If Trips had eliminated Roman last, then Trips would have been the biggest babyface in the company. At least with Dean and him being the final two, they were able to get some of that heel heat back.
+Pat Borina but what if they had turn dean heel and he enlimnaded roman i thank that whad of looked better then hhh doing it and i thank they are copying to much from the 90s story lines
I think they handled AJ Styles pretty well, honestly. It would have been a little ridiculous to have him win the whole thing in his debut, but they still ended up making him look pretty good during the match. He lasted a while and had some good moments.
***** I dunno, AJ had taken a pretty good beating by that point as well, though KO probably should have toned down the limp in his entrance if he was going to fight like that. Either way, AJ vs. KO is probably the best feud to put him in at this point. Owens is just coming off his feud with Dean Ambrose, while pretty much all of the other big name heels are either injured or involved with other storylines. And ***** , maybe I'll have to watch it again, but I thought he got enough offense in. He didn't dominate everyone, but he didn't need to. The impression I got was that he successfully held his own against WWE's best for quite some time, and I think that's a pretty good start.
KarnRulez Oh, please. You don't put the World Heavyweight Championship on someone in their first match in the WWE. That would just be blatant pandering to the smarks, and would make absolutely no sense to anyone who didn't happen to follow New Japan.
Jedibob5 It makes more sense that putting the belt on Triple H's old ass. We had enough of that shit in 2002. We don't need to repeat that crap. AJ has more than earned it. Besides, the people that don't follow New Japan are idiots.
I don't see why "ruining" the story of Roman Reigns vs the Authority is a bad thing. It's a story we've seen a million times, and it's a story between a guy who hasn't been a relevant threat in years and a guy who is about as interesting as watching paint dry. What's more it's clear that Roman isn't getting over as "the man" and likely never will.
yeah I'm already pissed of when I think about Reigns winning the belt at Wrestlemania. Bray (C) vs. Brock with the Wyatt Family at ringside would have been great. Reigns and HHH could have a match without any titles on the line
+infinity83397 Don't worry guys! This is going great! If Roman wins at WM he'll be a THREE TIME CHAMP! At this rate he'll break Flair (or Cena's) record within the next year and a half!
They definitely backed off on having Charlotte act like her dad. Instead they are having Ric act like a fanboy over his daughter, and it suits things a lot better. I love how Ric has been strutting to Charlotte's theme. It's whacky and crazy, and just gold!
Wrestling With Wregret I think you've overlooking something here. If the final two in the Rumble match were Triple H and Roman Reigns, and Triple H eliminated Reigns to win the belt then Triple H would have gotten a massive Face pop from the crowd which is something that DEFINITELY could not be allowed to happen. By eliminating Dean Ambrose for the win they sidestepped that Triple H pop that he otherwise would have had as a heel. Just wouldn't have come across right and they kinda really put Ambrose over the entire night by working it this way.
+Marc Silver Thing is that we've already had Brock vs Triple H and Brock lost that match. Styles isn't there yet, yeah it would get the IWC all excited but once the match happens then what? Not enough of the mainstream audience sitting at home know AJ Styles. They may have heard the name, they might not bits and pieces but a story that makes sense, and builds drama, has yet to be crafted to maximize the amount of interest and revenue for the company. Now if they claimed that AJ Styles didn't have a long term signed contract and he won the belt and then they repeated the storyline of CM Punk, when he walked out of the company as champ. Then you might have something. But even then, how do you get several PPV's out of that storline instead of just one match?
***** i guess you are right :p since HHH and brock already have their own feuds. really to be honest i dont care about anything except for the undertaker because its sad that he is just ignored like this till the last weeks for wrestlemania this is his final match it should be built more then it is currently this is why in my opinion he should have lost to either HHH on 32 or micheals at 26 OR wyatt in case he beat lesnar but now since he cant fight cena OR hogan and steve austin i dont know if the what wwe will choose will be worth it being his final match no matter what it is. but i hope to stand corrected.
It was amazing to see AJ Styles. The rumble was good. I was hoping there would be more surprises, but I like they way they did the match. It had a decent flow. What say you, BZ?
The injuries really forced WWE to pull the HHH trigger. There was no credible heel in the company that could carry the belt to Wrestlemania 32. I would have preferred someone else win the title because now the main event of Wrestlemania is so predictable. Reigns beats HHH. And if not Reigns then the #1 contender. Either way, we know HHH will drop the title at mania, the question is who. Maybe a triple threat will help this issue? I hope I'm wrong on this one.
I don't think that's the problem (heels not being prevailent enough to hold the title) but more so to build up reigns as this whole anti authority underdog who finally gets his day at wrestlemania. Which the fans are still not behind judging by their reaction to him almost winning then getting thrown out.
+TheJR7360 i agree that WWE had to pull the HHH trigger. i don't like it, but there wasn't much choice. KO isn't ready to be that guy yet and the less shameus we have to see, the better. WWE has really written themselves into a corner by trying to make roman the man since anyone he faces right now not named shameus is going to be loved by the crowd. the only person people might boo is HHH.
+Fardeen Islam We won't see the direction they'll take Styles until today on Raw. My guess is he'll feud with Owens. They might set up an Ambrose, Jericho rivalry for mania so it's possible that Ambrose will drop the title to either styles or Owens. I just don't see WWE giving Styles the main event of mania in his first couple of months with the company. Next year, they might. But a lot can happen in between. I hope Nakamura makes it to the main roster but it seems like he'll start off in NXT if he does sign with WWE.
I think it was smart having Ambrose and HHH in the end, gave people a reason to boo HHH. Also, having KO eliminate Styles, to then be taken out by Sami Zayn was brillaint.
+chrono12334 Yeah, I think KO was the one of the few who could have eliminated AJ without being crapped on, with Brock or Ambrose being the only others.
I heard that too. Think it was Lawler? I can't remember which but I do remember him saying that's what got him the victory over Cena. Edit: Wow, I did not even realize Lawler was not even on the PPV team besides Kickoff. But I swear I heard Lawlers voice say what I said above how he always kind of says stuff puzzled and shocked lol. Goes to show how embedded his commentary is in my brain after all these years.
juan j Velazquez I know, I even mentioned it in my comment if you read all of it haha. Like minutes after commenting I added to it cause I couldn't believe he wasn't even part of the main team yet I still heard his voice in my head when I thought about the Kalisto line.
your last comment about the commentary has been my biggest gripe for a while now. WWE creative has been crap for years, but we had Jim Ross, Heyman, a useful Lawler even Cole & Tazz during the SmackDown six days all understood how to sell the match, the performers and the big moments.
+Kennith Betton I STILL hate the dramatic silences for big scenes like that now. It ruins them...having Mauro on Smackdown is a step in the right direction (and man I can guarantee he'd have sold the shit out of HHH appearing if he was allowed to) but it hasn't been good in years as far as selling hype
That bit where Bray Wyatt was eye-to-eye with Triple H made me want nothing more than to see The Authority vs The Wyatt Family book for after Wrestlemania. DO IT, VINCE!
here's an idea for the tag division: take 2 guys that wwe isn't doing anything with (and who are still getting great reactions) and put them together, give them a few wins together, set them up for the new day at wrestlemania. then they win the titles. this would give these 2 huge momentum for mania (and after) and give the new day something else to do between now and mania. the 2 I have in mind?....... damien sandow/zack ryder.
+YTMLP How about Sandow joins the Social Outcasts and we build up that group. Ryder has his team with Mojo and we need to push Social Outcasts as faces and a legit threat to the title picture of any title
Man, I would love to hear you give your reactions to all of the key eliminations more. Seeds were hopefully planted in the rumble for more storylines that you could expand on greatly!
