WWE: Royal Rumble Part III

[Emperoreddy]

I'll give them credit. They booked most of the eliminations really well to limit the crowd from reacting in a way they didn't want, or the crowd just completely turning on the match.

They booked AJ right. Gave him his star moment, and had the right guy toss him (KO) to avoid the crowd losing its collective ****. They hid Roman in the back to avoid the crowd really getting in on him. They had Sami come out and toss KO, which outside of Dean or Brock was the only way that was going to work. Brock tossed Sami and the Wyatts, again avoiding the crowd getting pissed.

Brock going out was tough as the air was going to come out of the balloon no matter what. They tried their best, but why Brock didn't go into suplex murder rage after he got very unceremoniously tossed is baffling. Made him look weak and hurt his aura. He needs to go on a rampage on RAW to get that heat back.

Anyway they keep Roman away from all those guys. Bring him back when Sheamus arrives (because no one cares about Sheamus). He still got booed, but that was unavoidable.

HHH dumps Bray. Someone had to toss him, but it doesn't look so great for the Brock program we assume is coming.

Smart move. Avoiding HHH/Roman as the final two. Either the crowd fully makes HHH the face and Roman the heel, or they just turn on the match completely. Tossing him early got HHH the unwanted pop, but with Dean as the last man the crowd gets right back into it. HHH gets his heel heat back tossing Dean and they cut out of there in a hurry.

So they succeeded in limiting the crowd from losing their **** like the last two years with smart booking, but you have to wonder. If you need to go to such lengths to work around the crowd. Are you really pushing the right guys to begin with?

 

[Sarcastic]

Bryan and Vinny review of the Rumble for those interested. Starts about 15 minutes in I think?

 

[weastern bias]

Wow that ending sucked, I hate HHH

 

[The Lunatic Fridge]

 

[bruins309]

I'll be doing a lengthy recap of this on my blog to spare this thread a giant wall of text, but a few thoughts here and I keep in kayfabe:

- In theory, I like Lesnar being put against someone new. But what is the point of the officials on the outside? Only to see who hits the floor? Since we're no DQ, why doesn't someone come down with weaponry? Why are eliminations allowed by people already out of the match? That's just a crutch for lazy writing.

- Love how Lesnar flips out on post-Mania RAW last year, but guys he eliminated come back in to take him out and he's just okay with it.

- This show clinched Roman Reigns being the worst-booked guy in the history of WWE. He gets off the gurney under his own power and is allowed to just leave and chill for a bit? Why does anyone actually enter the ring and stay when they can just hang out elsewhere and wait for the end? Yeah, for MIZ that's okay because it fits him. Setting up Reigns like that is also just dumb.

- Removing the above, I LOVED the first 70-75% of this match. AJ Styles was giving me that 92 Flair vibe for a bit. Even though he only got one elimination, I thought Jericho looked good. Using Stroman to get rid of 2015 Rumble ruiners Big Show and Kane was actually sound booking, even if it turned him babyface in my mind.

- The ending is all HHH ego, and don't deny it. Everybody knows he's spent his entire life trying and failing to be Ric Flair and now he gets to win the world title in the Rumble just like Ric did.

- If you MUST continue this stupid Authority angle to placate egos....make Bray Wyatt the antagonist. The crowd reaction was AWESOME when he stared down Triple H. "ohhhhhhhhhhhh" There is so much money in a Bray face turn and I am going to scream until it happens.

 

[bruins309]

Oh and one more thing about Jericho since I know a lot of people dump on him here: Give the guy a ton of credit for making this work. He served as the veteran presence in the ring to give the match a better flow than the last two years. That's why he was in all that time, I reckon.

 

[MAHJ71]

Fun fact: in all of the 50+ minutes he was in there, Chris Jericho only eliminated Kofi Kingston.

Eliminations:

Reigns - 5
Strowman - 5
Harper - 4
HHH - 4
Lesnar - 4

I was surprised but thankful that Jericho didn't really have a huge role..

