The Royal Rumble 2017 is here and gone. I think the WWE has again found a way to polarize their fan base with some strange decision making. It appears to be yet another sign that Vince McMahon is either totally tone deaf to the people that buy his product or just doesn't value what the fans think. It's a clear indication that the people around him don't know how to help him or stop him from doing things that outrage good chunks of the fan base.
The WWE can't please everyone. That's a very hard thing to do these days, but they can get away from this confusing booking that at least gives the majority a chance to get on the side of the face.
The pre-show was just ok. The tag title match at worst should have been flipped with the cruiser weight bout. Neville has been good, but he and Rich Swan are not ready to be in front of 50,000 people on the main show. The tag titles shouldn't be on the pre-show if they are going to be switched.
The opener between Bayley and Charlotte was a good solid match, but the problem with this match was Bayley has not been properly developed on the main roster at all. It's been a huge mistake by WWE to split their women's roster. It would have been smarter to keep all the ladies together on Raw, which is three hours, and keep a stacked division. The WWE can't keep up with the paces needed to keep these angles interesting and develop the female talents, although SD has done a much better job.
Therefore this match falls a bit flat and the ending was pretty decisive. In my eyes it should be a long time before Bayley gets another shot at the title, but given the lack of depth expect WWE to go back to her sooner rather than later in what will surely be some uninspiring stuff.
Roman vs. Owens for the Universal title was really solid stuff. Roman the in ring performer is not bad, but wow does he get over booked. He should not be kicking out of that brass knuckle spot. If Jim Ross thinks kicking out of finishers is bad then kicking out of that should be a crime. I told a friend that the only way to pin Roman is to shoot him with a gun to which he replied are you sure he wears a bulletproof vest.
I thought the ending of this match was a clear setup for Roman and Braun, which is the match they should have at WM33 given the amount of energy put into both guys I wouldn't mind it. Making Roman a title holder right now will only amp up the hate on him. Especially given the result of the other WWE title match this was right decision. You can't totally crap on your hardcore fan base in one night.
The right guy won the cruiser weight match, which as I said earlier belonged on the pre-show. Swan is a good performer, but Neville looks so good right now compared to everyone else in that division he should be given the title and look strong doing it. I take issue with the WWE changing the ropes and mat for these matches. It's almost like Vince doesn't want to claim the cruiser weights so this is a way to make them feel like a separate thing. I think it hurts the fan perception of them and is unnecessary.
The Cena Styles match was very solid, but the result did leave a bad taste in my mouth. AJ is the hot guy in this feud. He's the hot star on SD. He's the hot guy in WWE. He's performing in ring at Shawn Michael's levels. He's doing a great job on the mic. Yet the WWE continues their love affair with John Cena here. I understand that Cena has to tie and break Flair's record at some point, but this didn't feel like the right moment against what AJ has done as of late.
The truth be told the WWE portrayed Cena like a jerk the entire feud and ignored logic and history in making this match. Cena lost at Summerslam to AJ and then lost in the triple threat match they had a few months later. Cena then left for a while and came back to not demand a title match, but instead just put himself in one. By those standards why would this man ever compete in the Royal Rumble? What's worse is the way the story ended up being told he was given that match with no issues from the GM's of SD.
Cena was portrayed strong in the entire build as he should be, but his final promo over AJ was like nothing I've ever seen before. Cena roasted AJ and went way too far in his comments. It almost made me think they were turning Cena, but in the end Cena just beat AJ clean as a sheet. The WWE played this angle out like Cena was getting over on this terrible bad guy in AJ, but while AJ has been a heel he hasn't done that much to make himself an absolute villain.
I just can't figure out what AJ had to do to not lose in this spot? I don't want to get in the Cena is bad for other talent thing now, but this was a low light for me. I'll just say when you've got a fresh guy doing as good as AJ has you don't beat him by the guy people have been tired of since 2010. It's just enough already.
The Rumble match seemed like something that would be hard to screw up, but boy did the WWE miss on this one in a lot of ways. I'm not going to tackle this in any kind of order, but just focus on the things that stood out to me.
There were no real surprise guys of note. That was shocking to me given the fact that AJ made such a huge splash last year. I know the WWE injured Nakamura the night before so that would have not made any sense, but even if Samoa Joe is not going to win the thing, how is he not at least in the match to get a rub?