For a moment I tougth they were going to pull the trigger for Ambrose as champion, thinking Roman was going to eliminate (or help Ambrose, his "brother") Triple H... but then, he was gone, just like that. Wich, to me, makes no sense.
The brother thing just doesnt go with Ambrose's crazy character anymore. It just damages it. Like we are supposed to believe Ambrose isn't pissed for not being the champ.
+Checko ”LionHeart039” Bocanegra They might just be testing the WWE Universe again like they did with Kalisto. Ambrose surviving to the final two should tell you how confident the WWE are becoming with him.
The negatives were 1. Only Kofi from the New Day was in the Rumble. 2. Reigns sat in the corner for most of the match. 3. Reigns spent half of the match eating donuts backstage. 4. Jack Swagger, Tyler Breeze and the Miz spent too little time. 5. Copied 1999 Rumble.
uGH.... The Wyatts ruined it for me. Why the fuck can you have people who are eliminated hang around and fuck with people? Brock got eliminated by three people who were already eliminated! This breaks the believability for me. Why doesn't EVERYONE who gets eliminated just stay in the fucking ring area and muck everything up. have 30 people at the end, every year at every rumble, just throwing chairs, setting up tables, and clogging up the arena with bodies. Everyone refusing to leave. Big show and Kane get eliminated. So? They just get back in the ring and keep fighting and eliminate the Wyatt who tossed them over.
+BuFFoTheArtClown "Why doesn't EVERYONE who gets eliminated just stay in the fucking ring area and muck everything up. have 30 people at the end, every year at every rumble, just throwing chairs, setting up tables, and clogging up the arena with bodies. Everyone refusing to leave." ....actually that would be the coolest royal rumble ever! make this happen please!
I haven't been watching for a while and had barely been keeping up with whats been going on but I did catch the Rumble this year. Normally I would rate most WWE PPV's 3 stars but this one was 4 or maybe even 5. The only trouble with Roman in the Rumble was the ass kicking he got, walked out on his own accord then came back later near the end. Me and my friend I was watching with popped when HHH threw Roman over the top. Roman winning after all that would have been insane. AJ's debut was badass, it took a few minutes to get used to seeing him on a WWE show. Good review man :)
but when does the bad guy have to cheat though? I mean yes we have a lot of heel cheaters but the thing is, we can have a heel that is just a fucking asshole HHH to me is that type of heel right now
+ScarfaceGuru heels typically have to cheat to draw heat. HHH doesn't have to do that. that's why, love him or hate him, he's the best damn heel in the company still. he's actually at his best when he doesn't cheat much. he's just best at making people hate him.
+Thomas Jenkins Good point. A great heel can rely on his personality to get heat. Anyone can cheat to get heat. The problem with cheating is that often, people don't boo the heel, they boo the cheating. Hunter is someone where you just say: "Fuck this guy, he's an asshole". As Mick Foley worte: "Hunter showed that the art of being a prick isn't dead.
+Lex Dragon Rollins can get the same heat without cheating, look at when he dropped J and J security, He beat Sting and Kane clean and people still hated him
+Whiteagle456 Yeah, Triple H has kind of evolved past trying to get heat in Kayfabe, and thus now goes for meta heel heat. Technically beating Ambrose clean isn't a bad guy move, but he knows that because fans understand the booking logic behind it they'll get pissed off by it. I'm honestly not sure if I like that kind of booking, as its a bit too 4th wall breaky for me, but it works I guess.
Is a fucking part timer who wrestles like 10 times a year max, and got eliminated. seriously not a good choice for champ imo, need the champ on TV to tell the road to wrestlmania stories, yanno?
+POLSKA7389 at least trips is on TV every time. Brock is also pretty stale after you've seen a few of his matches. I'm sick of a beast of a champ, which is why Rollins was perfect :( AJ hopefully gets pushed instead of Roman. Which we all know makes sense but wouldn't happen.
+Ryan Sullivan he didn't have the perfect reign, though. i think he deserved more clean wins, the only clean one was the ladder match against ambrose. also, as stated, the promos were kinda boring
Do you think they are going to do to Roman Reigns what they did with The Rock? With all the negative heat he is getting as a face, push him as a heel in hopes for fans to like him that way.
Dude your generous with a B rating. The commentators didnt sell HHH cause they were truly anoid with the outcome. HHH woke up sunday morning and was like "i think i'll be champ today steph"The event was barely a passing grade. Aj styles and Kalisto did well. But alot terrible spots. The Wyatts looked weak and never teamed up. Jericho liked like a tall glass of flat soda. Barret was snubbed. Kofi seemed to never be eliminated. They ruined Mark Henry. They almost broke Big Shows leg on the ropes. Roman is just being maligned. D+ tops
With it taking place in Orlando, where Styles really made his name for many years is probably why the WWE inserted him into the match. They knew if he was gonna get a pop from a WWE crowd this would probably be the best place to get one at.
+Matt Combs And speaking of Styles, it pissed me off that they kept the camera on Roman the whole time instead of the entrance. I guess the titantron flashed "Phenomenal 1" which garnered that original pop.(Much like Jericho's debut in 99) I would've liked to have seen that instead of Roman's face.
Sandow......Dammit Wwe, why even have him there if he isn't gonna be in the Rumble. And Triple H dusted off his golden shovel for Ziggler. That's about all I hated about it
Nothing have ever been able to top AJ Styles debut. Once I knew he was a free agent, I marked out, when he came out, as many did. I was really hoping HBK would come out at 30, that was somehow a rumor.
I loved how theatrical the Rumble match went. They weaved through a great storyline between most of the competitors plus weaving together Styles debuting, The Wyatts cleaning house all through the Authority versus Reigns story.
The only thing about the Rumble I didn't like, other than the fact that it mirrored the same tired "evil authority" thing WWE has been doing for nearly 20 years, was that there weren't any cheap, surprise appearances by legends, like Hacksaw or Godfather or Nash have done in the past. I get it, it's not plausible that Bob Backlund would enter and win the title, but it's not plausible that he'd have won when he did a cameo in 2000. It's just always a nice extra treat in the Rumble to have those surprise cameos.
Hey Brian, I thought in commentary they did mention the kick. I thought I heard JBL say that was the same kick Del Rio used to win the title against Cena.
Zayn vs Owens, AJ Styles entering the Rumble as number 3, the ending,... This Royal Rumble Match was so awesome! I enjoyed it so much! Great PPV! I agree about the Dudleys... They need a push! I hope AJ to be involving in some great storylines in the futur.
Doing the 1999 "injured and out of the Rumble" angle with Roman was a HORRIBLE idea. It really took out a lot of the excitement throughout the match knowing that Roman was sleeping backstage and was inevitably going to come back and dominate. It was hard to get excited for anything else once he was "hospitalized" for the match.
Best thing about the Ambrose/Owens finish? It made Owens look strong, even in defeat, that it took a fall through TWO tables to finally knock him out. That's the best thing you hope for your "monster" heel when you book him to lose.
I disagree with you on that Roman should have been eliminated last. I didn't think about how HHH went over both of them clean, I was caught up in the moment of there is definitely gonna be a new champion, and while some will say no way Ambrose is going to win it, they did a great job at making it look like he could have won. the last few minutes had me on the edge of my seat.
If the Bray could eliminate Lesnar using his family, why couldnt he do the same with the rest of the Rumble? Lesnar was underplayed and no Beast Incarnate mode happened? Plus I love AJ Styles and was alright seeing Owens eliminating him saying "Welcome to the WWE"... Classic.
