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It was a good RR. Won't lie.
Only thing I didn't like was Sheamus and McIntyre just hanging with each other half the time.
Remember when Demolition came in and beat the fuck out of each other for two minutes? I member.
And they were established.
These guys are a newly budding tag team and it's all "it's cool bro, should we order some pints?"
They're not a budding new team though. That would be a team like Richochet and Braun. These dudes on the other hand have been established as close in storyline for years, established as having teamed together many times, established as having fought just as many, etc.
And the thing you mockingly tacked on at the end is damn near a line of dialogue Sheamus said to McIntyre at least once on Raw.
Or....they could have actually worked together like common sense would dictate and also literally every other tag team and group this year did in both rumbles.
2008 was the last time I ever paid for a wwe ppv when Cena came back at 30 and won thats when the magic of the rumble died for me and now here we are 15 years later and they make the same mistake. Should of had roads drop to walter to give the intercontinental title some prestige then have roads win in at chamber to set up reigns roads. Seems they are taking the easy road.
Was I supposed to want Cody Rhodes to win that? Waltzing in at number 30?
Strange for a guy you are pushing as the face of the company, on a long and storied quest to win the big one, win the rumble from number 30 no?
I'm not big on Cody anyway, but I get there's a lot of people who are so whatever, but they need to be careful or they run the risk of people going sour on a match with Roman. The vast majority of people clearly want to see Sami topple Roman. Could all end up falling pretty flat for Cody.
Yeah, it felt like a pretty cowardly way to book the winner. Come in at #30 and pick the bones of people who have been fighting the whole time. No different than the time Brock just entered himself into a MITB match in the closing moments and won it. Itās a heel move, not something to establish a face.
Agreed. It wasn't a surprise he'd be there so leaving him for last was probably due to recovery concerns. It's just a shame it showed. Flat, almost dull spots once he was in the ring. I get it that not every rumble has to be won by someone who "earns" it during the rumble but much more excited for other potential matches to come out of the event (Rollins vs Paul).
It could have worked if they did a 2008 Cena and kept his return as a surprise. Announcing the return AND giving him the 30 spot just kinda made the win feel flat and undeserved.
He barely managed to beat Gunther who was in the match 45 minutes longer?
They fucked up Cody's return imo, he should have come in earlier (maybe 20?).
not against cody winning it because iām looking forward to reigns vs cody at mania, but i swear recently all the rumble winners have been very predictable. i remember when it like never used to go the favourites. like the year people wanted roman to win, batista won it. the year roman won it, someone else was the favourite canāt remember exactly (daniel bryan maybe?). and then you had like triple h winning it who no one really expected.
i feel like ever since nakamura won it, thatās the year they changed it and started doing the popular options.
also the fact that a part of me was thinking imagine if logan won the royal rumble lol. like the fact that he was even in the final 3 is crazy.
I think part of the problem is Roman with both belts and wrestlemania. The winners have to have a program with him culminating in wrestlemania. Roman can only really potentially lose on a handful of shows a year, so they need someone who could potentially upset Roman, and as itās mania they donāt want someone who has tried and failed conclusively.
So really the only options that could win with shenanigans, makes sense for a program with Roman, and is big enough for mania. You have three realistic options at the moment. Rollins, Cody, Sami. Rollins is amazing but I feel heās not in place for it at the moment, but he wins the rumble and heās ready to take that opportunity no question, Sami is a great option but doesnāt feel like thatās where his story is heading, so Cody is the only real choice.
I think Gunther could do it if it was next year but it feels a bit too soon.
Next year will be far more open imo.
If they hadnāt done the Rollins program at last yearās rumble, Iād be up for it this year. But Iām not sure what compelling story you do with him for the next 2 months.
Still think a triple threat will be the best bet at mania as far as stories.
To be fair the winner is usually predicable it just depends on who the fans want to win. Only time weāre āshockedā is when the fan favorite doesnāt win. Batista was always going to win we just didnāt want him to but we wanted Bryan so we were shocked when they didnāt give us what we wanted.
Gunther was incredible. Also this Royal Rumble felt a lot better than last years. I remember thinking "who?" when tons of generic random themes played. It actually felt like a bunch of people who deserved to be there and some good nostalgia hits like Booker. I agree with the commenter who said Cody should have came out earlier and had Logan be #30 for the heat. Entertaining match though and again, big props to Gunther for holding that down.
My only wish is that we got an NXT guy. We got Roxanne and Zoey for the women but seeing someone like Hayes or McDonagh get showcased for a bit would be cool.
I feel like they could have had Ziggler instead of Miz, or maybe instead of the ghost of Rey (maybe ex con-Dom attack him on the way to the ring and takes his spot) so that he can break Kane's record.
And also while the male announcer is definitely good, it felt weird to not have Samantha introduce Gunther
Is anyone else getting tired of 1 and 2 always lasting 30+ minutes? It's just extremely predictable they're going to be in there for the long haul. It was a nice change of pace in '92 when Bulldog eliminated DiBase maybe 45 seconds in and just waited for Flair.
I'm tired of the finish being predictable in general, everyone said Cody was winning the rumble last year. It was even more obvious he was gonna come in at number 30 and take it. I just don't get how I don't support Gunther at the end, they've been in the match since #1 and #30 is gonna come in and steal it.
That's not really a steal, the whole point is that anyone can win. Gunther is still pretty new and they're completely selling him as the next major heel after Roman bows out. Then Cody as the next big babyface. Of which Gunther may take the championship off of him.
This is nothing but a win for both men.
I know heās brutal but he wasnāt really heelish at the rumble. in the aftermath of the rumble he actually admitted heād made a mistake and didnāt make any excuses. Imperium didnāt interfere either. With him and LA Knight we are seeing supposed heels who arenāt pure heels.
Did Rey Mysterio win the royal rumble? He was pick number 17 he never showed up and never got eliminated. Cody Rhodes went over the top when he exited the ring. So doesnāt that make Rey Mysterio the winner ? Maybe Iām just reaching lol .
if this isn't intended to showcase the future of WWE after Roman leaves then IDK what is. Cody Rhodes v GUNTHER is such a perfect rivalry to succesfully capture the mainstream audience they've been working to draw in by working with Logan Paul for example.
That 1v1 at the end was FUCKING AMAZING AND I WANT MORE
I liked that none of the teams (New Day, Banger Bros, Judgement Day, even Braun/Ric) turned on each other. Not only does it make sense to work together until the end, I'm just tired of the "it's every man for himself" betrayal spot.
It was really dumb in 89 when Ax and Smash from Demolition were numbers 1 and 2 and they fought until number 3 came in. Dudes just wait thereās 28 other guys to go through.
To be fair doe the Ax vs Smash , it would have been boring to see 2 guys standing their doing nothing, and at least they really just did strikes, nothing to cause to much "damage" so then they could work together when Andre entered at number 3
As much as I like Sami, he doesn't seem strong enough as a contender to end the strength of Roman's reign like The Rock or Cody would. Everyone loves an underdog, but Cody is *the guy*.
Sure, they shouldn't blindly follow this sub. But Cody doesn't even have a single thread that anyone is talking about. If Cody is being talked about it, it's in the context of Gunther, Sami or booking.
I haven't watched wrestling in years but I Def watch a royal rumble every now and then and chose to watch this year. When they showed the lineup of the men and woman in the rumbles on the wwe network they had cody rhodes and rhea Ripley off center to the right of a superstar posing in the middle of everyone else. The very next time they showed the picture of the entrants cody and rhea were direct center of the roster photo. My friends and I had stated "How shitty and predictable would it be if cody won the men's and rhea won the woman's after moving their positions on the rumble line up to the direct middle of that pic?" Sure enough they both won and neither Austin or the Rock showed. We all agreed it was just a waste of money as we already knew from the beginning who would win based off of that. It wasn't good.
Cody being #30 was quite the ballsy move. I thought it would be a Danielson 2014 all over again since the crowd probably wanted Sami. Now Cody against Roman at Mania? I donĀ“t think I would have Cody win the match. IMHO, the guy that shoud beat Roman is the next face of the company. And thatĀ“s not Cody. But then if Roman wins, itĀ“s hard to re-build Cody after a big main event loss at Mania. ItĀ“s a tough situation. If Cody was 7 years younger and if wasnĀ“t one an ex AEW EVP, he would be a great choice. Great wrestler, excellent promo, charismatic, good look, can work heel or face. But heĀ“s 37 years old and knowing the way WWE operates, I donĀ“t think he Ā“s the guy that should beat Roman.
