Dr. Alan Grant’s Royal Rumble Adventures

[air_raid]

2 hours ago, thatvinylgeek said:

Also purely cause I fancy it for some reason, I would like to see AJ go up against Jacob Fatu, there was a blink and you missed it comment about them knowing each other very well from their time in other places...so I can dream

I think you misheard, since AJ's been in WWE for the entirety of Jacob's wrestling career. There haven't been any other places.

[BomberPat]

There was a point where Michael Cole claimed that Penta and Nakamura "know each other well" because they're both internationally travelled wrestlers.

The first time they were even on the same card as each other was the RAW that Penta debuted on. Maybe they got to know each other very quickly. 

[DavidB6937]

11 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

There was a point where Michael Cole claimed that Penta and Nakamura "know each other well" because they're both internationally travelled wrestlers.

The first time they were even on the same card as each other was the RAW that Penta debuted on. Maybe they got to know each other very quickly. 

Maybe Penta likes surfing?

[tiger_rick]

I'd love to give them credit for Jey Uso winning. I think it could be the making of a guy who has been bubbling under for a while into a genuine name. It was certainly a shock to me reading about it on Sunday morning so I can't imagine how it felt for people who follow it closely and enjoy the act.

The problem is the whole two World titles thing and the fact that this feels like all those times the Rumble winner would challenge for the second title and often not even win. They did a fantastic job of establishing Roman as the number one guy in the promotion and establishing one World title again, which is why the Cody thing then worked so well. They've since muddied the waters with the second belt which honestly, as someone who follows on here mostly, I forget who even has it. 

It's a crap situation that just screams out vibes of Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus and Nakamura's Rumble wins. Ultimately meaningless because giving them a belt that's not the real belt (or god forbid having them bleeding lose anyway) isn't a star-making device. Daz made the case that he's going to win "a World title" and it's not how it should be. 

I'm not saying it won't be different here, for the record. They've shown an uncanny ability to get stuff over and to get away with some tropes that would have killed them in 2019. Maybe goodwill overcomes all the rest. I just really hate that the Rumble winner is a guy who'll probably only be in the 2nd most important match at WrestleMania in a best case scenario.

More one for the negativity thread but I'd honestly be tempted to watch the (Men's) Rumble if there was any sense that they'd gone back to working it like a big brawl and not had everyone laying around letting people come in and do their few spots. Might be my least favourite development in all of wrestling history. That AEW Men's Gauntlet recently stank of it too. Fair play to the AEW Women, their version was the best one. It shouldn't be that hard. 

[Your Fight Site]

Watched this last night bar the men’s Rumble.

I don’t really like the presentation WWE has currently. Is this something they adopted with their move to Netflix? Or has it been like this since Kevin Dunn left? I can’t put my finger on it; it just feels very disjoined with lots of crowd shots and shots of people milling about backstage, whilst the same song loop plays over and over and over and over. The pacing just doesn’t feel “tight” in any way. I think I’m just used to the formula of highlight package, match, highlight package, match.

[d-d-d-dAz]

7 minutes ago, Your Fight Site said:

Watched this last night bar the men’s Rumble.

I don’t really like the presentation WWE has currently. Is this something they adopted with their move to Netflix? Or has it been like this since Kevin Dunn left? I can’t put my finger on it; it just feels very disjoined with lots of crowd shots and shots of people milling about backstage, whilst the same song loop plays over and over and over and over. The pacing just doesn’t feel “tight” in any way. I think I’m just used to the formula of highlight package, match, highlight package, match.

The peacock presentation has adverts, which is why there was so many song loops and celebrity spots on the netflix feed. It's cheap filler.

I actually know someone (relatively) new and senior at WWE, who I used to work with at DAZN, so I might volunteer to send them some videos of me doing keepy uppies or something to fill as I can't look at another streamer or rapper I've never heard of and not jump out of a window.

