GDT: WWE Royal Rumble (28th January 2018) - Double Value!

[M.C.G. 31]

I thought Tamina was pulled. Imagine my reaction when he she came out to MY number.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Boy would that have been dumb.

 

[Emperoreddy]

The crowd when they asked Nakamura who he wanted to face.

Was no question in their minds. Chanting AJ right away. That was awesome.

 

[dahrougem2]

Lmao this would have had me in tears

 

[Bubba88]

there was no reason for Nikki to eliminate her sister. That really took some away from the ending. Asuka is that undefeated force and you want to go 1 on 1 instead of going 1 on 1 against a weaker opponent? That really made no sense. Other than that it was really good.
Bar vs Seth/Jordan was booked to be seen as bad.
Roman should act as heel. Reaction would fit better. He won't be the next Rock/Cena, just accept it.
Rusev was the most over guy, push him and give him a title.

 

[Emperoreddy]

It definitely warmed my heart to see Rusev so over.

 

[Mitchy]

AJ-Nak is going to be so lit.

Also, yeah they seriously need to push Rusev. What an embarrassment it would be if they don't capitalize on the most over superstar on the roster.

 

[The Gongshow]

The crowd when they asked Nakamura who he wanted to face.

Was no question in their minds. Chanting AJ right away. That was awesome.

They poped at the A

 

[GKJ]

Adam Cole was at one point the challenger for Bobby Roode. In that case, thankfully they changed their minds.

 

[Sheppy]

Adam Cole is the man.

 

[GKJ]

Not in that spot though

 

[ManofSteel55]

there was no reason for Nikki to eliminate her sister. That really took some away from the ending. Asuka is that undefeated force and you want to go 1 on 1 instead of going 1 on 1 against a weaker opponent? That really made no sense. Other than that it was really good.
Bar vs Seth/Jordan was booked to be seen as bad.
Roman should act as heel. Reaction would fit better. He won't be the next Rock/Cena, just accept it.
Rusev was the most over guy, push him and give him a title.

The Bellas thing is for their reality show. There was no reason for them to be there at all aside from that stupid show.

Bar vs Jordan/Seth was booked that way because Jordan is injured and can't take bumps right now.

Rusev was/is so over.

 

[GKJ]

The Bellas thing is for their reality show. There was no reason for them to be there at all aside from that stupid show.

Bar vs Jordan/Seth was booked that way because Jordan is injured and can't take bumps right now.

Rusev was/is so over.

I think Nattie could’ve gotten that spot. She deserved to be the runner up more than either Bella did. I figured they thought Sasha would be too spaghetti-legged to do it.

 

[TNT87]

I wonder how they would have booked Paige in the RR if she didn't hurt herself?

 

[GKJ]

I wonder how they would have booked Paige in the RR if she didn't hurt herself?

I think she would’ve been the runner-up doing that spot on the apron

 

[Natey]

Still so sad about the Women's Rumble. It was a lot of fun, don't get me wrong. But there was no star making performance.

They gave the star making performances to Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Asuka, and well, Michelle McCool.

That's fine, I guess. But NONE of the young talent was made to look like a star. Why not have someone like Sonya Deville, who they've been pushing, to get 4 or 5 eliminations and last a long time. Make her elimination be a big deal? Instead she's tossed by a 90-year-old woman who hasn't been in the ring in 46 years. Why not have Ruby Riott have a strong performance? Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Mandy Rose.... ANY of them? I'm not asking you sacrifice your stars or asking you to make all of them seem important, but the best performance by any young girl in the match was probably Sarah Logan (which I'm happy with because she's awesome to watch and super cute too!) - just by surviving a decent amount of time in the Rumble.

Very disappointing overall.

PS. Molly Holly is the best.

 

[Natey]

AJ-Nak is going to be so lit.

Also, yeah they seriously need to push Rusev. What an embarrassment it would be if they don't capitalize on the most over superstar on the roster.

What else is new? They don't push anyone that's over if it's not someone they picked. They .. just don't. It's been that way for years.

Someone over doesn't need to "win the world title" or "be a main eventer" but 90% of the time when someone is over they turn them into a jobber. And I'm not sure if they're trying to job them out for "heat" for other superstars... since those superstars will give sympathy. But 90% of the time, they don't even make the over superstar look like a threat.

This goes all the way back to the days of Zack Ryder. The guy never needed to be a World Champion. But he was a fine midcarder for that era - or well, should have been. Instead he was booked as a complete and utter joke for months and months and months and months... and then they FINALLY give him the big win nearly a year after making him constantly look like a joke, only to make him lose the title (US) less than a month later and start booking him as a joke again.

Then 4 or 5 years down the line, they give him a huge moment. And crowd still cared because they knew he deserved it, but it was too late. Especially because they essentially booked him like a joke the very next night.

PS. I'm not saying Ryder is the greatest or anything. He seems like a total nerd, but it's just a huge example. The example kind of goes back to RVD before him, but at least RVD for the most part, wasn't made to be a jobber... only a jobber to the stars.

PS. AJ vs Nak will be great. And thank god it won't be the Main Event so I don't have to stay up for Lesnar/Reigns and Cena/Taker. Holy shit will those matches be all kinds of awful.

 

[Brodeur]

Still so sad about the Women's Rumble. It was a lot of fun, don't get me wrong. But there was no star making performance.