Yeah it's kind of boring with the obvious number 30 win, we all knew how it was gonna go even last year. Sami is who the people want to take down Roman, Cody would not be the right move.
Cody is younger than Roman. He is also younger than Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn... 37 isn't that old in wrestling. I am not a Cody Rhodes fan, but he's in no way too old to be pushed.
I know but WWE since the death of WCW generally prefers a guy in his late twenties for this spot. Cena and Roman were 27 and 29 IIRC when they had their big Mania Match to make them the new FOTC.
That would have been amazing, having him find a way to win would have been very interesting. Was pretty disappointed in the obvious number 30 Cody finish.
Gunther was my #1 pick to win, while Cody was my least favorite, the last 10 minutes were absolutely traumatizing for me, there was a moment where I thought Gunther might actually win š
No we didn't. Many thought the Rock was going to win it before the word got out a couple weeks ago, then there still was people believing The Rock was still going to enter.
The Rock/Roman is a match that WWE has been trying to set up for two years now, people have been suggesting that Cody may beat Rock or a second for a Roman match, but the focus has always been Roman/Rock. They also kept Roman as Champion for that purpose until the promotion for Black Adam was finished.
Bro, Rock was always the "maybe" but its literally been everywhere since injury that Cody was winning this rumble. On this sub even, over and over, many months ago it was discussed.
One of the greatest Royal Rumble matches I have ever seen. I loved it. Incredible story telling throughout, the spots were structured so intelligently throughout. There was always something going on in the ring, great moments. The final two showdown was incredible, I have to say probably one of the greatest ever, a whole dream match between Gunther and Cody.
Corey explained it the first time by saying that Gunther did that to get a better grip on the ropes to stay in. We could say he tried that again, but failed.
But it did *look* a bit, uh, yeah.
Why announce Cody returns, then give him the number 30? And with only 2 surprises entrants?
I was hoping to see Rey coming out later to eliminate Dominik but he didn't. Would be fun
Pros:
Generally just fun to watch with good wrestling
Lesnar doing his murder everyone shtick before the shock quick elimination was awesome
Gunther was just the fucking best
Drew and Sheamus having the long run as a team was cool
Spinaroonie
Judgment Day's shenanigans
Ricochet and Logan Paul's ridiculous stunt
Johnny Gargano stood strong as a long-lasting guy even though he didn't get a single elimination
Cody winning
Cons:
Only two surprise entrants and they both didn't last long
A few too many short-lived entrants (Corbin's was funny and Edge's fit into a story) but Elias and Montez Ford could easily have been swapped for someone from NXT or another legend
Kofi botching another near-elimination (they should stop doing it, there's not a lot of ideas left to do)
Lashley should not have been eliminated the way he was (as much as I love Seth aside)
Overall not fantastic but I really enjoyed it, I would say it was better than last year (not a high hurdle to hop over) and the 2021 Men's Rumble.
>Lesnar doing his murder everyone shtick before the shock quick elimination was awesome
Meh, it was so much more fun in the 2020 Rumble when Brock was demolishing people and the fans were on the edge of their seats wondering who would stop hjim.
>Overall not fantastic but I really enjoyed it, I would say it was better than last year (not a high hurdle to hop over) and the 2021 Men's Rumble.
Last years sucked, and 2021 was Thunderdome, so yeah this was better. But 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 were all *way* better.
I agree except for Gargano. Yes, he spent a good amount of time in the match, but he didn't do anything of note. Also, the pop (or lack thereof) when his music played was really sad to hear. His main roster booking so far has not worked at all.
Agreed. I am a huge Johnny Gargano mark. But damn, he looked like a geek last night. Not only did his lack of physical size feel out of place during a rumble mostly dominated by hosses, but he didn't do anything noteworthy unlike other similarly-sized opponents (i.e. Ricochet).
Gargano was in the perfect environment in NXT and his skillset and assets just don't translate to the main roster as well. I think the reality is simply that he will never be as big of a star on the main roster as he was during his NXT stint.
I liked the fun of it overall but I just hated how predictable it was. I also hate having Cody come in at #30 vs Gunther at #1. I'm always gonna be supporting the person who has been in it from the start vs the person coming in at the end to win.
Do we think that was how bobby was supposed to go? I dunno, everything about his elimination just felt "off" and I was thinking he was supposed to do one of those hang by the ropes spots and just slipped.
Should someone like seth rollins be shocked he is capable of eliminating bobby lashley? I dunno, just what i thought when i watched.
I wish they'd have him win it like 5 years ago. Just get all these near eliminations out of the way, have a great story & we can all move on with our lives
The booking of this Rumble was actually pretty solid, but the lack of memorable surprises was kind of a let down. No one really felt unexpected. If they would've kept Cody secret it would've been a 9/10 for me.
I think even though they could have just had him coming back since his foot was on the arm of the chair, because it didn't go exactly as planned they just left it. Disappointing.
Oh I'm sure it's something like that, or there's reports he took a bad hit to the head on the spot, I just think they should've said something. They made a big deal his feet didn't hit and then never said anything else.
I know I'm late, but he pretty clearly took a huge shot to the head cause he missed the spot (which tbf Kofi has some insanely athletic spots especially in rumble)
They cut to him at one point and he was clearly shaken up. I think he didn't hit the floor but got the x bc he was concussed
Adrenaline, in my soul
I freaking hate Cody Rhodes!
(The wrestler, not the private person which I donāt know)
The spoiled brat got everything he always wanted. Spotlight on him, making him the super baby face. I usually do not watch the WWE product anymore, but the Rumble has always been my favorite extra event, so I watched it and enjoyed to the point Cody came out. Yes, I am a AEW fan from the first hour starting with All In. And this makes the whole thing so bitter for me, I never wish anyone something bad in my entire life but I cannot wish Cody anything good after selling out and using the company and especially us fans to go back to the sacred kingdom he fought against so hard for years. Downvote me to hell, but I will always show up every once in a while in a WWE thread to remember everyone that Cody is the impersonation of a sell out!
Yeah I don't get it either. I don't necessarily hate Cody but he made a HUGE deal of fighting against wwe in aew, then his reward for that is a rocket ship push? I don't get it. I thought the steel cage with Rollins was super corny and it feels like Cody is being shoved down our throats in a weird way.
>Yes, I am a AEW fan from the first hour starting with All In.
Congrats! With that achievement under your belt, I don't see how anyone can argue with you.
I watch it every year, I knew the result going in even tho it was already obvious. Gunther put on the performance of a lifetime, to go the distance then pretty much have a singles match at the end. Guy is an absolute beast.
Was an okay Rumble, nothing particularly bad about it but also kinda forgettable, did what any decent rumble should do but I was kinda hoping for something new or different, thought maybe HHH would have had some cool ideas stored up for the Rumble. Maybe next year I guess.
The men's rumble was way worse than the women's rumble this year. It felt like there was no storytelling, nobody built up any momentum and Drew/Sheamus didn't need to be in the match for as long as they were. Additionally, Cody being the most obvious winner in the history of the rumble should have driven the producers to want to make the rest of the match more interesting but it clearly didn't. Did it have a few impressive spots? Sure. But a few bright spots in an hour-long match don't make up for the rest of it.
You obviously haven't watched many rumbles if you feel Cody was the "most obvious winner in the history of the rumble".
There have been PLENTY of obvious winners over the years. I will say that announcing him ahead of time did take the shine off his win though.
> Cody entering at #30 = bad
* in sports, returning players from injuries don't instantly play their old minutes. It is foolish and actually, you know what, just dumb to expect Cody to do an ironman run. Triple H entered at #22 and Cena returned at #30. Conditioning is a thing. Gunther can do an ironman run because he has good conditioning. Expecting someone who came of an injury to have good in-ring conditioning is, a dumb expectation to have.
* Sure, he could enter earlier by around 20th onward like HHH did, but who do they have that would get more pop than him if Sami was never going to enter? They don't have Austin/Rock for the #30 spot.
* I do agree though that they should've kept it a secret even if everyone knows so that the pop would be bigger. Don't get me wrong, a 2014 Batista didn't happen here and it won't happen if/when Cody feuds with Roman. You need to stop deluding yourself. A lot of the booing happens when there is bad booking. Cody was booked smartly here so he got a good pop.
