WWE Royal Rumble Discussion w/Live Updates!

[Bob-O]

At this point I'd have to say Sheamus vs Bryan, since Bryan's the heel Champ. But I have a feeling the championship picture in WWE will be completely different after Elimination Chamber. I think both belts will be changing hands.

[yourcrapsweak]

I didn't like the Rumble. There were too many surprises. 9 out of the 30 were "surprises." That's way too much. Plus the star power REALLY lacked.

[Big Red Machine]

I didn't like the Rumble. There were too many surprises. 9 out of the 30 were "surprises." That's way too much. Plus the star power REALLY lacked.

I felt this too. Their was no build-up this year. No qualifying matches. We didn't know who would be in it going in, and we didn't care about most of them. No one stood out during the match at all, and the only three people who felt important in any way were Sheamus, Jericho, and Orton.

Some of it obviously isn't WWE's fault because they really can't control the injuries, and it sucks that Christian, Del Rio, and Rey were injured (plus WWE wasn't using Taker and Triple H), but this was an opportunity to help make a star. Take the announcers, Ziggler and Big Show out of the match and give those spots to less important guys (the other Uso, Slater, Yoshi Tatsu, Baretta) and have them get eliminated by someone like Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, or Wade Barrett to make one of them look more impressive.

[Bob-O]

I didn't like the Rumble. There were too many surprises. 9 out of the 30 were "surprises." That's way too much. Plus the star power REALLY lacked.

I agree. It makes sense now, too, that they never announced the field. By just saying, "Meh, f*ck it, anyone under contract can have a crack at it..." they could have as many surprises as they cared to book last minute. I didn't think the Star Power was too bad, the runs that Khali and Miz had just made it look bad. All of the surprises didn't help either, one couldn't help but wonder if they were "surprises" or just "the best we could do".

This would have been a great year for an undercarder to go in and clear house. Kind of like they tried to do with "Roid Rage" Carl Winslow er... Ezekiel Jackson, only tried again with somebody containing a little charisma. Not trying to say he has charisma, but where was Mason Ryan? I thought he was supposed to go out and do what Zeke did. His spot must have gone to Jerry Lawler.

In my own fantasy world, we would have seen Dean Ambrose debut in this role. Perfect opportunity for a "Who is this guy!?" debut while Mox tears the house down and eliminates himself. Would have been the PERFECT foundation for an outsider/outcast type of role he's so good at, while burying a field of never-will-be's. :YMDAYDREAM: Oh well...

[yourcrapsweak]

In my own fantasy world, we would have seen Dean Ambrose debut in this role. Perfect opportunity for a "Who is this guy!?" debut while Mox tears the house down and eliminates himself. Would have been the PERFECT foundation for an outsider/outcast type of role he's so good at, while burying a field of never-will-be's. :YMDAYDREAM: Oh well...

Oh man I would have marked HARD.

[badnewzxl]

I didn't like the Rumble. There were too many surprises. 9 out of the 30 were "surprises." That's way too much. Plus the star power REALLY lacked.

I felt this too. Their was no build-up this year. No qualifying matches. We didn't know who would be in it going in, and we didn't care about most of them. No one stood out during the match at all, and the only three people who felt important in any way were Sheamus, Jericho, and Orton.

Some of it obviously isn't WWE's fault because they really can't control the injuries, and it sucks that Christian, Del Rio, and Rey were injured (plus WWE wasn't using Taker and Triple H), but this was an opportunity to help make a star. Take the announcers, Ziggler and Big Show out of the match and give those spots to less important guys (the other Uso, Slater, Yoshi Tatsu, Baretta) and have them get eliminated by someone like Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, or Wade Barrett to make one of them look more impressive.

wouldn't that further diminish the "star power?" How many Rumbles included an abundance of big names during their time? the 92 Rumble, arguably, but a lot of those guys weren't big names yet. 2002 is still my all time fav and the best and it only had Austin, HHH, and Angle, then a few surprises but that was it.

