WWE Thread

[MSOrange]

I haven’t watched a WWE program since Summerslam. Thanks for asking. I had no clue the rumble was on Saturday. Thanks as its probably the one card i like no matter what.

Same with me. I've been totally out of the loop for months but the Rumble is usually fun. Sounds like Ronda might be returning - at least that's the speculation. Other than that, I know nothing about what's been happening.

 

[KaiserUEO]

Well I totally missed that. Thanks for the info.

it was on saturday last year too.

its my favorite and a family favorite.

 

[Knicks411]

can't miss the rumble no matter what. its like the one match its (nearly, I was in Philly in 2015) impossible to screw up

 

[MSOrange]

Announced men's participants for those who are still catching up like me

• Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura
• Rick Boogs
• Ricochet
• Omos
• Randy Orton
• Riddle
• Raw Tag Team Champion Otis
• Raw Tag Team Champion Chad Gable
• Dolph Ziggler
• Robert Roode
• Kevin Owens
• Big E
• AJ Styles
• United States Champion Damian Priest
• Johnny Knoxville
• Sami Zayn
• Kofi Kingston
• Happy Corbin
• Madcap Moss
• Sheamus
• Angelo Dawkins
• Montez Ford
• Rey Mysterio
• Dominik Mysterio
• Austin Theory

 

[MSOrange]

Women

• Sasha Banks
• Bianca Belair
• Sonya Deville
• Liv Morgan
• Charlotte Flair
• Naomi
• Rhea Ripley
• Nikki A.S.H.
• Brie Bella
• Nikki Bella
• Carmella
• Queen Zelina
• Lita
• Michelle McCool
• Kelly Kelly
• Dana Brooke
• Natalya
• Mickie James
• Tamina
• Shayna Baszler
• Summer Rae
• Aliyah
• Shotzi

 

[MSOrange]

Spoiler: Royal Rumble spoiler

Ronda Rousey is backstage and will be in the women's Rumble tonight.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Spoiler: Royal Rumble spoiler

Ronda Rousey is backstage and will be in the women's Rumble tonight.

Meltzer reports that she's on the books to face Charlotte Flair at Wrestlemania. She has signed for a year.

 

[MSOrange]

Having the Rumble start at 11 pm Eastern isn't the most kid friendly or old man friendly move.

 

[Alsacs]

Having the Rumble start at 11 pm Eastern isn't the most kid friendly or old man friendly move.

Having Ronda Rousey win the women’s rumble after her comments towards fans shows why fans are turning to AEW.

 

[Alsacs]

I was hoping for Big E but instead we need dominance from Shane McMahon and Bad Bunny.

We all know Lesnar is winning.

 

[Alsacs]

That was one of the worst royal rumbles ever.
I mean worst rumble since 1995.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I haven't watched WWE for over a year, maybe 2, but I saw Lesnar and Rousey won?

Talk about anti-climactic.

 

[ScrabbCuse]

Not a great Royal Rumble at all. The men’s match in particular was awful. As soon as Big E and Kevin Owens were knocked out before number 30 came in, I knew it was going to be Lesnar. Same old, same old. Obviously it will be Reigns vs Lesnar at WrestleMania. If Reigns wins, I’m not sure what the plan is to ever get the title off him. It’s clear the fans want a change but Vince won’t budge. It also overshadows the WWE title as it makes it look like a B-status belt.

Rousey making an appearance would have been better if it were a surprise but it was spoiled like crazy that she was going to be there. No way they have her come back and not win. Unfortunately, just like three years ago, it’s Rousey, Flair and Lynch with the rest of the talent way below them.

Kudos to Edge, Miz, Maryse and Beth Phoenix. They probably had the most entertaining match of the night and it shouldn’t have been. Credit to the vets.

Finally, Johnny Knoxville, Bad Bunny and Shane McMahon, but no Cesaro or Finn Balor? Not to mention having Randy Orton in his hometown coming out at 29 and being eliminated by Lesnar in two minutes. Bad, bad decisions.

 

[Knicks411]

That was one of the worst royal rumbles ever.
I mean worst rumble since 1995.

It was so heavily backloaded, the first 20 or so guys, just brutal.

The Reigns Rollins match was great, right up until the patented awful WWE finish

 

[Alsacs]

It was so heavily backloaded, the first 20 or so guys, just brutal.

The Reigns Rollins match was great, right up until the patented awful WWE finish

Is Rollins a face? That finish made me think he was. The joker outfit though didn’t see like a face outfit.

The entire show was awful. AEW is so much better.
Were Shane and Bad Bunny the trap door entries?
If so brutal.

I got Roman is good but Vince is making him a god. Its the same damn booking.
If he eats the entire roster it doesn’t help.

Was there a single NXT on the show?
It felt like half of the women’s rumble were legends.
Is the depth that bad?
Charlotte and Ronda is going to get booed on the mic. Ronda comments towards fans and Vince the bully rewards her.

 

[Symphony Steve]

You gotta wonder about Rousey's staying power as a star. Didn't look great last night and, if you recall her last few months with WWE, she seemed, at best, ambivalent about her career.

Sure, she got the big return pop. But a year of her is gonna be a challenge when it comes to keeping the fans interested.

 

[OrangeDW]

I caught the Miz/Maryse - Edge/Phoenix match. Loved it.

Saw Lesnar/Lashley. Boring. Heyman was great as always in his role though.

Saw the women’s rumble. Eh. Nice to see McCool again - she was really good in her day IMO. This division now has the same problem as the men - only a few people matter at all.