 

[GKJ]

Finn Bálor wanting to stay in NXT is partially a work. He doesn't want or need to come up unless he's thrown right into the main event scene, as it should be.

 

[Capathetic]

I thought it was a good rumble. AJ took his new guy bumps well and im so glad he is going straight to the main roster.

The IC match was pretty good for their PG ratings. Ending to the tag match was decent...though they need to push those titles more.

Raw should be good tonight. HHH with the strap like the good old attitude era....just don't start the pink slip on a pole matches.

 

[ColePens]

I'll be doing a lengthy recap of this on my blog to spare this thread a giant wall of text, but a few thoughts here and I keep in kayfabe:

- In theory, I like Lesnar being put against someone new. But what is the point of the officials on the outside? Only to see who hits the floor? Since we're no DQ, why doesn't someone come down with weaponry? Why are eliminations allowed by people already out of the match? That's just a crutch for lazy writing.

- Love how Lesnar flips out on post-Mania RAW last year, but guys he eliminated come back in to take him out and he's just okay with it.

- This show clinched Roman Reigns being the worst-booked guy in the history of WWE. He gets off the gurney under his own power and is allowed to just leave and chill for a bit? Why does anyone actually enter the ring and stay when they can just hang out elsewhere and wait for the end? Yeah, for MIZ that's okay because it fits him. Setting up Reigns like that is also just dumb.

I think you bring up a very crucial point in terms of booking. I think the outside interference and the rule about entering the Rumble does need to be changed or explained. From a kayfabe perspective, it'd be a nice addition to the show to understand the rules and why people can/can't do something. Because realistically... everyone should just hang on the outside.

It's easy and adds depth to the writing of the show.

 

[ColePens]

Oh and one more thing about Jericho since I know a lot of people dump on him here: Give the guy a ton of credit for making this work. He served as the veteran presence in the ring to give the match a better flow than the last two years. That's why he was in all that time, I reckon.

Hate to agree on this one because I'm one of the few that hate Jericho coming back each time and doing nothing. I think he served a very good purpose in the ring and was enjoyable to watch. I even sensed a possible Jericho/Styles clash at WM where Jericho can put him over in a good match.

And maybe the night after - bring the Bullet Club to that smark crowd. That would serve a good purpose for Jericho.

 

[Fro]

I'll give them credit. They booked most of the eliminations really well to limit the crowd from reacting in a way they didn't want, or the crowd just completely turning on the match.

They booked AJ right. Gave him his star moment, and had the right guy toss him (KO) to avoid the crowd losing its collective ****. They hid Roman in the back to avoid the crowd really getting in on him. They had Sami come out and toss KO, which outside of Dean or Brock was the only way that was going to work. Brock tossed Sami and the Wyatts, again avoiding the crowd getting pissed.

Brock going out was tough as the air was going to come out of the balloon no matter what. They tried their best, but why Brock didn't go into suplex murder rage after he got very unceremoniously tossed is baffling. Made him look weak and hurt his aura. He needs to go on a rampage on RAW to get that heat back.

Anyway they keep Roman away from all those guys. Bring him back when Sheamus arrives (because no one cares about Sheamus). He still got booed, but that was unavoidable.

HHH dumps Bray. Someone had to toss him, but it doesn't look so great for the Brock program we assume is coming.

Smart move. Avoiding HHH/Roman as the final two. Either the crowd fully makes HHH the face and Roman the heel, or they just turn on the match completely. Tossing him early got HHH the unwanted pop, but with Dean as the last man the crowd gets right back into it. HHH gets his heel heat back tossing Dean and they cut out of there in a hurry.

So they succeeded in limiting the crowd from losing their **** like the last two years with smart booking, but you have to wonder. If you need to go to such lengths to work around the crowd. Are you really pushing the right guys to begin with?

came in today to say pretty much this...

