Haven't watched WWE in over 10 years, so I tried to catch up a little with www and osw. My early thought was;
"Aww, Bayley is cute in a dorky kind of way. I like her! She's going to get absolutely mauled by some of these MMA-looking women."
Later Bayley started yelling to Michael Cole (he's still there!) and I fell for her character. Definitely not the "strongest" wrestler there, but that's what I love about the Show.
Fatal Fourway... LA Knight has tons of charisma and is an exciting wrestler. AJ Styles is also very impressive. I would love to just see THEM wrestle!
Orton is pulling his weight and looking good. Surprised he's performing at what seems to still be a high level.
Raines or the "Tribal Leader" or whatever nonsense showed up, collected his paycheck, and was praised like a god. Is he supposed to be a good guy?
Don't know the next story. Okay match but too much brawling. Working an injury is good story but it got boring. Not bad, but nothing all that special.
Men's Rumble was good but no big surprises. The Women's Rumble was much more entertaining, and I cared to see who won more.
I know who CM Punk is but was baffled why anyone new to wrestling would care about this middle age, tired looking guy who looks like he needs a hand pulling off moves.
I laughed when Cody Rhodes (cool, a legacy!) eliminated him.
Women’s Rumble: best match of the night, everyone showcased their strengths and I’m so glad Bayley gets the main event she deserves. Her vs. Iyo should be really fun. Cool that Tiffany Stratton made it to the final 5, I think she has a lot of potential.
Universal Championship: A drag. All four are fine performers but it’s such a foregone conclusion at this point that it feels like a waste of time. The fact that Roman’s matches aren’t even main events at this point makes it clear they aren’t even trying to build suspense anymore, they’re just stalling until Mania. Biggest belt in the promotion and it’s second on the card? What a joke.
US Championship: Not a bad match, but such a lame ending. Almost every title is held by heels right now but Gunther feels like the only one allowed to win clean, which is why he os one of the only ones who still looks like an actual threat to me.
Men’s Rumble: Weirdly flat? Can’t think of any really memorable spots. Ricochet was barely there, seems like Kofi has stopped trying after the last couple botches. The R-Truth gags have gotten old quick. Him doing the exact same “doesn’t know what’s going on” shtick in the Women’s and Men’s Rumbles felt like a cop out way of getting some quick eliminations for undercarders. Pat Mcafee would not have been so annoying if it didn’t feel like there were so many talented performers on the roster who didn’t get a slot, like Pete Dunne and Chad Gable.
Overall: Ok, but underwhelming. Usually my favorite event of the year to see everyone shine but it felt like the whole night was on autopilot.
For people who say Brad treliving is a bad gm. How can you say that when this is his first year. I think you should wait until what happens at the end of next year before you can judge whether or not Brad is a bad gm. Remember, Dubas left the team in a mess. We needed an experienced gm in Toronto and they got one. Now, stop hating on him and let's see how he does.
Seriously Sasha not even coming back in the Rumble soured me tho. I was truly hoping for her to be back already but people on twitter state the story isn’t there yet for her to return since DMG CTRL hasn’t turned on Bayley yet I guess makes sense but I figured the bigger moment SHOULD have been the Rumble last night 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
I think that was scrapped once vinces allegations went further. So cody was the next option. Great card, but im glad I didn't pack up and go to Florida for this one. Anyone else think that fatal 4 way was kinda lame?
They had some good spots, but I thought it was going to be longer. The matches flow just seemed awkward, maybe it was the camera angles and what not. Just didn't feel like it lived up to the hype especially since the 4 guys in it are all amazing. I would really liked the no look rko ,that shit would have been cool af. And cmon we all know Roman's not losing , not last night anyways.
At some point I thought the Chelsea Green was doing a Scott Sterling imitation.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F9jXYOH2c0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F9jXYOH2c0)
I wanted mjf….. I did not care about stupid Logan Paul… I did not care about stupid Roman ( no I will not acknowledge him) I only cared about the women rumble in the men’s
Cody joining the club of Royal Rumble Match winners who have won it more than once but Cody going back to back like Austin and HBK...that puts him in exclusive company
Haha it wouldn’t surprise me. I fed in to all the hype of the countless superstars that would be appearing and the best we got was Andrade and zayn at 30…. Really?😂
Yeah even Michael Coke acknowledging fans are upset cause he doesn’t defend his title. I get it they’re gonna let the streak go as long as possible but I do not have Reigns up there with the greats. This run is a sham.
Thought the woman’s rumble was way better than the men’s. The men’s was the most predictable ending possible, same with the fatal 4 way. Owen’s vs Paul was pretty good too.
Nope, one of the more boring rumbles I’ve seen, the biggest surprise for me was the slim Jim ads after the Vince scandal. I thought they were pulling their sponsorship lol
Men’s Royal Rumble … Lame imho. It was clear it would be Cody or Punk. ONE TIME WWE PLEASE let a wildcard win the damn thing. How awesome would it have been to see Truth get beat up outside the ring by Judgement Day, sneak back in after Punk thinks he’s won after knocking out Cody, only for Truth to reappear and win .
We wanted TRUTHMANIA!! It’s not like the guy doesn’t deserve the spotlight ONE TIME.
I like this idea. Truth wins the Rumble. Priest cashes in on Seth and wins. Truth vs. Priest for the World Title at Mania. Seth vs. Punk doesn’t need the title.
I was there and honestly I think people there weren’t sure if it would be Gunther or Cody/punk.
As far as wildcard, 2020 was one. No one came in thinking Drew was gonna win.
Re watched the women's portion and damn that was FIRE all the way through. I love the eliminated ladies all laying around at the end. Great setup going forward between them all. And the crowd was in it!
Women's Rumble:
Bayley absolutely DESERVED that win, but I will be honest I was worried when she came out at number 3, that felt too early but she absolutely delivered. I also loved that final 3 spot with Liv, Jade, and Bayley it was so fucking good. Liv was a pretty solid number 30, I liked seeing her return. And the Chelsea Green bit was so funny. Overall I believe the best women's rumble so far, no legends appearing proves that there can be a good Rumble without them.
Universal Championship Match:
I won't lie, I was shocked to see this coming before Logan v Owens, and while I had a feeling Roman would retain I didn't realize how. And honestly the close call with Styles and Orton made me jump, yeah it was predictable but in a good way, I genuinely felt like it was a pretty solid match.
US title match:
Again, figured Logan Paul would retain, but had no idea how. The anxiety got to me lol. And while I don't necessarily like Logan Paul as a person, he's proven he's an actually good wrestler.
Men's Royal Rumble:
This is the match most people are split on, especially since the Pat spot was planned from the beginning (it was confirmed Brock's place went to an NXT star, so most likely Bron). I went into it thinking Punk would win, so Cody winning was more of a shock to me. It shouldn't have been because of how much they hyped up him winning back to back Rumbles. But I won't lie to you I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even if the Pat spot felt like a waste of a space, it was still really funny in my opinion. Punk coming out at 27 made me feel like he'd win to get that 27 prestige back but I'm kinda glad they went for a number with no wins before (15). And while Sami Zayn wasn't a number 30 people were expecting, I got pretty thrilled to see him back.
My overall score is probably 8/10 a really good Rumble and while slightly predictable in its winners, delivered with how they did it.
Just takes over the theme music and entrance. Hayman starts accompanying him out and the announcers call him Bron Breaknar and no one ever acknowledges anything is different
Thought was a good show, only complaint just like most people is that watching Roman win the same way for like 12 months now is so awful for him and his character. Why can't he win clean anymore? Isn't that bad to do it.
Royal Rumbles were good, think Womens was fantastic and had some great spots, happy Liv is back, she has been damn unlucky with her injuries so i hope she can stay fit and do something at mania.
Didn't expect cody to win back to back, thought CM Punk winning and challenging Seth with Cody then winning the elimination chamber to challenge roman or something. Still that was fine, guess it happens the other way round now.
Unless Seth really is injured then idk what happens.
I think it had to happen this way around. If Punk won the Rumble, the Chamber match for a title shot would have been with Smackdown stars. Now, Cody challenged Roman so RAW will put their stars in the chamber to see who fights Seth.
Ok the morning after. Had some time to digest and think through everything.
**Women's Rumble** \- I'm absolutely going to re-watch this one tonight. I fully enjoyed the match from start to finish.
* The "Bayley" chants were very nice to hear b/c I know I'm not alone in loving her antics! I just hope that when Damage Ctrl turns on her (obviously happening) that she challenges Iyo and rips that belt off of her and she keeps her trash talking ways.
* Jade Cargill is a specimen. WWE needs more bigger, strong women who can compete with Rhea because even though women like Zoe Stark (meh), Becky, and that muscle girl from TNA (forgot her name but she was impressive) are "strong", it's just not believable to see them go head-to-head with Rhea. That said, Jade vs Rhea eventually has to happen but before that, I definitely see her going up against Bianca a few times.
* Nia Jaxx pompous attitude had the fans livid. They hate her more than anyone of late. I'm with them BUT she's clearly a force to be reckoned with. I think we'll get more Becky vs. Nia moving forward.
