Royal Rumble (2015) Review

Marter

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Oct 27, 2009
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It was reported on the dirtsheets that The Rock was in town for the Royal Rumble PPV -- mostly because he posted an Instagram picture and said he was -- but I feel like it's not something that WWE should mention. Lots of people don't follow social media or dirtsheets, so if The Rock does wind up making an appearance later on in the show (no spoilers up here), it would have come as a significantly bigger surprise. But not even five minutes into the Royal Rumble kickoff show, WWE teases that he's going to be here tonight.

The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E, with Xavier Woods) vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro (with Adam Rose and Natalya)
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The advertised match didn't happen because Xavier Woods still has an ankle injury. As a result, it becomes Big E and Kofi Kingston against the relatively new tag team of Cesaro and Tyson Kidd. What comes of it is a perfectly fine tag team match. Probably the best thing we've seen from either team. Will it get new subscribers to the WWE Network? Probably not. We've more or less seen it all before, and it's not like either team is particularly hot right now, either. There are a couple of fun spots, and a near-fall or two, both of which help elevate it above your typical TV match. An Adam Rose distraction allows Cesaro to hit a cheap uppercut on Kofi, followed by Tyson Kidd's finisher, allowing the heels to actually get a win.

Match Rating: ***

The rest of the kickoff show just hypes the matches to come later on tonight, reminding us that ther are only two that are actually exciting prospects to watch. Oh well. The non-Rumble part of the Royal Rumble cards usually aren't the greatest, anyway.

The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) vs. The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor)
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So, The Ascension finally get a real match, and ... it's not good. This is a slow, uninvolving match, one that really doesn't showcase anyone involved. The Ascension winds up winning with The Fall of Man, but their first PPV match was not in the least bit impressive. One semi-botch had both Konnor and Road Dogg lying on the mat, wondering who should be selling, and there's nothing that's even remotely interesting about the match itself outside of that.

Match Rating: **

A flashback to Raw follows, because Sting's appearance was kind of a big deal, I guess. And somehow a Raw flashback is more enjoyable than that last match.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon then do a backstage promo about Sting's appearance last week. Well, it's not really a promo; they just talk to one another. Paul Heyman then interrupts, teasing a Brock Lesnar/Sting match. Yeah, because we need Lesnar to concuss Sting, too.

WWE World Tag Team Championship Match: The Miz and Damien Sandow vs. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso)
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This match really should have opened the show, since the actual opening match was just so crowd-killing. But, then again, we've seen this match so many times over te last few weeks -- months? -- that it isn't likely to excite a lot of people, either.

Sandow mimics The Miz, which somehow is still something that the Usos haven't gotten over, as it distracts both them and us from the match. We spend lots of time with Miz teasing a Sandow tag-in, but pulling back at the last second. It once again just feels like a singles match, since the Usos are basically identical and Miz refuses to tag in Sandow -- and even if he did, their movesets are so similar at this point anyway.

Sandow does less stunt-doubling and more generic interfering later in the match, but it's not enough, as The Usos pick up the win with a powerbomb followed by a splash.

Match Rating: **1/2

Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble do a bit of advertising for WWE Immortals before being interrupted by Seth Rollins. He will win later tonight, he says.

The Bella Twins (Brie and Nikki Bella) vs. Natalya and Paige
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Hey! Actual Divas wrestling! Imagine that! Given the complete lack of actual build for this match, as well as no stakes beyond moderate bragging rights -- which nothing will come of -- it's difficult to care about this match, but from an in-ring perspective it's perfectly fine, and it's nice to see the Divas actually get enough time to work a good match. A lot of the middle portion is spent building to a Paige hot tag, but Brie does the heel thing and pulls Paige off the apron to prevent that. A stiff elbow from Nikki has the Bellas pick up the win.

Match Rating: **1/2

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (with J&J Security) vs. Brock Lesnar (With Paul Heyman)
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Lesnar spams suplexes, Rollins plays the cowardly heel to perfection, and Cena is there to bridge the gap. This is a triple threat match that is wonderfully crafted and performed. It's exciting from start to finish, has an incredibly fast pace, a ton of near-falls, a good number of finishers and signatures, and a couple of spots that are worth seeing the match for alone.

It's only January, and we already have a strong contender for match of the year. Lesnar takes so much punishment in this match that, for perhaps one of the only times during his current run, his outrageous paycheck seems worth it. And he comes away looking like the beast he is. A good chunk of the match is Cena/Rollins, as Brock Lesnar took so much abuse that doctors had to come out and check on Lesnar.