A hand full of Styles and shasha chants don't really do it for me, maybe I need to re watch it but a lot of the matches and during the rumble it was pretty quiet.
+Korvas What were you watching? I was in the crowd, it was great. I will even break it down match by match: Pre-Show: Surprisingly loud, but that's mostly because Sandow was there. He was extremely over with this crowd. If you go back and watch it, you can hear everything from "We want Sandow" to "Ayy we want some Sandow" IC Title Match: Loud pop for KO with a bunch of chants ranging from the traditional "This is awesome," "Holy shit" or "We want tables" to "You fucked up" when KO went through 2 tables. Tag Titles: Extremely loud cheers for the New Day, and vocal boos for the Usos. Hell, Francesca got a bigger pop than them. I remember some "Play Francesca" chants, causing Woods to taunt the crowd. Other than that there were just New Day Rocks chants. US Title: This was quiet. Really quiet. I looked around and saw people on their phones texting, and just not paying attention. The only pop was when Kalisto won. Divas match: Loud pop for Becky, moderate volume during the match. Crowd went nuts when Sasha came out. Rumble match: 3 Words. AJ Fucking Styles. It was deafening in the arena when he came out. Especially because of the titantron. Those watching at home couldn't see it cause the camera was on Roman, but his music hit and all you saw was "I am" and that stayed there for a few seconds, then the word "Phenomenal" appeared. Once that appeared, we went bonkers. All throughout the match there were "AJ Styles" and "AJ" chants. Roman got booed loudly, and when HHH came out there was a huge pop. But that was dwarfed by the cheering when Reigns got eliminated. After that, we were constantly chanting for Ambrose to win. Traditionally, the Orlando crowd sucks. But last night, we were surprisingly vocal.
I think the reason they don't play up Trips's age is because they want to make Reigns look good by going over in the feud. That being said, they can play up the fact that he's still a badass while pointing out that he's in charge around here and shouldn't be competing for the title; call it a conflict of interest, maybe?
The reason AJ was over and because he had such a huge pop was because: 1. The Rumble was in Orlando. and 2. People already knew who he was. Either way....IT WAS EPIC.
the Dudleys as a veteran team probably doing what veteran wrestlers do when they return to a promotion, help promote newer teams by losing to them. What Terry Funk when he appears and gives back to the business.
I just rewatched the 2016 Royal Rumble and I am so damn confused. HHH won?? I have absolutely no memory of this. Help me make sense of this, 8-years-ago-Brian!
The fact that the Royal Rumble match ended in the way it did means there's only one plausible outcome in the long-run (in my opinion): - Reigns should face HHH at Fast Lane in a Championship rematch and win, thanks to the help of The Rock who saves him from an assault from the League of Nations. - Lesnar faces Bray at Fast Lane in a No. 1 Contender's Match and wins. Therefore, the card for Mania would be: - Reigns vs Lesnar pt II for the WWE World Heavyweight Champonship (we didn't get a definitive climax to their first bout due to Rollins' cash-in so it's not stale just yet) - Triple H vs The Rock (perhaps throw Stone Cold in as special guest referee to complete the Attitude Era trilogy - the buildup would be awesome) Add in a ladder match for the IC Championship consisting of Ambrose, Owens, Styles, Jericho, and Neville and you've already got a decent card despite all the injuries WWE currently has.
+TheAKJ9 Similar to what I had in mind! Although I've read up that The Rock is too busy to do anything with WWE right now, although that could just be them giving us the run around. Looking forward to see what enfolds!
+TheAKJ9 Not going to happen, Rock is insured on his next movie and that excludes him wrestling. Perhaps a guest ref role or in Reigns corner but doubt HHH v Rock will happen.
The 1999 Royal Rumble has plenty of problems (the biggest being that Vince put himself over, at least Trips is a wrestler), but I think it was pretty entertaining, and it had more than one storyline, including the Ministry and The Rock's run in.
I gotta agree with Zane (even though he no longer responds to my comments lol). But I would give it a 4 star solid rating as well. I really like the Rumble match, definitely better than the last two Rumbles.
Just a question for you Brian? How were you surprised with the people knowing AJ? The build with him being rumored to come to WWE, him being the biggest indie since Steen/Owens, etc. Did you ever know him before now or ever? He's one of the most over people in indie/wrestling history. If you haven't, please watch him and get to know him, he's one of the best in the ring.
My friend pointed out that Triple H could be doing a face turn as he was entering with "The Game" instead of "King Of Kings" (at 2013 Summerslam, he predicted that Triple H was going to do a heel turn all because he entered with "King Of Kings" that night, and he was right, HHH did a heel turn)
I enjoyed this rumble way too much, the only thing I would have done diferently is the winner, I think the HHH vs Roman feud doesn't need a tittle but Bray Wyatt needs one It could've been slightly better.
My only gripe was hhh winning again, I was hoping that finally ambrose would climb to the mountain and get his title run. I just think its ambroses time. anyway great vid brother
Brian, do you feel there is any possibility that last night was a litmus test for how fans would react to Dean Ambrose title reign? Similar to what they did with Luger & Hart in 1994. I'm holding out hope, but it's WWE.
I personally considered it a good surprise for Roman to be eliminated before Ambrose. It was an unexpected twist and I think that's something that's been missing from the rumble for some time. It made the last few minutes matter much more given we now knew there would be a new champion.
You mentioned the thing of the announcers after HHH entered. Here in Brazil, brazilian commentators sold it quite right like "wtf is hhh doing here?". About Styles, thought he should've entered much later in the rumble and could even be one of the final 3 cause Owens was all broken and so he goes and eliminates the guy with the best reaction in the rumble?
I agree with your assessment of the Royal Rumble ending with HHH. I don't follow the stories as closely as I used too, so when the crowd cheered HHH and boo'd Roman, I thought, "Oh, HHH is a face now?" I knew he wasn't but generally the commentators talk them down a whole lot more and they don't win clean. I WAS glad that they haven't decided to keep pushing Roman since the fans don't seem to take to him.
Considering that Styles and Owens have history on the indie circuits awhile back, and since Owens eliminated Styles, I think it's setting up for a Styles/Owens feud that will end up being a triple threat match for the IC title. The WWE title picture has maybe 3-4 that "could" carry, but until the injuries are healed from Rollins and Cena etc, there won't be much to the main title.
Great review as always. The whole Swagger/Henry thing was so underwhelming. I get that Henry is not the most agile guy in the world, but surely if he's there he deserves some respect and should last a lil while? Secondly, couldnt eg. Balor/Samoa Joe/Baron Corbin do a job if the purpose of Truth/Swagger/Axel/Henry was to be there 20 seconds each`?
I agree with Mr Zane on 2 solid points. The Royal Rumble match where the "Play-By-Play" guys of Cole,JBL and Saxon could have done better. No Lawler which is a shock too. They was the same team from Raw every week that did the Royal Rumble. Very poor job of presenting the return of Triple H too. And the first match of the show was great (Ambrose/Owens) was the match of the night. Great job Mr Zane!!!!
I thought the ending was very smartly worked. It would have been short sighted to have roman eliminated last. Trips got a huge pop after entering at 30 and WWE knew fans would likely cheer for the longtime veteran, especially if he eliminated the widely booed reigns. By having Triple H eliminate ambrose last, a fan favorite who everyone would love to see win, he still got allot of heat.
Here's what needs to be added to the tag team division: The Wyatt Family. Have them run over everyone, winning the titles at WM all the while, Bray is cutting promos about family and power, etc.