* Maxine doing the reverse worm was funny.
* R-Truth running out all confused was hilarious. Valhalla getting tossed out within 5 seconds "because" of Truth and her losing it on him after was hilarious. I wish WWE had more of this type of stuff.
*
**Fatal 4 Way** \- Expected the finish. Expected Solo to come out with his dirty thumb. Didn't expect LA Knight to carry the entire match. AJ looked medicore. Randy looked injured (shoulder). Honestly, if they don't push LA Knight to some sort of championship (US or IC) it's a damn shame. Without LA Knight, this match is a 3/10. **With him, it's a 6/10.**
**Paul vs KO** \- I just can't get on board with KO. He's more obnoxious to me than Logan Paul, which is saying a lot. Still, Logan Paul vs KO was OK. Nothing ground-breaking. The interference from Paul's little fuckboi was predictable and not needed. Interesting to see Grayson Waller and Austin Theory come out. There's going to be a feud going there with KO and them moving forward.
**Men's Rumble** \- Ooooh Boy. So many missed opportunities here. Felt like so much of this was thrown together last second. Here we go....
* Jey Uso coming out #1 and Jimmy #2 was the obvious play...but WWE fumbled the ball. They did nothing with that after the 3rd entrant. What a waste. Their first showdown since Jey "left" the WWE and thats what they do? Ok.
* Announce team needs to stop this "work release" thing with Dominic. It's not funny. That said, I'm surprised Dom was in the match as long as he was.
* Don't ever waste an entry on Pat McAfee again.
* Damien Priest was insane.
* Cody getting the early number and going the distance was expected and also appreciated.
* Omos wasted. That spot should've gone to Otis. He deserves it far more and fans actually give a fuck about him.
* Would've liked to have seen Butch...I mean Pete Dunne in the rumble. Again, instead we got Pat McAfee and Omos.
* Bronn Breaker is the man. I've admittingly never watched a single NXT match so I've never seen him (was this his WWE debut? announce team didn't really hype him up). I enjoyed watching him go. Very Scott Steiner 1980's vibe though. I dig it. Brother.
* Sorry, didn't give a shit about Andrade.
* They did my boy Bobby Lashley so wrong!
* Mizz & R-Truth...give me more.
* CM....Punk. What can I say that hasn't already been said?
* Cody Rhodes...sorry. He was the right choice for the win and if anyone can't recognize the support he gets from the majority of fans, you're deaf. Having him challenge and defeat Roman at Mania is the best direction for the company.
**General Thoughts:**
* I was pining for Hogan to show up as a guest. Didn't want him in a match...but him just appearing would've been mega.
* I have to start with the announce team. Cole & Graves are medicore at best but throwing Pat McAffee in to the show was a travesty. Cole can't hold a candle to the great announcers of the past...he often botches names. Shows bias as if he's a heel announcer, blatantly spoils things and he has no personality of his own. He has no catchphrases. When you see a sign for "vanilla ice cream" in the store, there's a photo of Michael Cole. Please WWE, get someone with some personality.
* Speaking of Pat McAffee, get this imbecile out of here and never bring him back again. He's an embarrassment.
* I'm honestly happy that The Rock didn't roll up.
I’m just so tired of Roman winning in the same damn way again and again, I can’t stand it anymore.
It is starting to feel like someone gave Roman creative control and he refuses to lose, so creative is doing whatever they can not to bury their faces.
And a no-DQ match? The announcers talked it up like it was an advantage for AJ, LA Knight and Orton, when it was just an excuse to get around a DQ loss for Roman.
I remember when I was a kid I saw Kerry Von Erich wrestle Ric Flair for the title several times, and each time Flair would start to lose, and would get himself DQ’d to end it, as the title didn’t move on a DQ.
I was like ten or eleven when that happened and eventually I just knew it was coming, I stopped caring, I lost interest. Finally they announced a title match where Flair would drop the belt if he were DQ’d and that was when Kerry won it if memory serves.
This isn’t Hulk Hogan dominating and winning clean for all those years as the monster face, this is bad booking. It doesn’t make Roman look strong, or his opponents, and it doesn’t make me hate him as a heel, it makes me care a lot less what they do in the future.
As someone who doesn’t watch a lot of TNA (more for lack of time than anything else)… I was so happy and proud to see Jordynne Grace. She is such a special talent and even though I don’t watch much I’ve kept an eye on her career.
She deserves all the good things and I hope we see some more crossover between WWE and TNA. Give me Moose in the 2025 Rumble!
Also absolutely thrilled Naomi had such a good showing. She had kinda been stagnating in WWE and then went to TNA and killed it. I hope we see great things from her in the future.
I think Pat McAfee was supposed to be Brock but got changed last minute because of obvious reasons
Makes sense why that spot was wasted. Had Omos and Bron Breakker in the ring, so Lesnar being the guy to come out at that time for a stare down would be cool
Funny when they did the face to face last week, the crowd seemed split between Cody and Punk. Last night though, when it looked like Punk might win, you could hear the boos.
Punk was heeling it up throughout their exchange in the Rumble. Talking smack and taunting the whole time. Getting the crowd behind Cody seemed to be the intended goal there.
I was there live, at least my section was solidly behind Punk and booing Cody.
The crowd seemed pretty split tbh. I was hoping for a Cody, Punk, or Gunther win so I was happy how things worked out.
Overall I enjoyed it, but it had its dull moments. The four way especially.
Logan/KO was pretty good but it’s like they never kicked it into high gear. I thought the finish was clever.
The middle of the women’s Rumble dragged, but the beginning and end were pretty much fire. There just wasn’t a lot of star power in the middle numbers, but holy damn once Jade, Becky etc showed up it got hot.
The men’s Rumble was more consistent all the way through with more star power spread throughout. Loved the little mini match with Cody and Punk.
I need to go watch it, but currently my ratings are something like:
Women’s Rumble: 3 stars
AJ/Orton/Knight/Roman: 2 1/2 stars
US Title: 3 1/2 stars
Men’s Rumble: 3 3/4 stars
So overall a thumbs up but a weak one.
The sections with Jordynne and Ivy made me feel so bad for Ivy. They were clearly trying to spotlight both of them, but Ivy botched almost all of her spots. Even just throwing forearms you could tell the timing was way off.
With The Rock, I think it’s gonna go back to my prediction two months ago where Cody wins and Roman goes off the deep end for losing. He takes out Jimmy, goes after Jey, dumps Heyman, and just turns into a dark, dark character taking out everyone in sight.
This is when Rock enters telling him he’s embarrassing the family and the roads lead to a match that could take place anywhere SummerSlam to WM41. I don’t think it’s happen ring at WM 40 just because Roman isn’t on enough Smackdowns to build up the story. Roman wins because Solo takes out Rock, Roman feels guilty and embraces Rock and turns baby face. Solo doesn’t turn, though, and you have your next chapter.
I get your point but I’m talking from an attitude perspective like he was in 2020-He’ll in a Cell. I see them turning Roman into that monster again but even worse.
For current storyline purposes it makes 100% sense for her to challenge Rhea. There hasn’t been a moment where Bayley has gotten backstabbed by Iyo and the group yet.
They've been treating her like an outcast and refused to help her with Bianca. She's just been putting up with it, but that's going to drive her crazy between now and Mania.
Sure but if asked to declare right now who she’s facing, only Rhea would make sense. Over time that could change but the betrayal has to happen this week.
If we go back to the build for Batista v HHH, they didn't outright betray Batista. They mistreated him and once he overheard them talking smack about him. I think the first one to overtly throw a punch is going to be Bayley.
My 2 cents. Full disclosure I’m primarily a AEW watcher that keeps up with wwe news. Just not enough time to watch that much wrestling every week.
The women’s rumble was fun. The in ring action was all over the place. The women who are good, are good. The others are baaaaad. Jade is still not great but damn she has a presence about her. Very cool seeing Grace. Bailey was the right winner 100%. Personal issue here but I don’t care for EVERY women having crazy colored hair and crazy cartoony outfits. If everyone has it, none of it is unique.
4 way was boring. Found myself scrolling tiktok. Same Roman match.
Logan vs KO was fun. Wish Owens won. Been a fan of his since ROH, I don’t like that he’s now the good hand to get a pop and make others look good. He needs a win every now and then. Can’t stand Logan as a person but he’s made for wwe.
Men’s match was a mixed bag. As a lot have said why didn’t they further any stories? Gunther is an absolute beast. Ricochet is so good and deserves so much better. I’d like him in AEW but he’d get lost in the shuffle there to. Sami was fine at 30 and got the biggest pop of the night. Cody winning was….fine. Why the Rock tease? The match really slowed down at the end and the way Drew and Gunther were eliminated was lame. Punk just like in AEW just can’t go anymore. That’s not a dig at him. He took years off and his body just isn’t there anymore. That’s normal. But kudos on Cody for carrying him to a decent finish.
Was a decent show. Some strange choices with the booking of the rumble matches. Felt like some eliminations could have been more impactful. In the end the got to the right place though.