Lesnar eventually ignores the doctors, comes back in, and wins the match. Rollins hits a great top-rope move, is hit with a couple of German Suplexes, an F-5, and then takes the loss. What a fun match.

Match Rating: ****1/2

<color=Red>The Royal Rumble
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You know how these work, right? It's every man for himself, with someone coming out every 90 seconds, and you're eliminated if you are thrown over the top rope and both feet hit the floor. The last man standing gets to main event WrestleMania.

The Miz and R-Truth start the Rumble match tonight, but surprise entrants start as early as the third entrant. Bubba Ray Dudley is #3, which is all sorts of awesome. He does get a couple of eliminations, but he doesn't last all that long. Curtis Axel is supposed to come out sixth, but Erick Rowan attacks him and heads to the ring, which allows for a Wyatt Family reunion, which is lots of fun. The Boogeyman gets to square off against Bray Wyatt, and I really hope Boogeyman is back to stay, even though I doubt he is. He's treated like a joke here, which is too bad.

Wyatt is actually one of the most successful entrants this year, as he eliminates a whole bunch of superstars all on his own. Zack Ryder returned at #9, although nobody really noticed that he was gone. Daniel Bryan comes in at #10. #14 is Diamond Dallas Page, which might matter to some people. He hits a bunch of Diamond Cutters. Bryan surprisingly gets taken out by Bray Wyatt relatively early, actually.

Goldust and Stardust go at it for a while, which is approximately the 300th time we've teased that match. Kofi Kingston was out at #17, and he got booed, because Bryan was taken out and this is a smark crowd. Kofi's "spot" this year involves falling onto the Rosebuds, who save him, although, only for a few seconds.

Roman Reigns, the likely favorite at this point, still comes through the crowd, but does so with a security guard beside him, and with a myriad of boos accompanying his entrance music. The fans turned on him, just like Batista last year. At this point, about the only one who could win and get cheered would be The Rock.

Damien Sandow comes out at #21, but Miz tries to take his spot. He's thrown out instantly by Reigns, so Sandow enters the ring instead. He hits a couple of moves but then Rusev eliminates him. He then continues to mimic the Miz. What a wasted opportunity.

Dean Ambrose comes out and is the first one to get cheered since Bryan's elimination. The whole thing felt relatively lazy and not particularly smart when it came to booking. The surprises all came early, Bryan's elimination killed the crowd, and really should've happened later on, and there are no potential surprises in the last five or so. No Orton. No Rock. Kane does get to break Shawn Michael's total eliminations record, which is swell, but that's about the highlight of the match.

Roman Reigns eliminates Big Show and Kane at the same time to "win" the Royal Rumble.

Big Show and Kane then attack Reigns after the match, which brings out The Rock, in a desperate attempt to save the show and make the save for Reigns.

Rusev then comes back into the ring, because he was never officially eliminated. But Reigns spears him and throws him out to actually win this time.

Match Rating: ***

The Rock congratulates Reigns in the ring afterward, since this is about the only way that fans are even kind of okay with Reigns winning. What a cheap way to try to save Reigns' reactions.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon come out to the stage to look in shock at what happened. Does that make them faces, since we're thinking the same thing?

The Good: Cena/Rollins/Lesnar. New Day/Cesaro & Kidd. The Boogeyman and Bubba Ray returning.

The Bad: Bryan eliminated so early. No surprises late in the Rumble. Using The Rock to try to save Reigns. New Age Outlaws/Ascension.

Match of the Night: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar.

Prediction Score: 2/5.

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shintakie10

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I just...I dont.

What. The. Fuck.

After watching the triple threat match I was ready to gush all over this Royal Rumble. Yeah the divas match annoyed me because you had 2 amazing wrestlers basically dominated by 2 average wrestlers, but it sort of worked. Yeah we've seen Mizdow/Miz vs Usos a bunch, but Mizdow breakin character not once but twice was great and made me really hopeful for his turn against The Miz that I knew was goin to happen durin the Rumble. Yeah Ascension vs New Age Outlaws was pretty droll, but at least the commentators stopped crappin on them. However everythin was at the very least average and that triple threat match was just amazeballs to the point that I was out of my chair for the majority of it. I wasn't even upset that Rollins' Plan B didn't come into play.

