#CancelWWENetwork was trending last night, and so many people were doing so that the WWE Network's subscription cancellation page crashed.

 

The Royal Rumble is my favorite PPV of the year and I watched last night despite not having tuned in or cared since I watched a bit of Survivor Series.

 

I had a TON of problems with the Royal Rumble match itself though, and I'll post them below, followed by another post about what I'd have done to have things at least make a little more sense.

1995 was also pretty bad. The entire match lasted 33 minutes. I think Dick Murdoch was the 2nd to last person eliminated.

My Problems With The Royal Rumble Match:

 

#1. If you are going to put Daniel Bryan in the match, then you have to have him winning it, or you have to have his being cheated (can't use the s-word) and eliminated as being one of the major storylines. You don't just have a guy throw him out. Fans wanted to see Bryan win last year, and the WWE had a built in excuse to hold him out of the match because of his injury. By bringing him back though, they absolutely HAD to do something big with him, but his elimination was just a complete DUD and then tons of fans who wanted to see him win it had to sit there for 30 more minutes knowing the guy they wanted was out.

 

#2. Bray Wyatt needs to remember his spots. I legitimately think that when Bray took the mic, the next guy out was supposed to be Daniel Bryan, not Zack Ryder. That's the only thing about that spot that makes sense really, because the way it went down, I don't see the logic or reasoning behind the decision making of whoever called the spot if that's how it was supposed to happen. Think about it like this: Wyatt is eliminating people left and right. He gets on the mic, calls for a challenger as the clock counts down. Buzzer sounds and Daniel Bryan's music hits. Crowd pops. I'm thinking that's what was planned, but the execution was just botched awfully. Regardless, it means one of three things: a.) if that's how it was supposed to go down, someone needs their walking papers, b.) Wyatt should have known his lines, c.) when Wyatt messed up, then either they should have just sent Bryan out in Ryder's place OR Wyatt should have had the sense to improv by getting back on the mic and doing it again, this time with the right guy coming out.

 

#3. The way Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, and even Cesaro were eliminated was just lackluster. Same could be said to a lesser extent for Bad News Barrett too. All of the guys I just named get decent pops. In a match where there was absolutely no suspense once Daniel Bryan was eliminated, they should have played their cards differently. It was basically a foregone conclusion that Vince was set on Reigns winning the second Bryan was unceremoniously tossed, but they could have salvaged something if they at least used, if no one else, Ambrose or Ziggler, to build some late suspense. I say that because it's at least plausible for a fan to sit back and think: maybe they do the double finish with Ambrose and Reigns being eliminated simultaneously and we get a Wrestlemania X set-up where it's The Shield vs. Lesnar all in one night. Ziggler's an underdog that the fans can at least emotionally invest in and who can hit some high spots. What absolutely NO ONE was thinking was: you know whose going to headline Wrestlemania? these guys who've been around since the 90's in Corporate Kane or The Big Show or the boring formula of the anti-American heel Russev. Again, was there literally ANY suspense in this match? I legitimately missed Bryan's elimination because I'd walked in the kitchen to grab some chips because I thought it'd be a nice slow point in the action. Wrong.

 

#4. The Wyatt Family reunion had so much potential wasted, and it was all done too hurriedly. Instead it was just teased as nothing and the whole thing unfolded in under two minutes. Why even do it if you aren't going to build suspense and have the crowd invest in the drama of it all? I'd rather have them just not even messed with it if the whole thing was going to be played like it was and so quickly. Maybe just stick to the tried and true method of having them work together for awhile and then eventually one of them attempt a backstabbing turn (either successfully or with the other person noticing just in the nick of time and then the two fighting). Bray Wyatt's elimination itself didn't really make a ton of sense either, but that seems to be par for the course here.

It amazes me how many people still watch wrestling.

It amazes me how many people still watch wrestling.

 

I doesn't seem like it is on television as much as it was ten or so years ago so I too thought it was fading away.

