise and proved that he has the ring chops to go with the charisma. Fans of NXT knew it was there all along, but hadn't gotten a chance to shine. He proved to be the perfect opponent for Bryan shine against (adding to a long line of perfect opponents... give us DB vs. Ambrose, Rollins, Punk, Dolph, Sandow, Cody... please!) to make Bryan look amazing. The Storytelling points were spot on, allowing us to get behind Bryan has he worked up little heads of steam, then slapping them down just in time to keep us riveted. I could have watched another 5-10 minutes of it, honestly. The ending was perfect, because it means we may get to see it again. The price of the Rumble was worth this match.
But that being said, Rotunda is one of H's boys. The new generation, but still, one of them.
HHH's boys with wins at RR2014: 2/2
The second actual match of the PPV doesn't need a lot said. It was filler, pure and simple. They put a part time guy over an aging guy in the last year or two of his career in a way that looked brutal but required no skill (just one feat of strength that was, honestly...astounding. Not quite AAMAZINGMAMAZINGAAMAZINGZAMAZINGIAMAZINGNAMAZINGGAMAZING, but still pretty awesome). It was slow paced and required neither of them to work too hard for very long. Satisfying for what it was.
H had no personal horse in this race other than the Brock Lesner cash cow.
HHH boys with wins at RR2014: 2/2 still.
The WWE World Heavyweight Champion of the World of Heavyweights in the WWE Championship match was about as boring as a wrestling match could be. This match was boring. Holy balls was it boring. The WWE catches a lot of crap for posting false twitter trending updates, but this time they weren't far off with their #Rematch report (it got up to seventh before they posted, then the rush of statements that #Rematch wasn't the number one trend managed to push it up to third). The problem was, by and large, if you watched the #Rematch live stream, the tweets went a little something like this:
“I couldn't give two craps about this #Rematch.”
and...
“This #rematch is the most boring wrestling I've seen in forever!”
or my favorite...
“Did they just photoshop @RandyOrton over the Rock from last year's Wrestlemania for this #Rematch?”
So, not exactly a proud moment.
I would like to point out that the wrestler that got the biggest pop in this match was Daniel Bryan. Second place was Bray Wyatt. Y2J came in at third, and the Undertaker came in at fourth. You'll notice that neither of the wrestlers in the match are on that list, and that list included no one that was in the match. Just, you know, thought I'd point that out.
By the way, as an aside, how awesome was that moment during the Bryan vs. Wyatt match when half the crowd was chanting “YES!YES!YES!”and the other was chanting “DANIEL BRYAN! CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP,”and, even while competing with other people popping for Bryan, each chant was still louder than the pop for either star in the WWEWHCotWoHitWWE Championship match? Pretty awesome, I say.
In the end, Randy Orton beat Cena in a tainted win (because Cena has only lost like six times clean on PPV since 2002), in a match that took like, eleven years to wrestle.
Seriously, how long did that match take? I'm actually writing this review next wednesday.
HHH guys with wins at RR2014: 3/3. Hrmm.....
Onto the actual Rumble!
I will not comment again about how predictable this match was. It was. I'm over it. I expect nothing less than a telegraphed ending toRoyal Rumble any more. I just hop for a good match.
I wont go through the whole match step by step, but I will bring out some good points and some bad points.
Good: They let Roman Reigns, who is going to be a horse for them when it comes to the future of the company, shine like a samoan god out there.
Bad: They wasted slots that could have gone to better wrestlers on The Great Khali, El Torito, JBL, Rey Mysterio, and Kevin Nash. Seriously, how much must the E hate you (Wade Barrett, Christian, Curtis Axel, Zeke Jackson, Xavier Woods, and Zach Ryder) if a midget in a bull costume gets in the Rumble but you don't.
But hey, it's ok. HHH made sure that his buddy Big Sexy got another big pay day.
Actually, Road Dogg, Kip James, Shawn, and Kevin all got paychecks tonight. Hrm.....
Anyway....
Good: They only jobbed a few actual good wrestlers to horrible wrestlers a couple times.
Bad: ....seriously, a midget in a bull costume.
Good: Uhm... I got home before 10....
Bad: Every single second that Rey was in the ring was painful to watch. Not even the 5 Star Factory CM Punk can make that little troll look like a good wrestler any more. Put him out to pasture, make some glue out of him.
Good:…. Heath Slater, David Otunga, and Jhinder Mahal weren't in the Rumble this year, I guess....
Bad: They wasted #26 on Ryback, #27 on Alberto Del Rio (I'm pretty sure the first guy into the Consol Energy Center that morning to unlock the door and turn on the lights got a bigger pop than Del Rio), and #30 on Rey. I'm not sure I remember a less inspiring and exciting last-5 in a long time.
Good:… uhm.... we only got one point to the sign during the match this year, which is way down....
Bad: WWE got the main event at their third biggest show of the year, booed through the last 15+ minutes of the pay per view (once Rey was announced, they started booing, the match went on for 13 more minutes, then there was at least a 2 minute celebration/kicker,through which they continued to boo.)
Good: …the winter storms hitting northern Iowa haven't hit Ames yet....
Bad: The biggest pop for a wrestler during your Royal Rumble match was a wrestler that wasn't in the match.
Good: … friday night, at the bar, I got a phone number of a really great girl that likes Megadeath...
Bad: Seriously, they booed the Royal Rumble. That's bad, folks. That's real bad. This isn't New Jersey where they heel mark just because they can, or Chicago who mark out for the heels because they understand wrestling better than everywhere else in the world. No,this is Pittsburgh, a traditionally very Face friendly town.... And they booed the guy who is supposed to be the big face going into Wrestlemania.
You've got a lot of work ahead of you, WWE, to make us give a crap...
If they're smart, they'll go with it, have Batista be a heel, and give us a heel vs. heel title match, wrapping the MOST OVER WRESTLER INTHE WORLD into the frey somehow because, seriously, weren't you listening to 15, 715 of Daniel Bryan's closest relatives tonight?
Ah well, at least....
HHH boys with wins at RR2014: 4/4.
It's good to know the boss.....
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Batista always felt like a "I guess we don't have any better options" top guy when he was in his prime, I don't know why WWE thought everyone would be chomping at the bit for him to come back and be a 'Mania headliner right away. Bring him back to mix up the top of the card a little, sure, but he was never a big enough star to justify this kind of return.
Every year I toy with the idea of getting back into WWE for the build-up to 'Mania and it feels like this year they made it an easy decision to not waste my time.
Every year I toy with the idea of getting back into WWE for the build-up to 'Mania and it feels like this year they made it an easy decision to not waste my time.