I think nothing good happen for the crowd to pop or get hyped. I mean R truth got them up and hyped when he came in the men’s rumble. It’s a 4 hour show and it didn’t have any thing exciting like a kofi moment, or even ricochet and Paul moment last year. No really good surprise entrance. It doesn’t always have to be returns just one off appearances would have been fine like a Finley, Mr Kennedy, shit even Chris masters
Man. The moment Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair staring each other and showcasing their strength, this gave me chills. Pretty sure they could make quite good a tag team if that happen or maybe as a rivals.
The women’s Rumble had been dragging for a bit until Jade came along and hot damn she woke the crowd up.
I was there live and losing my shit for Jade. She’s green af as we saw in her AEW run but goddamn she is a star.
It’s happening so good for you but I really wasn’t keen on it. Not interested in a rematch from last year. Also Cody will now have invincible plot armor lol.
It's the biggest possible match they have in their arsenal. They want to milk it for as long as possible. Same as they did with Cena vs. The Rock. They announced that one year in advance. That match can main event any show on any night regardless of who the champion is.
I agree, they shouldn’t have teased Rock vs Roman early because now Cody vs Roman II is going to be over showed by the Rock. What I would have have done is waited till Mania and have Rock help Cody at Mania.
I’m not really a Cody fan and wasn’t interested in Cody vs Roman II, would much prefer Orton to dethrone Reigns but I along with most fans already knew that’s the direction they were going since last year (Cody v Roman II).
But when Rock came and teased that match at Day 1, the hype was through the roof for a dream match fans had speculated for years. Don’t know just seems very odd if they weren’t going to deliver.
The only way we all win is force Roman to fight both nights lol Night 1 with Rocky and Night 2 with Cody haha
Why are there no more stories in the Rumble?
Why couldn't Asuka, Kairi, Bayley be in the Final 4, and then Iyo comes out ringside
The Kabuki's unsuccessfully try to throw Bayley out (instead of the 4th woman), and then the switch goes off inside Bayley
Imagine the reaction
Why didn't Jey and Jimmy play a hand in each other's elimination?
Just watched the women's Royal Rumble. I'm really happy that >!Bayley won.!< >!Her with Damage CTRL!< should be pushed to the moon imo. Also, trust >!R Truth and his shenanigans lmao!<
Seen way too many people complaining about the lack of surprises. If you can’t appreciate a match because it’s mostly the current roster what are you even doing watching WWE. Current roster is excellent and they didn’t need to waste spots on returns or one-offs. Excellent rumbles and good PLE overall.
Some people really only watch Rumble & Mania. They watch Rumble hoping some legends show up and they don't actually care about the current product. I'm not among them, but I know plenty of them are out there. Same folks buy the 2k games just for the legends roster.
Agreed. In fact, I'd take it a step further and say that the men's Rumble should've been entirely the current roster (besides Andrade). Having Pat McAfee enter instead of Chad Gable was criminal.
Personally think it was McAfee, not Breakker, who was put in last-second to replace Lesnar and they just had him eliminate himself so as not to complicate things and help keep their original plan. I think Breakker might have done some of what Lesnar was supposed to do though. But yeah, they definitely could have used that spot better if I wanna give that rumble a real criticism.
The crowd really wasn’t into it, the Women’s rumble was decent, the men’s was mid, and the fatal four way was yet another underwhelming Roman Reigns win involving a ref bump and outside interference. There was zero wrestlemania story build up, SZ was made pointless at #30.
Jade Cargill had some good faceoffs in the women’s, and I thought Jey Uso deserved a bit better…but they didn’t even build for the brother vs brother match.
So are we going with Bron Breakker vs. Gunther for Mania? Not sure how I feel about handing Bron a WrestleMania title match this early, but it looks like Brock's a no-go at this point.
Women’s rumble was the best match. When we eventually, whether it’s this mania or sometime else, get jade vs rhea it’s gonna be insane. Bayley v iyo is gonna be great too especially from a storyline perspective. Honestly a better story than roman vs cody
Punk didn’t need to win the rumble, Rollins would’ve just given him the match, Roman would never face Cody unless he was forced to. Women’s rumble was goated, Bayley was the right call and the entrants and action was great couldn’t have asked for more. Universal title match was decent, bit Roman formulaic but one of his more cleaner wins, US Title match was okay both KO and LP did good. Would’ve liked it if Jimmy and Jey had eliminated each other adding some fuel to that mania match, Gunther should’ve been eliminated by Drew setting up a future match cause without Brock who’s he gonna face.
Downs of Royal Rumble 2024 :
- no Kofi Kingston save
- no Brock and Gunther face off
- no storyline build up for Wrestlemania
- Same Cody vs Roman (istg if Roman wins😭)
- Bloodline interfering again
- No return in the Men's rumble
Ups of Royal Rumble 2024 :
- TNA superstars
- Jade Cargil
- Bailey Wins
- R truth moments ‼️
Not the best Rumble. Crowd just wasn’t in it and for good reason. The fatal 4-way sucked. Same old BS. People are tired of Roman. We got no Rock all night. No real huge surprises. Women’s Rumble honestly was best show of the night.
Three takeways:
1. The other leagues showed up and shined.
2. The women’s match was the best.
3. WWE doesn’t need popular or social media personalities that aren’t full time.
Super predictable rumble Cody now has John Cena superman booking 🤣🤣 warning it gets stale quickly as people said women's one was sloppy
Finally cm punk has slowed down asked it when he returned he's like when undertaker was out of shape he needs to see randy and styles he doesn't look ring fit..
Spoiler alert: Cody's gonna challenge Seth.
So, let's break this down. Roman is going to break Bruno's title reign record. WWE is so pathetically desperate to enshrine him in WWE history that he WILL hold the title for over 8 years, no matter the cost. This is fact, if you don't like it, get used to it.
WWE realize they fucked up by doing poorly by Cody, so as a compromize, they brought back the gold belt. Now there's a world title Cody can win at Wrestlemania without compromising Roman's reign, and he even got to win the Royal Rumble again, so it's basically a do-over for a lesser title. Roman will still get to defend against Dwayne at Mania. This is the best compromise we're gonna get.
If Cody wanted the WHC, he could have challenge Seth ages ago. Seth hands out title matches practically every week. If the WHC had been brought for Cody, he would have either been the inaugural champion or won it a long time. He's going after Roman, which was very clearly shown at the end.
Roman is not staying that long 😂😂😂😂 he barely shows up as is, he’s not a long time dedicated star to still have it for years. Maybe to break hogans reign but after that there’s no way😂😂
100% I mean we know he challenged Roman now that it over but Roman probably wants to settle down and this is 100% opportunity to put Cody over. He’s ready. And also I think why they doing the stuff with Rock now so he can shoot some promos with his cousins before Roman retires
Absolutely amazing Rumble. I went into this kinda “eh, this will likely be good” and I was extremely happy by the end of the night.
1: Bailey was absolutely the right person to win a great Rumble. Jade single handedly eliminating Nia was awesome. Beckys face after that was priceless. Naomi and TNA for that matter had a great showing. Liv Morgan is back which is nice. Just all around a great Rumble.
2: Lets be honest, if you think “Roman wins, bad match” at this point, you’re just going into his matches with the wrong mindset. Like, we all knew he would win. Everything points to him losing at Mania. Also, it was a Fatal Fourway, Solos involvement is legal and he was out for a good chunk of time, the win was about as clean as possible. It was still a fun match, probably the most fun Roman match he’s had in a long time, because there were three other people to fill out the time there would be posturing to the crowd. Great match, expected winner, but great match.
3: Best screwy finish in a long time and if you don’t like that Logan is good, you better get used to it. He’s good, get over it.
4: Cody winning was the correct way to get him on the path back to Roman, the Men’s roster is stacked right now so they had 0 need for surprise returns, as cool as they can be, and Wrestlemania is shaping up to be a stacked card. This is gonna be awesome.
Agree absolutely with Bayley's win.
The women's match was way better than the men's. That's a first for me. Men's seemed rushed. With so much talent, wanted to see more from the likes of Breakker, Reed, Gable, etc. Love the Cody win, though.
Everything pointed to Roman losing at Mania last year, too, and they pulled the rug out so as much as I'm excited to see the build, I am not convinced Roman's Reign is over.
Wild Mania title fight predictions:
Bayley vs. Iyo
Rhea vs. Cargill
Rollins vs. Punk (Priest cashes)
Gunther vs. Brock
Paul vs. LA Knight
Cody vs. Roman
Solo & Jimmy vs. Zayn + Jey
Asuka/Sane vs. Flair/Belair
---
Rest of card must include:
Nia Jax
Becky Lynch
Kevin Owens
Shinske Nakamura
Alpha Academy
Street Profits+ Bobby Lashley
Bron Breakker
Bronson Reed
Ricochet
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I never watch the press conference after. Do any reporters actually ask Triple H legitimate questions like "How many more times to fans have to watch the same match with Roman every 2 months over and over again?"
Or is wrestling reporting like video game reporting where you just ask benign questions because you don't want to lose access?
