Royal Rumble (January 26th, 2014)

In WWE's defence, they did make this all pretty clear. They advertised that Cena v Orton was the title match, that Bryan wasn't in the Rumble and that Batista was the big deal going in. They didn't ever lead us to believe that Bryan would be in the Rumble.

But it should be more than just wishful thinking at this point. It's hard to believe that no one in WWE can understand that what one 70 year old man wants isn't necessarily what the fans want.

I didn't know Bryan wasn't going to be in the rumble and i missed everything up until the last minute of Show vs Brock, Poor Show.... anyways i didn't feel like i missed much i get the feeling either the next ppv or WM30 they will just team up Cena and Bryan against the Wyatt cult.... Batista winning seemed to obvious so that's what wwe went with.... what else is a guy with his ego going to do? have a meaningless feud with Brock or Show? dude wants the main event title spot at Mania... he is an asshole and at least you guys can feel good knowing he won't be around much after may or maybe june... i think so anyways.

this was my first ppv in a long time i actually missed you guys too i know group chats are long gone these days, but is there anywhere now we can all get together and talk about the live shows even once in a while? i'd like to do something like that for WM30 it was a special occasion after all.

anyways the rumble match was ok... i'd rate this show from what i was able to see at about 5/10 so average to meh but not awful.

also i haven't seen an american wwe crowd over for a guy in a long as time... they really better not mess up what they have with Bryan.

this was my first ppv in a long time i actually missed you guys too i know group chats are long gone these days, but is there anywhere now we can all get together and talk about the live shows even once in a while? i'd like to do something like that for WM30 it was a special occasion after all.

*waits for chux's complementary twitter plug*

this was my first ppv in a long time i actually missed you guys too i know group chats are long gone these days, but is there anywhere now we can all get together and talk about the live shows even once in a while? i'd like to do something like that for WM30 it was a special occasion after all.

*waits for chux's complementary twitter plug*

I know a little bit about the twitter stuff... never really use it though i still get emails letting me know i have new followers... i don't know i might try it out sometime does anyone else from 4w go on twitter during raw/ppv? i'd feel akward joining and only knowing one or two people and 30 new people who don't give a damn about the snake-man. 😋

EDIT: by joining i mean just going on twitter and taking part in a convo... as i mentioned i have one i think it's Jonzo83

We could just make a live thread here, it won't be as user accessible as MSN or twitter but it'll work. Or we could use a private chat room or something, there's many alternatives.

Looking back on this Rumble, there was no viable candidates to main event WM apart from Batista or Punk, it was seriously a Rumble of mid-carders. And Punk was on the floor for most of it! Did he event eliminate anyone?

Looking back on this Rumble, there was no viable candidates to main event WM apart from Batista or Punk, it was seriously a Rumble of mid-carders. And Punk was on the floor for most of it! Did he event eliminate anyone?

Yep, which is what I was saying the other day, the Rumble match as advertised really lacked star names.  Apart from the obvious Bryan, I think Show and Lesnar should have been in there, and advertised, instead of having a 3 minute match. 

Even the surpises seemed un-inspired this year.  Sheamus was expected, so wasn't a big surprise, and JBL?  Really?  Kevin Nash I don't mind.  We don't see him at all, so it feels fresh to me when he shows up.

Looking back on this Rumble, there was no viable candidates to main event WM apart from Batista or Punk, it was seriously a Rumble of mid-carders. And Punk was on the floor for most of it! Did he event eliminate anyone?

He got the first two eliminations, Sandow and Kane, and helped out with the Rusev effort.

Reigns eliminated 12 men, breaking Kane's record from 2001. One of those (Khali) was a joint effort with Rollins and Ambrose, who tossed three more guys between them. So half of the men in this year's Rumble were eliminated by the Shield. Amazing.

Twitter really is the best way. I'm on there all night, I have it open on one screen with the PPV stream on the other. It doesn't matter who follows you, you only see tweets from people you follow, so it can end up being like a small group chat if you want it to be. You add and delete people as you go, so in the end you get a good group of people you enjoy hearing from. It's well worth getting into.

Woah, even the BBC have an article about the Rumble!!: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/25911039

I bet Vince is loving this publicity!!

"Thirty big name wrestlers, including Batista, Roman Reigns and CM Punk, all took part in the event"

Reigns is a big name now? Amazing that even the BBC is pushing this guy!

Snake, you missed Bryan vs. Wyatt which was easily match of the night and could have been on any night for that matter. Those two men went at it out there, and it was pretty much evident from the get go that the Philly crowd was really into Bryan. It's unfortunate, but the WWE backed themselves into a corner on this one. You can't tell a kid he's going to get dessert, but make him wait days for him to get his dessert and not expect to have a backlash. Everyone knows that Daniel Bryan is the people's choice right now and the WWE hasn't seen someone this over since Austin's Attitude Era push. You could argue Cena, but people cared about others on the card at that time. Here, it seems like the WWE Universe has one central love and that's Daniel Bryan...

