2023 Royal Rumble

[LEGIT]

Only watched the men's Rumble, will watch the main event when I get the chance.

Thought it was okay. Gunter is very good, obviously he had a lot of exposure in the match but he did great with it. In a way his dry, serious personality is more entertaining than a lot of the same old, same old, rehearsed posing and theatrics.

Kofi fudging his exit probably looked better than what they had planned for him. It's time they sacked his false exits as it's went wrong more than once, and the fact fans know it's coming means it's lost all it's suprise and originality.

Gargano is someone I've seen very little of but have heard good things. He seemed lost in the shuffle though, looks bland and done nothing memorable despite being in there for a while.

I actually liked the Logan Paul/Ricochet spot, it looked really impressive and painful. The announcers pretending they forgot Paul was in the match was very lame though and just made the announcers look stupid.

I'm not Cody's biggest fan but don't that mind he won, he does wrestle with fire and seems popular so hopefully it's a good match at Wrestlemania.

Last thing, was that CGI fireworks after the Rumble, outside the stadium? It looked shite.

[Simpo]

I thought they missed a trick by not having McAfee as a surprise Rumble entrant, being eliminated quick, then sitting down to do commentary after that, rather than have him have his own televised entrance venue the Rumble actually started.

[SuperBacon]

That ending was absolutely spot on, all of it. Even when Sami is handed the chair, there was no telling what he would do, and everyone played their part to perfection.

I suppose on catch up it was slightly spoiled with there still being approx 20 minutes left after the match ended but thats a tiny criticism. WWE are the best at doing this sort of drama and that was the very best of it.

I also like the symmetry of Reigns taking two of the biggest chair shots in WWE history, that's a nice touch.

On Reigns, I know its nothing new but fucking hell he is good isn't he? Absolutely the best.

Other notes:

Mens Rumble was decent but slightly too long. The final two felt like an eternity to me. 

"Everything is bigger in Texas, including the blows to each other" McAfee trying to get himself in Out Of Context.

Chad Gables "shooshing" character is something. All I could think of was the IASIP episode where Dennis tries to track down the man who shushed him.

Lashleys spears were dreadful. 

Oh, Strowmans back is he? 

Ricochet vs Logan Paul please. 

Interesting what @Merzbowsaid as I couldn't get over the amount of dayglo in the Womens Rumble. Not a criticism, it was just really noticeable. 

Would quite enjoy Rhea Ripley spitting in my mouth I reckon.

Didn't watch the rest as life is too short to watch Bray Wyatt in a fluorescent rope Mountain Dew match.

That ending. Phwoar. What a story.

 

 

[gmoney]

1 minute ago, SuperBacon said:

 

"Everything is bigger in Texas, including the blows to each other" McAfee trying to get himself in Out Of Context.

That's a double entendre, not an Out of Context, I'd argue. 

[nickp1991]

THE WORST PART OF Royal Rumble! Nia Jax should’ve never been brought back

[SuperBacon]

2 minutes ago, gmoney said:

That's a double entendre, not an Out of Context, I'd argue. 

Fair point. It did go silent for a few seconds after he said it, so he might have been trying for a cheap pop there. 

He was quite funny all night to be honest.

[JLM]

Please put her on Raw so I don't have to watch her. 

[Supremo]

1 hour ago, Mr Butternut Squash said:

Skipped to the Main event post-match angle this morning. (Loved Roman as a babyface worker, but let's be honest. His heel matches are piss boring). Incredible. When people talk wank about how cool it would be if wrestling could tell more sophisticated and complex stories, THIS is it. Like some HBO shit. Its almost to good to be true. The acting, the writing, the positioning . . . Everyone is delivering fucking gold.

This is spot on. For decades it’s like WWE have been writing the type of books you use to teach children to read. See hero return. See hero win Rumble. See hero win title at WrestleMania. See hero feud with Kane. And now this Bloodline thing has come along and it’s so layered, so intricate, so unpredictable, such interesting characters, it’s like they’ve suddenly decided to write one of the best novels of all time.

A solid 98% of being a pro-wrestling fan is imagining how good something could be, then coming to terms with when it doesn’t get anywhere close. It’s unbelievable that in the space of a few years we’ve had The Hangman’s Tale, MJF vs. CM Punk and now The Bloodline saga, all of which have reached heights you couldn’t have even imagined. When it’s this good? Fuck my fantasy booking. Fuck my entitlement. Fuck my belief that everything has to arbitrarily peak at WrestleMania. Instead, I’ll shut the fuck up and bask in how far this industry has come.

I think they’re going to split the Titles at Elimination Chamber and Sami is walking away with one belt, only for Cody to take the other, but at this point? They have the benefit of the doubt. I trust they know what they’re doing. I’m more than happy to stop being a snarky little prick trying to plot where things, “should,” or are, “supposed,” to go. Sami Zayn is the greatest hero of all time, who finally overcame his demons, and now he’s heading to his home town. Inject it straight into my veins.

But yeah. What a company this is where that closing angle and that Bray Wyatt thing can happen on the same show. Has there ever been a greater difference in quality on one show? Shout out to Bray at the press conference though. At least he’s honest.