What I'd have done differently:

 

 

#1. If Wyatt, or whoever else, was going to eliminate Bryan, it needed to come WAY later in the match and there needed to be some type of way of doing it that got the person doing the deed some legitimate heat. I'm talking about Bryan getting messed over blatantly and tears in the eyes of kids who wanted to see him win. Better yet, if you are going to have Reigns winning it, you seriously consider NOT putting Bryan in the match. If you are so dead-set on Reigns winning and worry that Bryan's fans will boo if he does, then never let them be any wiser to the fact that Bryan has healed and can compete. It protects Bryan, the fans aren't livid last night and this morning, and your golden pick isn't as likely to be booed.

 

#2. Book The Rock's save differently. If the Rock is going to make the save and you are over the age of 6, it'd probably have been cooler to see it booked in some other way. Example: maybe all former members of the Wyatt Family are in the match at the same time as Reigns and Ambrose (and possibly even Rollins). Your excitement and suspense is seeing how the dynamics of the former groups that have now disbanded are going to play out. Do they work together? Do they attack one another? Ambrose goes nuts (preferably on Rollins, who, even if he isn't in the match, has came to ringside...). Ambrose winds up getting taken out, maybe via a distraction from The Authority and a weapon from Rollins, but however it happens, he's knocked out. Rollins/The Authority use the weapon again to take a cheap shot at Reigns, and now he's softened up and in the ring with the Wyatts. Rollins leaves the ring (if he's in the match Ambrose had eliminated him before the cheap attack... if he's not, he walks back talking about not letting any former Shield members have a shot at "HIS" title once he cashes in his briefcase. The Wyatt Family, or at least Bray and Harper, are in the ring and a hurt Reigns is getting ganged up on, and they begin using a chair or some type of weapon. The Rock's music hits, he comes down and takes the chair from Wyatt and pops him and scatters Harper and Rowan. The Rock picks up Reigns, gives him a rah! rah!, all that... Reigns makes the comeback.

It amazes me how many people still watch wrestling.

 

I wouldn't say that I watch wrestling, but I do watch the big pay per views (i.e., maybe 2 a year, usually with friends at someone's house while grilling or something), and do watch some of the old stuff on the WWE Network like the Legend's House show, watch the Legends' Roundtables where they talk about and tell "back in the day" stories, and/or listen to the funny Steve Austin podcasts.

I doesn't seem like it is on television as much as it was ten or so years ago so I too thought it was fading away.

 

It still sells. 17,000+ in attendance last night. Levi's Field in Santa Clara will be at capacity in March for Wrestlemania 31.

My Problems With The Royal Rumble Match:

 

#1. If you are going to put Daniel Bryan in the match, then you have to have him winning it, or you have to have his being cheated (can't use the s-word) and eliminated as being one of the major storylines. You don't just have a guy throw him out. Fans wanted to see Bryan win last year, and the WWE had a built in excuse to hold him out of the match because of his injury. By bringing him back though, they absolutely HAD to do something big with him, but his elimination was just a complete DUD and then tons of fans who wanted to see him win it had to sit there for 30 more minutes knowing the guy they wanted was out.

 

#2. Bray Wyatt needs to remember his spots. I legitimately think that when Bray took the mic, the next guy out was supposed to be Daniel Bryan, not Zack Ryder. That's the only thing about that spot that makes sense really, because the way it went down, I don't see the logic or reasoning behind the decision making of whoever called the spot if that's how it was supposed to happen. Think about it like this: Wyatt is eliminating people left and right. He gets on the mic, calls for a challenger as the clock counts down. Buzzer sounds and Daniel Bryan's music hits. Crowd pops. I'm thinking that's what was planned, but the execution was just botched awfully. Regardless, it means one of three things: a.) if that's how it was supposed to go down, someone needs their walking papers, b.) Wyatt should have known his lines, c.) when Wyatt messed up, then either they should have just sent Bryan out in Ryder's place OR Wyatt should have had the sense to improv by getting back on the mic and doing it again, this time with the right guy coming out.

