The Official Royal Rumble 2016 Thread

**Fignuts** · 01-25-2016, 12:48 AM

I liked this show a lot. Overall, one of the better rumbles of recent years.

Preshow tag match was pointless, since Swagger and Henry were both immediately eliminated from the rumble. If rumors are true about the Bubba singles push, then the dudleys should have won, with bubba eliminating d-von to start the split.

Last man standing match was fantastic. Early MOTY candidate. Great job by both guys. I think they went with the right choice here. Ambrose should have a good long reign, past Mania, so that he can do for the IC belt what Cena did for the US belt.

New Day as awesome as ever, and as uninterested as I am about the Uso's at this point, this was still a great tag match. Brilliant ending too. Kind of want Xavier to take over as tag champ, and give Big E a nice singles push.

I don't care for Del Rio. I don't dislike him, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't give a shit about him. He was ok in this match tho. Kalisto is amazing on the other hand, and is like 96' Mysterio. Just an absolute joy to watch. He made this match a lot of fun. Like the IC belt, I think this needs good long reign. The US has switched hands a few times now, and it's already losing all the luster that Cena built it up with. Kalisto going into every match as the underdog but continuously scraping by with his speed and agility would be a really good story, albeit an oft used one for smaller guys. But with the quality of matches he can deliver, I think it would work.

Great Divas title match. Very poor finish. Getting duped by Flair interference yet again makes Becky look weak. Not even having to use Natural Selection or the Figure 8 makes Becky look weak. Completely ignoring Becky and her emotional selling post match makes her look completely irrelevant. I wanted Becky to win, but I was okay with Charlotte winning as long as it was a very hard earned clean victory. At least that would keep Becky looking strong for a possible 3-way at Mania. Falling for more Ric Shennanigans just made her look dumb. Also, the whole kiss thing just seemed awkward. I don't know how to feel about all this until it plays out more. If they keep becky looking strong for a mania 3-way I'll be okay with all this, but if they just go with Sasha vs Charlotte, then they'll just be doing the same "Champion vs Challenger and everyone else is a jobber" format that has made the division shallow for decades.

The Royal Rumble.

I ain't even mad you guys. I thought it was a great rumble. AJ obviously was awesome. Wish he would have actually hit the Styles Clash on someone after teasing it so much. Saving it for his actual match debut I guess. Some great, fun moments. A few spots that could have been taken by someone more interesting, or another surprise entrant, but for the most part was satisfied with the entrants chosen.

As for HHH winning, I think it was the right move. Yeah, it was a little predictable but honestly, even when Ambrose, the IC title holder mind you, was in there, they did a fantastic job of making it seem like there was a slim chance they were going with him. Can honestly say I was never 100% certain who was winning. Brilliant idea eliminating Reigns before Ambrose.

As far as Mania is concerned, I'm not worried. It's true that HHH isn't a huge marquee name compared to his peers, but I also think people here are underestimating him as well. He's still a big deal to the average wrestling fan, and he has a certain presence, and aura that come from being a long time main eventer. A HHH wrestlemania match always has an epic feel that Bray or Ambrose wouldn't be able to replicate this early in their WWE career. The only other option given all the participants would have been Brock Lesnar. Like #1 Fan said, they have unfinished business, but I don't think most wrestling fans want to see the same main event back to back. At least not Reigns back to back. If it was someone everyone liked you might be able to get away with it, but Reigns is still getting too devisive reactions for it to be a reliable gameplan.

HHH vs Reigns isn't my first pick for the mania main event but given all the injuries, and who they had available they made the right choices. And again, the way they went about it was fantastic and had me on the edge of my seat. As for HHH vs Reigns itself, I'm looking forward to it. Say what you will as far as HHH being a draw, but I'm confident that the match itself will be good. HHH consistently delivers in big match enviornments and it doesn't get any bigger than this year's mania.

There is one more possibility, and that's a Cena vs Reigns main event. I actually would like to see that more than Reigns vs HHH/Lesnar. I'm not sure how they would go about it with Cena being injured, and HHH the current champ (Noid will respond to this with a huge explanation), but if Cena will be ready by Mania, then they should definitely do it.

So yeah. While not perfect enjoyed this show a lot. 4/5 Gobbldy Gookers.