"If AH doesn't win the title, then bleh it's all horrible" shades of the last two years with Daniel Bryan, especially last year, but I've already ranted about that on this channel's comment section :P
I don't see any mention of Axel finally being eliminated from the 2015 Royal Rumble or Truth being stupidly taking the ladder, that is possibly a build for a ladder match, probably a MITB shot for him later this year.
I wasn't opposed to AJ Styles losing the Royal Rumble when I heard about it I hope he's a major title player soon but my problem was as great of a competitor is Kevin Owens is he got eliminated by someone who was in a Last Man Standing match earlier so it makes him look weak
They played this Rumble VERY safe. A little too safe for my tastes. They pulled Reigns out with an "injury" to keep him from being hurt and effectively ruining their plans for Mania, they stuck the belt on a guy who should be retired and wound up being cheered because he defeated the new John Cena, they didn't have Daniel Bryan return even though he's ready and wants to get back in it because he'd be cheered out of the building and the Rumble would be booed like crazy when he gets eliminated, and they didn't have the Undertaker appear even though this is his last Rumble and he deserves to be there (again, citing injury concerns as the reason for not having him get in there.) It's sad that injuries are a driving force in a very dangerous business like wrestling and now the biggest company on the planet is making decisions based off of the fear of people being injured. WWE needs to make stars out of guys like Generico, Styles, Barrett, Owens, and Neville fast because all their go-to guys are dropping like flies, retired, or are the most hated men in the company.
I agree except I think the Divas match was better than the US Title match, though it could've had better booking at the end (hopefully we have a Triple Threat set up for Fast Lane or Mania). The Rumble itself was okay. Some problems, but it was decent overall. Good start to 2016.
No mention of Sami eliminating Owens or the Wyatts taking out Leasner? Because I think those two events have Wrestlemania implications. It certainly is noteworthy and it will be interesting to see how things shake out.
Reigns looked like he ate some tainted Taco Bell when he heard the "unfamiliar music" of AJ Styles, which was similar to the look on Cena's face when CM Punk reappeared with "Cult of Personality"
Also, JR would've killed AJ'S debut. "By Gawd King it's him, it's AJ Styles!! A phenomenal athlete and worldwide star is here in the WWE! Business has picked up!!"
I thought that Reigns might've shot himself in the foot with a simple mistake, which caused him to be bood. When he was stretchered off, and he then chose to walk, I think it looked bad. It was meant to make him look stronger because he didn't need a stretcher, but all I was thinking was that if he could walk, he could compete. I think seeing him walk and then come back kinda made him look like he cheated and washed away him being over with the fans.
HHH got boo'd for eliminating Ambrose, that was the point in Ambrose getting eliminated last. They wanted HHH boo'd and against Roman wouldn't do that.
I feel aj should have been in Ambrose's spot. That would have been how you put your new star over. Have him go 50-60 min and almost win and be the last eliminated. Logically Ambrose had been in a LMS & won, he didn't need that spot aj needed it more. Your thoughts?
I just realized something that I think everyone's forgotten about. Unless Triple H is gonna be on Raw or SmackDown defending the WWE title, (which I don't see it happening) he has until the Monday Night Raw after Fastlane to defend the belt before it's supposed to be stripped & vacated under the same kayefabe rules that were applied to Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins.
They came out and said that the champ must defend at least once every 30 days. And since they had injuries that would definitely have them out more than 30 days, they were stripped. But the same rule should apply here. And actually, that could be a nice little kayefabe twist to get the belt off of HHH, without him losing it. In all his arrogance he forgot that rule, so the belt is now vacated for WM. Just a theory i was kicking around.
If Trips had eliminated Roman last, then Trips would have been the biggest babyface in the company. At least with Dean and him being the final two, they were able to get some of that heel heat back.
plus Reigns got destroyed earlier by LoN and Dean went through the Last Man Standing Match so that wasn't purely clean like he said
+Pat Borina but what if they had turn dean heel and he enlimnaded roman i thank that whad of looked better then hhh doing it and i thank they are copying to much from the 90s story lines
+Kid Coheed reigns got a little nap backstage, LoN barely touched him.
Shea Jones shhh Kayfabes
+Pat Borina No, that was stupid.
I think they handled AJ Styles pretty well, honestly. It would have been a little ridiculous to have him win the whole thing in his debut, but they still ended up making him look pretty good during the match. He lasted a while and had some good moments.
+Jedibob5 AJ should have won.
***** I dunno, AJ had taken a pretty good beating by that point as well, though KO probably should have toned down the limp in his entrance if he was going to fight like that. Either way, AJ vs. KO is probably the best feud to put him in at this point. Owens is just coming off his feud with Dean Ambrose, while pretty much all of the other big name heels are either injured or involved with other storylines.
And ***** , maybe I'll have to watch it again, but I thought he got enough offense in. He didn't dominate everyone, but he didn't need to. The impression I got was that he successfully held his own against WWE's best for quite some time, and I think that's a pretty good start.
KarnRulez Oh, please. You don't put the World Heavyweight Championship on someone in their first match in the WWE. That would just be blatant pandering to the smarks, and would make absolutely no sense to anyone who didn't happen to follow New Japan.
Jedibob5 It makes more sense that putting the belt on Triple H's old ass. We had enough of that shit in 2002. We don't need to repeat that crap. AJ has more than earned it. Besides, the people that don't follow New Japan are idiots.
+Jedibob5 Which is worse, blatant pandering to smarks? or blatant pandering to Triple H's own ego?
Has anyone mentioned Rusev carrying the TV monitor to the back with him after they attacked Reigns? That was pretty funny.
I noticed that.
Harley Collins It was so weird. I loved it.
+SkilesHasFun I didn't know what it was but I knew he had something.
+SkilesHasFun Rusev is awesome. He's hilarious, that and saying everyday is the royal rumble in Bulgaria cracked me up
+SkilesHasFun You mean the new TV Champion?
I don't see why "ruining" the story of Roman Reigns vs the Authority is a bad thing. It's a story we've seen a million times, and it's a story between a guy who hasn't been a relevant threat in years and a guy who is about as interesting as watching paint dry. What's more it's clear that Roman isn't getting over as "the man" and likely never will.
The only way he can get over is by forcing Cena to turn heel and have Roman go over Cena at Wrestlemania
yeah I'm already pissed of when I think about Reigns winning the belt at Wrestlemania.
Bray (C) vs. Brock with the Wyatt Family at ringside would have been great.
Reigns and HHH could have a match without any titles on the line
+infinity83397 That wouldn't work all that does is make Cena heel Roman wouldn't get over from that
+infinity83397 Don't worry guys! This is going great! If Roman wins at WM he'll be a THREE TIME CHAMP! At this rate he'll break Flair (or Cena's) record within the next year and a half!
+ROSSY-B It's spelled Metallica respectively my spelling challenged friend.
They definitely backed off on having Charlotte act like her dad. Instead they are having Ric act like a fanboy over his daughter, and it suits things a lot better. I love how Ric has been strutting to Charlotte's theme. It's whacky and crazy, and just gold!
+HBKCommish My friend and I laughed our asses off when Ric strutted to Charlotte's theme after she won.
Plus, with Ric kissing Becky and Struttle while doing it and sell the slap to the Face is Priceless. Lol
Wrestling With Wregret I think you've overlooking something here. If the final two in the Rumble match were Triple H and Roman Reigns, and Triple H eliminated Reigns to win the belt then Triple H would have gotten a massive Face pop from the crowd which is something that DEFINITELY could not be allowed to happen. By eliminating Dean Ambrose for the win they sidestepped that Triple H pop that he otherwise would have had as a heel. Just wouldn't have come across right and they kinda really put Ambrose over the entire night by working it this way.
