Royal Rumble discussion

[Kid Dynamo]

I can't BELIEVE wwe tried to undercut APW's buyrate!

Seriously though.

Yes the World Title match was short, but Henry is hurt. Cut some slack. I'd've preferred to reset the Show/Vince McMahon "thrown through the cage for the win" angle (valentine's day PPV in 2000? when Show debuted) but a DB win is a win.

Beth squashing Tamina would have been better.

Cena vs Kane was what it was supposed to be. PWTorch speculated the logical progression for Kane is to be Taker's 20th, though I think there's legs to the rumor that Taker wants to lose to a "next big thing" and have his streak mean something. I would love to see Cody Rhodes go from Booker to Goldust at the Chamber to coming out the next night claiming he was the new legend killer...cue Graveyard Symphony. There's over a month to build Cody as an even more credible threat and, frankly, I believe Cody's character is the only one who is deep enough to handle this burden without turning into Maven.

I was expecting Drew to last a little longer and be Brodus' first competitive opponent. Wade Keller said it made sense to keep Clay out of the Rumble to protect his push, and it kinda made sense.

Johnny L's three-count was epic; best moment of the night. If Johnny is fired, I quit. He is THE BEST CHARACTER IN WWE. Yes, punk is a great talker but that doesn't make him a character. Ace wants to be a blend of Dwight Schrute and Michael Scott and is ABSOLUTELY NAILING it! Let him be a heel HHH's lackey, that's fine but KEEP HIM ON RAW!!!

The myriad "surprise entrants" showed off how injury-riddled the roster is right now. That said, I really loved Duggan getting to come out; the 25th rumble nostalgia really hammered home Duggan's win in the first so it was great to bring him out. Also, most people who know Ricardo is a Chikara wrestler are thrilled at this progression towards possibly giving him a feud with Del Rio.

No one saw Sheamus winning. Those on B/r just predicted it to be contrarian to Orton and Jericho. But the truth is no one will care if the World Title is two young guys since there's so much else going on.

So here's my dream WM28 card now:
Cena v Rock
Taker v Rhodes
Punk v HHH
Sheamus v Bryan
Ziggler v Foley: Hardcore rules
Beth v Kharma
Primo/Epico v Mysterio/mystery partner (RVD)
Shaq v Big Show
Money in the Bank ladder match (Christian wins)

[Jason Cashe]

Rhodes isn't at that level yet. Maybe close but not the cookie. Sheamus is a better choice because he will be pushed due to his size and agility. Just how I feel about it.

[Reaver]

u forgot a few things...


jericho and shaemus at the end was worth the time it took to put the winner over.

jericho's spot at wrestlemania...

goldberg returning...

Lesner no longer works for UFC so a return for him in WWE or TNA will happen...

the cobra/socko connection...

the road dogg making his appearance only to have the fans shout out, "you still got it!"

[Jesse Nuñez™]

PPV sucked. Dolph and Punk's match was good. But I enjoyed their dark match last Monday a lot more.

I wanted Jericho to win from the day he returned. I absolutely hate Sheamus never liked his character. So when he won I was absolutely pissed. I rather have liked to see Miz win if Jericho was going to lose.

I don't see how WWE had Jericho lose. Why tell him to go out there and do absolutely nothing for the last few weeks and then in the final RAW finally have him hype up for the Rumble and then have him lose. If you wanted him to lose they should have had him enter the Rumble a lot sooner than what he did. Would have made more sense that he lost that way since he would've been in there for awhile and fatigue hit him.

[Kid Dynamo]

I think it was more Jeri-troll. Let's face it; his entire gimmick so far has been to convince the IWC he'd do one thing only to do another. That one line promo shifted everyone from thinking Orton to thinking Y2J. It actually helped immensely because we were shocked when Sheamus won.

I'm actually curious to see Sheamus v Bryan. Bryan playing the smart heel will clash beautifully not only with Sheamus's monster face style but I think we're in for some great back-and-forth promo work playing off of Sheamus' crazy uncles.

