Holy sh**. WWE spent a lot of time hyping up their two Rumble matches this year, and boy did they deliver. The rest of the card was meh at best, but when you advertise heavily for two matches, and they are that damn good, it doesn't really matter what the rest of the card looks like.
- I do feel sorry for the Raw tag guys, who had to follow that major emotional climax. I guess Cesaro and Sheamus got another title win? Jason Jordan got a concussion? Yay?
- My God was the Universal Championship match a serious waste of time. Okay, I will admit that there was some fun to be had in watching beef go flying through things, but it felt so pointless. But from a glass half full perspective, if this was the worst match on the card, that really says a lot about how good this card was.
- It was a serious statement by WWE to put the women's Rumble match on last. This is the kind of chance that you want to see the company make, to really back up their claims of who progressive they are. Did the risk pay off?
- Abso-frickin'-lotuley. This was one hell of a match, possibly better than the men's match earlier, which was already one of the better Rumble matches of all time. They relied a lot on surprise entrants, considering the current roster was nowhere near strong enough to carry the match. They could've easily just made the match nothing but nostalgia, but I thought this was the perfect blend of past and present. In particular, Sasha Banks got put over huge, lasting an outrageously long time and getting huge eliminations over Bayley and Trish Stratus. Ultimately, she didn't win, but the good booking she received will do far more to help. The end result was inevitable, with Asuka's win an obvious one, but predictable ain't always a bad thing. Especially given how the night ended....
- With the debut of Ronda Rousey. Look, I know plenty of wrestling fans and people in general dislike her, but this signing is a really big deal for the company. I though the end segment was handled perfectly, leaving so many questions to be answered. Who the hell is Asuka going to fight? Who the hell is Rousey going to fight? Is she just going to smile and point at things for seven months? Intrigue is the best part of wrestling, and this was played to perfection. I genuinely have no idea what on earth is happening, you have no idea what on earth is happening and that's the way it should always be.
9/10
Again, this wasn't so much of a wrestling pay-per-view as it was an entertainment pay-per-view. So many men and women had their stock elevated tonight, and there are so many great possibilities built to during this show. It's easy to be critical- it's hard to give praise. But it's never been easier for me to hand out praise for a main roster show than it is tonight.
Royal Rumble 2016 Score: 9/10(that seems a little high)
Royal Rumble 2017 Score: 7/10
- Let's get this out of the way right now. If you came into this show expecting great wrestling, the type you saw at Takeover last night, then this isn't the show for you. The Royal Rumble as an event is very rarely about great technical matches, although there have been quite a few. This was a show built around nostalgia, suspense and entertainment value, and it absolutely nailed all three.
- I can't say I love the Owens/Zayn vs Bryan/Shane storyline all that much, but the opening handicap match was fine. There were a few nice near falls, and AJ took a crazy bump or two, as is tradition. I definitely could've done without the weird Dusty finish, although it advanced the storyline well enough.
- I was very disappointed in the SmackDown tag team match, not because of the action itself but more because of the booking. It's actually quite neat to have a two out of three falls match end with two consecutive falls, but it was done very poorly. The finish made Gable and Benjamin look like idiots, which definitely could've been avoided. Overall, a massive waste of some great talent.
- But as much as I rag on booking for the previous match, both Rumble matches were booked to perfection. Not just that, but they also used incredibly smart booking, relying on the hardcore Philly fans to understand the characters and react accordingly. And they did, getting excited at all the right times, really investing in everything the company was selling. In wrestling, there's an unwritten contract between the booking team, the fans and the performers. The booking team needs to give the fans a reason to cheer, the fans need to respond as vocally as possible and the performers need to execute. Everyone was on top form tonight, and that's the reason why both of these matches worked so well.
- The men's Rumble match had a lot less surprise entrants than the women's, but I thought they were all done very well. Who didn't love seeing guys like The Hurricane and Rey Mysterio? Getting NXT talent like Andrade Almas and Adam Cole some exposure was nice as well, making them a much bigger deal when they eventually get the call up. The final four is one of the best I've ever seen, with all four guys coming across as legit contenders to win the whole thing. Huge props to ole Roman Reigns, who got everyone in attendance to despise him and dread his potential win, making his elimination by Nakamura that much sweeter. Shinsuke-AJ for 'Mania, baby!
- I do feel sorry for the Raw tag guys, who had to follow that major emotional climax. I guess Cesaro and Sheamus got another title win? Jason Jordan got a concussion? Yay?
- My God was the Universal Championship match a serious waste of time. Okay, I will admit that there was some fun to be had in watching beef go flying through things, but it felt so pointless. But from a glass half full perspective, if this was the worst match on the card, that really says a lot about how good this card was.
- It was a serious statement by WWE to put the women's Rumble match on last. This is the kind of chance that you want to see the company make, to really back up their claims of who progressive they are. Did the risk pay off?
- Abso-frickin'-lotuley. This was one hell of a match, possibly better than the men's match earlier, which was already one of the better Rumble matches of all time. They relied a lot on surprise entrants, considering the current roster was nowhere near strong enough to carry the match. They could've easily just made the match nothing but nostalgia, but I thought this was the perfect blend of past and present. In particular, Sasha Banks got put over huge, lasting an outrageously long time and getting huge eliminations over Bayley and Trish Stratus. Ultimately, she didn't win, but the good booking she received will do far more to help. The end result was inevitable, with Asuka's win an obvious one, but predictable ain't always a bad thing. Especially given how the night ended....
- With the debut of Ronda Rousey. Look, I know plenty of wrestling fans and people in general dislike her, but this signing is a really big deal for the company. I though the end segment was handled perfectly, leaving so many questions to be answered. Who the hell is Asuka going to fight? Who the hell is Rousey going to fight? Is she just going to smile and point at things for seven months? Intrigue is the best part of wrestling, and this was played to perfection. I genuinely have no idea what on earth is happening, you have no idea what on earth is happening and that's the way it should always be.
9/10
Again, this wasn't so much of a wrestling pay-per-view as it was an entertainment pay-per-view. So many men and women had their stock elevated tonight, and there are so many great possibilities built to during this show. It's easy to be critical- it's hard to give praise. But it's never been easier for me to hand out praise for a main roster show than it is tonight.
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