 

#3. The way Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, and even Cesaro were eliminated was just lackluster. Same could be said to a lesser extent for Bad News Barrett too. All of the guys I just named get decent pops. In a match where there was absolutely no suspense once Daniel Bryan was eliminated, they should have played their cards differently. It was basically a foregone conclusion that Vince was set on Reigns winning the second Bryan was unceremoniously tossed, but they could have salvaged something if they at least used, if no one else, Ambrose or Ziggler, to build some late suspense. I say that because it's at least plausible for a fan to sit back and think: maybe they do the double finish with Ambrose and Reigns being eliminated simultaneously and we get a Wrestlemania X set-up where it's The Shield vs. Lesnar all in one night. Ziggler's an underdog that the fans can at least emotionally invest in and who can hit some high spots. What absolutely NO ONE was thinking was: you know whose going to headline Wrestlemania? these guys who've been around since the 90's in Corporate Kane or The Big Show or the boring formula of the anti-American heel Russev. Again, was there literally ANY suspense in this match? I legitimately missed Bryan's elimination because I'd walked in the kitchen to grab some chips because I thought it'd be a nice slow point in the action. Wrong.

 

#4. The Wyatt Family reunion had so much potential wasted, and it was all done too hurriedly. Instead it was just teased as nothing and the whole thing unfolded in under two minutes. Why even do it if you aren't going to build suspense and have the crowd invest in the drama of it all? I'd rather have them just not even messed with it if the whole thing was going to be played like it was and so quickly. Maybe just stick to the tried and true method of having them work together for awhile and then eventually one of them attempt a backstabbing turn (either successfully or with the other person noticing just in the nick of time and then the two fighting). Bray Wyatt's elimination itself didn't really make a ton of sense either, but that seems to be par for the course here.

 

You are absolutely right about someone messed up on the when to have Wyatt get on the mic, If you watch the replay of Wyatt after eliminating Ryder the ref on the floor was trying to give him the mic again and he refused it.

I am new to Rumbles and since it was my first time I really enjoyed it.

 

I am sure some of it could have been better but again I really enjoyed it.

I am new to Rumbles and since it was my first time I really enjoyed it.

 

I am sure some of it could have been better but again I really enjoyed it.

 

Then if you watch the Royal Rumble match archives through WWE Network from 90, 91, 92, 97, 98, 07, or 10, then your mind will be blown.

 

Some years it's there and some years it's not, but I've watched each and every one of them at one time or another and this past one might be the worst of them all. Hard to gauge it against some of the first two because those were kind of older and I watched them so many years later, but just in terms of the names, the storylines, the big spots, all that, this one is easily one of the worst and I'm not sure it's even that close. It doesn't help the WWE's case that last year's Royal Rumble got lots of negative reviews. I know that me and the guys who split in on it together (this was before the WWE Network) all kind of agreed that we'd just flushed our cash.

I thought it was pretty lame. They could have either had Daniel Bryan win the rumble and go on to face Lesnar or have him eliminated differently.

 

Vince didn't want Daniel Bryan to win the rumble because he was afraid of the same thing happening again that happened last year with Daniel Bryan. Plus, Daniel Bryan vs. Lesnar, short man vs. Beast, that wouldn't have been a good match so I guess Vince is agreeing with The Authority that Daniel Bryan is nothing but a B+ player

 

I thought WWE should have used more legends and returning superstars such as Randy Orton. The Viper was in Philly but wasn't used in the rumble, which was dumb. Orton is expected to return at anytime now

Is Bubba Ray back for good?

Is Bubba Ray back for good?

 

No that was just a one time deal, he did say however that it felt good go be back home and that's the only place he wants to be

It amazes me how many people still watch wrestling.

 

I said the EXACT same thing today.