But the important thing is that Roman Reigns looked strong.
Actually, they did set up a Cena/Rusev feud in the Aftermath show, but nobody watched it because they turned off the PPV in disgust. Roman doesn’t reign.
The governor of Connecticut has declared a statewide travel ban in effect as of 9 PM tonight, so it’s very possible that tonight’s Raw might have to be cancelled.
Which, considering last night, is probably best for business.
Just the opposite.
They really need RAW so that they can hopefully progess the storylines and try and make last night not sting as much
Beat me to it!
So I’ve not been a fan long enough…what happens when it gets cancelled?
Does that throw off it’s longest-running thing? Do they do a rerun?
IIRC, the last time they cancelled the show was when Benoit died and they ran the ill-conceived tribute episode.
I imagine there are some very panicked conversations happening in Titan Towers this afternoon about what to put on the air this week (since the Smackdown taping tomorrow is probably not happening either.) A free replay of the Royal Rumble, maybe, or a recap/“best of” show, or throw some NXT episodes up, maybe.
Probably be a three hour retrospective on Roman Reign’s rise to the top, with lots of bits about how he’s Rock’s cousin just to be sure.
From the RAW wiki:
So, there will probably be a last-minute effort to save face, maybe even twice within the same show.
Was just thinking “See? Even GOD doesn’t want to see Roman Reigns headlining Wrestlemania.”
Here’s the first official statement;
So no Raw, but there’ll be a live Smackdown on Thursday, and something is going to “emanate” live tonight.
That would actually be too smart for WWE to do.
Run the last 3 Takeovers back-to-back-to-back and show the good things happening in NXT and keep saying how you can only see it on the WWE Network for 9.99
ETA: Eminate? Nice vocab use WWE
Tonight on RAWish: three hours of Roman Reigns reaching out to superman punch the face of God (and/or the WWE Universe).
If Vince is writing RAW I doubt he’ll show himself getting punched in the face
Wow, WWE started a major shitstorm then got a massive karmic bitch slap from Mother Nature.
While we’re having all sorts of fun with the schadenfreud aspect, we don’t really want WWE to go tits-up from this debacle. Maybe they learned their lesson and will pace themselves better in the future. Naaaah.
At any rate, here’s some ideas for how they can salvage the situation.
[ol]
[li]Have Roman join the Authority. Say that it was a back alley deal, like when they recruited Seth. Since Seth couldn’t capture the title, they decided to make Reigns their front runner, and they expect Seth to keep him in line and guide him like he did when they were SHIELD mates. This sets up a heel Reigns vs a face Brrrock match at WM. Kane, BS, and J&J go along with this, but Seth is furious. He eventually realizes he burned his bridges with everybody else in WWE though, so he reluctantly agrees as well. But he still has the MITB briefcase…[/li][li]VKM wakes up and says “It was all a dream…” Stephanie, Hunter, Kane and BS are all around his bed, wearing farm apparel. He says “You were there, you were there, and you were there…” pointing at each of them as they amiably smile back at him. Then he realizes something and a look of shock crosses his face. “I pushed that stupid Samoan to the title match at WM! What the hell was I thinking? Why didn’t any of you stop me? This is why I’ll never retire! You meatheads ruin everything!”[/li][li]They discover that Bray Wyatt had actually hypnotized DB prior to the Rumble, to make him throw himself out willingly. To make it up to Bryan, WWE schedules a triple threat between Bryan, Bray and Reigns at the next PPV, and the winner goes against Brrrock at WM. During the match, Bray attempts to hex DB again, but goat boy holds up a mirror and makes Bray hypnotize himself. DB then Yes Locks Roman and there is much rejoicing.[/li][/ol]
I think the number of people cancelling, or at least trying to cancel, WWE Network immediately after the Royal Rumble may not have too much to do with how it ended, but with the fact that, since there is now no six-month advance requirement to get the 9.99 rate, people can use the service effectively as a PPV purchasing service (e.g. order it just before SummerSlam, watch the PPV, then cancel; repeat for Survivor Series, the Royal Rumble, and especially WrestleMania).
If they’re not airing RAW, then what airs in its place is probably USA Network’s call, although they probably would ask WWE to see if they have anything they want to air as a substitute. Airing the Rumble has two problems with it; one, it gives people who missed the live broadcast less incentive to watch the network for the replay, and two, WWE has about 12 hours to edit it down so it can fit in the time slot with the extra commercials.
Alternately, Curtis Axel was never actually eliminated. So it turns out that the moment Roman stepped out of the ring at the end of the night, Curtis Axel won the Royal Rumble. 
(Missed the edit window…)
According to the Hartford Courier:
“The WWE said that it will broadcast its Raw show live from a studio at its Stamford headquarters at 8 p.m. tonight.”
Makes sense, especially if they were hyping an appearance by The Rock.
– Don
Without a crowd?
It’s probably going to be a best-of show due to the travel ban.