+Rob Korczak Very good point.
+Wrestling With Wregret but then again we would've had BROCK VS HHH or STYLES VS HHH isnt that nerdgasm worthy?
+Marc Silver Thing is that we've already had Brock vs Triple H and Brock lost that match. Styles isn't there yet, yeah it would get the IWC all excited but once the match happens then what? Not enough of the mainstream audience sitting at home know AJ Styles. They may have heard the name, they might not bits and pieces but a story that makes sense, and builds drama, has yet to be crafted to maximize the amount of interest and revenue for the company. Now if they claimed that AJ Styles didn't have a long term signed contract and he won the belt and then they repeated the storyline of CM Punk, when he walked out of the company as champ. Then you might have something. But even then, how do you get several PPV's out of that storline instead of just one match?
***** i guess you are right :p since HHH and brock already have their own feuds. really to be honest i dont care about anything except for the undertaker because its sad that he is just ignored like this till the last weeks for wrestlemania this is his final match it should be built more then it is currently this is why in my opinion he should have lost to either HHH on 32 or micheals at 26 OR wyatt in case he beat lesnar but now since he cant fight cena OR hogan and steve austin i dont know if the what wwe will choose will be worth it being his final match no matter what it is. but i hope to stand corrected.
I was so excited when it was Dean and HHH cause I believed for a second that he could be an IC&World Champ. Also the crowd got hyped.
So Pacitti lost... again...
Adam "Cena" Blampied beat Pacitti Club
+nooobiechild YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!! sorry just had to do that i like Adam Blampied better than what's his name
5/0
malak ibrahim Did you mean a clean sweep for Adam Blampied?
+Ryan Burgess (Knight of Loyalty) Oh hell Yeah but I don't know about the preshow match
It was amazing to see AJ Styles. The rumble was good. I was hoping there would be more surprises, but I like they way they did the match. It had a decent flow. What say you, BZ?
The injuries really forced WWE to pull the HHH trigger. There was no credible heel in the company that could carry the belt to Wrestlemania 32. I would have preferred someone else win the title because now the main event of Wrestlemania is so predictable. Reigns beats HHH. And if not Reigns then the #1 contender. Either way, we know HHH will drop the title at mania, the question is who. Maybe a triple threat will help this issue? I hope I'm wrong on this one.
I don't think that's the problem (heels not being prevailent enough to hold the title) but more so to build up reigns as this whole anti authority underdog who finally gets his day at wrestlemania. Which the fans are still not behind judging by their reaction to him almost winning then getting thrown out.
+TheJR7360 making Reigns a 3 time champ in a short period of time with him still not connecting with the fans would prove detrimental..
+TheJR7360 i agree that WWE had to pull the HHH trigger. i don't like it, but there wasn't much choice. KO isn't ready to be that guy yet and the less shameus we have to see, the better. WWE has really written themselves into a corner by trying to make roman the man since anyone he faces right now not named shameus is going to be loved by the crowd. the only person people might boo is HHH.
I agree but they could go the DB route and insert Styles. Or even DB himself. Nakamura is also coming, hope they have him in the title picture.
+Fardeen Islam We won't see the direction they'll take Styles until today on Raw. My guess is he'll feud with Owens. They might set up an Ambrose, Jericho rivalry for mania so it's possible that Ambrose will drop the title to either styles or Owens. I just don't see WWE giving Styles the main event of mania in his first couple of months with the company. Next year, they might. But a lot can happen in between.
I hope Nakamura makes it to the main roster but it seems like he'll start off in NXT if he does sign with WWE.
HHH winning clean was fine. No problem with it. It makes sense he was in the match because of what Roman did to him. Getting revenge.
+Stephen Kuipers I agree with Triple H winning and getting revenge on Roman, I just feel the story could have been told better by the announcers.
+Wrestling With Wregret Oh definitely but we all know that the announcers are so terrible. I wish I could of muted them during the Divas Title Match.
+Wrestling With Wregret that's why good ole JR should've been there at least he would've added enthusiasm to HHHs appearance
+Stephen Kuipers Why is Bryon Suctons on PPV commentary?
+Wrestling With Wregret Actualy, the spanish announcers really did a good job telling the story and introducing triple h to the match
Aj styles is the top face rn
He just came. They haven't even decided what to do with him.
+ShaunLovesAnimating 25 minutes, actually, but ya know.
+Jason Cummiskey 30+ minutes
Actually it was only 28 minutes. Basically 30 though.
:)
I think it was smart having Ambrose and HHH in the end, gave people a reason to boo HHH.
Also, having KO eliminate Styles, to then be taken out by Sami Zayn was brillaint.
+chrono12334 Agreed
+chrono12334 Yeah, I think KO was the one of the few who could have eliminated AJ without being crapped on, with Brock or Ambrose being the only others.
uuuuuh they did mention the fact that Del Rios kick put out John Cena Michael Cole did, watch it again
I heard that too. Think it was Lawler? I can't remember which but I do remember him saying that's what got him the victory over Cena.
Edit: Wow, I did not even realize Lawler was not even on the PPV team besides Kickoff. But I swear I heard Lawlers voice say what I said above how he always kind of says stuff puzzled and shocked lol. Goes to show how embedded his commentary is in my brain after all these years.
+PixelProtocol It was Cole Lawler wasnt commentating
+PixelProtocol It was Cole Lawler wasnt commentating
juan j Velazquez I know, I even mentioned it in my comment if you read all of it haha. Like minutes after commenting I added to it cause I couldn't believe he wasn't even part of the main team yet I still heard his voice in my head when I thought about the Kalisto line.
Nice breakdown of the event. Thanks for taking the time to do this for the fans of your channel.
Some people are cramping over Paul McMahon winning the Rumble.
+Theodore Caesar Moseby Because HHH sucks.
+KarnRulez friendly reminder that this man gave you NXT.
+AG Tex Paul Levesque gave you NXT, HHH is the asshole authority figure.
Am I the only one who thought Del Rio vs Kalisto was an awful match? Seemed like a botch-fest to me
I somewhat agree. It started out kinda strong, but got sloppy fast
+veale011 i agree aswell, way too many botches
When the match was happening I lost interest and hoping the match ends.
I thought it was an ok match but it had a lot of botches and was sloppy, they looked like they were tired and/or anxious.
It was a botchfest but they had a lot of spots so theres that.
skip to 7:47 for Royal Rumble match review
you are the wrestling version of James Rolfe, for lack of better words. Love the analysis!
that KO vs DA match was amazing! match of the year so far.
You break it down really really well. Keep up the good work!
the commentators did mention the kick, they said exactly what you said.
your last comment about the commentary has been my biggest gripe for a while now. WWE creative has been crap for years, but we had Jim Ross, Heyman, a useful Lawler even Cole & Tazz during the SmackDown six days all understood how to sell the match, the performers and the big moments.
+Kennith Betton I STILL hate the dramatic silences for big scenes like that now. It ruins them...having Mauro on Smackdown is a step in the right direction (and man I can guarantee he'd have sold the shit out of HHH appearing if he was allowed to) but it hasn't been good in years as far as selling hype
+ajk you're right Mauro would have brought up how we haven't seen hhh since Roman took him out
Well Cole did bring that up Kennith, but the drama of the moment was a lot less than it coulda otherwise been.
What the tag division needs is Enzo and Cass.
They'd be perfect in a feud with the new day.