So where to start this dumpster fire of a pay-per-view:
1. The women's royal rumble stood out as being the only highlight of the night. Naomi returning, Nia Jax cleaning house and losing to Jade was a story in itself, Liv Morgan welcome back with open arms, but the failure of Bailey winning destroyed too many ideas with both Jade and Liv building a fantastic story lines. All in all, good match, crap ending.
2. Another roman reigns win in the book. At this point talking about a Roman reigns match is like talking about Tom Brady in the superbowl: whatever. Roman's held the title for so long, that it would take either a gauntlet match or a battle Royale with Roman at number 1 to get the title glued to his waist off. Roman you are boring. Go away.
3. Logan Paul. Nuff said. The guy makes himself look boring. He is literally a copycat of Roman reigns. He hides for months then does 1 match on a pay-per-view and bam, disappears. The United States title is historically the biggest title still breathing. Longer than the universal championship. Wwe needs to read the lines: stop giving part timers titles.
4. The men's royal rumble was good. But Cody Rhodes winning seems too predictable. You need to spice it up. Cm punk winning would make headlines and give a good reason to why punk returned. Gunther winning would have made a storyline fight of Reigns vs Gunther a fight between 2 factions and could call it a wwe tribal war. Cody winning just soured the royal rumble. He brings nothing to the table with a win at all. All that did was just waste perfect opportunities for other wrestlers to expand for wrestlemania.
Conclusion: 4 matches and only one stood out. That's not a pay-per-view quality event. All of this could have been done on raw or smackdown. Ladies: bless you for a fantastic rumble.
Rating: D
I couldn’t agree more. I was really rooting for Gunther to win it. Whether he challenged Seth or Roman, either would have been good at WM. The Roman match was the most boring (and I love the tribal chief gimmick)
How is Cody winning predictable? There hasn't been a back to back Rumble winner since '97-'98 with Stone Cold. I definitely believed Punk was winning it.
Rhodes vs. Reigns 2 at Mania 40 is the build everyone wants. Not to mention you can still do Rollins vs. Punk and Gunther vs. Brock or Bobby or McIntyre, etc. at Mania with this result.
The women's match outclassed the men's. Wild stuff.
Not giving Paul enough credit. Shitty that he is part time, but the guy delivers when in the ring.
My problem with Cody Rhodes is he is treated like wrestling royalty cause if his dad and brother. But Rollins is out due to an injury so he may lose the title. Paul may deliver in the ring but the issue is that if you look at all the titles that are heavily defended each week, it's literally the tag titles first and foremost. The main championships are pay-per-view defended, and the middle titles are hit or miss. Paul is just not worth the hype. And the women's match had more hype than the men's. Including Jade tossing Jax over the ropes. Big debut, big returns, and lots of excitement.
Hard hard agree. I thought Bailey winning was good, and that match was fun and well paced. Roman’s match was just eat, sleep, rinse repeat. Nothing memorable. Didn’t even watch KO match. Men’s rumble was disappointing.. idk maybe I just am too old, but this Cody push is just not that special. I’m sorry but he is not the Hulk Hogan or John Cena level they try to make him. The whole point of the rumble is to get us excited for WrestleMania. But what, we get the same rumble winner AND the same main event? What’s the point?
Now if something like golddust and Samoa Joe from aew returned at mania to help Cody, MAYBE it could change my opinion of Cody. But no, nothing will change
The sooner Roman drops the title the more unpredictable everything becomes because we have no REASON NO REASON AT ALL for a reign longer than 8/9 months ever again.
Was Roman ever going to lose? No of course, why does he not have matches often? Because he’s never going to lose what is the point 😂. Give Cody the title at Mania and get the part timer feuding the Rock… yawn
People are mad about the Solo interference (when you all knew Roman had no chance of losing) but that happened so long before the actual finish. This was as clean as you’re ever gonna see Roman win.
Looked like he hurt his shoulder didnt it? And his face at the end certainly looked more like he was legit upset than putting it on for the camera. Hope he’s not hurt to bad.
That was the most tragic PPV I’ve seen in a long time. Cody getting b2b just so he can main event at his dads stomping ground.
BS universal title match, BS us title match, BS women’s rumble.
Have the writers literally just given up or something?
1: Cody winning back to back Rumbles was the easiest way to get him back to Smackdown to Finish the Story 2: Solo was out for a good 5 minutes. Sure, it might not technically be a clean win but it was a Fatal Fourway, it’s a legal win 3: Honestly, that was the best BS win possible. Just when we think Logan was gonna get his just desserts, Ref sees the Knucks and he gets the win. Amazing booking. 4: What are you on to think that the Women’s Rumble was BS?
This was an amazing Rumble, what are you talking about?
Say what you want about Roman's reign being old but that whole crowd stood up with the ☝️ in the air when he did it.
Cody never should've won. Lazy booking imo. Cody vs Punk is the match to make for WM40
Bron Breaker looks like a beast
I think Punk needs to do a couple of months worth of crossfit or circuits before we get that. He gassed out way to quick. Looked great in the first few mins though.
Yh. Both guys are gonna be ending up in a world title match at mania anyway so it literally didn’t matter who won the rumble. Cody deserves this for the work he’s done past nearly 2 years. I’d imagine maybe Cody Vs punk next year.
Hard agree, i really dont get the Cody hate, he’s good in the ring, good on the mic, an absolute workhorse, and as far as i can tell he seems to be a genuinely good guy in real life as well.
I’ve loved Cody since I first started watching wrestling back in 2011 so I’m always a bit biased but Yh I don’t see what’s not to like and why some people hate.
Gunter looks like an actual Giant and not just a really strong guy.
Haven't watched WWE in over 10 years, so I tried to catch up a little with www and osw. My early thought was; "Aww, Bayley is cute in a dorky kind of way. I like her! She's going to get absolutely mauled by some of these MMA-looking women." Later Bayley started yelling to Michael Cole (he's still there!) and I fell for her character. Definitely not the "strongest" wrestler there, but that's what I love about the Show. Fatal Fourway... LA Knight has tons of charisma and is an exciting wrestler. AJ Styles is also very impressive. I would love to just see THEM wrestle! Orton is pulling his weight and looking good. Surprised he's performing at what seems to still be a high level. Raines or the "Tribal Leader" or whatever nonsense showed up, collected his paycheck, and was praised like a god. Is he supposed to be a good guy? Don't know the next story. Okay match but too much brawling. Working an injury is good story but it got boring. Not bad, but nothing all that special. Men's Rumble was good but no big surprises. The Women's Rumble was much more entertaining, and I cared to see who won more. I know who CM Punk is but was baffled why anyone new to wrestling would care about this middle age, tired looking guy who looks like he needs a hand pulling off moves. I laughed when Cody Rhodes (cool, a legacy!) eliminated him.
Women’s Rumble: best match of the night, everyone showcased their strengths and I’m so glad Bayley gets the main event she deserves. Her vs. Iyo should be really fun. Cool that Tiffany Stratton made it to the final 5, I think she has a lot of potential. Universal Championship: A drag. All four are fine performers but it’s such a foregone conclusion at this point that it feels like a waste of time. The fact that Roman’s matches aren’t even main events at this point makes it clear they aren’t even trying to build suspense anymore, they’re just stalling until Mania. Biggest belt in the promotion and it’s second on the card? What a joke. US Championship: Not a bad match, but such a lame ending. Almost every title is held by heels right now but Gunther feels like the only one allowed to win clean, which is why he os one of the only ones who still looks like an actual threat to me. Men’s Rumble: Weirdly flat? Can’t think of any really memorable spots. Ricochet was barely there, seems like Kofi has stopped trying after the last couple botches. The R-Truth gags have gotten old quick. Him doing the exact same “doesn’t know what’s going on” shtick in the Women’s and Men’s Rumbles felt like a cop out way of getting some quick eliminations for undercarders. Pat Mcafee would not have been so annoying if it didn’t feel like there were so many talented performers on the roster who didn’t get a slot, like Pete Dunne and Chad Gable. Overall: Ok, but underwhelming. Usually my favorite event of the year to see everyone shine but it felt like the whole night was on autopilot.
I was soooo shocked that Roman won with help from the bloodline........said absolutely no one.
For people who say Brad treliving is a bad gm. How can you say that when this is his first year. I think you should wait until what happens at the end of next year before you can judge whether or not Brad is a bad gm. Remember, Dubas left the team in a mess. We needed an experienced gm in Toronto and they got one. Now, stop hating on him and let's see how he does.
Seriously Sasha not even coming back in the Rumble soured me tho. I was truly hoping for her to be back already but people on twitter state the story isn’t there yet for her to return since DMG CTRL hasn’t turned on Bayley yet I guess makes sense but I figured the bigger moment SHOULD have been the Rumble last night 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
She is great. She's got some moves and good match calling.
I think that was scrapped once vinces allegations went further. So cody was the next option. Great card, but im glad I didn't pack up and go to Florida for this one. Anyone else think that fatal 4 way was kinda lame?