The only thing I disliked about this year's Rumble was that they didn't put Clay and McIntyre in it; it would have been much better with those two instead of Ricardo Rodriguiz (who was funny, but totally unnecessary) and which ever Uso that was. I would have liked to see Riley last as long as (maybe even longer than) Miz; coulda gotten him over a bit more. All the rest I found pretty entertaining:

Cobra v. Socko
Kharma
the commentators being involved (I was hoping Booker would've gotten in somehow, but I didn't really think it'd happen
til King joined in)
Kofi's hand stand

[yourcrapsweak]

I would like a kayfabe explanation of how people got into the Rumble, other than "everybody is eligible" which doesn't explain how they were chosen over other people. Why didn't one of the camera men or the pyro guy enter?

[badnewzxl]

I would like a kayfabe explanation of how people got into the Rumble, other than "everybody is eligible" which doesn't explain how they were chosen over other people. Why didn't one of the camera men or the pyro guy enter?

bc they said every WWE SUPERSTAR was eligible, not every WWE employee....

[yourcrapsweak]

I would like a kayfabe explanation of how people got into the Rumble, other than "everybody is eligible" which doesn't explain how they were chosen over other people. Why didn't one of the camera men or the pyro guy enter?

bc they said every WWE SUPERSTAR was eligible, not every WWE employee....

Didn't know Michael Cole was considered a superstar.

[badnewzxl]

I would like a kayfabe explanation of how people got into the Rumble, other than "everybody is eligible" which doesn't explain how they were chosen over other people. Why didn't one of the camera men or the pyro guy enter?

bc they said every WWE SUPERSTAR was eligible, not every WWE employee....

Didn't know Michael Cole was considered a superstar.

I'm sure "SUPERSTAR" includes all players who participate in the show; the sound guy and the camera man aren't a part of the show, so they aren't Superstars....

[Big Red Machine]

I think that YCW's point was "why did these guys get in, and not McIntyre or Barretta or Mason Ryan. If everyone was truly eligible, why were Dragon and Punk not in the match?

[Big Red Machine]

I didn't like the Rumble. There were too many surprises. 9 out of the 30 were "surprises." That's way too much. Plus the star power REALLY lacked.

I felt this too. Their was no build-up this year. No qualifying matches. We didn't know who would be in it going in, and we didn't care about most of them. No one stood out during the match at all, and the only three people who felt important in any way were Sheamus, Jericho, and Orton.

Some of it obviously isn't WWE's fault because they really can't control the injuries, and it sucks that Christian, Del Rio, and Rey were injured (plus WWE wasn't using Taker and Triple H), but this was an opportunity to help make a star. Take the announcers, Ziggler and Big Show out of the match and give those spots to less important guys (the other Uso, Slater, Yoshi Tatsu, Baretta) and have them get eliminated by someone like Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, or Wade Barrett to make one of them look more impressive.

wouldn't that further diminish the "star power?" How many Rumbles included an abundance of big names during their time? the 92 Rumble, arguably, but a lot of those guys weren't big names yet. 2002 is still my all time fav and the best and it only had Austin, HHH, and Angle, then a few surprises but that was it.

The only thing I disliked about this year's Rumble was that they didn't put Clay and McIntyre in it; it would have been much better with those two instead of Ricardo Rodriguiz (who was funny, but totally unnecessary) and which ever Uso that was. I would have liked to see Riley last as long as (maybe even longer than) Miz; coulda gotten him over a bit more. All the rest I found pretty entertaining:

Cobra v. Socko
Kharma
the commentators being involved (I was hoping Booker would've gotten in somehow, but I didn't really think it'd happen
til King joined in)
Kofi's hand stand

In a way, but it would make someone else look like a star.

Another reason this rumble felt like it didn't have star power because all of the bigger stars aside from Foley and Miz didn't come in until the end. They were not spaced out well at all, and most of them weren't in the ring for anything close to a long time (defining a long time as 15 minutes or so)

[badnewzxl]

I think that YCW's point was "why did these guys get in, and not McIntyre or Barretta or Mason Ryan. If everyone was truly eligible, why were Dragon and Punk not in the match?

why would they risk further injury or embarrassment (after having wrestled matches themselves) by entering the Rumble? What would they have to gain? I'd love more than anyone else for the titles to be unified again, and I'd LOVED it if it were Bryan v. Punk, but it wouldn't make sense for either of them to enter such an unpredictable environment when they have nothing to gain.