This comment aged like milk
That bit where Bray Wyatt was eye-to-eye with Triple H made me want nothing more than to see The Authority vs The Wyatt Family book for after Wrestlemania.
DO IT, VINCE!
here's an idea for the tag division: take 2 guys that wwe isn't doing anything with (and who are still getting great reactions) and put them together, give them a few wins together, set them up for the new day at wrestlemania. then they win the titles. this would give these 2 huge momentum for mania (and after) and give the new day something else to do between now and mania. the 2 I have in mind?.......
damien sandow/zack ryder.
Zack Ryder w/Alex Riley or maybe Dolph
+YTMLP How about Sandow joins the Social Outcasts and we build up that group. Ryder has his team with Mojo and we need to push Social Outcasts as faces and a legit threat to the title picture of any title
Or bring up Enzo and Cass to win the tag belts as a second choice
+YTMLP I'd say Neville/Mark Henry
Zack Ryder needs s push
Man, I would love to hear you give your reactions to all of the key eliminations more. Seeds were hopefully planted in the rumble for more storylines that you could expand on greatly!
actually, I think commentary did mention something about the kick
Loving your channel. Don't know about Kalisto needing a push "forever", he has only been there for a cup of coffee
For a moment I tougth they were going to pull the trigger for Ambrose as champion, thinking Roman was going to eliminate (or help Ambrose, his "brother") Triple H... but then, he was gone, just like that. Wich, to me, makes no sense.
The brother thing just doesnt go with Ambrose's crazy character anymore. It just damages it. Like we are supposed to believe Ambrose isn't pissed for not being the champ.
+Checko ”LionHeart039” Bocanegra They might just be testing the WWE Universe again like they did with Kalisto. Ambrose surviving to the final two should tell you how confident the WWE are becoming with him.
+Checko ”LionHeart039” Bocanegra If that doesn't tell smarks to piss off THIS time, I don't know what will.
The negatives were
1. Only Kofi from the New Day was in the Rumble.
2. Reigns sat in the corner for most of the match.
3. Reigns spent half of the match eating donuts backstage.
4. Jack Swagger, Tyler Breeze and the Miz spent too little time.
5. Copied 1999 Rumble.
uGH.... The Wyatts ruined it for me.
Why the fuck can you have people who are eliminated hang around and fuck with people? Brock got eliminated by three people who were already eliminated!
This breaks the believability for me.
Why doesn't EVERYONE who gets eliminated just stay in the fucking ring area and muck everything up. have 30 people at the end, every year at every rumble, just throwing chairs, setting up tables, and clogging up the arena with bodies. Everyone refusing to leave.
Big show and Kane get eliminated. So? They just get back in the ring and keep fighting and eliminate the Wyatt who tossed them over.
+BuFFoTheArtClown Yeah that was pretty annoying -_-
+BuFFoTheArtClown
"Why doesn't EVERYONE who gets eliminated just stay in the fucking ring area and muck everything up. have 30 people at the end, every year at every rumble, just throwing chairs, setting up tables, and clogging up the arena with bodies. Everyone refusing to leave."
....actually that would be the coolest royal rumble ever! make this happen please!
Sounds like a lumberjack match
+BuFFoTheArtClown hell, just grab a chair and take everyone out.
He also mentioned that in the description
I haven't been watching for a while and had barely been keeping up with whats been going on but I did catch the Rumble this year. Normally I would rate most WWE PPV's 3 stars but this one was 4 or maybe even 5. The only trouble with Roman in the Rumble was the ass kicking he got, walked out on his own accord then came back later near the end. Me and my friend I was watching with popped when HHH threw Roman over the top. Roman winning after all that would have been insane. AJ's debut was badass, it took a few minutes to get used to seeing him on a WWE show. Good review man :)
but when does the bad guy have to cheat though?
I mean yes we have a lot of heel cheaters but the thing is, we can have a heel that is just a fucking asshole
HHH to me is that type of heel right now
+ScarfaceGuru heels typically have to cheat to draw heat. HHH doesn't have to do that. that's why, love him or hate him, he's the best damn heel in the company still. he's actually at his best when he doesn't cheat much. he's just best at making people hate him.
+Thomas Jenkins Good point. A great heel can rely on his personality to get heat. Anyone can cheat to get heat. The problem with cheating is that often, people don't boo the heel, they boo the cheating. Hunter is someone where you just say: "Fuck this guy, he's an asshole". As Mick Foley worte: "Hunter showed that the art of being a prick isn't dead.
+Lex Dragon Rollins can get the same heat without cheating, look at when he dropped J and J security, He beat Sting and Kane clean and people still hated him
+Whiteagle456 Yeah, Triple H has kind of evolved past trying to get heat in Kayfabe, and thus now goes for meta heel heat. Technically beating Ambrose clean isn't a bad guy move, but he knows that because fans understand the booking logic behind it they'll get pissed off by it. I'm honestly not sure if I like that kind of booking, as its a bit too 4th wall breaky for me, but it works I guess.
+ScarfaceGuru In theory you can even say he cheated cause inserting himself into the rumble as number 30 is a pretty huge advantage
thank you for bringing up the first breaking of the trombone! I was starting to think I imagined out happening.
Brock?
Is a fucking part timer who wrestles like 10 times a year max, and got eliminated. seriously not a good choice for champ imo, need the champ on TV to tell the road to wrestlmania stories, yanno?
+Ryan Sullivan but a guy who wrestles once is a good choice?
+POLSKA7389 at least trips is on TV every time. Brock is also pretty stale after you've seen a few of his matches. I'm sick of a beast of a champ, which is why Rollins was perfect :( AJ hopefully gets pushed instead of Roman. Which we all know makes sense but wouldn't happen.
+Ryan Sullivan with boring 20 minute promos yeah thats great. At least brock can be someone that puts abit of realism to the title.
+Ryan Sullivan he didn't have the perfect reign, though. i think he deserved more clean wins, the only clean one was the ladder match against ambrose. also, as stated, the promos were kinda boring
Do you think they are going to do to Roman Reigns what they did with The Rock? With all the negative heat he is getting as a face, push him as a heel in hopes for fans to like him that way.
Dude your generous with a B rating. The commentators didnt sell HHH cause they were truly anoid with the outcome. HHH woke up sunday morning and was like "i think i'll be champ today steph"The event was barely a passing grade. Aj styles and Kalisto did well. But alot terrible spots. The Wyatts looked weak and never teamed up. Jericho liked like a tall glass of flat soda. Barret was snubbed. Kofi seemed to never be eliminated. They ruined Mark Henry. They almost broke Big Shows leg on the ropes. Roman is just being maligned. D+ tops
You and Adam from Whatculture Wrestling deserve your own show in the WWE Network
With it taking place in Orlando, where Styles really made his name for many years is probably why the WWE inserted him into the match. They knew if he was gonna get a pop from a WWE crowd this would probably be the best place to get one at.
+Matt Combs And speaking of Styles, it pissed me off that they kept the camera on Roman the whole time instead of the entrance. I guess the titantron flashed "Phenomenal 1" which garnered that original pop.(Much like Jericho's debut in 99) I would've liked to have seen that instead of Roman's face.
Kevin Owens entering the Rumble stumbling down the ramp like a zombie made me laugh
Sandow......Dammit Wwe, why even have him there if he isn't gonna be in the Rumble. And Triple H dusted off his golden shovel for Ziggler. That's about all I hated about it
Nothing have ever been able to top AJ Styles debut. Once I knew he was a free agent, I marked out, when he came out, as many did. I was really hoping HBK would come out at 30, that was somehow a rumor.