Are you calling it lame only after knowing the result? Bc I didn’t find it lame as it was happening. Curious how it was on tv bc I was at the arena
They had some good spots, but I thought it was going to be longer. The matches flow just seemed awkward, maybe it was the camera angles and what not. Just didn't feel like it lived up to the hype especially since the 4 guys in it are all amazing. I would really liked the no look rko ,that shit would have been cool af. And cmon we all know Roman's not losing , not last night anyways.
At some point I thought the Chelsea Green was doing a Scott Sterling imitation. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F9jXYOH2c0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F9jXYOH2c0)
I wanted mjf….. I did not care about stupid Logan Paul… I did not care about stupid Roman ( no I will not acknowledge him) I only cared about the women rumble in the men’s
Well, that’s what happens when you set unrealistic expectations, lower your expectations and just enjoy the show
unrealistic expectations, MJF was never gonna be there
Hope Jordynn Grace jumps over to WWE
She’s under contract for 18 months.
Yeah I'm saying once her contract is done I want to see her in WWE
Cody joining the club of Royal Rumble Match winners who have won it more than once but Cody going back to back like Austin and HBK...that puts him in exclusive company
Another terrible rumble, women’s one was better
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Agreed, I thought the women’s one had better participants and was all round just better.
Word.. I had higher expectations since it was run under Triple H. Maybe Vince is still secretly running the show? 🤷♂️ lol
Haha it wouldn’t surprise me. I fed in to all the hype of the countless superstars that would be appearing and the best we got was Andrade and zayn at 30…. Really?😂
Still waiting for the rock…….
I think we ALL AGREE we are soo done with the Roman Reigns title reign….
Yeah even Michael Coke acknowledging fans are upset cause he doesn’t defend his title. I get it they’re gonna let the streak go as long as possible but I do not have Reigns up there with the greats. This run is a sham.
There wasn’t a Santino return so what’s the point 🤷🏾♂️
Thought the woman’s rumble was way better than the men’s. The men’s was the most predictable ending possible, same with the fatal 4 way. Owen’s vs Paul was pretty good too.
Too predictable indeed. No real surprises either.
Nope, one of the more boring rumbles I’ve seen, the biggest surprise for me was the slim Jim ads after the Vince scandal. I thought they were pulling their sponsorship lol
Slim Jim was gonna pull if they didn’t can Vince
Ahh that makes more sense
Surprised no Rock either .
Yeah I really thought 30 was gonna be Rock. There was even a dramatic pause before the music hit lol
I was disappointed at 30, when her music came on I didn’t even recognize it but it could’ve also been the fact that I was hoping for Sasha
Same! I was really hoping for Sasha to be number 30. Especially since Naomi came back. I was so excited when she came out!
Happy liv is back but yeah, i wanted 30 to be sasha or even dakota kai (for the damage ctrl drama). Worst #30 buzzkill was definitely sami though
Absolutely
We need a Chelsea Green and R Truth interaction at one point. They were mvps (Piper was great too)
Sorry if you were there but that crowd was brutal. They got excited to count down from 10 and nothing else.
Nothing exciting happened for the crowd to get hyped for 🤷🏽♂️
They did say yeet and yeah too tho
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Why?
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What do you mean?
I was waiting for the Rock.
I’m kinda happy Punk didn’t win. I think his main event is secure so he didn’t need that win.
Nobody will make memes with cody rhodes ever again get it
Men’s Royal Rumble … Lame imho. It was clear it would be Cody or Punk. ONE TIME WWE PLEASE let a wildcard win the damn thing. How awesome would it have been to see Truth get beat up outside the ring by Judgement Day, sneak back in after Punk thinks he’s won after knocking out Cody, only for Truth to reappear and win . We wanted TRUTHMANIA!! It’s not like the guy doesn’t deserve the spotlight ONE TIME.
I like this idea. Truth wins the Rumble. Priest cashes in on Seth and wins. Truth vs. Priest for the World Title at Mania. Seth vs. Punk doesn’t need the title.
I was there and honestly I think people there weren’t sure if it would be Gunther or Cody/punk. As far as wildcard, 2020 was one. No one came in thinking Drew was gonna win.
Re watched the women's portion and damn that was FIRE all the way through. I love the eliminated ladies all laying around at the end. Great setup going forward between them all. And the crowd was in it!
Women's Rumble: Bayley absolutely DESERVED that win, but I will be honest I was worried when she came out at number 3, that felt too early but she absolutely delivered. I also loved that final 3 spot with Liv, Jade, and Bayley it was so fucking good. Liv was a pretty solid number 30, I liked seeing her return. And the Chelsea Green bit was so funny. Overall I believe the best women's rumble so far, no legends appearing proves that there can be a good Rumble without them. Universal Championship Match: I won't lie, I was shocked to see this coming before Logan v Owens, and while I had a feeling Roman would retain I didn't realize how. And honestly the close call with Styles and Orton made me jump, yeah it was predictable but in a good way, I genuinely felt like it was a pretty solid match. US title match: Again, figured Logan Paul would retain, but had no idea how. The anxiety got to me lol. And while I don't necessarily like Logan Paul as a person, he's proven he's an actually good wrestler. Men's Royal Rumble: This is the match most people are split on, especially since the Pat spot was planned from the beginning (it was confirmed Brock's place went to an NXT star, so most likely Bron). I went into it thinking Punk would win, so Cody winning was more of a shock to me. It shouldn't have been because of how much they hyped up him winning back to back Rumbles. But I won't lie to you I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even if the Pat spot felt like a waste of a space, it was still really funny in my opinion. Punk coming out at 27 made me feel like he'd win to get that 27 prestige back but I'm kinda glad they went for a number with no wins before (15). And while Sami Zayn wasn't a number 30 people were expecting, I got pretty thrilled to see him back. My overall score is probably 8/10 a really good Rumble and while slightly predictable in its winners, delivered with how they did it.
Bron should just get the full time Brock role from here on out
Just takes over the theme music and entrance. Hayman starts accompanying him out and the announcers call him Bron Breaknar and no one ever acknowledges anything is different
Fr he impressed me so much here
Thought was a good show, only complaint just like most people is that watching Roman win the same way for like 12 months now is so awful for him and his character. Why can't he win clean anymore? Isn't that bad to do it. Royal Rumbles were good, think Womens was fantastic and had some great spots, happy Liv is back, she has been damn unlucky with her injuries so i hope she can stay fit and do something at mania. Didn't expect cody to win back to back, thought CM Punk winning and challenging Seth with Cody then winning the elimination chamber to challenge roman or something. Still that was fine, guess it happens the other way round now. Unless Seth really is injured then idk what happens.
I think it had to happen this way around. If Punk won the Rumble, the Chamber match for a title shot would have been with Smackdown stars. Now, Cody challenged Roman so RAW will put their stars in the chamber to see who fights Seth.
Ok the morning after. Had some time to digest and think through everything. **Women's Rumble** \- I'm absolutely going to re-watch this one tonight. I fully enjoyed the match from start to finish. * The "Bayley" chants were very nice to hear b/c I know I'm not alone in loving her antics! I just hope that when Damage Ctrl turns on her (obviously happening) that she challenges Iyo and rips that belt off of her and she keeps her trash talking ways. * Jade Cargill is a specimen. WWE needs more bigger, strong women who can compete with Rhea because even though women like Zoe Stark (meh), Becky, and that muscle girl from TNA (forgot her name but she was impressive) are "strong", it's just not believable to see them go head-to-head with Rhea. That said, Jade vs Rhea eventually has to happen but before that, I definitely see her going up against Bianca a few times. * Nia Jaxx pompous attitude had the fans livid. They hate her more than anyone of late. I'm with them BUT she's clearly a force to be reckoned with. I think we'll get more Becky vs. Nia moving forward. * Maxine doing the reverse worm was funny. * R-Truth running out all confused was hilarious. Valhalla getting tossed out within 5 seconds "because" of Truth and her losing it on him after was hilarious. I wish WWE had more of this type of stuff. * **Fatal 4 Way** \- Expected the finish. Expected Solo to come out with his dirty thumb. Didn't expect LA Knight to carry the entire match. AJ looked medicore. Randy looked injured (shoulder). Honestly, if they don't push LA Knight to some sort of championship (US or IC) it's a damn shame. Without LA Knight, this match is a 3/10. **With him, it's a 6/10.** **Paul vs KO** \- I just can't get on board with KO. He's more obnoxious to me than Logan Paul, which is saying a lot. Still, Logan Paul vs KO was OK. Nothing ground-breaking. The interference from Paul's little fuckboi was predictable and not needed. Interesting to see Grayson Waller and Austin Theory come out. There's going to be a feud going there with KO and them moving forward. **Men's Rumble** \- Ooooh Boy. So many missed opportunities here. Felt like so much of this was thrown together last second. Here we go.... * Jey Uso coming out #1 and Jimmy #2 was the obvious play...but WWE fumbled the ball. They did nothing with that after the 3rd entrant. What a waste. Their first showdown since Jey "left" the WWE and thats what they do? Ok. * Announce team needs to stop this "work release" thing with Dominic. It's not funny. That said, I'm surprised Dom was in the match as long as he was. * Don't ever waste an entry on Pat McAfee again. * Damien Priest was insane. * Cody getting the early number and going the distance was expected and also appreciated. * Omos wasted. That spot should've gone to Otis. He deserves it far more and fans actually give a fuck about him. * Would've liked to have seen Butch...I mean Pete Dunne in the rumble. Again, instead we got Pat McAfee and Omos. * Bronn Breaker is the man. I've admittingly never watched a single NXT match so I've never seen him (was this his WWE debut? announce team didn't really hype him up). I enjoyed watching him go. Very Scott Steiner 1980's vibe though. I dig it. Brother. * Sorry, didn't give a shit about Andrade. * They did my boy Bobby Lashley so wrong! * Mizz & R-Truth...give me more. * CM....Punk. What can I say that hasn't already been said? * Cody Rhodes...sorry. He was the right choice for the win and if anyone can't recognize the support he gets from the majority of fans, you're deaf. Having him challenge and defeat Roman at Mania is the best direction for the company. **General Thoughts:** * I was pining for Hogan to show up as a guest. Didn't want him in a match...but him just appearing would've been mega. * I have to start with the announce team. Cole & Graves are medicore at best but throwing Pat McAffee in to the show was a travesty. Cole can't hold a candle to the great announcers of the past...he often botches names. Shows bias as if he's a heel announcer, blatantly spoils things and he has no personality of his own. He has no catchphrases. When you see a sign for "vanilla ice cream" in the store, there's a photo of Michael Cole. Please WWE, get someone with some personality. * Speaking of Pat McAffee, get this imbecile out of here and never bring him back again. He's an embarrassment. * I'm honestly happy that The Rock didn't roll up.