Didn’t even watch the men’s match and now that I’ve seen the reviews/results, I’m not going to.

This company does not care about making anything else on the show matter other than the few top people….and those feuds are always as formulaic and predictable as possible.

 

[MSOrange]

I caught the Miz/Maryse - Edge/Phoenix match. Loved it.

Saw Lesnar/Lashley. Boring. Heyman was great as always in his role though.

Saw the women’s rumble. Eh. Nice to see McCool again - she was really good in her day IMO. This division now has the same problem as the men - only a few people matter at all.

Didn’t even watch the men’s match and now that I’ve seen the reviews/results, I’m not going to.

This company does not care about making anything else on the show matter other than the few top people….and those feuds are always as formulaic and predictable as possible.

Your last sentence nailed it. I remember when they used to have guys come out for the Rumble, you had a pretty good idea who each guy was feuding with and was going to try to go after and that made it fun. Now it's a few top guys and then rest are there to make it 30.

 

[Knicks411]

Is Rollins a face? That finish made me think he was. The joker outfit though didn’t see like a face outfit.

The entire show was awful. AEW is so much better.
Were Shane and Bad Bunny the trap door entries?
If so brutal.

I got Roman is good but Vince is making him a god. Its the same damn booking.
If he eats the entire roster it doesn’t help.

Was there a single NXT on the show?
It felt like half of the women’s rumble were legends.
Is the depth that bad?
Charlotte and Ronda is going to get booed on the mic. Ronda comments towards fans and Vince the bully rewards her.

It really seems like WWE just doesn't care about heels and faces. Both Rollins and Reigns (and Lashley and Brock for that matter?) were heels in the buildup. But then Rollins worked the whole match as a face, got beat down afterwards. So, I dunno.

NXT has been totally revamped; they've cut a lot of guys and girls (main roster and NXT) and NXT really is supposed to be a developmental show now, so I'm not surprised they didn't have anyone in the rumble.

You gotta wonder about Rousey's staying power as a star. Didn't look great last night and, if you recall her last few months with WWE, she seemed, at best, ambivalent about her career.

Sure, she got the big return pop. But a year of her is gonna be a challenge when it comes to keeping the fans interested.

I think pretty much yes. She has star aura. They should just dial down on the awful makeup and the terrible promos. So, on second though, maybe she won't have any staying power...

If the idea is to do her and Becky next yeat at mania, she should probably win the title and go heel. Which probably wont be that difficult to pull off

 

[Symphony Steve]

It really seems like WWE just doesn't care about heels and faces. Both Rollins and Reigns (and Lashley and Brock for that matter?) were heels in the buildup. But then Rollins worked the whole match as a face, got beat down afterwards. So, I dunno.

NXT has been totally revamped; they've cut a lot of guys and girls (main roster and NXT) and NXT really is supposed to be a developmental show now, so I'm not surprised they didn't have anyone in the rumble.



I think pretty much yes. She has star aura. They should just dial down on the awful makeup and the terrible promos. So, on second though, maybe she won't have any staying power...

If the idea is to do her and Becky next yeat at mania, she should probably win the title and go heel. Which probably wont be that difficult to pull off

The idea IS for her to face Becky at Mania in 2023. I'm calling it: Her shelf life is gonna be a lot shorter than that. She had 'shoot' issues with the fans before and after she left. She picked up the 'rasslin' fast, but then hit a ceiling with it. Didn't look she was enjoying it the last few months in. You mentioned the makeup, and the eye shadow makes her look depressed and depressing. It'll probably work at least thru this year's Mania. After that, look out below-w-w-w...

 

[OrangeDW]

The idea IS for her to face Becky at Mania in 2023. I'm calling it: Her shelf life is gonna be a lot shorter than that. She had 'shoot' issues with the fans before and after she left. She picked up the 'rasslin' fast, but then hit a ceiling with it. Didn't look she was enjoying it the last few months in. You mentioned the makeup, and the eyes shadow makes her look depressed and depressing. It'll probably work at least thru this year's Mania. After that, look out below-w-w-w...

Is it me, or did they really cool off Bianca for no reason? And I never have any idea what they’re doing with Sasha. Still think she’s the best they have. Becky and Ronda just aren’t that interesting to watch, IMO.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Is it me, or did they really cool off Bianca for no reason? And I never have any idea what they’re doing with Sasha. Still think she’s the best they have. Becky and Ronda just aren’t that interesting to watch, IMO.

They cooled off Bianca primarily b/c Ronda was coming back, and Fox wanted her on Smackdown.

Booking plans now largely revolve around TV and streaming contracts, current and future.

 

[orangenauburn]

Baddest woman on the planet is a joke.

And the mean mugging is over the top.

Just not a fan of hers.

She got lit up when she faced real competition in her prior career, shattering that illusion.

And she already has shown to be mentally weak in this iteration of her career when dealing with fans.

 

[ScrabbCuse]

Lashley is defending his title in the Elimination Chamber. Brock Lesnar is entering the match so he can have a title vs title match at WrestleMania with Reigns. Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Riddle and Austen Theory are also in the chamber match. The predictability continues. I’d be shocked if Lesnar isn’t WWE champion going into Mania.

 

[two3zone]

That was one of the worst royal rumbles ever.
I mean worst rumble since 1995.

Wasn’t sure which one it was but looked back, the 95 one wasn’t great, but just looking at the highlights of this one I can’t imagine this wasn’t the worst one. Bad Bunny? Wth?