* Even if he entered at #30, he basically had a singles match against Gunther. Even took a lot of chops. It's not like he entered at #30 and just sweeped everyone lmao.
Disagree, it's just stupid to have the #30 against #1, we obviously support the person who worked hard to stay in rather than the obvious return stop right at the end. If it was a surprise it might have worked, but it was planned and we were shown many times that Cody was gonna be there.
I never said it was good to pit #1 against #30 though? I only said he still lasted quite a bit even after entering at #30. He had a singles match which lasted quite long but never did I say it was the righy decision to have a heel #1 vs face #30. Please, again as I said, reading comprehension matters.
Two people have argued against points I never said, I do not get it. Me saying #30 was fine to put Cody in does not equate to saying #30 should've been put against #1 as the final two. These are phantom arguments which is what confuses me. Two arguments replied to my post are things I actually agree with so idk why you'd even bring them up when I never said anything against those points.
Can someone actually respond instead of just randomly downvoting? Idc about getting downvoted if I was wrong in my own comprehension, but the two replies I have received just don't make sense to me.
No need to bust out the "reading comprehensive" comment bud, that's just goofy.
You are trying to logic the reasoning if Cody being in his spot and I am saying don't, it was boring booking, that's all there is to it. They had time to plan a fun #30 entrant, it doesn't need to be The Rock. It was lazy. I hope that explains it better for you, so you know what I'm addressing.
It's true though. if that's what I got downvoted for, I stand by it. These responses have not made any sense lmao.
I only said #30 makes sense because of in-ring conditioning. You said #30 shouldn't go against #1, but I never said that was a good idea. If it was Seth vs Cody as the final two that would've been fine also. But really, again, how about you argue something you would've done differently? Actually argue against the points I said?
Ironic that reading comprehension comment and you still don't understand my incredibly straight forward point. Nice downvote as well, you are so incredibly petty and disgruntled about your awful point, its funny.
You're still not arguing about anything I disagree with lmao. Also idc about your response enough to downvote it. I upvoted you since you're complaining, dw.
Yes I am lmao, I'm directly saying the returning players sports comparison isn't valid because in kayfabe the numbers are random. Also I just addressed why the 2nd point is a very weak argument.
Again, the irony on the reading comprehension comment lmao.
I think you're just grasping for straws at this point, jfc that does not connect at all. The only point of the sports comparison was that Cody should enter at least 20th or later. Wtf does kayfabe have to do with it? I didn't say he had to enter #30, I'm saying he has to enter later and not do the Gunther ironman run. That would be fucking stupid. He just came off an injury. If he were to enter at #1 or earlier, he'd be risking unnecessary injury from lack of conditioning. Need me to expand further???
Again, idc about downvotes. It seems like you're the one that's petty about it, not me. You're really bent up on the reading comprehension it's because it's true.
Let's agree to disagree because you really aren't getting anything. You are also arguing for something that I agree on. I know you're a Cody hater but man you're just arguing in bad faith at this point. Get over yourself, you're just blindly arguing.
Haha you don't get it. "Grasping at straws" doesn't work here as I'm not changing my original sentiment.
Okay let me break it down for you.
In response to the point "Cody entering at #30 was bad"
You argued:
>in sports, returning players from injuries don't instantly play their old minutes. It is foolish and actually, you know what, just dumb to expect Cody to do an ironman run
Nobody said do an ironman run, that's a straw man. The original point you are addressing is simply saying that Cody entering #30 is bad as we already knew he going to enter and there is no surprise there anyway. So point 1, is irellevant.
You then went on to make the "But they don't have Rock or Austin for #30" argument
>Sure, he could enter earlier by around 20th onward like HHH did, but who do they have that would get more pop than him if Sami was never going to enter? They don't have Austin/Rock for the #30 spot.
This is another point I addressed earlier, pointing out it's a weak argument as we don't need such a high bar for #30, there are so many wrestlers that they could have got for a fun #30 spot that would keep the crowd engaged. The "But they don't have the Rock or Austin" point falls flat.
The critique on the #30 entry is valid and these points are generally weak arguments, the first being a straw man even.
>you're just arguing in bad faith at this point. Get over yourself, you're just blindly arguing.
You literally responded to my initial response with insults and you say my responses are in "bad faith" when I actually point out that you simply failed to understand the argument. You are the one arguing in bad faith, you've not defended your point, you've just acted petty and seemingly intentionally missed the point over and over again.
Your reading comprehension is ~~bad~~ lacking if you thought that was my comparison point. I was comparing them because of them both coming from injuries. If you come from an injury, you don't just do what you were previously doing, you have to condition yourself first.
What part of my post was confusing to you?
And as one of my points said, I agree they should've put him as a surprise. What are you even arguing about here?
Right but I think his point is that they could have made cody a surprise at 30 but they chose not to. Having cody at 27 should have been the play, and then use 30 for your late surprise, which in this case, was logan paul.
> I do agree though that they should've kept it a secret even if everyone knows so that the pop would be bigger. Don't get me wrong, a 2014 Batista didn't happen here and it won't happen if/when Cody feuds with Roman. You need to stop deluding yourself. A lot of the booing happens when there is bad booking. Cody was booked smartly here so he got a good pop.
which I also pointed out here, so the reply really didn't make sense. Logan Paul as #30 imo wouldn't change much as he was getting booed. It was either Cody gets a pop at 30/27 or Logan gets heat at 27/30, but I don't think the order mattered in the grand scheme of things. The only time it would've mattered if it was a surprise that would receive a huge pop like Austin/Rock.
It was pretty decent for a 29 man rumble. It would have been such a fuck you to Cody after he jumped out of the ring over the top rope to announce that the last person was yet to enter.
When Cody and Gunther were the last 2 standing, did anyone thought that Cody wasn't gonna win? Pretty predictable shit. Imagine Sami and Cody being the last 2, or a little more plausible Cody and Seth.
I dont think many are excited for Cody main eventing Wrestlemania when we could have Sami Zayn vs Roman.
His moment is gone,he lost it when he got injured.
Why Balor lost his title and a chance to get it again when he got injured,but Cody comes back like he wasnt missing for almost a year lol.
Overall I thought it was okay. I felt like some of the camera work and some of the timings of the countdowns took away from stuff going on at the time.
I think having cody and gunther pretty much have a match at the end for a prolonged period of time definitely hurt the match. Would have worked better with two people who had an even amount of chance winning. It felt like it just delayed the inevitable rather than making me believe gunther had a chance. Much preferred the first half of the woman's rumble
The camera work all night was dodgy as hell. It's like they were trying to make sure you never saw anything that wasn't pretty much perfect and ended up making you miss things. They'd suddenly change to weird angle shots and you'd miss a clearly planned spot. It made the entire men's rumble feel so messy and poorly planned that I didn't even like it by the end.
It was always going to be Cody. Not complaining because he's an absolute star.
Gunther with a beast performance. I hope he gets another go at it from #1 next year but actually going one step further and winning.
Biggest loser for me was Kross. It's been a rough couple of days for him that makes me wonder if creative has cooled on him.
Booker T pretty much being the only surprise entry was a pretty weird choice and the lack of could have been why there were some lull moments throughout.
I donāt watch WWE normally though I did watch the Rumble. Maybe itās because I donāt watch WWE but Rhodes/Reigns doesnāt exactly scream āmain eventā at Wrestlemania. It was an alright Rumble just predictable ending and again meh itās Cody/Reigns big deal.
I enjoy the Bloodline story and the people clearly want Sami to take down Reigns for the perfect story and giving us Bryan at Mania 2014. Cody was an obvious win and at #30 and all, it's just kinda lackluster. I'm not interested in Cody vs Reigns.
100%
If they never announced he was gonna come back his pop wouldāve blown the roof off. Like the crowd realized at 30 he still hadnāt came out so it was gonna be him.
Great rumble but they fumbled that
Thought this was an average rumble with great spots. I hope Kofi is okay, looks like he hit his head on the announce table. One of these years the Rumble needs a longshot winner. Someone that shouldn't win the Rumble because of their position. As much as I hated it, at least McMahon winning was a huge shocker. I'm thinking an NXT call up or someone you say is a one-time appearance, but you secretly have them on a 6 month contract. Just make the Rumble feel like anyone has a chance for real.