I would have at a minimum had Bobby Roode in the match to highlight him. That fresh face spot would have gotten some buzz regardless of the result. At worst it puts a few more eyes on NXT, which is never a bad thing and helps Roode's debut down the road. People will have something to remember. If I'm going out in front of 50K worth of smart fans I'm taking the opportunity to get over somebody fresh that they will pop for. They popped big for Dillinger, just image what would have happened for someone more notable.
I think a good rumble match gets broken down into three solid parts. The first third, the second third, and a final third. This match suffered because it got a decent opening third which was a chance to push Strowman, but then went limp until the final third. I would have booked the opening in a very similar way, but beefed up the middle part of the match with Goldberg and Lesnar.
I would have had Lesnar come in around 19 and clean house for at least 12 minutes. I have Goldberg come out and eliminate him around number 24. I need to come back to what they did in a moment. Then I have Goldberg stick around until the Taker at 28. I realize these guys aren't spring chickens, but in that order those guys would have been fine to work those minutes.
My final third would have gotten down to a final four involving the Undertaker and if they had to have Roman, him as well. Yet that's not what happened, so it felt like the match really slowed down and without the major debut guys it just seemed to tire out. When the big hitters came in they were less than impressive. Brock wasn't in the match near enough and again got manhandled by Goldberg. While I know the WWE wants to have a third match between the two, I was left thinking for me it's over. I don't want to see it anymore. Goldberg has owned Brock. It's a dead issue.
I think you have to book Brock a little stronger there. This is the guy you invested so much in the last few years. Why all the sudden do you let him get tossed out like he's done and dusted. It only got worse when the Undertaker, who probably due to his recent health issues was pretty out of shape, easily handled Goldberg and put him out. Goldberg has been presented as this dominant force. He has to last longer and look better before getting tossed out that way. I really thought WWE missed the boat on this whole situation after hyping these three guys.
Roman suddenly comes down, looking hurt, but suddenly is a house of fire and tosses Taker. I guess setting them up to feud. Are they serious with that angle? Taker needs someone who can bump around for him given his current condition. Roman is a heat magnet. I'm not a fan of the pairing after already setting Roman up against Braun. I think a match people would have been ok with and after all they did for Braun earlier I'm puzzled by this.
That being said here's where I have the biggest bone to pick with WWE. Bray Wyatt is a heel, Randy Orton is a heel, and Roman Reigns is a face. That's the way this has all been laid out. Yet, given the confusing way that all over their stories have been handled recently fans are happy when Roman gets put out of the Rumble. I'm just left to wonder what was WWE hoping the reaction to this would be?
You put a heel over who is being cheered. He's on a crash course with a face that people like to boo. Rumor is this match will change, but for now that's what you leave us with. A match we've seen done to death. I think the Bray Orton stuff has been good, but world title match good? I'm not so sure. Also, why are we putting Orton in that spot when we have all these younger guys on the roster? If Bray wins the EC next month is our WM moment him beating Bray for the title? Does that match even go on last?
I'm so confused by it all, but what really gets the buzz going for WM33? The card looks good, but where's the big story? I'm not saying this is the first time they have come out of the Rumble without a ton of buzz, but this time feels like they should have.
This just felt like the WWE going through the motions. It was leaked that Orton was going to win mid-week. I'm baffled to how leaks ever happen. I believe this one was real because I didn't see Orton winning at all in the weeks leading up this. I'm not against Orton, but it just didn't feel like that's where it was going.
Who knows. Maybe the WWE will find a way to shock us all, but last night in the end just felt like more of the same. More Undertaker, more Cena, more Roman, more Orton, more Brock and on and on. The WWE has gotten to a place where it needs to be about somebody else. The WWE needs to get to a place where the stories make a lot more sense and the bad guys get booed and the hero's get cheered.
I don't mind fans respecting a good heel, or not loving every face, but where this is now is just a confusing mess. There's nothing compelling that makes me want to watch. There's no big story that has me wondering about the end. Everything seems to just be going through the motions with a shock result here and there to keep some guessing involved, but nothing of substance is really going on. Overall this wasn't the worst PPV and I would give it a C+ because of two solid title matches, but they missed a chance to really use 50,000 people to make a new star or a memorable moment.