 

[BonMorrison]

Did dude ever respond to MCG's wreckage on him?

 

[Tabarouette]

I'll give them credit. They booked most of the eliminations really well to limit the crowd from reacting in a way they didn't want, or the crowd just completely turning on the match.

They booked AJ right. Gave him his star moment, and had the right guy toss him (KO) to avoid the crowd losing its collective ****. They hid Roman in the back to avoid the crowd really getting in on him. They had Sami come out and toss KO, which outside of Dean or Brock was the only way that was going to work. Brock tossed Sami and the Wyatts, again avoiding the crowd getting pissed.

Brock going out was tough as the air was going to come out of the balloon no matter what. They tried their best, but why Brock didn't go into suplex murder rage after he got very unceremoniously tossed is baffling. Made him look weak and hurt his aura. He needs to go on a rampage on RAW to get that heat back.

Anyway they keep Roman away from all those guys. Bring him back when Sheamus arrives (because no one cares about Sheamus). He still got booed, but that was unavoidable.

HHH dumps Bray. Someone had to toss him, but it doesn't look so great for the Brock program we assume is coming.

Smart move. Avoiding HHH/Roman as the final two. Either the crowd fully makes HHH the face and Roman the heel, or they just turn on the match completely. Tossing him early got HHH the unwanted pop, but with Dean as the last man the crowd gets right back into it. HHH gets his heel heat back tossing Dean and they cut out of there in a hurry.

So they succeeded in limiting the crowd from losing their **** like the last two years with smart booking, but you have to wonder. If you need to go to such lengths to work around the crowd. Are you really pushing the right guys to begin with?

we already know the answer is NO, but they don't care. I've come around and i'm now in the post-cynical-irony era, I just don't care anymore, Roman is the guy and that's that. Which is why i'm glad mah boy HHH won, i'll get to see HHH fight again and boast again, and that'll keep me interested in RAW for maybe 15 min longer than usual, for a grand total of 20min

 

[Sega Dreamcast]

If you want Roman Reigns to be over, having him sit out more than half of the Rumble will absolutely not make him over. Even though the match was a lot better while he wasn't in there, I just don't understand the logic behind it.

It's the typical WWE mentality where they don't know how to push someone (or more importantly, who to push).

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

The Wyatt HHH stare down was sweet and is perfect for a complete Wyatt face turn. What bigger machine is there to take down than the authority?

They could decimate the league of losers and get the upper hand and then Bullet club comes in for HHH? I don't know many ways to fantasy book good stuff.

 

[BTV]

It isn't so much any of the booking that frustrates me, it is the complete lack of rules which leave so many loopholes open. Reigns missing a majority of the Rumble yet somehow still being "in" is of course the obvious one. But this garbage of non-entrants or eliminated participants being able to eliminate someone and have it count ruins the whole premise of the show. And most of all, The Miz has apparently exposed the largest plot hole in the history of the Royal Rumble. So you can wait as long as you want until you enter the ring? If this is true, why are we drawing numbers? What the WWE has done by booking The Miz in that fashion is undermine every single participant in the history of every previous Rumble. Sure, Flair took a beating and came out on top in '92, but why did he jump in the ring so early? Should have waited until all 30 had entered.

So now EVEN IF we want to assume that nobody in the history of WWF/E was smart enough to figure out this giant hole in the rules...next year anyone who actually gets in the ring at their assigned time looks weak and stupid. They've painted themselves into a corner here, because unless Jack Tunney shows up and closes that loophole next year's Rumble only makes sense if numbers 1 and 2 join Cole at the table, followed by 3-30 surrounding the ring like a Lumberjack Match with no participants. Then a big game of chicken as far as getting in the ring.