Those guys you mentioned didn't get in bc they have absolutely NOTHING going on and would have gotten less of a reaction than the ppl who WERE in. McIntyre I thought should have been in; Clay too, but Barretta and Ryan haven't been established AT ALL yet. At least Mahal, Riley, and even Rodriguez have a character; Reks, Hawkins, etc don't. McIntyre should have taken Uso's place (though I think that spot was originally set up for either DiBiase or Road Warrior Animal (there were rumors that he would be there).

[Big Red Machine]

I think that YCW's point was "why did these guys get in, and not McIntyre or Barretta or Mason Ryan. If everyone was truly eligible, why were Dragon and Punk not in the match?

why would they risk further injury or embarrassment (after having wrestled matches themselves) by entering the Rumble? What would they have to gain? I'd love more than anyone else for the titles to be unified again, and I'd LOVED it if it were Bryan v. Punk, but it wouldn't make sense for either of them to enter such an unpredictable environment when they have nothing to gain.

Those guys you mentioned didn't get in bc they have absolutely NOTHING going on and would have gotten less of a reaction than the ppl who WERE in. McIntyre I thought should have been in; Clay too, but Barretta and Ryan haven't been established AT ALL yet. At least Mahal, Riley, and even Rodriguez have a character; Reks, Hawkins, etc don't. McIntyre should have taken Uso's place (though I think that spot was originally set up for either DiBiase or Road Warrior Animal (there were rumors that he would be there).

And the chance to unify the titles isn't worth the risk of injury? And would that really stop them? You can get injured doing anything in a wrestling ring. Look at Vince.

Jinder Mahal doesn't have a character. We know that he is a rich guy from India who is married to Khali's sister. That is a background. Not a character. Furthermore, Mahal has lost pretty every match he has been in for the past three months, and lost has lost them all soundly. Hunico and the Usos really have nothing going for them either.

And either way, anyone who I mentioned has more going on than Cole or Lawler.

What YCW is saying is that there is no kayfabe sense at work here. It makes no kayfabe sense whatsoever for Michael Cole to be in the Royal Rumble, and very little for Lawler or Booker T or Duggan or Road Dogg to be in it.

[badnewzxl]

I think that YCW's point was "why did these guys get in, and not McIntyre or Barretta or Mason Ryan. If everyone was truly eligible, why were Dragon and Punk not in the match?

why would they risk further injury or embarrassment (after having wrestled matches themselves) by entering the Rumble? What would they have to gain? I'd love more than anyone else for the titles to be unified again, and I'd LOVED it if it were Bryan v. Punk, but it wouldn't make sense for either of them to enter such an unpredictable environment when they have nothing to gain.

Those guys you mentioned didn't get in bc they have absolutely NOTHING going on and would have gotten less of a reaction than the ppl who WERE in. McIntyre I thought should have been in; Clay too, but Barretta and Ryan haven't been established AT ALL yet. At least Mahal, Riley, and even Rodriguez have a character; Reks, Hawkins, etc don't. McIntyre should have taken Uso's place (though I think that spot was originally set up for either DiBiase or Road Warrior Animal (there were rumors that he would be there).

And the chance to unify the titles isn't worth the risk of injury? And would that really stop them? You can get injured doing anything in a wrestling ring. Look at Vince.

Jinder Mahal doesn't have a character. We know that he is a rich guy from India who is married to Khali's sister. That is a background. Not a character. Furthermore, Mahal has lost pretty every match he has been in for the past three months, and lost has lost them all soundly. Hunico and the Usos really have nothing going for them either.

And either way, anyone who I mentioned has more going on than Cole or Lawler.

What YCW is saying is that there is no kayfabe sense at work here. It makes no kayfabe sense whatsoever for Michael Cole to be in the Royal Rumble, and very little for Lawler or Booker T or Duggan or Road Dogg to be in it.

1) Vince isn't a wrestler. Also, knowing what you said, why on earth would either champ join the rumble and double their chances of getting hurt (they'd both already had ONE match; if you can get injured doing anything in the ring, why get in the ring after you've already been there that night?)

2) Jinder Mahal at least stands out; Barretta comes off as just another small, semi-high flyer (though he's good) and Mason Ryan is still just seen as a Batista rip-off (it's not his fault; but WWE hasn't given him ANYTHING yet). McIntyre should have been in, but most of the other guys who didn't get in would have gotten as much of a reaction as Epico and Primo did.