I loved how theatrical the Rumble match went. They weaved through a great storyline between most of the competitors plus weaving together Styles debuting, The Wyatts cleaning house all through the Authority versus Reigns story.
I didn't necessarily like Triple H winning the title in 2016 but now two years later it was a good move.
When Triple H came out at #30 my mind immediately went to SHOVEL
The only thing about the Rumble I didn't like, other than the fact that it mirrored the same tired "evil authority" thing WWE has been doing for nearly 20 years, was that there weren't any cheap, surprise appearances by legends, like Hacksaw or Godfather or Nash have done in the past. I get it, it's not plausible that Bob Backlund would enter and win the title, but it's not plausible that he'd have won when he did a cameo in 2000. It's just always a nice extra treat in the Rumble to have those surprise cameos.
Hey Brian, I thought in commentary they did mention the kick. I thought I heard JBL say that was the same kick Del Rio used to win the title against Cena.
Zayn vs Owens, AJ Styles entering the Rumble as number 3, the ending,... This Royal Rumble Match was so awesome! I enjoyed it so much! Great PPV!
I agree about the Dudleys... They need a push!
I hope AJ to be involving in some great storylines in the futur.
One correction note: Actually they mentioned on the commentary that the kick by Del Rio was the one that beat Cena. Otherwise awesome video as always.
Doing the 1999 "injured and out of the Rumble" angle with Roman was a HORRIBLE idea. It really took out a lot of the excitement throughout the match knowing that Roman was sleeping backstage and was inevitably going to come back and dominate. It was hard to get excited for anything else once he was "hospitalized" for the match.
Hey Brian are they banning the Styles clash? I noticed that during the rumble and even on Raw that he just couldn't execute it.
FAN Forum reference for the win! Looks like we made it!
Best thing about the Ambrose/Owens finish? It made Owens look strong, even in defeat, that it took a fall through TWO tables to finally knock him out. That's the best thing you hope for your "monster" heel when you book him to lose.
I disagree with you on that Roman should have been eliminated last. I didn't think about how HHH went over both of them clean, I was caught up in the moment of there is definitely gonna be a new champion, and while some will say no way Ambrose is going to win it, they did a great job at making it look like he could have won. the last few minutes had me on the edge of my seat.
If the Bray could eliminate Lesnar using his family, why couldnt he do the same with the rest of the Rumble? Lesnar was underplayed and no Beast Incarnate mode happened? Plus I love AJ Styles and was alright seeing Owens eliminating him saying "Welcome to the WWE"... Classic.
"there wasn't any DB or CMPunk chants" Yeah, there were barely any chants, that crowd was dead
I don't know what you were hearing it was all AJ Styles chants
A hand full of Styles and shasha chants don't really do it for me, maybe I need to re watch it but a lot of the matches and during the rumble it was pretty quiet.
They were really vocal during the KO and Dean Last Man Standing Match
+Korvas Did you forget to turn your volume up when you watched it ?
+Korvas What were you watching? I was in the crowd, it was great. I will even break it down match by match:
Pre-Show: Surprisingly loud, but that's mostly because Sandow was there. He was extremely over with this crowd. If you go back and watch it, you can hear everything from "We want Sandow" to "Ayy we want some Sandow"
IC Title Match: Loud pop for KO with a bunch of chants ranging from the traditional "This is awesome," "Holy shit" or "We want tables" to "You fucked up" when KO went through 2 tables.
Tag Titles: Extremely loud cheers for the New Day, and vocal boos for the Usos. Hell, Francesca got a bigger pop than them. I remember some "Play Francesca" chants, causing Woods to taunt the crowd. Other than that there were just New Day Rocks chants.
US Title: This was quiet. Really quiet. I looked around and saw people on their phones texting, and just not paying attention. The only pop was when Kalisto won.
Divas match: Loud pop for Becky, moderate volume during the match. Crowd went nuts when Sasha came out.
Rumble match: 3 Words. AJ Fucking Styles. It was deafening in the arena when he came out. Especially because of the titantron. Those watching at home couldn't see it cause the camera was on Roman, but his music hit and all you saw was "I am" and that stayed there for a few seconds, then the word "Phenomenal" appeared. Once that appeared, we went bonkers. All throughout the match there were "AJ Styles" and "AJ" chants. Roman got booed loudly, and when HHH came out there was a huge pop. But that was dwarfed by the cheering when Reigns got eliminated. After that, we were constantly chanting for Ambrose to win. Traditionally, the Orlando crowd sucks. But last night, we were surprisingly vocal.
I think the reason they don't play up Trips's age is because they want to make Reigns look good by going over in the feud. That being said, they can play up the fact that he's still a badass while pointing out that he's in charge around here and shouldn't be competing for the title; call it a conflict of interest, maybe?
The reason AJ was over and because he had such a huge pop was because: 1. The Rumble was in Orlando. and 2. People already knew who he was. Either way....IT WAS EPIC.
was waiting for this since the show ended lol
the Dudleys as a veteran team probably doing what veteran wrestlers do when they return to a promotion, help promote newer teams by losing to them. What Terry Funk when he appears and gives back to the business.
I just rewatched the 2016 Royal Rumble and I am so damn confused. HHH won?? I have absolutely no memory of this. Help me make sense of this, 8-years-ago-Brian!
The fact that the Royal Rumble match ended in the way it did means there's only one plausible outcome in the long-run (in my opinion):
- Reigns should face HHH at Fast Lane in a Championship rematch and win, thanks to the help of The Rock who saves him from an assault from the League of Nations.
- Lesnar faces Bray at Fast Lane in a No. 1 Contender's Match and wins.
Therefore, the card for Mania would be:
- Reigns vs Lesnar pt II for the WWE World Heavyweight Champonship (we didn't get a definitive climax to their first bout due to Rollins' cash-in so it's not stale just yet)
- Triple H vs The Rock (perhaps throw Stone Cold in as special guest referee to complete the Attitude Era trilogy - the buildup would be awesome)
Add in a ladder match for the IC Championship consisting of Ambrose, Owens, Styles, Jericho, and Neville and you've already got a decent card despite all the injuries WWE currently has.
+TheAKJ9 Similar to what I had in mind! Although I've read up that The Rock is too busy to do anything with WWE right now, although that could just be them giving us the run around. Looking forward to see what enfolds!
+TheAKJ9 Not going to happen, Rock is insured on his next movie and that excludes him wrestling.
Perhaps a guest ref role or in Reigns corner but doubt HHH v Rock will happen.
Zane, why were you surprised AJ got a huge pop in ORLANDO? That was incredibly convenient for WWE.
The 1999 Royal Rumble has plenty of problems (the biggest being that Vince put himself over, at least Trips is a wrestler), but I think it was pretty entertaining, and it had more than one storyline, including the Ministry and The Rock's run in.
I gotta agree with Zane (even though he no longer responds to my comments lol).
But I would give it a 4 star solid rating as well.
I really like the Rumble match, definitely better than the last two Rumbles.
Im shocked you didnt mention Brock and what happened with the Wyatts.
Or what it looks to be be leading to... Brock vs Bray at WM!
Just a question for you Brian?
How were you surprised with the people knowing AJ? The build with him being rumored to come to WWE, him being the biggest indie since Steen/Owens, etc. Did you ever know him before now or ever? He's one of the most over people in indie/wrestling history. If you haven't, please watch him and get to know him, he's one of the best in the ring.
