Royal Rumble 2018

[Benbeeach]

I read 27 pages to get to Jimmy Redman's post and I'm glad I did. The best post. I felt almost the exact same way watching it, obviously not through the lens of a female wrestling fan, but I just couldn't help but feel how rewarding that all felt to watch as a longtime fan. It really did feel like a time machine brought everyone back for this one fantasy booked match and it was awesome. Was pleasantly surprised at just how great everyone was. There were concerns about that match just from a "how do they effectively get all the ladies over the top rope" perspective and it seems dumb as rocks in hindsight. Those ladies are professionals. That was a celebration. And in truth, the "women's revolution" has been in progress for 20 years. Only wish we could have had a sable bomb and Chyna come back from the grave to set my soul ablaze. Bravo to all of that, and to Jimmy Redman. Right there with you girl.

[El Boricua]

Stacy's post is absolutely wonderful, it encapsulates that feeling when everything just goes right for what we are a fan of. May we all be able to experience something on that glorious level of pro wrestling fandom.

 

Missed the pre-show but was able to watch the main show (yay electric power ). I haven't really been able to follow what's been going on with WWE these past months outside of some written comments I've seen online, so I'm going into this a bit cold.

 

I thought the WWE title match was good for what it was, AJ came out looking great from it.

 

The Usos vs. Benjamin-Gable struck me as tone-deaf in the way it was laid out and worked. It's a two out of three falls match and they work it with signature move kick outs in the first fall. They work on one of the Usos legs and it's inconsequential to even leading to any fall for Benjamin and Gable. Too long to even get to the first fall. And it just seemed wrong to have the Uso taken out by that double team move to the floor standing right back up like nothing happened a minute later on the ramp after the match was over. Just tone-deaf.

 

I don't know if they've done this in previous by the numbers videos, but i was glad to see that they are finally acknowledging that winning from 1 and 2 are equally impressive since they both start at the same time.

 

I liked the men's rumble match, even if it was uneven and has some of the symptoms that have plagued many of the recent rumbles.

• Liked Rusev and Balor starting it off and that Rusev immediately went to work trying to eliminate Balor.
• Corbin going berserk was okay, but it did lead to something that annoys me about the rumble nowadays, people resting on the outside for long periods of time (although it did allow Elias to do a song).
• Nice to see Almas in the rumble (and do a good showing) and it makes sense to give a spot to the NXT champ.
• They paid off the Heath Slater story brilliantly when he eliminated Sheamus.
• The entrance times were notably screwy. Sometimes it isn't obvious, but here you had guys coming in and just seconds after the countdown timer would come on screen. It was a bit distracting because it was too obvious.
• While Kofi's launch into the ring was impressive, it's past the point of ridiculousness how they said he hasn't touched the floor by standing on the pancakes. Although I did love Jinder getting assaulted with pancakes after being eliminated.
• Sad that Rusev got eliminated by two guys that eliminated themselves afterwards.
• Nice touch with everyone ganging up on Cena and with Reigns tossing out Rollins.
• Cena being the only one to still do the sign point was funny to me, but they really need to give that a rest.
• The middle portion felt too filler-y, but they kept it too a manageable number of people in the ring. The Hurricane was fine for a comedy spot since it appears that he really wasn't taking up a spot from someone better fit for the match.
• REY MYSTERIO! Best surprise entrant ever or best surprise entrant ever.
• It was also nice to see Randy Orton getting one of the returning legend spots.
• Why is Ziggler still around wasting our time.
• The final six onwards was well done if a bit long. Congrats to Nakamura, though if he doesn't turn it up for a WWE title match at Wrestlemania then it's time to write him off.

Overall a good rumble, although not one of the best ever as I've seen some are proclaiming it elsewhere (I thought the women's rumble was a better rumble match).

 

Boy was the crowd dead for the Raw tag title match. Should have been shortened and the highlight was the Jason Jordan character work.

 

The Universal title threat was what it we expected it to be. It did manage to get the crowd back up after being burned out.

 

I was a bit wary of the women's rumble match coming into the show. Then the news bits kept dropping, first Stephanie was going to be commentating, then the rumors that Rousey could be in it and win it, then the tidbit that the women's rumble was closing the show. Each of these tidbits made me even more wary of the match. Ever since the WWE decided to make "Women's Revolution" a brand to sell and to show how progressive they are being , it has suffered at different points from being forced and inorganic, which can be more damaging than helpful to what your trying to do. It is and always is a disservice to the performers to put them in spots where all that matters first is the self serving interests from those in charge, in this case all the narrative of making history (or 'changing history' for some reason) and patting themselves on the back for it. I was wary of Stephanie amking it all bout herself, I was wary of Rousey showing up and winning when that runs counter to the 'brand narrative' (and frankly, Rousey doesn't need this to be a big deal), and I was wary that being given the show closing spot would set expectations way too high or feel forced only for the reason of 'we're making history'. This had all the makings of collapsing on the weight of all these expectations and masters to serve. And, thankfully, I was completely wrong to be wary. They handled this perfectly. A really good rumble match and it managed to serve the intent of having a good match, showcasing you current stars, paying respect to the history of the women's division (without anyone really looking out of place) and with Ronda showing upa t the end, of course you have an organic reason for why they closed the show.