[Jason Cashe]

I like Sheamus, dude is a beast and if you've seen his Pre-WWE work you'd have seen him doing a Springboard Move on occasion. Youtube Sheamus Springboard, I'm lazy. Dude can move and has power, his gimmick is untouchable, nobody can be that White on purpose!

[Hometown Heroes]

I guess I was the only one happy to see Kharma back in the WWE lol

[Johnny Rebel]

I agree with the Cody Rhodes assessment. His in-ring work lately has been fantastic and he's starting to develop a killer promo. He's a step ahead of Dolph in the character development, IMO, as Dolph needs Vicki for any type of heat. The Undertaker can make Cody in to a potential main event talent simply by Rhodes going over at WrestleMania.

The actual RR match itself was pathetic... zero draw to the whole thing. There was a rumor floating around than Cena would have won the match and then HHH would have made him choose between The Rock or the World Heavyweight title shot. The drama leading up to WM with John constantly messing with Punk to play with the crowds head would have been great TV. He would then of course choose the match with The Rock which would set the average fan in to hyper-mark territory. Add to that the chance for Cena to put someone else over by offering his title shot in a match against say someone like The Miz or R-Truth, or even IWC's darling Zack Ryder.. and you have tremendous build-up. Man, I wish I was a writer for WWE!

The roster is ridiculously thin right now and it's hurting the overall product. If I'm the WWE, I'm combing Smackdown down to a one-hour show and making it a development piece. Combine the two World titles, Intercontinental/US, and use the tag division to help build some of these young guys. Because overall, WWE is suffering big time by lack of talent.

[Johnny Rebel]

Forgot to mention this:



Absolutely awesome!

[Jules]

Jan 30, 2012 14:45:28 GMT -4 Johnny Rebel said:

The actual RR match itself was pathetic... zero draw to the whole thing. There was a rumor floating around than Cena would have won the match and then HHH would have made him choose between The Rock or the World Heavyweight title shot. The drama leading up to WM with John constantly messing with Punk to play with the crowds head would have been great TV. He would then of course choose the match with The Rock which would set the average fan in to hyper-mark territory. Add to that the chance for Cena to put someone else over by offering his title shot in a match against say someone like The Miz or R-Truth, or even IWC's darling Zack Ryder.. and you have tremendous build-up. Man, I wish I was a writer for WWE!

I think this would have been a catastrophic piece of booking. WWE are doing well to keep Cena away from the title scene for the time being. Additionally, they already ran this angle before TLC and there is no purchase in rejuvenating it again so soon. Cena gave up his shot then and considering the Cena character hasn't been interested in wrestling for two months now and is busy dealing with 'all the hate' etc. it would have been totally incoherent for him to suddenly make a pitch for the title and be potentially double booked for WM when that match has had the full force of the hype machine behind it for nearly a year.

I expected Orton or Jericho to win, but I wasn't surprised that Sheamus won. He has been given a huge push in recent months (can't even remember the last time he lost), granted he hasn't beaten anyone of note, but WWE have been hyping him since the summer.

I haven't seen any of the PPV, but from what I've read I don't think I'm going to take the time to either.

[Johnny Rebel]

Come on... you know it's only a matter of time before the belt finds Cena again. Punk will take the blame for declining ratings and Cena will eventually find his way back to the limelight. The Rock/Cena is losing major steam, IMO. I have lost interest as the Rock being off TV weeks at a time has put a major stink on the whole thing.

[President Jeff]

The Rumble sucked up until the like the 19th entrant. And what the hell was Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole doing in there. This was probably one of the worst rumbles I seen in a long time

[Kid Dynamo]

I think they went too hard on the comedy for most, and I get that. Maybe it's optimism, but I'm willing to say that with all the injuries, they went to plan B and went for entertainment. Did it suck? Meh.

Two mistakes IMO: Jericho should have come out earlier and done his schtick. I would have loved him spending AT LEAST two minutes just doing laps and such. Throw in someone getting eliminated by stopping to give him a WTF look, and it's a great entertainment moment in an entertainment-focused match.