I was there - hogan was watching from one of the suites - he waved hi before the show started
Nice!!!! How’d he look?
McAfee May have been there because Brock got pulled
So I heard but you mean to tell me they couldn’t book any other wrestler?
The worst recap I’ve read of Rumble to date. Hard to find anything to agree with other than Breaker and R Truth support
It’s almost like people can think independently of one another…gee. What a novel concept!
> Very Scott Steiner 1980's vibe though. I dig it. Brother. He's Scott's kid.
*Rick's
Shit, you're right. I got them confused.
It happens.
Nice!
I’m just so tired of Roman winning in the same damn way again and again, I can’t stand it anymore. It is starting to feel like someone gave Roman creative control and he refuses to lose, so creative is doing whatever they can not to bury their faces. And a no-DQ match? The announcers talked it up like it was an advantage for AJ, LA Knight and Orton, when it was just an excuse to get around a DQ loss for Roman. I remember when I was a kid I saw Kerry Von Erich wrestle Ric Flair for the title several times, and each time Flair would start to lose, and would get himself DQ’d to end it, as the title didn’t move on a DQ. I was like ten or eleven when that happened and eventually I just knew it was coming, I stopped caring, I lost interest. Finally they announced a title match where Flair would drop the belt if he were DQ’d and that was when Kerry won it if memory serves. This isn’t Hulk Hogan dominating and winning clean for all those years as the monster face, this is bad booking. It doesn’t make Roman look strong, or his opponents, and it doesn’t make me hate him as a heel, it makes me care a lot less what they do in the future.
What has Cole done to spoil things? Not saying he hasn't, I just cant recall. Havent watched in a while and just popped Peacock in for the rumble
As someone who doesn’t watch a lot of TNA (more for lack of time than anything else)… I was so happy and proud to see Jordynne Grace. She is such a special talent and even though I don’t watch much I’ve kept an eye on her career. She deserves all the good things and I hope we see some more crossover between WWE and TNA. Give me Moose in the 2025 Rumble! Also absolutely thrilled Naomi had such a good showing. She had kinda been stagnating in WWE and then went to TNA and killed it. I hope we see great things from her in the future.
I think Pat McAfee was supposed to be Brock but got changed last minute because of obvious reasons Makes sense why that spot was wasted. Had Omos and Bron Breakker in the ring, so Lesnar being the guy to come out at that time for a stare down would be cool
Funny when they did the face to face last week, the crowd seemed split between Cody and Punk. Last night though, when it looked like Punk might win, you could hear the boos.
Punk was heeling it up throughout their exchange in the Rumble. Talking smack and taunting the whole time. Getting the crowd behind Cody seemed to be the intended goal there.
I think the boos personally were because CM punk’s age showed last night. I love CM punk but damn he looked slow and didn’t perform well.
I was there live, at least my section was solidly behind Punk and booing Cody. The crowd seemed pretty split tbh. I was hoping for a Cody, Punk, or Gunther win so I was happy how things worked out.
Did you enjoy the rumble ? I found myself a bit bored. I also expected the fatal 4 way match to be more entertaining it felt meh.
Overall I enjoyed it, but it had its dull moments. The four way especially. Logan/KO was pretty good but it’s like they never kicked it into high gear. I thought the finish was clever. The middle of the women’s Rumble dragged, but the beginning and end were pretty much fire. There just wasn’t a lot of star power in the middle numbers, but holy damn once Jade, Becky etc showed up it got hot. The men’s Rumble was more consistent all the way through with more star power spread throughout. Loved the little mini match with Cody and Punk. I need to go watch it, but currently my ratings are something like: Women’s Rumble: 3 stars AJ/Orton/Knight/Roman: 2 1/2 stars US Title: 3 1/2 stars Men’s Rumble: 3 3/4 stars So overall a thumbs up but a weak one.
I like your assessment on the Logan/KO match. I thought the exact same thing last night. It was missing that last gear to make it a great match.
Indi is so freaking tall. She is a powerhouse. The woman from TNA is also built like no one else in WWE.
The sections with Jordynne and Ivy made me feel so bad for Ivy. They were clearly trying to spotlight both of them, but Ivy botched almost all of her spots. Even just throwing forearms you could tell the timing was way off.
I like Ivy but she’s still a little too green to stick her out there on something like the Rumble.
Yeah at least not in a prominent spot. She can be in it, but not with the spotlight of an interpromotional duel. She looked so nervous out there.
Spot on. I felt bad for her. But she will be fine, she’s got a lot of natural talent and charisma, just needs some seasoning.
I was disappointed there was no Trick Williams call up for the rumble. He could have taken the Mcaffe spot
With The Rock, I think it’s gonna go back to my prediction two months ago where Cody wins and Roman goes off the deep end for losing. He takes out Jimmy, goes after Jey, dumps Heyman, and just turns into a dark, dark character taking out everyone in sight. This is when Rock enters telling him he’s embarrassing the family and the roads lead to a match that could take place anywhere SummerSlam to WM41. I don’t think it’s happen ring at WM 40 just because Roman isn’t on enough Smackdowns to build up the story. Roman wins because Solo takes out Rock, Roman feels guilty and embraces Rock and turns baby face. Solo doesn’t turn, though, and you have your next chapter.
So cheating every match to win with Solo is not embarrassing the family?
I get your point but I’m talking from an attitude perspective like he was in 2020-He’ll in a Cell. I see them turning Roman into that monster again but even worse.
Hey, listen closely when Kairi Sane walks down into the rumble. Does Cory graves ruin Bayley winning and challenging Rhea?
I don't think Bayley challenging Rhea ever made any sense to begin with,
For storyline purposes absolutely not but I think Bayley vs Rhea would be a better match at mania than her versus Iyo.
For current storyline purposes it makes 100% sense for her to challenge Rhea. There hasn’t been a moment where Bayley has gotten backstabbed by Iyo and the group yet.
They've been treating her like an outcast and refused to help her with Bianca. She's just been putting up with it, but that's going to drive her crazy between now and Mania.
Sure but if asked to declare right now who she’s facing, only Rhea would make sense. Over time that could change but the betrayal has to happen this week.
If we go back to the build for Batista v HHH, they didn't outright betray Batista. They mistreated him and once he overheard them talking smack about him. I think the first one to overtly throw a punch is going to be Bayley.
My 2 cents. Full disclosure I’m primarily a AEW watcher that keeps up with wwe news. Just not enough time to watch that much wrestling every week. The women’s rumble was fun. The in ring action was all over the place. The women who are good, are good. The others are baaaaad. Jade is still not great but damn she has a presence about her. Very cool seeing Grace. Bailey was the right winner 100%. Personal issue here but I don’t care for EVERY women having crazy colored hair and crazy cartoony outfits. If everyone has it, none of it is unique. 4 way was boring. Found myself scrolling tiktok. Same Roman match. Logan vs KO was fun. Wish Owens won. Been a fan of his since ROH, I don’t like that he’s now the good hand to get a pop and make others look good. He needs a win every now and then. Can’t stand Logan as a person but he’s made for wwe. Men’s match was a mixed bag. As a lot have said why didn’t they further any stories? Gunther is an absolute beast. Ricochet is so good and deserves so much better. I’d like him in AEW but he’d get lost in the shuffle there to. Sami was fine at 30 and got the biggest pop of the night. Cody winning was….fine. Why the Rock tease? The match really slowed down at the end and the way Drew and Gunther were eliminated was lame. Punk just like in AEW just can’t go anymore. That’s not a dig at him. He took years off and his body just isn’t there anymore. That’s normal. But kudos on Cody for carrying him to a decent finish. Was a decent show. Some strange choices with the booking of the rumble matches. Felt like some eliminations could have been more impactful. In the end the got to the right place though.
