There is a certain Sunday in late January that every member of the WWE Universe has circled on their calendars. Normally it’s the Sunday between the NFL Conference Championships and the Super Bowl…when there is no football…and there is no reason for fans in (this season) Denver, Boston, Charlotte and Phoenix have to miss any part of one of the biggest shows of the year…but, eh, that is why you get your living room set up with at least two TVs!
Right TV – football
Left TV – ROYAL RUMBLE!
The Road to WrestleMania has officially begun. For the last few years, the road has gotten off to a rocky start. Last year the Philadelphia crowd wanted nothing to do with Roman Reigns winning the Rumble match – not even an appearance from The Rock could save it. The year before we were given the birth of Boo-Tista as Daniel Bryan was nowhere to be seen in the Rumble.
With hopes of a six-figure attendance on the horizon, WWE needed to hit a home run to get everyone ready for The Show of Shows. While some things could have gone differently, this year’s Rumble picked up the slack left by the last few January events.
Intercontinental champion Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens started the show off on an amazing foot with their Last Man Standing match…did we really expect anything different? The two set the tone for the show by laying it all on the line. We seem to be in a bit of a new generation – the generation where it seems like the majority of fans will not accept you unless you had an extensive independent background before making it to WWE. We could see these two in a feud for the World Heavyweight Championship soon enough. Matches like this one show that they are both headed in the right direction for just that.
The Tag Team Championship match between The New Day and The Usos left a lot on the table. This match never really seemed to get on the level that it was expected to. The most entertaining part by far was the introduction of Francesca II before the match. I thought we were going to have to continue on without the sweet trombone sounds emanating from Xavier Woods! Phew!
Kalisto won the United States Championship! You know, I swear I’ve heard that before. Oh yeah, Kalisto had the belts a few weeks ago for one night (three nights if you go by when SmackDown was aired). Why? What was the point? John Cena spent 2015 bringing credibility back to the US title – some of that credibility has been lost with the booking of the Kalisto/Alberto Del Rio feud. That being said, Kalisto is a solid talent and looks prime to have a Rey Mysterio level career ahead of him. Hopefully his booking will be more solid than it has been for the last month.
On the flip side, Charlotte and Becky Lynch have done what they can to bring the credibility back to the Divas Revolution. The two had a great match in which Ric Flair interjected to help Charlotte get the win…again. Nothing but respect for arguably the greatest world champion of all time, but it really seems like Charlotte is relying a little too much on her father’s legacy. Luckily this was overshadowed by the enormous reaction given to Sasha Banks’ arrival! The Boss came down to set up what will likely be a one-on-one match with Charlotte for the title at FastLane and then I’m predicting a triple threat match between the three at WrestleMania. A small part of me is still holding out hope that this ends up being a Fatal 4 Way match with current NXT Womans Champion Bayley added to the mix.
And now…let’s all find out…who drew…number one in th – well, ok, let’s watch Roman Reigns come down to the ring and then find out…who drew…number two in the Royal Rumble! And it’s Rusev who gets to be buried in less than the 90 seconds before number three comes out. Between that and the awkward interaction with The Rock the next night on Raw, seems to me like the newly engaged couple still have some backstage heat to deal with. After that, number 3 needs to be somewhat exciting to get the crowd back into the match. Did WWE do it?
Well, I guess you could say they did a … phenomenal job … at it! (yeah, I’m not above the cheesy, obvious puns)
New music hits, Reigns has a confused look on his face, and the crowd literally erupts! The Phenomenal One is in WWE! Welcome AJ Styles! The rumors have been circulating for weeks now and the first of four New Japan Pro Wrestling signings have finally debuted. Styles put on a strong showing in his debut by lasting over 20 minutes in the Rumble match before being eliminated by Kevin Owens. Hhmmm…Kevin Owens and AJ Styles…intriguing indeed!
The Rumble lacked in surprises a bit this year. Styles at number 3, Sami Zayn coming in at 20 and Triple H at 30, which really wasn’t all that much of a surprise if you think about it, were the only surprise pop moments this year. In a year where so many top stars are out with an injury, more was needed. I could have gone for another NXT star or two in there or maybe a legend making a one-off appearance. Ah well, maybe next year.
During the Rumble the League of Nations came down and took Reigns out. After that, the then-champion was taken to the back until Sheamus entered the match at number 29. A lot of people of used this as another way to attack Reigns. I just take that as yet another example of people hating Roman Reigns simply because the internet tells them they are supposed to. The same exact scenario was used in 1999. Stone Cold Steve Austin was taken out by The Corporation and taken to a hospital during the Rumble only to come back later. He was even eliminated by the eventual winner…who was playing the current authority figure. The similarities are plentiful – but you don’t hear too many people booing Austin for it, do you?
Triple H goes on to win the Rumble – but the intriguing part is that it was Dean Ambrose that was eliminated last, not Roman Reigns. Could this be a sign of things to come? Ambrose is already a part of what could be an epic triple threat main event at FastLane – could we see a twist from the expected WrestleMania card? Why not?
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS YEAR’S ROYAL RUMBLE EVENT? WHO DID YOU THINK SHOULD HAVE WON? WILL WE SEE SOMETHING OTHER THAN ROMAN REIGNS VS TRIPLE H IN THE WRESTLEMANIA MAIN EVENT? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @FROM_THETOPROPE AND LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
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