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Royal Rumble 2017


Ricky Jackson

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What a boring Rumble match. Mostly nothing happening forever for the first 2/3 apart from the Braun Diesel push. Way too gimmicky all the time, with people not even showing the will to try to eliminate anyone and basically jumping out when they get their cue and staying out of the way of the token angle/comedy taking place at the center of the ring.

 

No surprise entrant. No Joe, no Nak. Not even Angle or Goldust or whoever. Fuck me, even HHH would have been at least funny.

 

The three big name right after one another, almost. Well, when you see Taker, you get it. He looks every bit of his age. Amore was a waste of time. "Not even funny" said a french announcer. Right.

 

Goldy & Taker, two of the biggest stars in the match. In 2017. Well.

 

I must admit, I loved the trolling at the end. Really, Roman Reigns at 30 and taking out Taker ? This was glorious. Of course, the final three wasn't. Bray, I dunno what to say. Buy him a djembe or something. Orton winning... Fuck me.

 

So yeah. Worst Rumble match in a long time with tons of dead time and way too much gimmickry.

 

Aztec Warfare III pisses on this match so hard it's not even funny.

Well, a two match show really. A great, great one and a very fine opener. I should definitely keep on cherry picking.

 

Well, good night. It's almost 5 in the morning. I won't do that for Mania. Hell, I have no idea where I'll be then anyway.

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I really don't know what to think about this rumble match. I loved it until the last third of the entrants, when the young talent was put on display*; now I have literally no idea what this company is doing. I can't think of a match at Wrestlemania that this helped to set up, except I guess now I think Reigns might face the Undertaker. No idea who that one benefits (though if they hadn't already ended the streak I could EASILY see the point). As it is...sigh. Goldberg/Lesnar meanwhile, I don't see the point of repeating the narrative. How does that change the stakes at WM, except now a pissed-off badass is...pissed off?

Meanwhile, I can't think of a full-timer who came out of that match better than when he came in, with the exception of Stroman and Corbin (both of whom were booked to be dominant until suddenly they just...weren't).

I don't really give a sh*t about Orton one way or another (never have) except to say that it's pretty obviously wrong that he's going to be main-eventing, considering everyone else who could be.

I suppose this is the pattern one must accept when viewing the WWE's product; good shows in isolate, but hard to be happy with the big picture.

*Actually, it may have been one of the best openings to a rumble I've seen. Differ with the above criticisms of Cass in the opening; I actually thought he worked well with the guys he was paired with.

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For someone not really watching the TV or reading Dave's spoilers, Orton winning just seems very, very...strange to me. Like, it just didn't seem like it was a direction they were going in. He's in the middle of this angle with the Wyatts, he's basically one half of a heel tag team right now, there are plenty of guys more relevant to the title picture ahead of him, and PLENTY of bigger stars and guys that seemed more likely. It's just...weird.

 

What it does is telegraph that Bray is winning the belt at EC, because the only way Orton is relevant to a title match at Mania is if he's facing Bray. So you're using John Cena's historic, Flair-equalling title reign as a two-week transition, AND you're using what was admittedly a huge, STACKED Rumble to give the win to a midcard heel to set up a title match that will be AT BEST like the fifth biggest match at Mania. Both of those things seem like a waste to me.

 

Also, I will fucking lol if Braun Strowman, after getting over and looking AMAZING tonight, is used to put Roman fucking Reigns over at EC to build him up to face the 90 year old Undertaker.

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Well looks like Brock is getting the belt back. Goldberg beats Owens at Fastlane and then Brock wins it at mania. Have to think we are getting Reigns/Brock ll down the line prob. at Summerslam

 

How the hell does Brock get a title shot at Mania though? He beats the fuck out of Goldberg every week until he gets another opportunity?

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Gotta love the fact that every single entry had something unique to them, as well as defined characters and different styles. Compare this to something like, I dunno, 2011. It's a stark difference.

Agreed. What Rumble in the last few years was better than this? I think I remember '14 being well booked for the first half...until it horribly, so horribly wasn't. Generally fun until part-time mania ran wild over everyone.

 

A big time match at Mania for him will likely be death, but crowds do sill like 'em some Randy Orton.

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The WWE "gotcha!" approach didn't work here. Say what you will about HHH beating Roman to stroke his Flair-LARPing last year: at least it's an ethos. Two weeks ago Orton was an afterthought made to look hapless against American Alpha, tag champs deemed unfit for the show. Orton-Bray is a midcard match, Orton-Cena is an abject disaster. If anything I'm most baffled by Meltzer and Alvarez (who did call Orton's win earlier today) hinting last week at a fun and surprising Rumble/Mania direction, which has to either be changing dramatically over the next month or been changed in recent days. I guess Orton is the Venn Diagram where Vince's senility meets Hunter's dynastic dreams?

 

Overall I wouldn't say this show was actually much better than last year's Rumble. 2016 had a very fun pre-show tag melee, Charlotte-Lynch with Sasha's return, Kalisto-Del Rio, a good New Day-Usos tag, and AJ's arrival standing off with Reigns. TBH I think this show was missing some of the prior year's spontaneity.

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It struck me that the way they booked Roman for the Rumble is why everyone hates him. People don't like him because they don't think he deserves his push. So you give him the easiest path to winning the Rumble. And then you have him eliminate the guy that had been busting his ass for 60 minutes and doing it the hard way. Why is he a face again?

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Thinking Orton gives his shot up to Wyatt on some cult follower type shit. I haven't watched, but just from following I get the sense that is what they are going for with them the past few months. They could make Wyatt with a title win over Cena at Mania. Do Styles vs Orton too, then run them both as challengers in spring and summer.

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All I want to know is if this is what Dave and Bryan kept to themselves that they thought we would love. Because if it was this and plans didn't change, that's hilarious. The way they talked about it is the way you talk about Daniel Bryan being secretly cleared and coming in at 30 to win or something equivalent, not Randy Orton winning a Royal Rumble.

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It struck me that the way they booked Roman for the Rumble is why everyone hates him. People don't like him because they don't think he deserves his push. So you give him the easiest path to winning the Rumble. And then you have him eliminate the guy that had been busting his ass for 60 minutes and doing it the hard way. Why is he a face again?

You mean Roman eliminating Jericho, who did NOTHING in this match, resting outside for quite some time, is a factor of why he's been hated?

 

Jericho having a string of long, meaningless participations in Royal Rumble matches has got to be my least favorite trend in wrestling.

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It struck me that the way they booked Roman for the Rumble is why everyone hates him. People don't like him because they don't think he deserves his push. So you give him the easiest path to winning the Rumble. And then you have him eliminate the guy that had been busting his ass for 60 minutes and doing it the hard way. Why is he a face again?

You mean Roman eliminating Jericho, who did NOTHING in this match, resting outside for quite some time, is a factor of why he's been hated?

 

Jericho having a string of long, meaningless participations in Royal Rumble matches has got to be my least favorite trend in wrestling.

 

 

He's one of those guys I could never see again and be okay with it. But there are a lot of people in WWE that are falling into that category for me.

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