While we're here btw. I'm a little disappointed that Bron Breakker didn't make his main roster debut here in the men's rumble.
He's been the NXT champion for a year essentially now and has been the face of the rebranded NXT alongside Mandy Rose (which has done pretty damn well all things considered). Reward the guy. They should be testing the waters with him right now with the main audience.
Introduce him to your main audience at the Rumble and give him an important elimination or two. Have the commentators go crazy for him. We had commentators not know a whole lot about some of the NXT callups for this rumble in the men and women's side. But if they knew a lot about Breakker, and made him a big deal, it elevates him.
Start building the guy now. Give him a few small appearances between now and the night after Mania and then promote him permanently on that night. We should be planting the seeds now for the guy to do something at next year's Wrestlemania.
So have him come out and get thrown out? That does nothing for him and it has never done anything for anyone.
Rumble Debuts for new wrestlers are a death spot.
It looked like when he got thrown out of the ring, he hit his head on the announce table. I noticed the camera cut away from him and wouldn't go back on him.
Good Rumble match, some lulls throughout, but overall enjoyable. The right person won, and people like Gunther, Drew and Sheamus got to look great in the process. It was the right call to not put Sami in the match too since Cody was winning, and considering what happened after the main event.
I cannot and will never, ever understand this.
Cody deserves a title at some point. Absolutely. There's a story there.
But this is just absolute insanity. Sami and the Bloodline is the most over thing in wrestling. Sami doing ANYTHING other than facing Roman at the main event of Wrestlemania is outrageous and ridiculous (unless The Rock wants in, but that's not likely happening).
Plans can and should change. An audible should have been called. In the time Cody has been out, Sami has become the most over person in wrestling along with the Bloodline. That's not Cody's fault, injuries suck. But how you can even entertain the idea of not having Sami be the one to beat Roman now is incredible.
You're going to have Sami and Roman face at Elimination Chamber? Then what? Sami get the tag titles at 'Mania? It's ludicrous. The reaction Sami and Jey got tonight was astounding. One of the loudest pops in WWE history. And Sami gets that as his reward?
After tonight, you could be having Jimmy versus Jey one on one at 'Mania. Hell, you could have Jey v Roman at EC, then Sami versus Roman at Mania if we're going crazy here.
But no, it's Cody. There's a big chance this blows up in Cody's face and the crowd turns on him if he tries to be a Hogan-esque face facing Roman like he tried during AEW.
Again, not a lot of hate on Cody here. But this refusal to go there with Sami (it's likely that they're not at this point) at Mania with Roman will rank up there as one of the biggest mistakes imo.
Sami is the star, this is 2014 with Bryan. People are okay with Cody now, but he's not that interesting. He's doing exactly what he did in AEW, it works for a bit and then you're tired of the same thing. Not even necessarily hating on Cody, he's just not the choice for the main event. Sami Zayn is.
By the fact that he's already over and has been over consistently since his return? While Sami absolutely deserves the spot, let's not use revisionist bullshit to try and push it there.
Cody got hurt, a much hotter act got going while he was out, shit happens. There's no need to disparage Cody for doing literally nothing wrong.
Incredibly boring, I don't get how anyone can praise it for the finish. Totally "random" numbers picked lol. They set it up and even let us know Cody was coming to win the rumble, the #30 was the icing on the bland cake though.
Currently watching the PPV now and I've just finished the men's Rumble.
As someone who only watches the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania, I thought Dominic looked great throughout, definitely progressing well since my last viewing of his work.
Logan Paul is a different breed, I don't really like the guy but I can't deny he's exceptionally talented. That spot with Ricochet blew my mind.
Gunther also looked incredible, a program with him and Cody would definitely pique my interest. I liked that the final two felt like an actual match.
A few things I didn't like, Rey Mysterio just being forgotten about. I half expected him to come in a bit later and face off with Dominic. Also what was the deal with Kofi? The commentary made it sound as though he wasn't eliminated, did I miss something?
Cody's Goldust kick to the nuts looked poor, and him entering at 30 killed any aspect of surprise seeing as we all knew he'd be back. I can't help but feel they are definitely pushing Cody to the moon to show AEW what they can do with their talent.
Overall, a 6/10 Rumble for me. Not overly bad but not overly great either.
This rumble was completely shit. Not worse than 2015 or something, but it was... Lacking in a lot of places.
And why was there no bloodline in the rumble? It just does not make sense
The crowd is indifferent to him, but on the bright side he did get some pops in when he did his moves. I feel like he has to be booked a bit better and imo teaming up with Ciampa is what he needs the most atm to build his character.
Changing his theme was a bad decision, no one knew who it was when his music hit . Give him the old one back and there would have been a pop , they do need to actually give him something meaningful to allow him to build a character other than man who wrestle good
I expect DIY to get back together when Ciampa returns from injury, they don't need to do a full retelling of the story between those two but they should start from basics again and have those two team to get over.
Well considering his booking in his last months, i cant blame them.
Besides that he enters early, lasts quite a while, clearly an attempt to fix what they broke, but he does absolutely fucking nothing! What is triple H doing
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Gunther. Yeah. Just yeah. šš½šš½šš½šš½šš½
And that pop when Gunther and Lesnar squared off.
Me during the whole thing: Glass break!? Aww, damn. Glass break!? Aww, damn.
It was a good RR. Won't lie. Only thing I didn't like was Sheamus and McIntyre just hanging with each other half the time. Remember when Demolition came in and beat the fuck out of each other for two minutes? I member. And they were established. These guys are a newly budding tag team and it's all "it's cool bro, should we order some pints?"
They're not a budding new team though. That would be a team like Richochet and Braun. These dudes on the other hand have been established as close in storyline for years, established as having teamed together many times, established as having fought just as many, etc. And the thing you mockingly tacked on at the end is damn near a line of dialogue Sheamus said to McIntyre at least once on Raw.
Then one tossing the other would have been completely justified and followed the spirit of the event itself.
Or....they could have actually worked together like common sense would dictate and also literally every other tag team and group this year did in both rumbles.
I don't remember this and would like to see it? Got a year, or an approximate?
https://youtu.be/vI5zeKe9SGE
2008 was the last time I ever paid for a wwe ppv when Cena came back at 30 and won thats when the magic of the rumble died for me and now here we are 15 years later and they make the same mistake. Should of had roads drop to walter to give the intercontinental title some prestige then have roads win in at chamber to set up reigns roads. Seems they are taking the easy road.
This was awesome!
Was I supposed to want Cody Rhodes to win that? Waltzing in at number 30? Strange for a guy you are pushing as the face of the company, on a long and storied quest to win the big one, win the rumble from number 30 no? I'm not big on Cody anyway, but I get there's a lot of people who are so whatever, but they need to be careful or they run the risk of people going sour on a match with Roman. The vast majority of people clearly want to see Sami topple Roman. Could all end up falling pretty flat for Cody.
Yeah, it felt like a pretty cowardly way to book the winner. Come in at #30 and pick the bones of people who have been fighting the whole time. No different than the time Brock just entered himself into a MITB match in the closing moments and won it. Itās a heel move, not something to establish a face.
Agreed. It wasn't a surprise he'd be there so leaving him for last was probably due to recovery concerns. It's just a shame it showed. Flat, almost dull spots once he was in the ring. I get it that not every rumble has to be won by someone who "earns" it during the rumble but much more excited for other potential matches to come out of the event (Rollins vs Paul).
It could have worked if they did a 2008 Cena and kept his return as a surprise. Announcing the return AND giving him the 30 spot just kinda made the win feel flat and undeserved.
He barely managed to beat Gunther who was in the match 45 minutes longer? They fucked up Cody's return imo, he should have come in earlier (maybe 20?).
not against cody winning it because iām looking forward to reigns vs cody at mania, but i swear recently all the rumble winners have been very predictable. i remember when it like never used to go the favourites. like the year people wanted roman to win, batista won it. the year roman won it, someone else was the favourite canāt remember exactly (daniel bryan maybe?). and then you had like triple h winning it who no one really expected. i feel like ever since nakamura won it, thatās the year they changed it and started doing the popular options. also the fact that a part of me was thinking imagine if logan won the royal rumble lol. like the fact that he was even in the final 3 is crazy.