I was so hopeful when the Rumble started. I didn't need Daniel Bryan to win, but I was lookin forward to a very strong showin. I was really lookin forward to surprise returns per usual.

Were there misteps at the start? Sure. Bubba Ray doing a 3D with R-Truth was kinda annoyin and havin Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper in the ring with Bubba Ray was a perfect time for a Devon to come down, but they didn't do that. Whatever, minor missed opportunity. Not getting a table felt sort of sacrilegious but whatever.

And it just kept gettin good though. My boy Zack Ryder came out to a decent pop and the crowd really ate up his usual spots. Boogeyman came out and I really dug it, especially the weird off he and Bray Wyatt had. DDP hittin the Diamond Cutter on everyone was glorious, though I was honestly worried he was about to break his back at one point with the way he was holdin it. Daniel Bryan came out and the crowd, and myself, went ballistic, per usual. I ate it up, I was chantin yes so loud in my house that my SO was gettin annoyed. I didn't care, I was ready for a win. Then he got eliminated.

Let me be clear here. I stood in front of my tv with my hands coverin my mouth in shock for at least a full minute. I couldn't believe WWE would be so fuckin stupid to do this. Like, maybe I missed somethin and he didn't just get eliminated. Nope, announcers called it directly on the air. Daniel Bryan was the twelfth person to be eliminated this year after entering at ten. The majority of the last 2 hours I was out of my chair, excited and cheerin and booin (good natured booin) because I was enjoyin it. After that I sat down and was quiet outside of wondering what the hell had just happened.

I was so out of it that I couldn't even get excited for Mizdow's antics, nor could I be upset at the wasted opportunity of him not turning against the Miz. When Ambrose came out my interest was piqued. When Ziggler came out my interest was piqued. Then of course the WWE shat all over that by literally droppin Amrbose and Ziggler out like they were trash. They didn't even get thrown out. They got picked up by their arms and legs and just sort of lazily dumped over the top rope.

If your final four for the Royal Rumble (not includin Rusev) is Big Show, Kane, Reigns, and Ambrose you have fucked a minimum of 50% of that equation up. Was I really supposed to be excited for Big Show vs Kane for the millionth time when neither of them are remotely as athletic as they were 10 years ago? Was I really supposed to be excited for Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar when I could have had a much better storyline with Ambrose or Bryan or Ziggler vs Lesnar?

Hell, here's a better indicator of how badly they fucked up. If the God Damn Rock is in your god damn ring and people are booing you have fucked up. Period. If the Rock can't save a bookin decision, nothin can.

They ruined so many good things. They ruined any heat Wyatt could have gotten from eliminatin Daniel Bryan by eliminating him so early. They ruined any possible chance of Roman Reigns not gettin booed by eliminatin Daniel Bryan so early. They ruined any chance they had of salvagin it by eliminatin literally everyone that the crowd could have cheered for.

I honestly cancelled my subscription after this. I've sat through terrible bookin decision after terrible bookin decision and I've just had enough. Its only 1 persons $9.99, but at least its my $9.99 that I'm savin a month and not givin to the people who thought this idea was anythin other than a fuckin train wreck waitin to happen.

Fuck this bullshit booking and fuck Vince.
 

Rozalia1

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I'm not someone who goes along with the usual suspects on the internet but... fucking hell. That rumble was crafted to be as big a fuck you as possible.

Lets put this straight. Byran being eliminated was not a mark the winner was getting booed 100% as Ambrose and Ziggler winning it would have been met with massive cheering. Both those men were thrown out like they were trash as shintakie10 accurate puts it.
Ziggler got the worst of the two by being eliminated so damn quickly...

So final three guys are Kane who simply cannot win. Big Show who I suppose can because Big Show is oddly safeguarded like that but the chance is tiny. Roman of course who has for like a year been tipped to win it and will be booed out of the arena 100% if he wins.
He does to boos so the Rock comes out to try and save it and does it slightly but fails... than Rusev comes in as he was never eliminated just to give us that small hope. Rusev is not a fan favourite like Ambrose or Ziggler but him winning it would have saved the rumble... and he gets thrown out a couple of seconds later... so it basically translated to "not happy Roman won? Than here is Rusev... loljk".