01-25-2016, 12:48 AM	#11
Fignuts Hey Mister! Posts: 54,952	I liked this show a lot. Overall, one of the better rumbles of recent years. Preshow tag match was pointless, since Swagger and Henry were both immediately eliminated from the rumble. If rumors are true about the Bubba singles push, then the dudleys should have won, with bubba eliminating d-von to start the split. Last man standing match was fantastic. Early MOTY candidate. Great job by both guys. I think they went with the right choice here. Ambrose should have a good long reign, past Mania, so that he can do for the IC belt what Cena did for the US belt. New Day as awesome as ever, and as uninterested as I am about the Uso's at this point, this was still a great tag match. Brilliant ending too. Kind of want Xavier to take over as tag champ, and give Big E a nice singles push. I don't care for Del Rio. I don't dislike him, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't give a shit about him. He was ok in this match tho. Kalisto is amazing on the other hand, and is like 96' Mysterio. Just an absolute joy to watch. He made this match a lot of fun. Like the IC belt, I think this needs good long reign. The US has switched hands a few times now, and it's already losing all the luster that Cena built it up with. Kalisto going into every match as the underdog but continuously scraping by with his speed and agility would be a really good story, albeit an oft used one for smaller guys. But with the quality of matches he can deliver, I think it would work. Great Divas title match. Very poor finish. Getting duped by Flair interference yet again makes Becky look weak. Not even having to use Natural Selection or the Figure 8 makes Becky look weak. Completely ignoring Becky and her emotional selling post match makes her look completely irrelevant. I wanted Becky to win, but I was okay with Charlotte winning as long as it was a very hard earned clean victory. At least that would keep Becky looking strong for a possible 3-way at Mania. Falling for more Ric Shennanigans just made her look dumb. Also, the whole kiss thing just seemed awkward. I don't know how to feel about all this until it plays out more. If they keep becky looking strong for a mania 3-way I'll be okay with all this, but if they just go with Sasha vs Charlotte, then they'll just be doing the same "Champion vs Challenger and everyone else is a jobber" format that has made the division shallow for decades. The Royal Rumble. I ain't even mad you guys. I thought it was a great rumble. AJ obviously was awesome. Wish he would have actually hit the Styles Clash on someone after teasing it so much. Saving it for his actual match debut I guess. Some great, fun moments. A few spots that could have been taken by someone more interesting, or another surprise entrant, but for the most part was satisfied with the entrants chosen. As for HHH winning, I think it was the right move. Yeah, it was a little predictable but honestly, even when Ambrose, the IC title holder mind you, was in there, they did a fantastic job of making it seem like there was a slim chance they were going with him. Can honestly say I was never 100% certain who was winning. Brilliant idea eliminating Reigns before Ambrose. As far as Mania is concerned, I'm not worried. It's true that HHH isn't a huge marquee name compared to his peers, but I also think people here are underestimating him as well. He's still a big deal to the average wrestling fan, and he has a certain presence, and aura that come from being a long time main eventer. A HHH wrestlemania match always has an epic feel that Bray or Ambrose wouldn't be able to replicate this early in their WWE career. The only other option given all the participants would have been Brock Lesnar. Like #1 Fan said, they have unfinished business, but I don't think most wrestling fans want to see the same main event back to back. At least not Reigns back to back. If it was someone everyone liked you might be able to get away with it, but Reigns is still getting too devisive reactions for it to be a reliable gameplan. HHH vs Reigns isn't my first pick for the mania main event but given all the injuries, and who they had available they made the right choices. And again, the way they went about it was fantastic and had me on the edge of my seat. As for HHH vs Reigns itself, I'm looking forward to it. Say what you will as far as HHH being a draw, but I'm confident that the match itself will be good. HHH consistently delivers in big match enviornments and it doesn't get any bigger than this year's mania. There is one more possibility, and that's a Cena vs Reigns main event. I actually would like to see that more than Reigns vs HHH/Lesnar. I'm not sure how they would go about it with Cena being injured, and HHH the current champ (Noid will respond to this with a huge explanation), but if Cena will be ready by Mania, then they should definitely do it. So yeah. While not perfect enjoyed this show a lot. 4/5 Gobbldy Gookers. Last edited by Fignuts; 01-25-2016 at 01:05 AM.