• Sasha and Becky were perfectas numbers 1 and 2.
• The returning legends /divas played their roles well and added immensely to the match.
• The constant rolling out of the ring was distracting, especially when they took forever to get back in.
• I thought it was weird that McCool got so many eliminations. i thought it was because she was Mrs. taker, but I read someone's point that it was probably because McCool was on the few ladies tall enough to be able to pull off the eliminations (which absolutely makes sense).
• Almost everyone got some shine and the match never lagged.
• I liked the finish with Asuka just taking Nikki's knee out to eliminate her.
• Ronda 'Sign Point' Rousey debuting after the match was the right call.

The rumble matches make or break the rumble event, and this one was great based on the two rumble matches.

[Edwin]

https://twitter.com/Sephyffxi/status/957816255309864960

Yeah, I believe El-P brought this up when it happened.

 

She's playing homage to Dean Ambrose.

[El-P]

Yep. I love Sasha, but damn, she looked completely lost at that time.

I'm so rewatching the women's Rumble soon with Stacy's post as a companion piece. Awesome stuff.

 

As much as I marked out big time for Rey Rey, I'd really like him in the fourth season of Lucha Underground.

[Boss Rock]

He'll probably get a kill-off scene. But he looked like he was in tremendous shape.

[FMKK]

If Rey doesnt want to sign a full deal they should definitely keep him in mind for a Jericho style part time run. Theres so many fun matches he could have with AJ, Rusev, Cesaro, Braun etc.

[Edwin]

He'll probably get a kill-off scene. But he looked like he was in tremendous shape.

Yes, we heard this about a dozen times from Cole and Graves last night.

[Loss]

Don't want to blatantly go there, but there are things Rey can do to keep himself in great shape outside of WWE that he can't do inside WWE.

[Superstar Sleeze]

OMG How did I forget Rey's return in my post! I WAS GOING WILD FOR THAT! He looked like WCW Rey and I was loving it! REY VS AJ MUST HAPPEN! MUST MUST HAPPEN!

[Russellmania]

I saw someone say in comments on wreddit that he had stem cell therapy done on his knees & that they are much better now. can anyone here confirm that? i'm not doubting that he's taking supplements, but surely being able to do cardio again has helped him shed the extra weight.

[FMKK]

Rolling the 25 minute HHH wank match and the showbiz bs match into one segment and getting it out of the way is a booking decision I can endorse. They can hide Ronda better in a smoke and mirrors match too

[JKWebb]

Man, some great posts here, and I'm glad lots of folks here were as fired up about both rumbles as I was. I agree with those that said it was the best rumble in years. I was thrilled to see Rey! I was pulling for him (in a fun way) because I knew he wasn't going to win (I was even randomly wearing his shirt), but anyway I love the final six moment. I'm glad Nak won, and he delivered with probably his best performance since his debut. I loved the Women's Rumble too, and the result. There is a part of me that wants to see Beth Phoenix vs. Nia Jax at Mania... which I will be there so I'm pretty hyped at this point. I saw what some have said Meltzer is reporting, but I personally don't put any stock into his predictions... Great show! Great weekend! Lastly, I'll just say they couldn't have handled the personalities and booking of the final four in the Men's Rumble any better than they did. It was perfect having Nak and Roman in there last, and I also thought the same with the Women. Great not having Ronda throw any punches yet when you can build to that, and I also liked it coming down to Nikki and Asuka.

[sek69]

I saw someone say in comments on wreddit that he had stem cell therapy done on his knees & that they are much better now. can anyone here confirm that? i'm not doubting that he's taking supplements, but surely being able to do cardio again has helped him shed the extra weight.

 

Sometime between him leaving WWE and starting his current LU/indy scene run he had stem cell therapy done, and it seems to have taken pretty well.

[JKWebb]

I saw him at a recent Aro Lucha show... and he was incredible.

[Stiva]

Not too much to add other than I think the men's Rumble was probably their best one in a decade. Probably exactly a decade with Cena showing up at MSG though I may be blanking on some good ones along the way. The whole show had a great feel to it as mentioned, because it gave fans everything they wanted. Keeping the surprises in the men's to a minimum helped the women's Rumble a lot more but fuck, was it great to see Rey. They need to get that dude on Smackdown and give him and Styles some PPV matches ASAP. Nakamura winning is great and I'm genuinely amazed they had the patience to keep he and Styles apart to the point where this feels like a real dream match at the perfect setting.