2) Daniel Bryan. The theory spit out by "every superstar is eligible" was possibly a Bryan win and title unification match at Mania. Let Bryan come in and fuel those rumors, then let him get eliminated (it won't make him look weak just like Wade isn't weak; 29 get knocked out every year. Saying a guy is buried for losing = "APW buried Noble, Saint, and Rebel at S&C!"

[Jules]

Jan 30, 2012 16:10:59 GMT -4 Johnny Rebel said:

Come on... you know it's only a matter of time before the belt finds Cena again. Punk will take the blame for declining ratings and Cena will eventually find his way back to the limelight. The Rock/Cena is losing major steam, IMO. I have lost interest as the Rock being off TV weeks at a time has put a major stink on the whole thing.

I agree the title will find its way back to Cena, but maybe next time he should have a long chase and then it will be accepted more. The problem with Cena and the title is not so much him having it, but the amount of times he has held it and too many of those reigns have been transitional reigns.

I'm not really sure what WWE are trying to do with Cena right now. I don't like this whole 'embrace the hate' campaign, it's a bit desperate really and its of the WWE's own doing. Creative/McMahon or whoever is to blame has created this horrible one dimension Super Cena character that the audiences have become tired of. This match with The Rock was always overhyped (Punk called it right in his 'meta-promo'), and I kind of resent Dwayne for just walking in an proclaiming himself the main event at WM a year in advance, the guy is a total self-serving douche.

Anyway, that's an aside. The way I see it you rejuvenate Cena not by trying to turn the current fan reaction to Cena into a contrived and hopeless heel turn, but simply develop the Cena character as it already is. If I were booking it I would keep Cena away from the title for at least six months and have him lose to Dwayne at WM, keep him around the upper card scene because like him or not he is a draw and he does have star quality, but have him working feuds with guys like Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett helping to put these guys over instead of just burying everyone as SuperCena seems to do. Then the Cena character loses his unbelievable (unsellable to the older audience) superhero gimmick, he looks vulnerable and may garner some sympathy from the audience (he needs to lose his holier than thou schtick too). Turn Punk heel (with the title) on the basis of resenting the fans never really accepted him as the company's franchise star (it's plausible on current evidence), re-ignite this feud (these two guys do have chemistry) and make it a long title chase with Cena eventually regaining the title. For me that is a much better story, it might even get Cena back over with the fans because it can be sold that this guy had to start all over again and reclimb the ladder, while putting a few younger guys over etc.

Although what happens at WM will be key to all of this. I hope Dwayne does the decent thing and pays Cena some homage after Dwayne inevitably wins at WM. I think if Cena can come out with some sympathy as a valiant loser it will be better, rather than as a snivelling heel because the fans like Dwayne more (although keep him away from the title for a good while).

[Jules]

Jan 30, 2012 16:37:13 GMT -4 Kid Dynamo said:

I think they went too hard on the comedy for most, and I get that. Maybe it's optimism, but I'm willing to say that with all the injuries, they went to plan B and went for entertainment. Did it suck? Meh.

Two mistakes IMO: Jericho should have come out earlier and done his schtick. I would have loved him spending AT LEAST two minutes just doing laps and such. Throw in someone getting eliminated by stopping to give him a WTF look, and it's a great entertainment moment in an entertainment-focused match.

2) Daniel Bryan. The theory spit out by "every superstar is eligible" was possibly a Bryan win and title unification match at Mania. Let Bryan come in and fuel those rumors, then let him get eliminated (it won't make him look weak just like Wade isn't weak; 29 get knocked out every year. Saying a guy is buried for losing = "APW buried Noble, Saint, and Rebel at S&C!"

I was hoping Y2J would walk out, do 'his thing', and then walk out again without competing, completely rejecting the conventions of the Rumble and spitting in the face of its traditions. For me 'End of the World' is not 'I want to go to WM and win the WWE Title', it's I'm not playing this game according to your rules. Who knows, it all depends on what is really behind what Y2J has been doing. I'm beginning to suspect nothing will come of it, and the cryptic 'end of the world' stuff will be conveniently forgotten.