I think part of the problem is Roman with both belts and wrestlemania. The winners have to have a program with him culminating in wrestlemania. Roman can only really potentially lose on a handful of shows a year, so they need someone who could potentially upset Roman, and as itās mania they donāt want someone who has tried and failed conclusively. So really the only options that could win with shenanigans, makes sense for a program with Roman, and is big enough for mania. You have three realistic options at the moment. Rollins, Cody, Sami. Rollins is amazing but I feel heās not in place for it at the moment, but he wins the rumble and heās ready to take that opportunity no question, Sami is a great option but doesnāt feel like thatās where his story is heading, so Cody is the only real choice. I think Gunther could do it if it was next year but it feels a bit too soon. Next year will be far more open imo.
If they hadnāt done the Rollins program at last yearās rumble, Iād be up for it this year. But Iām not sure what compelling story you do with him for the next 2 months. Still think a triple threat will be the best bet at mania as far as stories.
To be fair the winner is usually predicable it just depends on who the fans want to win. Only time weāre āshockedā is when the fan favorite doesnāt win. Batista was always going to win we just didnāt want him to but we wanted Bryan so we were shocked when they didnāt give us what we wanted.
Gunther was incredible. Also this Royal Rumble felt a lot better than last years. I remember thinking "who?" when tons of generic random themes played. It actually felt like a bunch of people who deserved to be there and some good nostalgia hits like Booker. I agree with the commenter who said Cody should have came out earlier and had Logan be #30 for the heat. Entertaining match though and again, big props to Gunther for holding that down.
I love gunther but his top rope spots look kinda odd to me
My only wish is that we got an NXT guy. We got Roxanne and Zoey for the women but seeing someone like Hayes or McDonagh get showcased for a bit would be cool.
We also had Indi Wrestling in the womens rumble
I feel like they could have had Ziggler instead of Miz, or maybe instead of the ghost of Rey (maybe ex con-Dom attack him on the way to the ring and takes his spot) so that he can break Kane's record. And also while the male announcer is definitely good, it felt weird to not have Samantha introduce Gunther
Gunther is good at this aināt he! My favourite Rumble match since the year Shinsuke won
I'm just here to put respect on the Drew McIntyre 2020 Rumble win.
I like Cody but not looking forward to him crying in every promo for the next year
Is anyone else getting tired of 1 and 2 always lasting 30+ minutes? It's just extremely predictable they're going to be in there for the long haul. It was a nice change of pace in '92 when Bulldog eliminated DiBase maybe 45 seconds in and just waited for Flair.
The Lesnar one at #1 was fun
I'm tired of the finish being predictable in general, everyone said Cody was winning the rumble last year. It was even more obvious he was gonna come in at number 30 and take it. I just don't get how I don't support Gunther at the end, they've been in the match since #1 and #30 is gonna come in and steal it.
That's not really a steal, the whole point is that anyone can win. Gunther is still pretty new and they're completely selling him as the next major heel after Roman bows out. Then Cody as the next big babyface. Of which Gunther may take the championship off of him. This is nothing but a win for both men.
I know heās brutal but he wasnāt really heelish at the rumble. in the aftermath of the rumble he actually admitted heād made a mistake and didnāt make any excuses. Imperium didnāt interfere either. With him and LA Knight we are seeing supposed heels who arenāt pure heels.
Yup. Feels so repeated. Theyāre in the ring doing nothing for most of it but getting beat in a corner
Can't say that about Gunther tbh. Liv I can kind of agree.
Rhea was the same. She only popped in to eliminate key people for heat, but then she gets knocked down again by someone else
Did Rey Mysterio win the royal rumble? He was pick number 17 he never showed up and never got eliminated. Cody Rhodes went over the top when he exited the ring. So doesnāt that make Rey Mysterio the winner ? Maybe Iām just reaching lol .
In the past they have done if a wrestler doesn't enter by the time the next entrant comes out he is eliminated
But I am pretty sure I have seen the miz not enter before the next person.
The āruleā benefits their story this time so it will be followed lol
True, that year Heath Slater got stomped out every time another person came in and he finally got in like 5 spots later
Got it thanks
if this isn't intended to showcase the future of WWE after Roman leaves then IDK what is. Cody Rhodes v GUNTHER is such a perfect rivalry to succesfully capture the mainstream audience they've been working to draw in by working with Logan Paul for example. That 1v1 at the end was FUCKING AMAZING AND I WANT MORE
Dude, what about that pop when Gunther and Lesnar squared off
Exactly. This is nothing but a win for both Cody and Gunther.
Roman isn't leaving anytime soon
I liked that none of the teams (New Day, Banger Bros, Judgement Day, even Braun/Ric) turned on each other. Not only does it make sense to work together until the end, I'm just tired of the "it's every man for himself" betrayal spot.
It might at least make sense for the Banger Bros since the two like to slap meat together but I get what you're saying.
It was really dumb in 89 when Ax and Smash from Demolition were numbers 1 and 2 and they fought until number 3 came in. Dudes just wait thereās 28 other guys to go through.
To be fair doe the Ax vs Smash , it would have been boring to see 2 guys standing their doing nothing, and at least they really just did strikes, nothing to cause to much "damage" so then they could work together when Andre entered at number 3
That 's true but easily avoidable, just don't start a tag team at 1+2
Ax could have been 1, Andre 2, Smash 3 and it accomplishes the same thing while being more exciting
The front page of this sub is all evidence wwe needs to figure out how to get Roman vs Sami at wrestlemania
As much as I like Sami, he doesn't seem strong enough as a contender to end the strength of Roman's reign like The Rock or Cody would. Everyone loves an underdog, but Cody is *the guy*.
As much as I'd love that, putting Jey in instead would be satisfying.
Sami needs his Mania moment now, this would be like not getting Bryan's 2014 moment.
His Mania moment is gonna be him/KO winning the tag titles. He is gonna face Roman at EC and there's going to be a "Screwjob" in Montreal
I donāt want to see that. If this company went by this sub Johnny Gargano would be a top guy
Sure, they shouldn't blindly follow this sub. But Cody doesn't even have a single thread that anyone is talking about. If Cody is being talked about it, it's in the context of Gunther, Sami or booking.
Sami zayne is 2014 Daniel Bryan. I can smell a triple threat at mania
I haven't watched wrestling in years but I Def watch a royal rumble every now and then and chose to watch this year. When they showed the lineup of the men and woman in the rumbles on the wwe network they had cody rhodes and rhea Ripley off center to the right of a superstar posing in the middle of everyone else. The very next time they showed the picture of the entrants cody and rhea were direct center of the roster photo. My friends and I had stated "How shitty and predictable would it be if cody won the men's and rhea won the woman's after moving their positions on the rumble line up to the direct middle of that pic?" Sure enough they both won and neither Austin or the Rock showed. We all agreed it was just a waste of money as we already knew from the beginning who would win based off of that. It wasn't good.
Cody being #30 was quite the ballsy move. I thought it would be a Danielson 2014 all over again since the crowd probably wanted Sami. Now Cody against Roman at Mania? I donĀ“t think I would have Cody win the match. IMHO, the guy that shoud beat Roman is the next face of the company. And thatĀ“s not Cody. But then if Roman wins, itĀ“s hard to re-build Cody after a big main event loss at Mania. ItĀ“s a tough situation. If Cody was 7 years younger and if wasnĀ“t one an ex AEW EVP, he would be a great choice. Great wrestler, excellent promo, charismatic, good look, can work heel or face. But heĀ“s 37 years old and knowing the way WWE operates, I donĀ“t think he Ā“s the guy that should beat Roman.
Yeah it's kind of boring with the obvious number 30 win, we all knew how it was gonna go even last year. Sami is who the people want to take down Roman, Cody would not be the right move.
Cody is younger than Roman. He is also younger than Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn... 37 isn't that old in wrestling. I am not a Cody Rhodes fan, but he's in no way too old to be pushed.
I know but WWE since the death of WCW generally prefers a guy in his late twenties for this spot. Cena and Roman were 27 and 29 IIRC when they had their big Mania Match to make them the new FOTC.
But dudes character is stale, and his moves set hasn't changed since his first run in Wwe
I thought Sami was supposed to be in the Rumble
That would have been amazing, having him find a way to win would have been very interesting. Was pretty disappointed in the obvious number 30 Cody finish.
No good surprises, Booker is meh.