I don't disagree with you, but I can imagine there was pressure with it being the first women's Rumble to utilize the legends and current lead gals. Hopefully next year they can put the spotlight on the new crop.

 

[Natey]

I don't disagree with you, but I can imagine there was pressure with it being the first women's Rumble to utilize the legends and current lead gals. Hopefully next year they can put the spotlight on the new crop.

And that's fine... but it wouldn't have hurt to push ONE of the young talents. Just one. That's all I'm asking.

If you look at the young talent, the most impressive performance was Sarah Logan. And that's great, but it wasn't really that impressive either way.

 

[Natey]

The Bellas thing is for their reality show. There was no reason for them to be there at all aside from that stupid show.

Bar vs Jordan/Seth was booked that way because Jordan is injured and can't take bumps right now.

Rusev was/is so over.

Why? If other legends were there, why can't they be? And while she wasn't great, Nikki was on a Trish path before her injury. The improvement she had as a wrestler was astronomical. Put her back in the Trish era and she's one of the best. Trish would have never held up against the women of today either, no offence to her.

And Brie was always a decent wrestler.

And they are multi time champs, have reality shows that are successful, and kayfabe wise were really successful. Yes, they deserved to be there. And that has nothing to do with who they are married too.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Why? If other legends were there, why can't they be? And while she wasn't great, Nikki was on a Trish path before her injury. The improvement she had as a wrestler was astronomical. Put her back in the Trish era and she's one of the best. Trish would have never held up against the women of today either, no offence to her.

And Brie was always a decent wrestler.

And they are multi time champs, have reality shows that are successful, and kayfabe wise were really successful. Yes, they deserved to be there. And that has nothing to do with who they are married too.

I never said they didn't deserve to be there. I said there was no reason for them to be aside from Total Bellas, and I stand by that. They didn't add anything to the match necessarily. It would have been just as good (or better) without them.

Nikki grew a ton as a wrestler, but even at her best she was merely okay at her job. She was no Trish. They started at the same level - inexperienced models with no skill whatsoever. Trish became one of the best women of her time in terms of work rate, and yes, she was still ahead of Nikki despite Nikki's improvement.

I disagree on Brie though. She was never a decent wrestler. You can tell that she tried hard, and she did a good job of differentiating herself from Nikki, but she wasn't a decent wrestler. She was bad. She showed improvement too, but she was still bad even at her best.

 

[Natey]

Trish was nowhere NEAR the best during her era. She just had the most exposure.

Molly could run circles around her. Mickie, Victoria, and Ivory were all a ton better.

Being better than Nidia, Lita, Dawn Marie, Stacy Kiebler, and Torrie Wilson isn't saying much.

And hell, I like Trish! That's not a knock, just the truth.

Disagree about Brie. I always thought she was decent. Not great or even good for that matter, but decent. She was better than Trish, no doubt in my mind. I'm 100% a workrate guy. I would pick Brie over Trish 100 times out of 100 if we're basing this off wrestling. Just like I would pick Trish over Nikki.

 

[Emperoreddy]

And that's fine... but it wouldn't have hurt to push ONE of the young talents. Just one. That's all I'm asking.

If you look at the young talent, the most impressive performance was Sarah Logan. And that's great, but it wasn't really that impressive either way.

Asuka won the Rumble. Sasha was the iron woman. They made Ember Moon look amazing. Kairi had a strong showing as well.

 

[BonMorrison]

I think you're really selling Trish short here. A lot of the appeal behind Trish and the reason why people connected with her so much and hold her so high is because of how she started in the company as nothing more than an eye-candy manager to being one of the very best in a ridiculously short amount of time. Victoria, Ivory, and Molly were on paper better wrestlers but they had nowhere near the charisma and appeal that Trish did (especially when she was heeling it up). Not to say they were bad as they all had great moments under the spotlight but Trish could make the most out of the spotlight (though you are right that she was given stronger pushes than the other ladies). Trish was dynamic and could be put into any role and thrive in it and the way she's held up today is well-warranted and deserved.

People seem to forget that for a very long time, Mickie vs. Trish at WM22 was considered one of the best women's matches in the companies history. Mickie deserves a lot of credit for that incredible feud too but the whole story and match (botch aside) was fantastic and Trish put a lot into that.

 

[Natey]

Asuka won the Rumble. Sasha was the iron woman. They made Ember Moon look amazing. Kairi had a strong showing as well.

Kairi was in the Rumble for less than 5 minutes. If you think that's a strong showing....

I will give you Ember Moon, who for the first time ever, I absolutely loved in the Rumble. Maybe she's the kind of person who needs to take a break mid-match to tape up her hurt area so she knows how to sell. Her selling the Rumble was fantastic. A few of us who aren't fans loved her performance there. But she's still months if not a year away from being in the WWE. Every young gun they have on the roster now looked like chumps except, as I said, Sarah Logan... who just kind of survived.

Asuka looked strong.. sure. But she's already over and already strong. And it was a no brainer she was going to win the Rumble. Absolute no brainer. They were not going to have her first loss happen without emotion in a Women's Rumble. Sasha, again, is already over.

I'm talking about the new crop of ladies. Or ladies on the cusp of being called up who were not even in the Rumble (Cross, Kay, Royce) for people like Jacqueline, Torrie Wilson, and Kelly Kelly.

You are free to like it. That's your opinion. I have mine. I will never discredit your opinion because that's what judging wrestling is - opinions.