I did not expect to see Ronda Rousey ever return to WWE, let alone win the Royal Rumble.
Apparently, the pyro they set off after Ronda’s win caused the Wrestlemania sign to catch fire and start melting, and they had to evacuate the crowd beneath it and lower it to ground level.
I had read the rumors, and once her music hit, Rousey winning was a foregone conclusion.
I figured we were getting Brock/Roman at 'Mania one way or another, but this isn’t the way I thought they’d set it up. I expected Brock to lose the belt, but I was expecting Big E to win the Rumble and get his rematch with Lashley, though I suppose they could still make that match happen another way.
Pretty good Rumble overall.
Also, the sign caught fire again after Brock’s win.
I liked the Rollins/Reigns match the best, because it drew on The Shield’s history and provided Reigns closure on Seth’s betrayal. Without his support group, Reigns cracked, leading to a DQ and eventual rematch. Plus, I love the way Rollins cackles and executes the types of moves that are designed to destroy morale.
However, this was blown to shit by Reigns screwing Lesnar and reuniting with Heyman, and especially with Lesnar winning RR and ensuring a WM match with Reigns. I suppose Reigns and Rollins will meet again at Elimination Chamber, and Reigns will win because the WM match is already set in stone, so bye bye Rollins’s mindfuck angle. Reigns/Lesnar is obviously the bigger draw, so I can’t find fault with WWE, but dangit, I want a Rollins Evil Scheme to pay off.
I don’t watch WWE regularly, mostly around big events like the Royal Rumble. Does anybody like Pat Macafee? He’s got to be one of the worst announcers I’ve ever heard. He makes Smackdown unwatchable. I found myself longing for the “glory days” of Booker T and JBL.
heh gorilla and bobby were the best followed by Vince an Jesse then king and jr
I didn’t like MacAfee when he was involved with NXT, but he’s often the most interesting part of Smackdown. I get the feeling he goes off script and gets away with it.
McAfee drives me crazy when he dances on the table whenever Nakamura’s music plays. You’ve heard it a million times. Seriously. Calm the fuck down. You’re making it uncool.
Vince is probably yelling into McAfee’s ear, “Dance on the table! That’s good shit!”
All I hear is MacAfee’s voice cracking all of the time while he’s saying incredibly stupid stuff, even by pro wrestling standards.
Does WWE have any idea what the WWE Championship program for WrestleMania is supposed to be? Because Lashley doesn’t seem to have a ready-made opponent.
The answer, of course, is “WWE has no clue for the Raw championship.” There was a time this stuff would have been plotted 6+ months in advance. Now they just figure it out the day of the show. So hard to watch…
They spent the entire last 6 months hoping Dwayne would agree to come back and now they’ve got nothing.
My money’s on Brock getting the belt back and then having a unification match against Roman, which Roman wins because it will MAKE HIM LOOK STRONG.
AEW Dark Taz/Excalibur moment of the day
Joey Janela vs. Lee Moriarity
Taz: Joey’s lookin’ all bowed up, got a bunch of muscle on him now. I kinda miss the old sloppy-ass Joey Janela.
Ex: laughs
Taz: You know what I mean? The guy who was out of shape, who looked like crap. I miss that guy.
Ex: croaks “Oh my God” while laughing
Taz: Serious! I mean, he was dominant too! But this Janela’s even more dominant!
Ex: You’re talking about “Summer Teeth” Janela.
Taz: Yeah. His teeth are still horrendous.
Camera closeup shows Joey’s two red front teeth as he sticks out his tongue.
Taz: But his tongue is like, lavender. But, Janela’s gotten himself in great shape. Imagine how much work Rossi on the outside, Kayla, had to put in to this guy doin’ that work. He was a mess! Janela was a mess, bro. He looked like the type of guy who would be sleeping at the end of a bar with peanuts on his chest.
Ex: You said “peanuts,” right?
Taz: Yeah. “Peanuts” I said. You know, the bar, where ya fell asleep.
@D_Odds I also considered Taz describing Philadelphians as “mean and evil” during the opening match, the “Strong Island Ferry Service,” and also his description Team Taz training with rubber sticks to the yam bags, but the Janela segment was too good to pass up.
just seen this today
Shane McMahon has apparently been fired due to some major heat he brought on himself while co-producing the Royal Rumble - apparently he was trying to take credit for everything, changed things other producers had done with no notice, switched Bad Bunny’ entrance several times, and was just throwing the script out the window.
And we all know only Vince is allowed to do that.
Ugh. GOLDBERG.
Arrive.
Demand title shot.
Get one.