I may be in the minority, but the Rumble completely loses its magic when it ignores its own rules. Lesnar elimination - garbage. Reigns resting the whole time in the back - garbage. But in my opinion it was the seemingly innocent booking of The Miz that was the big problem here.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Heck then you could have the Wyatts go back to heels after beating the authority and they unleash a reign of terror in the WWE, and then the Shield reunite for one purpose, to take them down.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

I agree with the loopholes and there are easy ways to fix that. You must enter the ring before he next entrant enters or you are eliminated. And if an eliminated entrant eliminates you it doesn't count as an elimination. Problem solved.

 

[BTV]

I agree with the loopholes and there are easy ways to fix that. You must enter the ring before he next entrant enters or you are eliminated. And if an eliminated entrant eliminates you it doesn't count as an elimination. Problem solved.

Yes, exactly. I agree that before the next Rumble, somehow the rules need to be tightened and officially announced as such. If so, then I think they can bring some credibility back to it. But if this isn't addressed the whole premise of the Royal Rumble means nothing. Heck, Reigns got "screwed" by being given #1 - but why did he get in the ring? Even within itself it makes no sense anymore.

 

[Engebretson]

- This show clinched Roman Reigns being the worst-booked guy in the history of WWE. He gets off the gurney under his own power and is allowed to just leave and chill for a bit? Why does anyone actually enter the ring and stay when they can just hang out elsewhere and wait for the end? Yeah, for MIZ that's okay because it fits him. Setting up Reigns like that is also just dumb.

Even worse than Lex Luger?

It irritates me when WWE tries to book "their guy" in the most stubborn way possible, but it drives me insane when they do it in the laziest way possible.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Brock's elimination killed the crowd.

Roman actually woke them up a bit, but not how Vince would of wanted (he was booed the whole way, and cheered whenever someone almost tossed him).

HHH got almost no reaction. That is really bad for your surprise #30 entry, and the stare down for your WM main event (which also got no reaction). Bray and HHH's stare down got a much bigger reaction.

This can't be defended, this is bad.

I re-watched it. Triple H most definitely got a big pop. Not on the level of AJ Styles or Sasha Banks, but it was a big pop.

 

[Le Tricolore]

All things considered, I liked the event. I went in thinking Roman or Brock was going to win, and that Triple H vs Roman was not going to be for the belt at Mania.

Turns out Triple H wins and the match will main event. That's fine. I was looking forward to the match, but didn't think it should go on last. It will, not the end of the world. It will still be a good match, and it will be fun to see the crowd **** all over Roman in person.

 

[Virtanen18]

Oh and one more thing about Jericho since I know a lot of people dump on him here: Give the guy a ton of credit for making this work. He served as the veteran presence in the ring to give the match a better flow than the last two years. That's why he was in all that time, I reckon.

I don't even know what this means. Veteran or rookie, I can't see how he made the match any better. I mostly groaned when he would stop resting in the corner to actually make a move. He's washed up and has pretty much no star power left. It's over.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

The booking of AJ Styles was fantastic, btw. I haven't praised it enough. You have the biggest free agent in the world, essentially TNA's John Cena for the longest time, come into the company, gets to keep his name and everything about him, his signature moves, the names, etc., and the first thing commentary does to put him over?

"Former IWGP Heavyweight champion... just like Brock Lesnar."

Instantly putting AJ Styles in the same sentence as Brock Lesnar sets him up so well for people who may not know him. Then you have him put on a good performance in the Royal Rumble, not getting "buried" in anyway, teasing the Styles Clash, setting it up as a devastating move that they're going to tease as such.

The booking of AJ Styles was phenomenal () last night and I hope WWE keeps it going.

I'd guess AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens is the next program, but god would I mark out for an Ambrose vs. Styles vs. Owens vs. Zayn match at Wrestlemania. With his appearance in the Royal Rumble, I fully expect him to be the next NXT call-up since the last NXT guy who got the Rumble spot was Rusev and he was then a full-time member of the main roster, although we may not see Zayn again until after Fast Lane, I'm guessing. I guess we'll find out tonight.