I do actually feel sorry for Reigns as this isn't his fault. Some would say he could have gone "I don't want to win the rumble" but that is career suicide at this point of his career. If he was a 5 time WWE champ or something turning down title wins is easy as you've already hit the big time and don't need another win... but for someone who has never won it that may well be their only chance (not mention remember its Vince we're talking about. You turn it down and he'll put it in writing you're mid card for life as you didn't grab the "brass ring")... so he wins it and the man is no idiot... he knows what this means.

They could make Rock his manager, they could have Ambrose + Bryan spent the next two months supporting Roman... they could make him face John Cena for the next two months (Cena might for once get cheered during the punch cheer punch boo sequence)... I don't think anything could save this... I don't think there is a heel alive who get Roman cheered over them. Rusev could go out there and start calling all Americans gutless stupid dirty subhuman niggers and he'd get cheered over Roman I think.

shintakie10 said:
Yeah the divas match annoyed me because you had 2 amazing wrestlers basically dominated by 2 average wrestlers, but it sort of worked.
Hey now Nikki Bella is the best Diva on the roster currently. Most beautiful, best body, best moveset, the works... plus she got rid of that horrible AJ for a time.
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

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One thing that may offset the Bryan not winning angle... he did come back from a major injury recently and the company line may be not to put him in any major matches just in case he gets injured again. It makes sense from a business perspective but of course smarks don't care about superstars health, they just want their way. If some fans had it their way we'd still have multiple chair-shots to the head and repeated brain traumas to potentially end superstars careers.
I'm not necessarily defending Vince, I don't always agree with his most recent decisions bookingwise, but I am also doubtful that Bryan winning would have worked. Seeing Brock destroy two solid competitors like the beast he's promoted as, is it genuinely possible to suspend disbelief that a guy Daniel Bryan's size could win at WM vs. Brock? Fuck no. I'm sorry, you can love Bryan as much as is humanly possible but there's absolutely no way in hell I'd buy that outcome short of some interference and foreign objects involved which would totally tarnish a WM title win. Like him or not, Reigns at least has the build of a guy who could legitimately step in the ring with Brock and have a chance at actually winning without being destroyed.
Yes yes I know WWE is fake, but even so one still has to be able to buy into the bullshit for it to be entertaining. It has to make sense (gimmicks of the past notwithstanding). We're no longer in the 80's or 90's cartoon gimmicks or the Attitude era of "edgy" moments. We're more or less in a reality era, and after seeing Brock Lesnar destroy Cena in one match, have a toe-to-toe decent match that I feel even without Rollins interference, Brock could have made a kayfabe comeback and pin Cena, and then in a 3 way dance dominate the fuck out of two top guys "break a rib" (unsure if that was kayfabe or not) and still get up and pin Rollins... Bryan's got no fucking chance.
Did you see that mid-air catch Brock pulled on Rollins? Holy shit that sold me on wishing Brock would sign another contract and stay with the company just to see more Beast mode.
I'm sorry but when you boil it down, Bryan's title reign was mediocre, his in-ring ability works against guys his size and slightly above (or when John Cena is putting him over) but in a reality sense he isn't a heavyweight champ. He's not HBK, he doesn't have that in-ring charisma, and I have a lot of respect for Bryan don't get me wrong. But he's just not a credible threat to Lesnar.
I'm firmly in the boat that Reigns has done nothing but improve over the past year. Maybe its a bit soon to pull the trigger on him winning the title, but I've a feeling Rollins will have something to do about that at WM being a briefcase holder.
As I said before about Bryan's injury, putting him in the ring with Lesnar is a horrible idea. Brock works hella stiff and its not clear how well Bryan's recovered. He's also publicly stated that WWE asked him repeatedly to tone down his moveset a bit for health reasons and he flat out has refused. I wouldn't put it past WWE officials to have put Bryan on the shitlist for that until he decides to tone it down a bit. Its not smart coming back from a severe neck injury and one that also caused nerve damage only to keep doing the same shit in the ring that probably caused it.
I said before I respect Bryan's work, but I don't respect a guy who won't take care of himself and take some medical fucking advice to alter his moveset so he can keep working.
Anyway, I felt the Rumble had a few great surprise matches (pre-show Cesaro/Kidd v New Day), a few matches I cared little about (fucking Divas division is in the shitter thanks to booking and that fucking reality show, at least we have NXT), and two great matches in the title match and the Rumble itself. I loved the Rumble, I was happy with how it went because nothing can ever be as poorly done IMO as the year fucking Del Rio won the biggest Rumble ever. I never had any love for Del Rio and that nearly made me lose my shit.
Anyway there's my take. Love it or hate it I don't give a rat's ass. I'm sick of smarks bashing events because their favorite golden boy didn't get a win he didn't really deserve or need. Last year people bitched about Batista winning but funny thing it turned out to work perfectly to set up Daniel Bryan's win over Evolution and the Authority at WM... This year? I could give two fucks less about Bryan winning anything at Wrestlemania just because I want to see the smarks lose their shit over it because honestly he got his title reign, it wasn't great and he proved to me that as good in the ring as he is, he's just not face of the company material. I'm not a John Cena mark either and by god was I happy as fuck he didn't go over this time either. What I am a mark for? Matches that make sense logically.
Look, I've been watching NXT both on the network and local shows (since I'm in FL). The guys who're Bryan's size in NXT blow his ass out of the water both in talent and passion and they're holding near five-star matches every show. Hell Tyson Kidd is a much better performer in-ring than Bryan. Again I'm not saying Bryan sucks, but he's not as awesome as people make him out to be. Sorry but its true, its damn true.
 