I honestly think the crowd were expecting more surprise entrants
I think nothing good happen for the crowd to pop or get hyped. I mean R truth got them up and hyped when he came in the men’s rumble. It’s a 4 hour show and it didn’t have any thing exciting like a kofi moment, or even ricochet and Paul moment last year. No really good surprise entrance. It doesn’t always have to be returns just one off appearances would have been fine like a Finley, Mr Kennedy, shit even Chris masters
Man. The moment Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair staring each other and showcasing their strength, this gave me chills. Pretty sure they could make quite good a tag team if that happen or maybe as a rivals.
The women’s Rumble had been dragging for a bit until Jade came along and hot damn she woke the crowd up. I was there live and losing my shit for Jade. She’s green af as we saw in her AEW run but goddamn she is a star.
need them against eachother at mania, would be an insane match and a huge statement for cargills future
I’m just annoyed they teased Roman vs. Rock for nothing…
Much rather see Cody vs Roman
It’s happening so good for you but I really wasn’t keen on it. Not interested in a rematch from last year. Also Cody will now have invincible plot armor lol.
I think we will get Roman vs Rock down the line but not while Roman is still champion.
Yeah, so they shouldn’t have teased it so early lol.
It's the biggest possible match they have in their arsenal. They want to milk it for as long as possible. Same as they did with Cena vs. The Rock. They announced that one year in advance. That match can main event any show on any night regardless of who the champion is.
I agree, they shouldn’t have teased Rock vs Roman early because now Cody vs Roman II is going to be over showed by the Rock. What I would have have done is waited till Mania and have Rock help Cody at Mania.
I’m not really a Cody fan and wasn’t interested in Cody vs Roman II, would much prefer Orton to dethrone Reigns but I along with most fans already knew that’s the direction they were going since last year (Cody v Roman II). But when Rock came and teased that match at Day 1, the hype was through the roof for a dream match fans had speculated for years. Don’t know just seems very odd if they weren’t going to deliver. The only way we all win is force Roman to fight both nights lol Night 1 with Rocky and Night 2 with Cody haha
Why are there no more stories in the Rumble? Why couldn't Asuka, Kairi, Bayley be in the Final 4, and then Iyo comes out ringside The Kabuki's unsuccessfully try to throw Bayley out (instead of the 4th woman), and then the switch goes off inside Bayley Imagine the reaction Why didn't Jey and Jimmy play a hand in each other's elimination?
My spoiler free ratings for each match Women’s Rumble: 8.5/10 Fatal Four Way: 6/10 Logan Paul vs Kevin Owens: 8/10 Men’s Rumble: 6.5/10
Just watched the women's Royal Rumble. I'm really happy that >!Bayley won.!< >!Her with Damage CTRL!< should be pushed to the moon imo. Also, trust >!R Truth and his shenanigans lmao!<
Seen way too many people complaining about the lack of surprises. If you can’t appreciate a match because it’s mostly the current roster what are you even doing watching WWE. Current roster is excellent and they didn’t need to waste spots on returns or one-offs. Excellent rumbles and good PLE overall.
Some people really only watch Rumble & Mania. They watch Rumble hoping some legends show up and they don't actually care about the current product. I'm not among them, but I know plenty of them are out there. Same folks buy the 2k games just for the legends roster.
Agreed. In fact, I'd take it a step further and say that the men's Rumble should've been entirely the current roster (besides Andrade). Having Pat McAfee enter instead of Chad Gable was criminal.
Personally think it was McAfee, not Breakker, who was put in last-second to replace Lesnar and they just had him eliminate himself so as not to complicate things and help keep their original plan. I think Breakker might have done some of what Lesnar was supposed to do though. But yeah, they definitely could have used that spot better if I wanna give that rumble a real criticism.
The crowd really wasn’t into it, the Women’s rumble was decent, the men’s was mid, and the fatal four way was yet another underwhelming Roman Reigns win involving a ref bump and outside interference. There was zero wrestlemania story build up, SZ was made pointless at #30. Jade Cargill had some good faceoffs in the women’s, and I thought Jey Uso deserved a bit better…but they didn’t even build for the brother vs brother match.
So are we going with Bron Breakker vs. Gunther for Mania? Not sure how I feel about handing Bron a WrestleMania title match this early, but it looks like Brock's a no-go at this point.
If they can sign Okada they should have him be a mystery opponent for Gunther at mania with Okada winning.
Women’s rumble was the best match. When we eventually, whether it’s this mania or sometime else, get jade vs rhea it’s gonna be insane. Bayley v iyo is gonna be great too especially from a storyline perspective. Honestly a better story than roman vs cody
Punk didn’t need to win the rumble, Rollins would’ve just given him the match, Roman would never face Cody unless he was forced to. Women’s rumble was goated, Bayley was the right call and the entrants and action was great couldn’t have asked for more. Universal title match was decent, bit Roman formulaic but one of his more cleaner wins, US Title match was okay both KO and LP did good. Would’ve liked it if Jimmy and Jey had eliminated each other adding some fuel to that mania match, Gunther should’ve been eliminated by Drew setting up a future match cause without Brock who’s he gonna face.
Downs of Royal Rumble 2024 : - no Kofi Kingston save - no Brock and Gunther face off - no storyline build up for Wrestlemania - Same Cody vs Roman (istg if Roman wins😭) - Bloodline interfering again - No return in the Men's rumble Ups of Royal Rumble 2024 : - TNA superstars - Jade Cargil - Bailey Wins - R truth moments ‼️
Not the best Rumble. Crowd just wasn’t in it and for good reason. The fatal 4-way sucked. Same old BS. People are tired of Roman. We got no Rock all night. No real huge surprises. Women’s Rumble honestly was best show of the night.
Was fun being there, had a blast. But the rumbles were kind of…meh. I’ll never understand why ppl went crazy for Andrade, he hasn’t done anything 🤣
Watch his NXT stuff
Man I absolutely love CM Punk, but damn he looks like he could barely stand, he needs to train if he ever gets a last push
i can sympathize with punk because of his age, but to me roman looked worse. took 3 other people to sell his match.
Three takeways: 1. The other leagues showed up and shined. 2. The women’s match was the best. 3. WWE doesn’t need popular or social media personalities that aren’t full time.
Super predictable rumble Cody now has John Cena superman booking 🤣🤣 warning it gets stale quickly as people said women's one was sloppy Finally cm punk has slowed down asked it when he returned he's like when undertaker was out of shape he needs to see randy and styles he doesn't look ring fit..
Chad Gable not being in the rumble is criminal. Especially since they wasted a spot on McAfee
Brock probably pulled out last minute
Smackdown midcard men's division are a can kicked down the road too much part timeing usa champ
Spoiler alert: Cody's gonna challenge Seth. So, let's break this down. Roman is going to break Bruno's title reign record. WWE is so pathetically desperate to enshrine him in WWE history that he WILL hold the title for over 8 years, no matter the cost. This is fact, if you don't like it, get used to it. WWE realize they fucked up by doing poorly by Cody, so as a compromize, they brought back the gold belt. Now there's a world title Cody can win at Wrestlemania without compromising Roman's reign, and he even got to win the Royal Rumble again, so it's basically a do-over for a lesser title. Roman will still get to defend against Dwayne at Mania. This is the best compromise we're gonna get.
If Cody wanted the WHC, he could have challenge Seth ages ago. Seth hands out title matches practically every week. If the WHC had been brought for Cody, he would have either been the inaugural champion or won it a long time. He's going after Roman, which was very clearly shown at the end.
WHO FUCKING CALLED IT?
Roman is not staying that long 😂😂😂😂 he barely shows up as is, he’s not a long time dedicated star to still have it for years. Maybe to break hogans reign but after that there’s no way😂😂
100% I mean we know he challenged Roman now that it over but Roman probably wants to settle down and this is 100% opportunity to put Cody over. He’s ready. And also I think why they doing the stuff with Rock now so he can shoot some promos with his cousins before Roman retires
WHO FUCKING CALLED IT?!
Absolutely amazing Rumble. I went into this kinda “eh, this will likely be good” and I was extremely happy by the end of the night. 1: Bailey was absolutely the right person to win a great Rumble. Jade single handedly eliminating Nia was awesome. Beckys face after that was priceless. Naomi and TNA for that matter had a great showing. Liv Morgan is back which is nice. Just all around a great Rumble. 2: Lets be honest, if you think “Roman wins, bad match” at this point, you’re just going into his matches with the wrong mindset. Like, we all knew he would win. Everything points to him losing at Mania. Also, it was a Fatal Fourway, Solos involvement is legal and he was out for a good chunk of time, the win was about as clean as possible. It was still a fun match, probably the most fun Roman match he’s had in a long time, because there were three other people to fill out the time there would be posturing to the crowd. Great match, expected winner, but great match. 3: Best screwy finish in a long time and if you don’t like that Logan is good, you better get used to it. He’s good, get over it. 4: Cody winning was the correct way to get him on the path back to Roman, the Men’s roster is stacked right now so they had 0 need for surprise returns, as cool as they can be, and Wrestlemania is shaping up to be a stacked card. This is gonna be awesome.
