Yeah, 30 also beating 1 is also very strange face booking. They failed at every aspect of that really.
It was all quite predictable in the end, bloodline was a good payoff though. Sets up a zayn opens vs bloodline title at WM Interesting to see where Jey sub plot goes Also what a waste for the returning Chelsea Green, but it leads to her apparently playing a 'Karen' type character
Chelsea Green is boring af anyway and not great in the ring. Asuka was the coolest part of the women's rumble.
Don’t know if it’s because I haven’t watched it in a while or that I was watching on a dodgy stream but I thought the mens rumble was quite sloppy
This was my thinking. A lot of it didn't feel very fluid at all. There was a pretty big elimination about midway (maybe it was Lashley?) and it happened during an entrance of another wrestler - how can you have the guy who put Lesnar out the Rumble drop out when you're splitting people's attention with an entrance. Feels wasteful. I didn't understand why Dom Mysterio stayed in as long as he did, though I guess they played him as the slimy heel so Rhodes could come in and get a big cheer putting him away. The guy is shit though, imo. I mean he spent his entrance trying to rip his dad's mask and couldn't come close. He didn't even make anything of it - just kept subtly trying until he had to just give up. The podcaster is more fluid than him. It probably had the makings of a great match but the sloppiness knocks it into OK territory. They should have used Rey not being able to compete as a way to put in a new competitor at the end. Just to shake things up and make Rhodes work for it a bit more. Maybe didn't have anybody to return, I guess. Though that feels odd. Randy Orton showing up would have been interesting given the backstory. Guess he couldn't though.
Just as a side note: I’m ok without a lot of surprises in the Rumble matches. Think they’ve gone a bit over kill in recent years particularly the legends. Unless you are struggling to fill the Rumble (with the huge roster you have!) I’d be pretty miffed if I was for example say Sami Zayn and not in the Rumble match but X-Pac, Road Dogg, Val Venis, Lance Storm & Steve Blackman were!
It was a quite fun men's rumble, without being particularly great. Decent split to the acts and a couple of lovely moments in. Gunther was great because Gunther is great. I understand why they kept Sami out. Women's was a big let down, Asuka a bright spot and Rhea the obvious (and correct winner), but sloppy and spent far too much time in the first act building around the bust that is the horribly named Bayley stable. The Wyatt stuff in between was absolutely atrocious, and I count the Women's title in that. How you have someone as good as Bianca and make her an afterthought to yet more of the Wyatt x Bliss spooky bollocks is pathetic. I just don't understand how people enjoy the Bray lore. That Pitch Black match was... End of the show was excellent, but the rest was meh overall, and pretty much summed up HHH's booking, being propped up by the bloodline story.
Yeah you’ve hit the nail on the head there with the lack of fluidity. There was just a few times like Drew going to grab sheamus to help him when he was on the outer ropes it wasn’t fluid at all. I know he’s getting on a bit now too but Booker T’s moves just lacked a bit of something too
To be fair, no Rumble is fluid. It's a complex thing with lots of moving parts based on timing. It's not exactly expected to ever be a good match, as that's just never going to happen. The appeal is an unknown person is about to walk into a building. As far as wrestling goes, it's essentially if you're a wrestler in favour you come in and hit 4-5 of your signature moves until the next person comes in.
I do know how royal rumbles work as I watched wwe religiously for 20 years, maybe it is just that I haven’t watched it for 4 or 5 years now that those things just stuck out to me a bit more
Sorry, but X-Pac and Steve Blackman can happily turn up every year. Along with Bob Holly, they are probably the most understed guys WWE ever had on the roster.
Sheamus and McIntyre seemed a bit poorly done. They kept trying to work together but to very little gain. It didn't ever feel like they were clearing house - one moment they ran over to pull someone off trying to eliminate that fat one only to then start beating down on the fat guy after making the save.
I've been a big Wyatt apologist and have been someone who thought creative just couldn't book him properly/execute on his vision, but every time he's been given the stage to shine, he's completely botched it. This entire feud was carried by LA Knight. His last notable feud was carried by Cena. He couldn't make it work with Rollins and Orton, who are more often than not, reliable dance partners. At some point I've just accepted that Bray is the problem.
His first iteration was his best (not Husky Harris). The cult leader with no spooky powers other than his ability to brainwash people. THAT is a good idea, and very interesting. B movie horror stories don't work unless you have people that look like monsters playing the roles. Bray Wyatt looks like a dumpling.
Concur that I haven’t really enjoyed anything Wyatt has done after the Wyatt Family. Bit surprised they haven’t tried to go back to that formula and have him recruited a new family. Gotta be a couple of decent big dudes in NXT who can grow long beards and would benefit from Wyatt as a mouth piece
yeah I suppose I get that - from a personal point of view professional point of view he was the worker of the group too