Although Roman Reigns solidified himself near the top of the card last night. Eliminating 12 people and honestly, had he won, it probably would've salvaged it from being shit on to the extent it has tonight. You could even argue that Reigns being in the main event wouldn't be bad if Bryan get's Taker at 'Mania. I just don't know what they're going to do with Reigns now. It was awesome seeing him transition in one of the "moments". The crowd just rallies behind the guy and he plays off it so well, despite being a heel. Just like the crowds reaction when Ziggler won the strap. He was heel, but everyone wanted him to do it and it played off in face-esque fashion.

Final point, Bray Wyatt is the new age Mankind, except way darker. I know the Mankind character would seem darker, but this man will abduct you and then beat the shit out of you for twenty minutes. I'm just questioning if they will ever put the belt on him, because I feel it almost doesn't fit his character at all. Obviously they can change that.

In WWE's defence, they did make this all pretty clear. They advertised that Cena v Orton was the title match, that Bryan wasn't in the Rumble and that Batista was the big deal going in. They didn't ever lead us to believe that Bryan would be in the Rumble.

True, we should not have expected it when we never saw Wyatt, Lesnar or anyone else. Also, I think they would rather have him not lose the Rumble match because they booked Batista winning it, but having him lose clean to Wyatt was a downer, he should be winning that feud.

Bryan should have won the match with Wyatt if this is the end of the feud.  It makes the whole Bryan joining the Family for a bit kinda pointless.  But if it's not the end of the feud .....

But looking at the positives, like chux said earlier, the Shield did awesome in the Rumble match, eliminating half the Rumble entrants and getting a name mention (in the case of Reigns) on the BBC!!  That must count for something!!

Wyatt had to win really, if he's going into a feud with Cena. Bryan can take the hit, he'll bounce right back as soon as he shows up tonight.

I'm predicting the title gets defended in the chamber, Orton v Wyatt v Bryan v Cena v Sheamus v someone else. Probably not Lesnar, maybe Reigns. Then we've got the long rumoured Batista v Del Rio, Ambrose v Langston unification and the return Rhodeses v New Age Outlaws match where they can lose again and Cody turns on Goldust. Not a bad card, if they go that way.

As this is my first post I'll make a quick intro before I get into it... Hi, I'm Gorgrim, long time friend and world domination partner of Compy, although those plans have fallen by the wayside as of late.  Anywhooo....

I can actually see this as Roman Reigns' chance to break away from the Shield to become something of a tweener.  After Ambrose trying to stab him in the back the way he did and then the fan reaction to his performance towards the end of the rumble, it could make for an interesting civil war within the Shield.

As Chux pointed out, Daniel Bryan isn't out of the WM30 main even picture just yet with the Elimination chamber coming up.  Vince may even bow to the pressure and book him to win (we can dream) but I can't even see Bryan facing the Undertaker now.  With Stings upcoming match vs Magnus a belt vs career match this seems like an excuse for Sting to get out of TNA and perform WM30 against Taker.

It also seems tht peope have been a little negative over the tag match in the preshow.  Can I ask, how many of you watched it?  Cus I rank it as the second best match of the night, easily.  The NAO still have it and worked the match very well.  Hopefully this'll give us a decent feud with the Rhoads boys working up to WM30, but we'll see.  WWE have managed to screw most other things up so why not this....

I can actually see this as Roman Reigns' chance to break away from the Shield to become something of a tweener.  After Ambrose trying to stab him in the back the way he did and then the fan reaction to his performance towards the end of the rumble, it could make for an interesting civil war within the Shield.

This makes me wonder, what attire will the Shield wear once they break up? Are they gonna go to normal bland trunks? The things they were to ring add a lot to their character, I don't wanna see them looking generic once they go solo.

So at the end of the rumble, the New Age Outlaws are the tag champs, Orton is the champ, Batista is the number one contender, and even Nash got a pay day. Even HBK was working. So HHH and his buddies are on top if the world, and the obvious fan favorite is being held back. HHH even mocked the audience for complaining that they didn't get what they wanted. This HAS to be some sort of elaborate angle. It just has to. Right?

So at the end of the rumble, the New Age Outlaws are the tag champs, Orton is the champ, Batista is the number one contender, and even Nash got a pay day. Even HBK was working. So HHH and his buddies are on top if the world, and the obvious fan favorite is being held back. HHH even mocked the audience for complaining that they didn't get what they wanted. This HAS to be some sort of elaborate angle. It just has to. Right?

Also, Sheamus made the final three, only losing out to Batista and the guy they're pushing to the moon.

Somehow, someway, Sean Waltman will be defending the IC title at Wrestlemania