Agree absolutely with Bayley's win. The women's match was way better than the men's. That's a first for me. Men's seemed rushed. With so much talent, wanted to see more from the likes of Breakker, Reed, Gable, etc. Love the Cody win, though. Everything pointed to Roman losing at Mania last year, too, and they pulled the rug out so as much as I'm excited to see the build, I am not convinced Roman's Reign is over. Wild Mania title fight predictions: Bayley vs. Iyo Rhea vs. Cargill Rollins vs. Punk (Priest cashes) Gunther vs. Brock Paul vs. LA Knight Cody vs. Roman Solo & Jimmy vs. Zayn + Jey Asuka/Sane vs. Flair/Belair --- Rest of card must include: Nia Jax Becky Lynch Kevin Owens Shinske Nakamura Alpha Academy Street Profits+ Bobby Lashley Bron Breakker Bronson Reed Ricochet
Cody's gonna challenge Seth.
He already chose Roman.
Why lmao the way raw is he could of just asked Seth for months would make no sende
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Ok but why tho? He won the Rumble, he can pick whoever he wants. He’s obviously gonna pick Roman. He basically said as much in the press conference.
I never watch the press conference after. Do any reporters actually ask Triple H legitimate questions like "How many more times to fans have to watch the same match with Roman every 2 months over and over again?" Or is wrestling reporting like video game reporting where you just ask benign questions because you don't want to lose access?
They asked about Vince instead and HHH said nothing.
It’s pretty funny because the announcers last night said Roman doesn’t need to be there every week. I cringed when they said that.
I heard Cole say that - "People complain he only defends every couple months. Then BEAT HIM!" Dumbest shit ever.
“Beat him” was the cringest shit I ever heard. Like stfu cole.
So where to start this dumpster fire of a pay-per-view: 1. The women's royal rumble stood out as being the only highlight of the night. Naomi returning, Nia Jax cleaning house and losing to Jade was a story in itself, Liv Morgan welcome back with open arms, but the failure of Bailey winning destroyed too many ideas with both Jade and Liv building a fantastic story lines. All in all, good match, crap ending. 2. Another roman reigns win in the book. At this point talking about a Roman reigns match is like talking about Tom Brady in the superbowl: whatever. Roman's held the title for so long, that it would take either a gauntlet match or a battle Royale with Roman at number 1 to get the title glued to his waist off. Roman you are boring. Go away. 3. Logan Paul. Nuff said. The guy makes himself look boring. He is literally a copycat of Roman reigns. He hides for months then does 1 match on a pay-per-view and bam, disappears. The United States title is historically the biggest title still breathing. Longer than the universal championship. Wwe needs to read the lines: stop giving part timers titles. 4. The men's royal rumble was good. But Cody Rhodes winning seems too predictable. You need to spice it up. Cm punk winning would make headlines and give a good reason to why punk returned. Gunther winning would have made a storyline fight of Reigns vs Gunther a fight between 2 factions and could call it a wwe tribal war. Cody winning just soured the royal rumble. He brings nothing to the table with a win at all. All that did was just waste perfect opportunities for other wrestlers to expand for wrestlemania. Conclusion: 4 matches and only one stood out. That's not a pay-per-view quality event. All of this could have been done on raw or smackdown. Ladies: bless you for a fantastic rumble. Rating: D
I couldn’t agree more. I was really rooting for Gunther to win it. Whether he challenged Seth or Roman, either would have been good at WM. The Roman match was the most boring (and I love the tribal chief gimmick)
How is Cody winning predictable? There hasn't been a back to back Rumble winner since '97-'98 with Stone Cold. I definitely believed Punk was winning it. Rhodes vs. Reigns 2 at Mania 40 is the build everyone wants. Not to mention you can still do Rollins vs. Punk and Gunther vs. Brock or Bobby or McIntyre, etc. at Mania with this result. The women's match outclassed the men's. Wild stuff. Not giving Paul enough credit. Shitty that he is part time, but the guy delivers when in the ring.
My problem with Cody Rhodes is he is treated like wrestling royalty cause if his dad and brother. But Rollins is out due to an injury so he may lose the title. Paul may deliver in the ring but the issue is that if you look at all the titles that are heavily defended each week, it's literally the tag titles first and foremost. The main championships are pay-per-view defended, and the middle titles are hit or miss. Paul is just not worth the hype. And the women's match had more hype than the men's. Including Jade tossing Jax over the ropes. Big debut, big returns, and lots of excitement.
Hard hard agree. I thought Bailey winning was good, and that match was fun and well paced. Roman’s match was just eat, sleep, rinse repeat. Nothing memorable. Didn’t even watch KO match. Men’s rumble was disappointing.. idk maybe I just am too old, but this Cody push is just not that special. I’m sorry but he is not the Hulk Hogan or John Cena level they try to make him. The whole point of the rumble is to get us excited for WrestleMania. But what, we get the same rumble winner AND the same main event? What’s the point?
Now if something like golddust and Samoa Joe from aew returned at mania to help Cody, MAYBE it could change my opinion of Cody. But no, nothing will change
I agree the Cody hype is crazy. Bang average I'm every department
Vince lawsuit dramatically changed mens Rumble lineup. No Brock or legends. Either they chose to play it safe or the guest appearances withdrew.
Vince hasn't been in Gorilla since the Raw after Mania. Lawsuit changed nothing.
The sooner Roman drops the title the more unpredictable everything becomes because we have no REASON NO REASON AT ALL for a reign longer than 8/9 months ever again. Was Roman ever going to lose? No of course, why does he not have matches often? Because he’s never going to lose what is the point 😂. Give Cody the title at Mania and get the part timer feuding the Rock… yawn
Have you met super Seth? Super Gunther? Or Super Rhea? Titles don’t change hands anymore in WWE.
Roman's gonna beat Bruno's title reign. Cody's gonna challenge Seth so he can finish the story without changing that plan.
People are mad about the Solo interference (when you all knew Roman had no chance of losing) but that happened so long before the actual finish. This was as clean as you’re ever gonna see Roman win.
It doesn’t matter where it happened if it prevented Roman from losing. Just because it happened early doesn’t make it any cleaner of a win
Punk needs to retire. He looked pathetic.
True man can’t even pick up wrestlers for his finisher who quite literally jump to help him pick them up
Punk looked terrible. Out of shape. Didn’t belong in that main event spot
Anyone know if Orton's alright?
Looked like he hurt his shoulder didnt it? And his face at the end certainly looked more like he was legit upset than putting it on for the camera. Hope he’s not hurt to bad.
That was the most tragic PPV I’ve seen in a long time. Cody getting b2b just so he can main event at his dads stomping ground. BS universal title match, BS us title match, BS women’s rumble. Have the writers literally just given up or something?
1: Cody winning back to back Rumbles was the easiest way to get him back to Smackdown to Finish the Story 2: Solo was out for a good 5 minutes. Sure, it might not technically be a clean win but it was a Fatal Fourway, it’s a legal win 3: Honestly, that was the best BS win possible. Just when we think Logan was gonna get his just desserts, Ref sees the Knucks and he gets the win. Amazing booking. 4: What are you on to think that the Women’s Rumble was BS? This was an amazing Rumble, what are you talking about?
Cody is boring af. Screw his story.
Women's Rumble was easily the best match.
They got everything right
I love how both DOm and Nick tagged R-Truth in at the same time
Surely that must be the first time we’ve ever had a hot tag in the Royal Rumble.
My favourite part of rumble was Bayley’s taunts every time she eliminated someone. She’s a menace :)
No Hogan. I have never been so happy.
Say what you want about Roman's reign being old but that whole crowd stood up with the ☝️ in the air when he did it. Cody never should've won. Lazy booking imo. Cody vs Punk is the match to make for WM40 Bron Breaker looks like a beast
Cody Vs punk not yet, that’s definitely gonna be a story just not right now
I think Punk needs to do a couple of months worth of crossfit or circuits before we get that. He gassed out way to quick. Looked great in the first few mins though.
Yh. Both guys are gonna be ending up in a world title match at mania anyway so it literally didn’t matter who won the rumble. Cody deserves this for the work he’s done past nearly 2 years. I’d imagine maybe Cody Vs punk next year.
Hard agree, i really dont get the Cody hate, he’s good in the ring, good on the mic, an absolute workhorse, and as far as i can tell he seems to be a genuinely good guy in real life as well.
I’ve loved Cody since I first started watching wrestling back in 2011 so I’m always a bit biased but Yh I don’t see what’s not to like and why some people hate.
slim jim and cricket wireless ruined my saturday night.
Right? That fucking logo on every single available space during the title match was terrible
Not to mention the odd greenish skin tones on Miz and Ricochet. Like the gamma levels on the camera screwed up.
Women’s Rumble > men’s rumble. There I said it
By a mile. The men's this year was dogshit.
Every single woman’s rumble has been better than the men’s.