Yostbeef

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Everything said here pretty much sums up all my feelings as well. I actually like Reigns too,but it's they way they shove it down out throats. Besides him not being the best man to get over it was just so predictable. When Wyatt was in there tearing it up and looking good my mind wondered for a second. Lesnar vs Wyatt could be pretty god damn interesting. Don't know about anyone else but I would of actually loved to see that. On top of everything the Rumble match it self was tepid at best. How about that triple threat though?
 

TakerFoxx

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I was watching it with my dad, and all through that absolute masterpiece of a Triple Threat and for about a third of the Rumble we were so hyped. It was great! We were having fun! And oh look, it's DDP, Bubba Ray, and the Boogeyman! And Bray's being a beast! And sweet, it's Daniel Bryan! I know Reigns is probably going to win but at least Bryan will put on a good-

And he's gone in about ten minutes. You could literally feel the energy get sucked out of the room from that point on.

I don't even mind Reigns winning. Everyone knew it was going to happen. Just...did they learn nothing from last year?
 

shintakie10

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Imperioratorex Caprae said:
Here's the thing. If they had left Daniel Bryan on the shelf for another month or two this would have been fine. The only reason to bring him back was to mask the glaringly obvious victor in Roman Reigns. It was still hugely obvious that Reigns would win, but with Bryan back and the interviews Steph and Triple H were givin about how they really do believe in Daniel Bryan (Steph called him an A+ player which amused me) there was that thought in the back of peoples minds that maybe, just maybe, Reigns winnin wasn't how it was goin to go down. They actually gave Daniel Bryan odds to overcome to even get into the rumble while Reigns just announced that he's in and no one seemed to care.

Then they proceeded to give us nothin from that. Nothin.

There were precisely 2 people who were legitimate contenders to win this rumble (sorry Ambrose and Ziggler). Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. There was no one else that WWE was goin to let win that despite all the rumors goin around about how maybe they're not sure. When Bryan was eliminated that was it. We were literally just goin through the motions waitin for Reigns to win. That was 20ish minutes of us just waitin for Reigns to win.

You could have crafted a story about this, gave Reigns some sort of rub that wasn't a cheap attempt to mask the boos. Or, just left Daniel Bryan on the shelf for 2 months and let Reigns have his god damn moment. Do you honestly think this Rumble would have gone remotely as badly in front of that crowd if they had simply not had Bryan in it? They may not have liked it personally, but they wouldn't have felt as insulted by it as they did.

This entire thing fucked everyone involved. It pissed the fans off because not only did they not see Bryan win, they saw him eliminated like some mid-card jobber a quarter of the way through the match and to top it off they watched every single fan favorite (Ambrose, Wyatt, Ziggler) get knocked out and literally dropped out of the ring like lifeless dolls by the two giants whose combined age is above 90. It fucked over Roman Reigns who I legitimately felt bad for and honestly thought he was goin to cry, and definitely not happy tears, due to how badly he was gettin booed. I'll say it again, if the Rock can't get you cheers, you fucked up. If Rusev comin in gets a louder pop than the God Damn Rock comin out you have really really fucked up.

It once again made people like Ziggler, Wyatt (who does look slightly stronger from the start, but the only image I'll remember is him bein unceremoniously dumped outside like a piece of garbage), Ambrose, and Cesaro look like little more than mid-card fodder for Vince's old ass giants.