[JNLister]

4 hours ago, boshealecta said:

 

One thing that also confused me (I know the timings aren’t exactly accurate, but you think they would pretend they were) but after Penta got eliminated, they showed a graphic showing he had been in there 44 minutes. But he got eliminated around about No20. But No1 & 2 start at the same time. So that’s 18 entrances at 2 minutes each. I was bad at maths but I’m sure that’s 36 minutes.
 

Or did he gain an extra 8 because how he walked to the back, only one foot was touching the floor at any one time and it wasn’t until he got in the showers when both feet were touching that he was officially eliminated 

I assume the on-screen times were being generated by clicking a button and were thus legit. Unlike some Rumbles they weren't shaving time much and some of the intervals were more than 2 minutes because they now just do the next entrance when all the key spots before it are done, rather than send someone out at the actual two minute mark.

Connected to that, Meltzer reckons this was the longest match in the promotion's history. There's one from the early 60s listed as longer but that was likely heavily exaggerated.

[tiger_rick]

7 minutes ago, JNLister said:

Connected to that, Meltzer reckons this was the longest match in the promotion's history. 

Can't be, Shawn and Tripper's three stages of hell match is still going on.

[d-d-d-dAz]

I'd love to see the stats on how long they've kept the camera on various celebrities, because I reckon Kurt Angle's daughter broke the record. That poor girl celebrated multiple birthdays and missed a university education she was on screen so long.

[WyattSheepMask]

Joe Hendry - good for him, and the crowd popped for him too.

Jacob Fatu aside, the first half was a bit meh. Roman coming at #16 onwards though, was great stuff. Bronn nearly splitting Roman in half with a spear? Oof marone that was sweet.
Drew’s elimination seemed a bit weird, just seemed to come out of nowhere and they quickly moved on. 

While he certainly wouldn’t have been who I’d have had win it, Jey Uso must be doing something right for them to still have the confidence in him after he and his brother put on that absolute stinker at Mania last year. Having said that, no one is ever going to break through unless you give them a chance, so fair play

 

Edited February 3, 2025 by WyattSheepMask

[DCW]

That Grace lady from TNA looks a star. I would have strapped the rocket to her instead of another piddling Charlotte main event. We've seen that before and I've no appetite for it again.

Jey Uso winning the Rumble is an odd choice, but I don't watch frequently, the product isn't aimed at me anymore and he seemed fairly over, so good luck to him I suppose.

[garynysmon]

5 hours ago, Your Fight Site said:

Watched this last night bar the men’s Rumble.

I don’t really like the presentation WWE has currently. Is this something they adopted with their move to Netflix? Or has it been like this since Kevin Dunn left? I can’t put my finger on it; it just feels very disjoined with lots of crowd shots and shots of people milling about backstage, whilst the same song loop plays over and over and over and over. The pacing just doesn’t feel “tight” in any way. I think I’m just used to the formula of highlight package, match, highlight package, match.

To be honest I found the WWE presentation style pre and post pandemic to be much more jarring than it is now.

There are still too many ads for weird American products and its capitalist beyond belief, but I remember it being much worse and they’ve toned down a little with the screens and weird 3D graphics.

The ticker across the bottom was something I expected to hate but actually found rather handy, and the flags on the wrestler astons was a nice touch.

[SuperBacon]

Some reaction from my ex who is a VERY casual viewer, but will always watch Rumble and Mania.

"How on earth is Jey Uso a main event?" 

"The guy that came in early was awesome" (Carmelo Hayes)

The ladder match was "gross"

I've sent her report to Meltzer.

[BigJag]

Even the lights were Yeeting. They are going to get sooo much mileage out of that footage. Will Jey be able to shoulder the responsibility? Good luck to him.

[garynysmon]

11 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

The ladder match was "gross”

I’d agree with her! I hated it so much.

The ladder match at WM 10 is one of my favourite ever matches, but some of the bumps on Saturday looked horrendous to take.

I’m probably getting old but some of the back/side bumps Owens took on that ladder… there’s no way to protect yourself. He could have landed safer in a way that wouldn’t have looked any worse to a casual viewer.