“Me and Alexa are kind of connected forever…and where it leads? I don’t know. No-one knows.”

Never a truer word spoken, you useless sack of shit.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Supremo

[FLips]

Thought the Men’s Rumble started really well and was impressed by how many big lads they have on the roster now. Johnny Gargano stood out like a sore thumb. Last time I saw him he was feuding with The Miz and somehow being the bigger unlikeable prick. 
Thought it fizzled a little towards the end when Cody was in and you knew it was a waiting game but it wasn’t bad by any means.
Loved the New Day butt slap tease but Kofi needs to stop the fake eliminations.

I like LA Knight but he didn’t stand a chance in a Bray Wyatt Glow in the Dark Mountain Dew match. Cool visuals but it’s another wrestlecrap match Bray has burdened us with.

Watched some of the women’s rumble and was impressed they all seemed to have characters and costumes now, even Tamina who is robbing a living. Speaking of which, seeing Nia Jax come back and them botch her entrance was a laugh, and glad to see she hasn’t gotten any better in her absence.

Aftermath of the main event was note perfect. 

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

Not long finished the show, that ending had me shook, Roman us a proper nasty bastard isn’t he? Love that Jey had to walk away out of confliction

Men’s Rumble was good, Gunther looked a beast and is now the time record holder at 71 minutes, Cody winning was always on the cards but I’d have rather him come in earlier than 30, did Judgement Day get to Rey or did Kross do it and toss his mask to Dom?

Women’s Rumble was ok, great spotlight for Roxanne ahead of her title defence next week, Asuka going Kana mode was awesome and they gave her a new theme mix to boot, Nia Jax, why?, Chelsea looks like she’s starting the Karen gimmick that’s been rumoured, was expecting Beth to be in the match to follow the earlier encounter with Rhea, the end sequence was fun with Liv, Rhea and Asuka, the right woman won

The Pitch Black match was shite, the backlighting was a massive distraction and there was a blatant botch with Uncle Howdy’s dive

The Raw Women’s title match was woeful as well, Alexa has badly regressed since returning and Bianca’s reign has been a flop

[Supremo]

I’ve watched the closing angle about fifty times. My favourite thing, beyond the visceral, “OooOooOhs,” at each story beat, is how flimsy and meagre Sami’s chair shot was. He didn’t want to take Roman’s head off. He doesn’t want any of this. At his core, he’s a good man being pushed to his limit and reacting in the moment.

The writing in this is levels above anything they’ve ever done. Whoever is responsible needs to be given Lesnar money to write everything going forward. Hasn’t Sami spoke at length about his body falling apart and the end of his in-ring career being sooner rather than later? Assuming he’s written any of this he should be able to name his price to sit in the writing room for the rest of his days.

[LaGoosh]

2 hours ago, Mr Butternut Squash said:

I'm presuming Heyman is behind a lot of it. Not only has the angle had ECW vibes, but boring, dull, dry Triple Paul doesn't seem to have a creative bone in his body.

I doubt it. He's been there for years, I don't see why he'd all of a sudden book a good long term story out of nowhere. My guess is Sami probably had a major hand in it. Most long term stories with actually subtlety in them these days seems like the wrestlers themselves are heavily involved in them.

[Merzbow]

I don't watch the weekly product, I don't even keep up with highlights but that ending had me totally captivated. The small video beforehand really helped, too.

It probably helped that I've watched some lads called El Generico and Kevin Steen in the distant past, whoever they are.

Jey was almost the star for me, just his body language even before walking away was perfect.

On the other hand I thought the men's rumble was horrible, nothing really bad happened in it but it was just so dull and never felt like that huge match it should be. But that's been increasingly common in recent years. The women's match was marginally more fun, Evil Clown Asuka just looks so fucking cool and blue mist might be my favourite colour.

[d-d-d-dAz]

12 minutes ago, Supremo said:

I’ve watched the closing angle about fifty times. My favourite thing, beyond the visceral, “OooOooOhs,” at each story beat, is how flimsy and meagre Sami’s chair shot was. He didn’t want to take Roman’s head off. He doesn’t want any of this. At his core, he’s a good man being pushed to his limit and reacting in the moment.

The writing in this is levels above anything they’ve ever done. Whoever is responsible needs to be given Lesnar money to write everything going forward. Hasn’t Sami spoke at length about his body falling apart and the end of his in-ring career being sooner rather than later? Assuming he’s written any of this he should be able to name his price to sit in the writing room for the rest of his days.

My favourite bit was Roman’s off-mic “without me you’d still be doing that jackass shit”.

It wasn’t over scripted, or in their funny villain promo language, or hammily delivered - it was almost throwaway, like an impromptu riff. And it’s EXACTLY the way an evil, gaslighting douchebag would try and undermine Sami and view the world.

’before me you weren’t doing anything of note, and now you’re standing in the ring at the close of the Royal Rumble… you’re stood next to me… isn’t that enough?’

[SuperBacon]

One thing I forgot to mention is that if there ever is a Robin Williams biopic, I want Sami in the lead role. Uncanny sometimes.