It made Vince look (for the millionth time) completely out of touch with reality.

It made Triple H look like an idiot for pushin so hard for Reigns to win in the first place.

This whole thing was a complete and utter mess that didn't need to happen. Keep Bryan on the shelf for the RR and we'd be fine, but Vinnie Mac and company didn't want to do that because they knew that havin Bryan in would increase interest for the Rumble and generate viewers who were literally there just to see Bryan win, or at least put on a good showin. They then proceeded to pull an Ambrose and blow that entire thing up in their face.
 

Rozalia1

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shintakie10 said:
Leaving Bryan on shelf
What makes it all the odder is they've clearly held off on bringing Orton back (another guy who Show and Kane would have had to dump outside) yet didn't with Bryan.

The booking they went for can work but it was an obvious backfire to anyone who is remotely in touch. The thinking is Show+Kane are big meanies who beat up all the fan favourites getting pops, so when Roman beats them up he'll avenge the fan favourites and get a pop himself... problem is this isn't an episode of Raw.

They still have a logical out in all this. Curtis Axel was never eliminated so Triple H could announce several things to screw Roman out of the title shot. My personal pick would be to have Roman defend the shot in a 6 pack challenge against Axel and the 4 last guys (so it'd be Roman vs Axel vs Rusev vs Big Show vs Kane vs Ambrose). Out of that you pick either Ambrose or Rusev to not have a mess of a main event at Wrestlemania.

I'd personally go with Rusev as him beating Lesnar at Wrestlemania would pretty much rid WWE of needing Lesnar anymore. He isn't worth the money they pay him and Rusev would be seen as near unbeatable if he beat Lesnar in addition to being undefeated.
Easy booking too as the first defences would be against an Authority goon, than Rollins who cashes in but fails... than Cena for the "well Rusev is going to get buried now" bit, than a part timer like The Rock... and so on as long as they build someone to take the title off the Big Russian who'll be undefeated for a near two years by the time Wrestlemania comes round again.
 

LetalisK

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*looks over the synopsis* I have to admit, I've only been keeping a cursory eye on the WWE for awhile, and I've yet to find something that makes me regret no longer keeping up on the shows as of two years ago. It just seems like a lot of electricity and intelligent story lines are gone.
 

William Ossiss

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OT:
I really knew from the get go that Reigns was going to win this RR. I knew it a week before the match. The storylines were completely setting him up to take it... but I was almost damn sure that I was going to so Seth Rollins win the title. It may be that they don't want to have him hold the belts (which I am still lost as to why they combined the two for this long a time... I was sort of hoping for a dual pin and a split of the titles), and the MIAB briefcase.


Since Raw got canceled due to bad weather... I think they were planning on making that "broken rib" a thing with which Rollins cashes in on and just arrogantly takes the titles. Which is something that could prepare Reigns back to being super face.
Or heel.
Maybe they're waiting on giving the title over to Rollins when Lesner and Reigns knock each other around for 45 minutes at Wrestlemania. I could totally see him being the first to cash in the MIAB case at a Wrestlemania.




Off topic:
I am completely unsure, exactly, what the hell is going on with a lot of these people. The last time I was this into WWE, John Cena wasn't getting booed. Vince was still doing the "kiss my arse to keep your job" thing, and there was no WWE network.

I think Ziggler is a face. Ambrose is a face/wild card. Cena is too old, I guess? Rollins is a whiny punk. Obvious heel material.
They completely messed up Kane. Taker should have never lost his streak to Lesner. Bray Wyatt has one of the best entrances/stage presences I have seen/felt in a long time.

I have way too many questions about this crap. Why is Cena bad now? "Bootista"?
Imperioratorex Caprae said:
fucking Divas division is in the shitter thanks to booking and that fucking reality show, at least we have NXT
Wait. So it's NOT just me that sees all of these divas matches as a huge waste of time? First time back it was a couple of matches between AJ and that Bella. I swear, I had thought the whole division went to complete and utter hell. I was severely disappointed. Then I watched NXT and had my mind blown.


Rozalia1 said:
Hey now Nikki Bella is the best Diva on the roster currently. Most beautiful, best body, best moveset, the works... plus she got rid of that horrible AJ for a time.
What??? You're kidding, right? Body, sure, but not that face. Her moveset? Right. Lita's moveset included freaking powerbombs. Her "moveset", if you can call it that, is basic. I know that the current Raw/Smackdown Diva roster is in the crapper... but they all have names to live up to.
 