3) Cole is on both Raw and SD! every week and Lawler is a legend AND BOTH are the voices of the WWE. The Universe is much more acquanted with them than they are with Trent Barretta (who has absolutely NOTHING going on; I don't see how you could even say that. Ryan has nothing going on either; nothing whatsoever.

4) judging by your last statement, it makes absolutely no sense for ANY non contracted star to EVER appear in the rumble...yet you yourself pointed out that the surprise entrants are a STAPLE of the Rumble. Then, according to this, the Rumble never "makes sense" so why expect it to? There are always surprise entrants; if it doesn't make sense for Booker and King to be in it (even Cole; they all had several matches last year), then it didn't make since for Diesel to be there last year, the Godfather in 2002, etc.

[Big Red Machine]

why would they risk further injury or embarrassment (after having wrestled matches themselves) by entering the Rumble? What would they have to gain? I'd love more than anyone else for the titles to be unified again, and I'd LOVED it if it were Bryan v. Punk, but it wouldn't make sense for either of them to enter such an unpredictable environment when they have nothing to gain.

Those guys you mentioned didn't get in bc they have absolutely NOTHING going on and would have gotten less of a reaction than the ppl who WERE in. McIntyre I thought should have been in; Clay too, but Barretta and Ryan haven't been established AT ALL yet. At least Mahal, Riley, and even Rodriguez have a character; Reks, Hawkins, etc don't. McIntyre should have taken Uso's place (though I think that spot was originally set up for either DiBiase or Road Warrior Animal (there were rumors that he would be there).

And the chance to unify the titles isn't worth the risk of injury? And would that really stop them? You can get injured doing anything in a wrestling ring. Look at Vince.

Jinder Mahal doesn't have a character. We know that he is a rich guy from India who is married to Khali's sister. That is a background. Not a character. Furthermore, Mahal has lost pretty every match he has been in for the past three months, and lost has lost them all soundly. Hunico and the Usos really have nothing going for them either.

And either way, anyone who I mentioned has more going on than Cole or Lawler.

What YCW is saying is that there is no kayfabe sense at work here. It makes no kayfabe sense whatsoever for Michael Cole to be in the Royal Rumble, and very little for Lawler or Booker T or Duggan or Road Dogg to be in it.

1) Vince isn't a wrestler. Also, knowing what you said, why on earth would either champ join the rumble and double their chances of getting hurt (they'd both already had ONE match; if you can get injured doing anything in the ring, why get in the ring after you've already been there that night?)

2) Jinder Mahal at least stands out; Barretta comes off as just another small, semi-high flyer (though he's good) and Mason Ryan is still just seen as a Batista rip-off (it's not his fault; but WWE hasn't given him ANYTHING yet). McIntyre should have been in, but most of the other guys who didn't get in would have gotten as much of a reaction as Epico and Primo did.

3) Cole is on both Raw and SD! every week and Lawler is a legend AND BOTH are the voices of the WWE. The Universe is much more acquanted with them than they are with Trent Barretta (who has absolutely NOTHING going on; I don't see how you could even say that. Ryan has nothing going on either; nothing whatsoever.

4) judging by your last statement, it makes absolutely no sense for ANY non contracted star to EVER appear in the rumble...yet you yourself pointed out that the surprise entrants are a STAPLE of the Rumble. Then, according to this, the Rumble never "makes sense" so why expect it to? There are always surprise entrants; if it doesn't make sense for Booker and King to be in it (even Cole; they all had several matches last year), then it didn't make since for Diesel to be there last year, the Godfather in 2002, etc.

1. Because the guarantee of a World Title match at Wrestlemania, the prestige or winning a rumble, and their desire to compete and prove that they are the best would outweigh the negatives?

3. Yes, they both have a lot going for them... as announcers. Should Josh Matthews be in the Royal Rumble, too? Yes, Lawler is a legend, but we already have a few legends for this year (Road Dogg, Foley, Duggan). I don't think Lawler being in their for a minute made the Rumble for anyone.

4. Yes, there is the concept of the surprise, and surprises get people to buy next year's show... but from a kayfabe point of view... why the hell was Michael Cole in this match? It doesn't make kayfabe sense to give a spot in a match like this to an announcer (especially one who isn't a trained wrestler).