The fact that Roman Reigns WALKED out of the Rumble and came back like nothing had happened to him after the Wyatts and Lesnar were eliminated
My friend pointed out that Triple H could be doing a face turn as he was entering with "The Game" instead of "King Of Kings" (at 2013 Summerslam, he predicted that Triple H was going to do a heel turn all because he entered with "King Of Kings" that night, and he was right, HHH did a heel turn)
I enjoyed this rumble way too much, the only thing I would have done diferently is the winner, I think the HHH vs Roman feud doesn't need a tittle but Bray Wyatt needs one It could've been slightly better.
If you watch it again look at how Triple H took every guy's finisher and no-sold them.
My only gripe was hhh winning again, I was hoping that finally ambrose would climb to the mountain and get his title run. I just think its ambroses time. anyway great vid brother
Brian, do you feel there is any possibility that last night was a litmus test for how fans would react to Dean Ambrose title reign? Similar to what they did with Luger & Hart in 1994. I'm holding out hope, but it's WWE.
"Fans knew who he was, which shocked me"
They were in Orlando. Best place to debut AJ.
I personally considered it a good surprise for Roman to be eliminated before Ambrose. It was an unexpected twist and I think that's something that's been missing from the rumble for some time. It made the last few minutes matter much more given we now knew there would be a new champion.
You mentioned the thing of the announcers after HHH entered. Here in Brazil, brazilian commentators sold it quite right like "wtf is hhh doing here?". About Styles, thought he should've entered much later in the rumble and could even be one of the final 3 cause Owens was all broken and so he goes and eliminates the guy with the best reaction in the rumble?
I agree with your assessment of the Royal Rumble ending with HHH. I don't follow the stories as closely as I used too, so when the crowd cheered HHH and boo'd Roman, I thought, "Oh, HHH is a face now?" I knew he wasn't but generally the commentators talk them down a whole lot more and they don't win clean. I WAS glad that they haven't decided to keep pushing Roman since the fans don't seem to take to him.
Considering that Styles and Owens have history on the indie circuits awhile back, and since Owens eliminated Styles, I think it's setting up for a Styles/Owens feud that will end up being a triple threat match for the IC title. The WWE title picture has maybe 3-4 that "could" carry, but until the injuries are healed from Rollins and Cena etc, there won't be much to the main title.
Great review as always. The whole Swagger/Henry thing was so underwhelming. I get that Henry is not the most agile guy in the world, but surely if he's there he deserves some respect and should last a lil while?
Secondly, couldnt eg. Balor/Samoa Joe/Baron Corbin do a job if the purpose of Truth/Swagger/Axel/Henry was to be there 20 seconds each`?
I agree with Mr Zane on 2 solid points. The Royal Rumble match where the "Play-By-Play" guys of Cole,JBL and Saxon could have done better. No Lawler which is a shock too. They was the same team from Raw every week that did the Royal Rumble. Very poor job of presenting the return of Triple H too. And the first match of the show was great (Ambrose/Owens) was the match of the night. Great job Mr Zane!!!!
Why wasn't the Royal Rumble on the weekend between the AFC/NFC Championship and the Super Bowl?
I thought the ending was very smartly worked. It would have been short sighted to have roman eliminated last. Trips got a huge pop after entering at 30 and WWE knew fans would likely cheer for the longtime veteran, especially if he eliminated the widely booed reigns. By having Triple H eliminate ambrose last, a fan favorite who everyone would love to see win, he still got allot of heat.
Here's what needs to be added to the tag team division:
The Wyatt Family.
Have them run over everyone, winning the titles at WM all the while, Bray is cutting promos about family and power, etc.
"If AH doesn't win the title, then bleh it's all horrible" shades of the last two years with Daniel Bryan, especially last year, but I've already ranted about that on this channel's comment section :P
Triple H is John Cena Super Saiyan mode. There is no doubt in the star power he brings to a match.
I don't see any mention of Axel finally being eliminated from the 2015 Royal Rumble or Truth being stupidly taking the ladder, that is possibly a build for a ladder match, probably a MITB shot for him later this year.
I wasn't opposed to AJ Styles losing the Royal Rumble when I heard about it I hope he's a major title player soon but my problem was as great of a competitor is Kevin Owens is he got eliminated by someone who was in a Last Man Standing match earlier so it makes him look weak
They played this Rumble VERY safe. A little too safe for my tastes. They pulled Reigns out with an "injury" to keep him from being hurt and effectively ruining their plans for Mania, they stuck the belt on a guy who should be retired and wound up being cheered because he defeated the new John Cena, they didn't have Daniel Bryan return even though he's ready and wants to get back in it because he'd be cheered out of the building and the Rumble would be booed like crazy when he gets eliminated, and they didn't have the Undertaker appear even though this is his last Rumble and he deserves to be there (again, citing injury concerns as the reason for not having him get in there.) It's sad that injuries are a driving force in a very dangerous business like wrestling and now the biggest company on the planet is making decisions based off of the fear of people being injured. WWE needs to make stars out of guys like Generico, Styles, Barrett, Owens, and Neville fast because all their go-to guys are dropping like flies, retired, or are the most hated men in the company.
I agree except I think the Divas match was better than the US Title match, though it could've had better booking at the end (hopefully we have a Triple Threat set up for Fast Lane or Mania). The Rumble itself was okay. Some problems, but it was decent overall. Good start to 2016.
Triple H's heel tactic was rigging himself to enter at 30 and having the League of Nations beat TF out of his biggest threat prior.
No mention of Sami eliminating Owens or the Wyatts taking out Leasner? Because I think those two events have Wrestlemania implications. It certainly is noteworthy and it will be interesting to see how things shake out.
Reigns looked like he ate some tainted Taco Bell when he heard the "unfamiliar music" of AJ Styles, which was similar to the look on Cena's face when CM Punk reappeared with "Cult of Personality"
Hopefully Becky doesn't just get pushed aside for Sasha. She's quickly becoming the Dolph Ziggler of the Divas division.
Also, JR would've killed AJ'S debut.
"By Gawd King it's him, it's AJ Styles!! A phenomenal athlete and worldwide star is here in the WWE! Business has picked up!!"
I thought that Reigns might've shot himself in the foot with a simple mistake, which caused him to be bood. When he was stretchered off, and he then chose to walk, I think it looked bad. It was meant to make him look stronger because he didn't need a stretcher, but all I was thinking was that if he could walk, he could compete. I think seeing him walk and then come back kinda made him look like he cheated and washed away him being over with the fans.
HHH got boo'd for eliminating Ambrose, that was the point in Ambrose getting eliminated last. They wanted HHH boo'd and against Roman wouldn't do that.
I cried tears of joy when AJ Styles came out I was so hyped up I could barely breathe
I went into the Rumble match knowing I was going to be disappointed. So I was still happy the match just not the ending.
I feel aj should have been in Ambrose's spot. That would have been how you put your new star over. Have him go 50-60 min and almost win and be the last eliminated. Logically Ambrose had been in a LMS & won, he didn't need that spot aj needed it more. Your thoughts?
I just realized something that I think everyone's forgotten about. Unless Triple H is gonna be on Raw or SmackDown defending the WWE title, (which I don't see it happening) he has until the Monday Night Raw after Fastlane to defend the belt before it's supposed to be stripped & vacated under the same kayefabe rules that were applied to Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins.
...The difference is that Bryan and Rollins were injured...
They came out and said that the champ must defend at least once every 30 days. And since they had injuries that would definitely have them out more than 30 days, they were stripped. But the same rule should apply here. And actually, that could be a nice little kayefabe twist to get the belt off of HHH, without him losing it. In all his arrogance he forgot that rule, so the belt is now vacated for WM. Just a theory i was kicking around.