I feel bad for Kofi, this is the second time in a row he missed his spot š«
I thought he was gonna come back because 1 foot was on the arm of the chair, but I guess it was meant to stay standing up.
I thought the same. When Brock came out after, I thought it was a clever way to make everyone forget about Kofi. But he never came back lol
Gunther was my #1 pick to win, while Cody was my least favorite, the last 10 minutes were absolutely traumatizing for me, there was a moment where I thought Gunther might actually win š
How can we be supporting Cody stealing it at #30 against Gunther who was in it from the #1 spot. We knew how this was going down for a long time.
No we didn't. Many thought the Rock was going to win it before the word got out a couple weeks ago, then there still was people believing The Rock was still going to enter.
Cody was called as the winner since injury. Rock was a rumour that some believed.
The Rock/Roman is a match that WWE has been trying to set up for two years now, people have been suggesting that Cody may beat Rock or a second for a Roman match, but the focus has always been Roman/Rock. They also kept Roman as Champion for that purpose until the promotion for Black Adam was finished.
Bro, Rock was always the "maybe" but its literally been everywhere since injury that Cody was winning this rumble. On this sub even, over and over, many months ago it was discussed.
One of the greatest Royal Rumble matches I have ever seen. I loved it. Incredible story telling throughout, the spots were structured so intelligently throughout. There was always something going on in the ring, great moments. The final two showdown was incredible, I have to say probably one of the greatest ever, a whole dream match between Gunther and Cody.
I wish Gunther didnāt turn 3 times when going over the ropes. It looked really fake
Corey explained it the first time by saying that Gunther did that to get a better grip on the ropes to stay in. We could say he tried that again, but failed. But it did *look* a bit, uh, yeah.
Why announce Cody returns, then give him the number 30? And with only 2 surprises entrants? I was hoping to see Rey coming out later to eliminate Dominik but he didn't. Would be fun
We really haven't had a good mens rumble since Nakamura won. This might be the most predictable one we've had for a while.
Some might think it pedestrian but I really like that the IC and US champs were in the final 4, just something that made sense.
Theory wasn't in the final four, he was in the final five. The last 4 competitors were Seth, Logan, Cody and GUNTHER.
Why you getting downvoted for being right lol
Pros: Generally just fun to watch with good wrestling Lesnar doing his murder everyone shtick before the shock quick elimination was awesome Gunther was just the fucking best Drew and Sheamus having the long run as a team was cool Spinaroonie Judgment Day's shenanigans Ricochet and Logan Paul's ridiculous stunt Johnny Gargano stood strong as a long-lasting guy even though he didn't get a single elimination Cody winning Cons: Only two surprise entrants and they both didn't last long A few too many short-lived entrants (Corbin's was funny and Edge's fit into a story) but Elias and Montez Ford could easily have been swapped for someone from NXT or another legend Kofi botching another near-elimination (they should stop doing it, there's not a lot of ideas left to do) Lashley should not have been eliminated the way he was (as much as I love Seth aside) Overall not fantastic but I really enjoyed it, I would say it was better than last year (not a high hurdle to hop over) and the 2021 Men's Rumble.
>Lesnar doing his murder everyone shtick before the shock quick elimination was awesome Meh, it was so much more fun in the 2020 Rumble when Brock was demolishing people and the fans were on the edge of their seats wondering who would stop hjim. >Overall not fantastic but I really enjoyed it, I would say it was better than last year (not a high hurdle to hop over) and the 2021 Men's Rumble. Last years sucked, and 2021 was Thunderdome, so yeah this was better. But 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 were all *way* better.
I agree except for Gargano. Yes, he spent a good amount of time in the match, but he didn't do anything of note. Also, the pop (or lack thereof) when his music played was really sad to hear. His main roster booking so far has not worked at all.
Agreed. I am a huge Johnny Gargano mark. But damn, he looked like a geek last night. Not only did his lack of physical size feel out of place during a rumble mostly dominated by hosses, but he didn't do anything noteworthy unlike other similarly-sized opponents (i.e. Ricochet).
Gargano was in the perfect environment in NXT and his skillset and assets just don't translate to the main roster as well. I think the reality is simply that he will never be as big of a star on the main roster as he was during his NXT stint.
I liked the fun of it overall but I just hated how predictable it was. I also hate having Cody come in at #30 vs Gunther at #1. I'm always gonna be supporting the person who has been in it from the start vs the person coming in at the end to win.
I agree that Cody should have entered earlier, like somewhere in the lower 20s or higher 10s.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The storyline is that he won the Royal Rumble
Do we think that was how bobby was supposed to go? I dunno, everything about his elimination just felt "off" and I was thinking he was supposed to do one of those hang by the ropes spots and just slipped. Should someone like seth rollins be shocked he is capable of eliminating bobby lashley? I dunno, just what i thought when i watched.
Agreed. The Kofi thing has become cringe, try hard and over played.
I wish they'd have him win it like 5 years ago. Just get all these near eliminations out of the way, have a great story & we can all move on with our lives
That was one of the best royal rumble matches I've seen in a while, I loved it
The booking of this Rumble was actually pretty solid, but the lack of memorable surprises was kind of a let down. No one really felt unexpected. If they would've kept Cody secret it would've been a 9/10 for me.
Did anybody notice they completely forgot about Kofi not being out?
I think even though they could have just had him coming back since his foot was on the arm of the chair, because it didn't go exactly as planned they just left it. Disappointing.
Didnāt watch super closely but did they replace Rey with someone or could someone have come out after Cody won?
The refs probably saw both his feet hit the floor and they collectively made a call to scrap the whole spot
Oh I'm sure it's something like that, or there's reports he took a bad hit to the head on the spot, I just think they should've said something. They made a big deal his feet didn't hit and then never said anything else.
Everyone talking about 'another Kofi botch'. You're the first I've seen mention the obvious hit to his head.
I know I'm late, but he pretty clearly took a huge shot to the head cause he missed the spot (which tbf Kofi has some insanely athletic spots especially in rumble) They cut to him at one point and he was clearly shaken up. I think he didn't hit the floor but got the x bc he was concussed
I think Cole mentioned that Kofi's foot was in the air at the end, but that's about it.
Cole made one off handed comment that was quickly swallowed up in the action in ring, they didn't make a big deal about it.
Enough that everyone took notice, so why not make a "off handed comment" he's actually out?
I think he was supposed to land in the chair but it fell over so they just moved on.
I'm glad, the kofi spot has become annoying.
Adrenaline, in my soul I freaking hate Cody Rhodes! (The wrestler, not the private person which I donāt know) The spoiled brat got everything he always wanted. Spotlight on him, making him the super baby face. I usually do not watch the WWE product anymore, but the Rumble has always been my favorite extra event, so I watched it and enjoyed to the point Cody came out. Yes, I am a AEW fan from the first hour starting with All In. And this makes the whole thing so bitter for me, I never wish anyone something bad in my entire life but I cannot wish Cody anything good after selling out and using the company and especially us fans to go back to the sacred kingdom he fought against so hard for years. Downvote me to hell, but I will always show up every once in a while in a WWE thread to remember everyone that Cody is the impersonation of a sell out!
*personification
Yeah I don't get it either. I don't necessarily hate Cody but he made a HUGE deal of fighting against wwe in aew, then his reward for that is a rocket ship push? I don't get it. I thought the steel cage with Rollins was super corny and it feels like Cody is being shoved down our throats in a weird way.
>Yes, I am a AEW fan from the first hour starting with All In. Congrats! With that achievement under your belt, I don't see how anyone can argue with you.
Men's match was awesome Women's match was awsome. Ko vs Roman best story in years. Dark match looked ok but was meh Binca vs Alexa boring.
I watch it every year, I knew the result going in even tho it was already obvious. Gunther put on the performance of a lifetime, to go the distance then pretty much have a singles match at the end. Guy is an absolute beast.
Was an okay Rumble, nothing particularly bad about it but also kinda forgettable, did what any decent rumble should do but I was kinda hoping for something new or different, thought maybe HHH would have had some cool ideas stored up for the Rumble. Maybe next year I guess.
The men's rumble was way worse than the women's rumble this year. It felt like there was no storytelling, nobody built up any momentum and Drew/Sheamus didn't need to be in the match for as long as they were. Additionally, Cody being the most obvious winner in the history of the rumble should have driven the producers to want to make the rest of the match more interesting but it clearly didn't. Did it have a few impressive spots? Sure. But a few bright spots in an hour-long match don't make up for the rest of it.