 

Loved the Women's Rumble too and you really couldn't have asked for a better way to kick those off. As mentioned, you're going to need to ramp up the signings and pump up the depth if you want to run one next year (maybe get some Women's Tag Belts?) but I imagine McCool, Molly and Trish could all work full schedules now since they looked like they hadn't lost much. I'm also down for Trish being in a comeback match at Summerslam. Was the Beth Phoenix thing a one-time deal? I could kind of dig her putting Nia over in a short spell. Asuka winning was right since, in kayfabe, she really is this unstoppable machine and it's awesome that Ronda let her slap the hand away which was a FANTASTIC visual. It said more than any promo battle ever could. I have a good feeling about Ronda; she has definite star quality. If they handle her right and she can pick up pro wrestling quickly, I think she'll be awesome.

 

Not sure they could have booked a better start to Mania. They're quietly firing on all cylinders at the moment. If they can apply some magic to 205 Live, they'll be scarily consistent.

[sek69]

All the women legends were one time deals, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Trish come back since she's the idol of a lot of the current roster and can still go.

[C.S.]

All the women legends were one time deals, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Trish come back since she's the idol of a lot of the current roster and can still go.

 

I've never understood the idolatry for Barbie Doll Trish. Is it just me?

[El-P]

She was a fitness model who actually wanted to wrestle, worked hard at it when she simply could have strut her stuff, and came just after the awful era of the Sables and Chynas, so by comparison her work soon looked stellar, especially when she finally had someone like Mickie James to work with and make her look even better. Basically, she was the first true serious star female wrestler in the hottest period ever in US wrestling.

 

And she actually said she loved me once. Well, back when she was doing the LAW in 98 or so (used to listen to that stuff using Realplayer, remember that, old folks ?), I used to blast one of their host which I found was a mark via e-mails. Once, that very host was talking about how they even had one listener in France, who hated him, and Trish said "But we love him." Yeah, I still remember that story. I had no idea who she was and damn was I surprised when she showed up in WWF a year or two later. That was my Trish story.

[Kronos]

Plus, more than anyone except maybe Sunny, Trish had true Star Quality about her. It makes her memorable, even though plenty of her colleagues could outwrestle her (Ivory, Molly, Victoria, Mickie, etc).

[Jimmy Redman]

Ivory really could NOT outwrestle Trish.

 

PS. I just woke up. That really happened, right? Y'all are talking about the perfect women's Royal Rumble of my dreams like you all saw it too, so that means it's totally real? It really happened?

[Strummer]

I wonder why they did the Vince/Bischoff hug/handshake with Ronda and Steph when they are set to feud? I guess they just wanted to swerve? Why do anything? Maybe a glare at her?

[FMKK]

When is that last time WWE have booked someone as strongly as Asuka? It's something like two or three years in the company and she's still unbeaten, called up without dropping the NXT belt, lone survivor at Survivor Series, winning the first women's Rumble and kinda punking out Ronda as well. It really is quite incredible in this era.

[SteveJRogers]

Someone explain to me the smark hate for Menonous?

[sek69]

She was a fitness model who actually wanted to wrestle, worked hard at it when she simply could have strut her stuff, and came just after the awful era of the Sables and Chynas, so by comparison her work soon looked stellar, especially when she finally had someone like Mickie James to work with and make her look even better. Basically, she was the first true serious star female wrestler in the hottest period ever in US wrestling.

 

And she actually said she loved me once. Well, back when she was doing the LAW in 98 or so (used to listen to that stuff using Realplayer, remember that, old folks ?), I used to blast one of their host which I found was a mark via e-mails. Once, that very host was talking about how they even had one listener in France, who hated him, and Trish said "But we love him." Yeah, I still remember that story. I had no idea who she was and damn was I surprised when she showed up in WWF a year or two later. That was my Trish story.

 

 

Not to mention she started off as arm candy for Test and Albert (T&A, get it? Impact wasn't even innovative there either) and actually wanted to put in effort to improve when they put her in the ring.

 

Also I think it's funny how internet fans tend to poo-poo the importance of firsts when it comes to women in WWE, but it seems like Trish and Lita being the first women's match to main event Raw made an impression on a lot of little girls who grew up to be wrestlers today.

 

edit: As far as Ronda goes, I bet the plan was for her to come out doing the Ronda Mean Mug Face to everyone but she was marking out internally too hard to keep from smiling.

[FMKK]

Someone explain to me the smark hate for Menonous?

 

Resentment? Hostility towards women?