WWE Royal Rumble 2022

[air_raid]

On 1/25/2022 at 8:09 PM, air_raid said:

That’s exactly what’s happening isn’t it? Reigns will cost Lesnar against Lashley, he already beat him at the blood money show and big heel reigns get terminated at Mania. On the bright side maybe Big E wins the Rumble to go against Lashley.

 

19 hours ago, Suplex Sinner said:

I think Lashley is taking the title and Brock enters and wins the Rumble to continue the inevitable road to a Groundhog Day Mania Main Event against Roman Reigns. Everything else is meh. 

I thought I’d done well but Sinner went one better. Imagine already having the perfect setup for Lesnar v Reigns then spunking away all your Rumble eggs into the same basket instead of setting up the other challenger. What a waste, and a shame to see the WWE title treated as an afterthought. I suppose they’ve still got the Chamber but… shame.

Still though… Ronda? Maybe I’m not reading as much NEWZ as I used to but fuck, they can still pull a rabbit out.

[Version1.0]

The Rumble would have been better if Booker T hadn't spoilt it and the WWE Title match on the pre-show.

"I reckon Big E and Brock Lesnar will get it on in the Rumble."

Lesnar was the WWE Champ and not in the Rumble Booker. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[HarmonicGenerator]

First WWE show I’ve watched since last year’s Mania.

I enjoyed RTC Ivory popping back for a moment, and thought the Women’s Rumble did an alright job of setting up a possible Rousey/Lynch and Lita/Flair for Mania, but I might have misread that.

Lashley and Lesnar was a fun “big lads hitting each other” match of the type AEW can’t really offer.

During the Men’s Rumble my main thought was that they seem to be making an effort having lots of guys wearing colourful outfits again, very few boring black trunks/tights, which is a good thing but maybe doesn’t say much for what was happening in the ring. Quite a lot of first-time Rumble entrants this year too.

Styles had a good run going, getting a few eliminations and lasting a while, but Madcap Moss eliminated him, which was disappointing.

Previous winner Nakamura just getting eliminated in short order (and other previous winner Sheamus getting outsmarted by Bad Bunny) and before he and Boogs could do anything together was disappointing.

The ring seemed to fill up for Omos to then chuck everyone out, Khali style, but they didn’t do that, which was disappointing.

The Johnny Knoxville thing seemed to be over before it began, which was disappointing.

Big E just kind of was there and went, which was disappointing.

Kofi’s escape didn’t work, which I actually liked in a way, because it shows that these things don’t always work, but still, it was disappointing.

Lesnar and McIntyre as the last two could have had some moments of doubt, playing on McIntyre having eliminated Brock before and then beating him at Empty Mania, but it just finished instead, which was disappointing.

I guess I found the Rumble disappointing.

Edited January 30, 2022 by HarmonicGenerator

[air_raid]

3 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

I enjoyed RTC Ivory popping back for a moment, and thought the Women’s Rumble did an alright job of setting up a possible Rousey/Lynch and Lita/Flair for Mania, but I might have misread that.

That’s how I’d read it. People letting their piss boil over Charlotte vs Ronda but if the Lita/Charlotte build that started before this PPV was started because Lita feels up for one more proper match then it’s moot.

Here’s the thing ; we can criticise them for always going to back to Charlotte but the reality is that when Becky pinned Ronda she held the Raw belt for over a year before going on mat leave, then has held one belt or the other uninterrupted since SummerSlam when she came back. So basically over a year and a half of in-ring time as a champion uninterrupted, which is massive, and real time 3 years come Mania that Lynch has always been presented as a champion when she’s been available. Nobody can say they haven’t gone all the way on The Man.

The story for Ronda vs Lynch is obvious, as Ronda can point out Becky didn’t really pin her. Internally this is the last cloud hanging over Becky’s self-esteem, that her lengthy success began with a fraudulent win that the whole world saw. Not a “cheated to win” that wouldn’t bother her at all, but genuinely a win that didn’t really happen. To prove herself by finally decisively beating Rousey is the be-all and end-all. This should be the final mountain for a hero Becky to climb but in the backwards world of WWE they will persist with Becky as a heel and present Rondas revenge as the story we all want to see, despite her being a total weapon and having become far more unpopular before she left the first time, than Big Time Becks actually is today.

[Tsurutagun]

Rollins-Reigns was enjoyable til the finish. People don't want DQ's in 2022. 