As for Bryan looking weak, well the way he is being booked right now is doing all the work on that front. Fair play to Bryan he is playing the role he has been given expertly, I can't fault him for that, but I can't help but agree with a comment I read on PWtorch about it being difficult to see where Bryan goes from here when he loses at WM because he is being put over as a fluke, lame duck Champ right now. Maybe this will change over the next two months if he is set-up against Sheamus. I certainly think the Henry/Show thing has run its course now. I'm assuming we will see more intensity from Bryan though as the heel turn is ramped up, and I expect to see him do some damage with his submission skills. With the push Sheamus is getting WWE certainly need to give Bryan something to work with if he is to have any credibility as champ going into WM against the monster face with buckets of momentum.

[Jules]

Jan 30, 2012 15:04:07 GMT -4 Johnny Rebel said:

Forgot to mention this:



Absolutely awesome!

This is very good. Cheers for posting J-Reb.

[Sedition: Gladiator]

Overall I thought the PPV sucked, and did not live up to the hype. I'm fine with Sheamus winning, but I think that having Jericho actually compete and lose took quite a bit of wind out of his sail. Truth is Jericho doesn't need to win the rumble in order to get a shot at Punk at Wrestlemania for the title. A rivalry between the two of them pretty much writes itself, and is 99% the direction they are going, but it wasn't the best use of Jericho. They should of had him come out and play to the fans outside the ring till it was just Sheamus left, then have Sheamus eliminate him. Instead he was pretty much used as just another Rumble competitor.

Besides that I thought the Rumble match itself was probably the worst one since 1999 where it was the AustinéMcMahon show. This one had way too much comedy. The surprise entrants were underwhelming. It was cool to see Duggan and Road Dogg, but that was nothing compared to seeing Diesel and Booker last year. The biggest problem was there was no real storytelling. No real drama or excitement until Sheamus and Jericho were the last ones left. They provided some good drama, but other than that it was lame.

The WWE Title match was good, but nothing compared to the match Punk and Ziggler could have produced. Laurinitis' involvement took away from what could have been a 5 star match.

Cena and Kane what it was. It kept Cena out of the Rumble and therefore out of the title picture which makes me happy. The whole gimmick feels way too Star Wars Revenge Of The Sith to me. It's like Kane is Chancellor Palpatine and he`s trying to turn Anakin Cena to the dark side. Campy, lame, yes, but it keeps Cena away from the title. The match itself sucked big time, but anyone who expected anything different hasn`t been watching wrestling for the last 6 years.

Divas match... honestly I skipped it. The joys of watching a downloaded copy, instead of paying like a sucker.

As for the WHC match, it was ok but really suffered from Henry being injured. He was the best thing to come out of 2011 aside from the CM Punk shoot promo. It`s a shame to see him being unable to really carry the ball. He deserved a long run as champ and deserved to be in the title match at Wrestlemania. Unfortunately because of his injury, that`s not likely to happen. I just can`t get into Bryan as Champ. I don`t think he was ready, and I don`t think he fits.

All in all, I was much more pleased with the results of Survive And Conquer than I was with the Royal Rumble. ;D

[Blade]

The Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania are the only shows I will pay for.

I want my money back.

The royal rumble sucked.


The Cage match looked lie it was botched. Henry was injured and clearly showed it. Show looked like he dropped Bryan by mistake.


Diva's match blew.

Clay/Mcintyre was obviously to fill in for Ryder/Swagger. Pointless, just put Drew in the rumble.

Punk/Ziggler. Better matches on RAW, Am in the process of watching RAW now, I bet Johnny Ace doesnt get fired and it will be because he helped count the winner of this match.


The rumble was a joke up until the 19th/20th entrant. Not comical, just laughable.

Happy sheamus won, but they really shat on their Jericho angle