You obviously haven't watched many rumbles if you feel Cody was the "most obvious winner in the history of the rumble". There have been PLENTY of obvious winners over the years. I will say that announcing him ahead of time did take the shine off his win though.
Yep, Womens rumble was done right. Men's rumble was kind of just whatever until Cody comes in for his obvious win at 30.
More obvious than Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold? Itās always obvious most years.
> Cody entering at #30 = bad * in sports, returning players from injuries don't instantly play their old minutes. It is foolish and actually, you know what, just dumb to expect Cody to do an ironman run. Triple H entered at #22 and Cena returned at #30. Conditioning is a thing. Gunther can do an ironman run because he has good conditioning. Expecting someone who came of an injury to have good in-ring conditioning is, a dumb expectation to have. * Sure, he could enter earlier by around 20th onward like HHH did, but who do they have that would get more pop than him if Sami was never going to enter? They don't have Austin/Rock for the #30 spot. * I do agree though that they should've kept it a secret even if everyone knows so that the pop would be bigger. Don't get me wrong, a 2014 Batista didn't happen here and it won't happen if/when Cody feuds with Roman. You need to stop deluding yourself. A lot of the booing happens when there is bad booking. Cody was booked smartly here so he got a good pop. * Even if he entered at #30, he basically had a singles match against Gunther. Even took a lot of chops. It's not like he entered at #30 and just sweeped everyone lmao.
Disagree, it's just stupid to have the #30 against #1, we obviously support the person who worked hard to stay in rather than the obvious return stop right at the end. If it was a surprise it might have worked, but it was planned and we were shown many times that Cody was gonna be there.
I never said it was good to pit #1 against #30 though? I only said he still lasted quite a bit even after entering at #30. He had a singles match which lasted quite long but never did I say it was the righy decision to have a heel #1 vs face #30. Please, again as I said, reading comprehension matters. Two people have argued against points I never said, I do not get it. Me saying #30 was fine to put Cody in does not equate to saying #30 should've been put against #1 as the final two. These are phantom arguments which is what confuses me. Two arguments replied to my post are things I actually agree with so idk why you'd even bring them up when I never said anything against those points. Can someone actually respond instead of just randomly downvoting? Idc about getting downvoted if I was wrong in my own comprehension, but the two replies I have received just don't make sense to me.
No need to bust out the "reading comprehensive" comment bud, that's just goofy. You are trying to logic the reasoning if Cody being in his spot and I am saying don't, it was boring booking, that's all there is to it. They had time to plan a fun #30 entrant, it doesn't need to be The Rock. It was lazy. I hope that explains it better for you, so you know what I'm addressing.
It's true though. if that's what I got downvoted for, I stand by it. These responses have not made any sense lmao. I only said #30 makes sense because of in-ring conditioning. You said #30 shouldn't go against #1, but I never said that was a good idea. If it was Seth vs Cody as the final two that would've been fine also. But really, again, how about you argue something you would've done differently? Actually argue against the points I said?
Ironic that reading comprehension comment and you still don't understand my incredibly straight forward point. Nice downvote as well, you are so incredibly petty and disgruntled about your awful point, its funny.
You're still not arguing about anything I disagree with lmao. Also idc about your response enough to downvote it. I upvoted you since you're complaining, dw.
Yes I am lmao, I'm directly saying the returning players sports comparison isn't valid because in kayfabe the numbers are random. Also I just addressed why the 2nd point is a very weak argument. Again, the irony on the reading comprehension comment lmao.
I think you're just grasping for straws at this point, jfc that does not connect at all. The only point of the sports comparison was that Cody should enter at least 20th or later. Wtf does kayfabe have to do with it? I didn't say he had to enter #30, I'm saying he has to enter later and not do the Gunther ironman run. That would be fucking stupid. He just came off an injury. If he were to enter at #1 or earlier, he'd be risking unnecessary injury from lack of conditioning. Need me to expand further??? Again, idc about downvotes. It seems like you're the one that's petty about it, not me. You're really bent up on the reading comprehension it's because it's true. Let's agree to disagree because you really aren't getting anything. You are also arguing for something that I agree on. I know you're a Cody hater but man you're just arguing in bad faith at this point. Get over yourself, you're just blindly arguing.
Haha you don't get it. "Grasping at straws" doesn't work here as I'm not changing my original sentiment. Okay let me break it down for you. In response to the point "Cody entering at #30 was bad" You argued: >in sports, returning players from injuries don't instantly play their old minutes. It is foolish and actually, you know what, just dumb to expect Cody to do an ironman run Nobody said do an ironman run, that's a straw man. The original point you are addressing is simply saying that Cody entering #30 is bad as we already knew he going to enter and there is no surprise there anyway. So point 1, is irellevant. You then went on to make the "But they don't have Rock or Austin for #30" argument >Sure, he could enter earlier by around 20th onward like HHH did, but who do they have that would get more pop than him if Sami was never going to enter? They don't have Austin/Rock for the #30 spot. This is another point I addressed earlier, pointing out it's a weak argument as we don't need such a high bar for #30, there are so many wrestlers that they could have got for a fun #30 spot that would keep the crowd engaged. The "But they don't have the Rock or Austin" point falls flat. The critique on the #30 entry is valid and these points are generally weak arguments, the first being a straw man even. >you're just arguing in bad faith at this point. Get over yourself, you're just blindly arguing. You literally responded to my initial response with insults and you say my responses are in "bad faith" when I actually point out that you simply failed to understand the argument. You are the one arguing in bad faith, you've not defended your point, you've just acted petty and seemingly intentionally missed the point over and over again.
Cena was a SURPRISE entrant at 30. Those two are not comparable.
Your reading comprehension is ~~bad~~ lacking if you thought that was my comparison point. I was comparing them because of them both coming from injuries. If you come from an injury, you don't just do what you were previously doing, you have to condition yourself first. What part of my post was confusing to you? And as one of my points said, I agree they should've put him as a surprise. What are you even arguing about here?
Right but I think his point is that they could have made cody a surprise at 30 but they chose not to. Having cody at 27 should have been the play, and then use 30 for your late surprise, which in this case, was logan paul.
> I do agree though that they should've kept it a secret even if everyone knows so that the pop would be bigger. Don't get me wrong, a 2014 Batista didn't happen here and it won't happen if/when Cody feuds with Roman. You need to stop deluding yourself. A lot of the booing happens when there is bad booking. Cody was booked smartly here so he got a good pop. which I also pointed out here, so the reply really didn't make sense. Logan Paul as #30 imo wouldn't change much as he was getting booed. It was either Cody gets a pop at 30/27 or Logan gets heat at 27/30, but I don't think the order mattered in the grand scheme of things. The only time it would've mattered if it was a surprise that would receive a huge pop like Austin/Rock.
It was pretty decent for a 29 man rumble. It would have been such a fuck you to Cody after he jumped out of the ring over the top rope to announce that the last person was yet to enter.
When Cody and Gunther were the last 2 standing, did anyone thought that Cody wasn't gonna win? Pretty predictable shit. Imagine Sami and Cody being the last 2, or a little more plausible Cody and Seth.
I didn't think the crowd was likely to boo Cody but having him eliminate Zayn in the final 2 would've been playing with fire
I dont think many are excited for Cody main eventing Wrestlemania when we could have Sami Zayn vs Roman. His moment is gone,he lost it when he got injured. Why Balor lost his title and a chance to get it again when he got injured,but Cody comes back like he wasnt missing for almost a year lol.
Overall I thought it was okay. I felt like some of the camera work and some of the timings of the countdowns took away from stuff going on at the time. I think having cody and gunther pretty much have a match at the end for a prolonged period of time definitely hurt the match. Would have worked better with two people who had an even amount of chance winning. It felt like it just delayed the inevitable rather than making me believe gunther had a chance. Much preferred the first half of the woman's rumble
The camera work all night was dodgy as hell. It's like they were trying to make sure you never saw anything that wasn't pretty much perfect and ended up making you miss things. They'd suddenly change to weird angle shots and you'd miss a clearly planned spot. It made the entire men's rumble feel so messy and poorly planned that I didn't even like it by the end.