Lashley-Lesnar was beefy guys being beefy guys. Again the finish was obvious the moment Heyman rejoined Lesnar a couple of weeks ago. 

Felt sorry for Becky and Doudrop with the crowd being distracted by a fire. They never stood a chance

While the work was very sloppy, I thought at least the Womens Rumble had some good storyline progression. The mens Rumble had neither. 

The Sonya Deville targeting black people plot line was the wet dream of GB News. 

Nikki Ash beating up Mighty Molly was fun. 

Brie could have done a Cattle Muttalation for the bants

Does this mean Lita gets a shot at the Knockouts Title?

Corey Graves has the charm of a war crime.

The Men's Rumble was so boring, I'm not going to dignify it with any attempt of comment. 

 

 

 

 

[FLips]

The dog was sick so I ended up awake just as the Women’s rumble was down the final few and figured I may as well watch it as i’m so far removed from the product now I don’t know what will happen and might enjoy it. Nope.

Michael Cole is still the worst, the camera cuts are the worst and both of them combined made even the decent stuff hard to watch.

The Men’s rumble was fucking minging though. A combination of real bottom or the barrel jobbers, spots getting blown or no time, and then Brock Lesnar winning when it was obvious he would the second he lost the title earlier. The most impressive one in the whole thing was Boogs and he’s Shinsuke’s jobber mascot and everyone else looked like a chump compared to him, Omos and Brock.

[RedRooster]

26 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

I guess I found the Rumble disappointing.

Yeah, that’s how I feel. This was the first WWE show I watched in a long time, and  it was hard going at times. Even though I’ve been out of the WWE loop, it really did feel like I’d never been away, and not in a good way. Everything just felt so samey and stale.

Reigns/Rollins was…fine. The match was decent, but it was pretty appropriate that my first WWE match back ended in a DQ. 

I actually liked the Women’s Rumble. WWE’s Women’s Division pisses all over what AEW has to offer, and the surprises in the match were a lot of fun.

Becky/Doudrop was good, but it was a shame that the crowd was so flat. I’ve not seen much of how Doudrop has been booked, to be fair, so it might be understandable if you’ve been following along.

Lashley/Lesnar…once again you had a non-clean finish. I spent the whole match expecting some form of interference, and low-and-behold, it came. I also didn’t like the fact that they established that Lesnar would have won had it not been for the interference. They didn’t need to do that.

The men’s Rumble was boring. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of surprises - and I don’t necessarily mean nostalgia hits, an NXT wrestler or two would have been nice; but even overlooking that, the outcome never felt in doubt. Lesnar felt inevitable, and it was hard to imagine any of the other wrestlers in that match coming away victorious. Almost everyone felt low-level.

I hope things pick up on the road to Wrestlemania, but the thought of watching two nights worth of matches involving that roster isn’t particularly appealing.

[Jazzy G]

They let Mickie come out with her Impact music and the belt? Wow. 

[DavidB6937]

Everything was enjoyable for me apart from the mens Rumble. One of the worst lineups and little effort to make it interesting. Shame really.

[BomberPat]

fucking shitshow.

The last PPV (sorry, Premium Live Event) I watched was Summerslam, which felt like a company trying to shock and create big moments, but otherwise completely stuck in their ways. This felt like a company whose chickens were coming home to roost.

I really, really enjoyed Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins up until the finish, but it worked in spite of WWE booking, not because of it. It worked because they basically ignored seven years of character development and storytelling, and just booked the match as if they were fighting over The Shield break-up. It's a match that they should have had back then, not now. It being heel vs heel made it a mess at times - am I supposed to sympathise with Reigns over Rollins using the Shield entrance, but then sympathise with Rollins when he got beaten down after the match? Or are both meant to feel like a baddy getting their just desserts? The finish was absolutely horrific - aside from everything else, referees don't check the arm on submissions in WWE any more. Someone came up with that spot, and it was greenlit, despite it not making sense on multiple levels, and that's just typical of the "don't make it make sense, it's only wrestling" mindset that permeates everything WWE do these days. What makes it worse is that the finish would have worked exactly the same - arguably better - if Rollins had just fallen into the ropes without the ref's assistance, so it was just needlessly adding an additional layer of bullshit.