Rozalia1

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William Ossiss said:
I have way too many questions about this crap. Why is Cena bad now? "Bootista"?
Some would say he became bad the moment he turned face. However while yes Cena was extremely popular when he was on Smackdown as a heel, people often forget is he was also over as a face when he was opposing Heyman and his goons & JBL and his goons so that wasn't the problem.
The problems came when they started booking him like a superman against basically every fan favourite heel one after another resulting in a section of fans turning on him completely.

"Bootista" was what Batista was called when he returned last year. Everyone knew he was winning the rumble and no one was happy so once he won it over Bryan (who wasn't even it) he got booed heavily everywhere. Batista was supposed to be a face opposing the weak cowardly paper champion Orton (couldn't even get a clean win against Kofi at this point), but they had to turn him heel (or "Douchista") to salvage it.
For his part even though he had been promised a Wrestlemania and title win Batista did the job (him tapping to Bryan no-one saw coming as it makes far more sense for Orton to do the job), and than he stuck around to put over the Shield but Roman specifically as the "big dog" which he didn't have to do (WWE broke their promises to him after all).

William Ossiss said:
Wait. So it's NOT just me that sees all of these divas matches as a huge waste of time? First time back it was a couple of matches between AJ and that Bella. I swear, I had thought the whole division went to complete and utter hell. I was severely disappointed. Then I watched NXT and had my mind blown.
Blame AJ Lee for the state of the division and her persona which has to be one of the most horrific in wrestling. She is Reign of Terror Triple H in that she buries talent without them being able to shoot back (calling all other divas talentless, pathetic, disposable, stupid skanks who sleep their way to where they are) combined with Super Cena in that no matter how much of the match the opponent has dominated... 1 move (Black Widow) and they are tapping (she like Cena never works over the body parts for her submission).

Paige who was supposed to be the "future" was given the title simply because someone needed to hold it as AJ wanted time off... moment AJ returns she repeatedly taps Paige out for it, losing it once more just to inflate her number of reigns a bit.
Nikki is too just holding on to the belt as when AJ feels like returning (hopefully we've seen the last of her) she'll be winning it back immediately.

William Ossiss said:
What??? You're kidding, right? Body, sure, but not that face. Her moveset? Right. Lita's moveset included freaking powerbombs. Her "moveset", if you can call it that, is basic. I know that the current Raw/Smackdown Diva roster is in the crapper... but they all have names to live up to.
I'd hardly call her a butterface, she has a more "complete" package in regards to beauty shall we say.
Anyway Diva's of the past doing X moves doesn't mean anything as we're talking today. Its true many of the moves are basic but no one else in the division uses them (who uses a slingshot suplex among the Divas?), not to mention the Rack Attack is the best finisher.
 

shintakie10

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Rozalia1 said:
William Ossiss said:
What??? You're kidding, right? Body, sure, but not that face. Her moveset? Right. Lita's moveset included freaking powerbombs. Her "moveset", if you can call it that, is basic. I know that the current Raw/Smackdown Diva roster is in the crapper... but they all have names to live up to.
I'd hardly call her a butterface, she has a more "complete" package in regards to beauty shall we say.
Anyway Diva's of the past doing X moves doesn't mean anything as we're talking today. Its true many of the moves are basic but no one else in the division uses them (who uses a slingshot suplex among the Divas?), not to mention the Rack Attack is the best finisher.
Beth Phoenix used a slingshot suplex back when she was allowed to actually win (and back when she still worked for the company obviously) though that's not really a hugely fair comparison because there's no one in the division (sans Nattie when she feels like actually tryin of course) who holds a candle to Beth.

Movesets for divas are really fucked though because they're terribly limited in what they're allowed to do on the main roster. Partly its time related, but I honestly think they're told not to do too much out there nowadays. Even the best PPV matches aren't all that spot heavy (the biggest thing I remember was AJ swiping Paige off the guard rail which looked like it legit hurt like hell). You don't even see the most basic of basic moves in Divas matches half the time. How often do you see a honest to god suplex?

As for best finisher its still goin to my girl Beth Phoenix. Nothin beats the Glam Slam. Is it totally unrealistic in how its set up? Sure. The person takin it literally has to hold themselves up with their legs so they don't screw up their shoulders. However the impact is always glorious since you can't cheat your way out of makin it look like it hurts.