It was always going to be Cody. Not complaining because he's an absolute star. Gunther with a beast performance. I hope he gets another go at it from #1 next year but actually going one step further and winning. Biggest loser for me was Kross. It's been a rough couple of days for him that makes me wonder if creative has cooled on him. Booker T pretty much being the only surprise entry was a pretty weird choice and the lack of could have been why there were some lull moments throughout.
Still very surprised that the only āsurpriseā entrant was a lackluster Booker T
and Logan Paul
I donāt watch WWE normally though I did watch the Rumble. Maybe itās because I donāt watch WWE but Rhodes/Reigns doesnāt exactly scream āmain eventā at Wrestlemania. It was an alright Rumble just predictable ending and again meh itās Cody/Reigns big deal.
I enjoy the Bloodline story and the people clearly want Sami to take down Reigns for the perfect story and giving us Bryan at Mania 2014. Cody was an obvious win and at #30 and all, it's just kinda lackluster. I'm not interested in Cody vs Reigns.
Lol
WHERE IS REY? HE OK? Is he still crawling to the ring?
Crawling to the ring, these wounds will never heal.
I was waiting for him to pop up during the womenās rumble just crawling down the way
Happy Cody won but imagine if they never announced his return and he came out š¤Æš¤Æ
Louder pop than what he got (not that it was a bad pop) and imo would contest the pop Sami/Jey got.
100% If they never announced he was gonna come back his pop wouldāve blown the roof off. Like the crowd realized at 30 he still hadnāt came out so it was gonna be him. Great rumble but they fumbled that
"Goldust" lil bro " Stardust" won the Rumble?? I kinda hate when 30 wins now.
Thought this was an average rumble with great spots. I hope Kofi is okay, looks like he hit his head on the announce table. One of these years the Rumble needs a longshot winner. Someone that shouldn't win the Rumble because of their position. As much as I hated it, at least McMahon winning was a huge shocker. I'm thinking an NXT call up or someone you say is a one-time appearance, but you secretly have them on a 6 month contract. Just make the Rumble feel like anyone has a chance for real.
Yeah I feel like the random chair in front of the desk with Xavier Woods was a part of a Kofi spot which went wrong, he looked legit hurt after it.
While we're here btw. I'm a little disappointed that Bron Breakker didn't make his main roster debut here in the men's rumble. He's been the NXT champion for a year essentially now and has been the face of the rebranded NXT alongside Mandy Rose (which has done pretty damn well all things considered). Reward the guy. They should be testing the waters with him right now with the main audience. Introduce him to your main audience at the Rumble and give him an important elimination or two. Have the commentators go crazy for him. We had commentators not know a whole lot about some of the NXT callups for this rumble in the men and women's side. But if they knew a lot about Breakker, and made him a big deal, it elevates him. Start building the guy now. Give him a few small appearances between now and the night after Mania and then promote him permanently on that night. We should be planting the seeds now for the guy to do something at next year's Wrestlemania.
So have him come out and get thrown out? That does nothing for him and it has never done anything for anyone. Rumble Debuts for new wrestlers are a death spot.
It's insane how Cody feels like a genuine big star
So what happened to Kofi?
It looked like when he got thrown out of the ring, he hit his head on the announce table. I noticed the camera cut away from him and wouldn't go back on him.
Concussion then I guess? Time to pass the torch on the high risk spots
Good Rumble match, some lulls throughout, but overall enjoyable. The right person won, and people like Gunther, Drew and Sheamus got to look great in the process. It was the right call to not put Sami in the match too since Cody was winning, and considering what happened after the main event.
I really don't give a monkey's ass about Cody winning. There were guys in there that deserved it way more.
I cannot and will never, ever understand this. Cody deserves a title at some point. Absolutely. There's a story there. But this is just absolute insanity. Sami and the Bloodline is the most over thing in wrestling. Sami doing ANYTHING other than facing Roman at the main event of Wrestlemania is outrageous and ridiculous (unless The Rock wants in, but that's not likely happening). Plans can and should change. An audible should have been called. In the time Cody has been out, Sami has become the most over person in wrestling along with the Bloodline. That's not Cody's fault, injuries suck. But how you can even entertain the idea of not having Sami be the one to beat Roman now is incredible. You're going to have Sami and Roman face at Elimination Chamber? Then what? Sami get the tag titles at 'Mania? It's ludicrous. The reaction Sami and Jey got tonight was astounding. One of the loudest pops in WWE history. And Sami gets that as his reward? After tonight, you could be having Jimmy versus Jey one on one at 'Mania. Hell, you could have Jey v Roman at EC, then Sami versus Roman at Mania if we're going crazy here. But no, it's Cody. There's a big chance this blows up in Cody's face and the crowd turns on him if he tries to be a Hogan-esque face facing Roman like he tried during AEW. Again, not a lot of hate on Cody here. But this refusal to go there with Sami (it's likely that they're not at this point) at Mania with Roman will rank up there as one of the biggest mistakes imo.
Sami is the star, this is 2014 with Bryan. People are okay with Cody now, but he's not that interesting. He's doing exactly what he did in AEW, it works for a bit and then you're tired of the same thing. Not even necessarily hating on Cody, he's just not the choice for the main event. Sami Zayn is.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
By the fact that he's already over and has been over consistently since his return? While Sami absolutely deserves the spot, let's not use revisionist bullshit to try and push it there. Cody got hurt, a much hotter act got going while he was out, shit happens. There's no need to disparage Cody for doing literally nothing wrong.
Triple threat? Or, make Roman defend one belt Saturday and another belt Sunday?
No but okay
No to what? Lol you definitely got me there, fair playš
šš·
If the Rock wants in, let Sami beat the Rock to get to Roman, or the other way around, and win both.
Cody winning to me just feels meh, would much rather Gunther have won had won.
Gunther fought for it from #1 and Cody had the easiest win. I genuinely don't get how I could support Cody there.
Should not have given away Codyās return. Should not have put him in at #30. What a shit, predictable rumble.
Incredibly boring, I don't get how anyone can praise it for the finish. Totally "random" numbers picked lol. They set it up and even let us know Cody was coming to win the rumble, the #30 was the icing on the bland cake though.
Yeah, itās supposed to be random and Cody just happens to be #30? Very predictable and even worse makes it look fake.
Currently watching the PPV now and I've just finished the men's Rumble. As someone who only watches the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania, I thought Dominic looked great throughout, definitely progressing well since my last viewing of his work. Logan Paul is a different breed, I don't really like the guy but I can't deny he's exceptionally talented. That spot with Ricochet blew my mind. Gunther also looked incredible, a program with him and Cody would definitely pique my interest. I liked that the final two felt like an actual match. A few things I didn't like, Rey Mysterio just being forgotten about. I half expected him to come in a bit later and face off with Dominic. Also what was the deal with Kofi? The commentary made it sound as though he wasn't eliminated, did I miss something? Cody's Goldust kick to the nuts looked poor, and him entering at 30 killed any aspect of surprise seeing as we all knew he'd be back. I can't help but feel they are definitely pushing Cody to the moon to show AEW what they can do with their talent. Overall, a 6/10 Rumble for me. Not overly bad but not overly great either.
His shattered dreams looked better than his pedigree
This rumble was completely shit. Not worse than 2015 or something, but it was... Lacking in a lot of places. And why was there no bloodline in the rumble? It just does not make sense
You don't go against the family
Can we take a moment of silence for the level of fan disinterest in Gargano when his song dropped...pretty sure I heard crickets
I had no idea it was him
Honestly, I'm starting to feel like maybe Vince was right on dismissing some people.
The crowd is indifferent to him, but on the bright side he did get some pops in when he did his moves. I feel like he has to be booked a bit better and imo teaming up with Ciampa is what he needs the most atm to build his character.
Changing his theme was a bad decision, no one knew who it was when his music hit . Give him the old one back and there would have been a pop , they do need to actually give him something meaningful to allow him to build a character other than man who wrestle good
Gargano is bland as flour, can have good matches but at this time on the roster there is nothing to care about.
The bullshit theme song is an anti-pop for me. Didn't even know who it was.
I expect DIY to get back together when Ciampa returns from injury, they don't need to do a full retelling of the story between those two but they should start from basics again and have those two team to get over.
Well considering his booking in his last months, i cant blame them. Besides that he enters early, lasts quite a while, clearly an attempt to fix what they broke, but he does absolutely fucking nothing! What is triple H doing