The Women's Rumble highlighted that when you release so many women from your active roster that you can't come close to filling a thirty-woman match, but have also spent decades not investing in women's wrestling, you can't really get away with selling the likes of Summer Rae and Cameron as returning legends, nor can you really on the diminishing returns of expecting people to be just as happy about seeing the likes of Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Lita and Molly Holly as they were first time around. Ronda Rousey showing up in shitty gear, combined with an inexplicable go-nowhere video package about how great and important Sasha Banks is later in the show, make me think Rousey was a late in the day addition and Sasha was originally booked to win it. No interest from the moment Rousey entered, because there was never going to be anyone else booked to win this thing. That Ivory doing a gimmick from 21 years ago for all of a minute and zero moves was the highlight doesn't speak well of the match. At least Mickie James got a better showing than she ever did in her last run, got the Impact schtick over so came in on her own terms, and in getting eliminated by Lita didn't have to put over a member of the WWE roster while Impact champion - always good to see WWE get a bit played like that.

Lashley vs. Lesnar was fine, with a great video package. I like the Brock Lesnar formula more than most, but it's been another case of diminishing returns ever since the Goldberg matches to have all his matches become finisher spam, and I hate how overdone the "spear through the barricade" spot is. I called the finish, and hate that I did, because it makes zero fucking sense. After months of not wanting to defend his title against Brock Lesnar, and doing everything he could to hold on to his title, Roman Reigns should be delighted that Brock Lesnar has a title on another show, because it keeps them separated. The last thing he should be doing is costing Lesnar a match and putting himself back in Brock's sights, but that's exactly what happened. But, again, it's "no need to make sense, it's only wrestling", from a company that hates spontaneity so their main goal was just getting everything back on track for the inevitable Wrestlemania main event.

The intergender tag was absolute dogshit, Edge has never felt less like a star.

Men's Rumble was one of the worst I've ever seen, which is impressive given that the Women's Rumble was too. Just a mess of lost causes, midcard no-hopers, and the same tired old faces sapping all energy from the match. When Kofi fucked his spot, there was an extended period of everyone in the ring just standing around. Some of the best wrestlers in the world, in the biggest wrestling company in the world, doing a worse job than I have done in Rumble matches of filling time when stuff doesn't go to plan. Speaking again of "it's wrestling, it doesn't need to make sense", they just didn't even bother questioning how Brock was able to enter the Rumble match despite entering the show as champion, let alone explaining it. It's a tired bit to have a jobber get beaten up and have their spot stolen, but it would be better than what they did. 

[FLips]

I think one thing that being away from the bubble for a few years really hammers home is that so many people in this Rumble I remember wanting to be huge stars just aren’t and it’s been years. Big E especially, if you watch him in this you wonder how he ever got near a world title, but even the likes of Shinsuke, Bobby Roode, and AJ Styles who are all former world champs just happened to be there and then dumped out. 
In terms of title runs and longevity this match on paper had dozens of what at one time would be considered main eventers/upper carders but they’re all nobodies because the company only has two stars at one time and it’s been Roman and Brock for about 6 years.

[DavidB6937]

It's at the point where I enjoy the legends far more than the majority of the roster they have right now. So I'm happy to see them pop up once a year or two. Mostly because I see absolutely no point in guys like Roode, Ziggler etc being in the Rumble. They're not winning. They're just boring. At least give me someone interesting for a surprise and then throw them out.

[AndyUK]

It has just reminded me why I barely watch anymore. It's just the same old shit. They've even managed to make the Royal Rumble a dull affair, and yeah those two Rumble matches were definitely amongst the least enjoyable I can say I've watched anyway. Particularly the men's one. 

I've been done with their Lesnar obsession for a long time at this point, simply because these finisher spam matches are not fun anymore. There's an interesting story being told with Reigns/Lesnar/Heyman, I'm just not convinced the match or the end result will be any good. Even then he didn't need to win this Rumble to get to the match either.    

To add a bit of balance, Reigns v Rollins was very good bar the finish and I'm sure they will have a great rematch in Saudi. 

Edited January 30, 2022 by AndyUK

[Jazzy G]

Muckie got eliminated by Lita? I guess it kind of makes sense if they're building to a Mania match for Lita and want to make her look like she's still got it, but otherwise it's just somebody from another company getting eliminated by somebody who hasn't wrestled a match in over 15 years. Mind you, she did get beaten by Mickie in that match, so has finally managed to get her heat back. 

[The King Of Swing]

Anyone expecting more than the absolute bare minimum from WWE at this point deserves disappointment.