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WWE Royal Rumble 2024


flyonthewall2983

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4 minutes ago, Dale Wolfe said:

I am not watching the most legal of streams here but this audio is way off, wonder if they were scared of catching a little vince chant as an audible

Thought Jade looked great, as good a debut as she could get without winning the thing really

Maybe Cody beats Roman with some Rock interference and they build to Summerslam or a Saudi shitshow? 

I still think the logical way to go is acknowledge that the Rocks bloodline is noble and therefore he outranks Roman so the rest of the bloodline listens to the Rock.  At Wrestlemania it’s simple then; when Sikoa and Uso go to interfere the Rocks music and he simply orders them to the back, with the comment like “the chief has to do it on his own.”  And now stripped of his minions in a fair fight Cody wins clean.

Follow up is Roman loses to the Rock in a one on one at summerslam and Heyman and the rest of the bloodline abandon him.  Heyman goes with Punk as he gets the belt off Cody and Roman begins a redemption arc culminating with him beating the Rock at the next WM.  

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It says something about the state of the "wrestling media", and I guess media in general, that my twitter feed from last night is filled with self-congratulatory poasting about doing the bare minimum in the post-rumble "press conference" and asking Hunter about the Vince situation.

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What more could the media have done? The more you press someone on an uncomfortable issue, the likelier they are to stonewall. They gave HHH enough rope to hang himself with and that's exactly what he did. Not having a script ready to go when that question came up is too brain-dead for words. Saying you haven't read a lawsuit that implicates multiple WWE executives in aiding and abetting sex trafficking is even more brain-dead. And if that actually was the script, whoever prepared it for him should have been fired on the spot. Yet another example of how the smartest people in wrestling are morons by just about any other standard.

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Honestly, it’s shocking that Triple H did not have a canned corporate lawyerspeak answer at the ready. Claiming in public that you haven’t read a relatively brief legal document (took me like 20-30 minutes) is *damning* for a company listed as a litigant in the lawsuit on the basis of them either facilitating or negligently turning a blind eye to sexually abusive practices.

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Y’all are comparing Corporate entities with WWE, who is corporate in name only and doesn’t have the smarts to deal with something that has real-world consequences outside of, “Everything’s a work, brother,” which has been their defense since the steroid trials.

They have corporate titles but they’re far from corporate. Holding them to any standard like that is expecting the moon to actually be made out of cheese. 

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- I know they've been hyping the 40 Years of Hulkamania stuff recently, but seemed weird that they continued to promote it on this show. Most people have probably forgotten (or just don't care) that Hogan is a racist, but its definitely what comes to mind when I see him now and, considering how his last few on-screen appearances have gone, its not like he adds much value to the product anyway. Have similar thoughts about Flair in AEW. Just don't see the value in wheeling out these particular dinosaurs.
 

- Found both Rumbles to be in the below-average range and for some of the same reasons. Both matches were boring at times and definitely could've used a bit more "risk-taking" in the booking department and more truly dominant performances. Jade Cargill and Bron Breakker shined in their big moments, but if you actually look at the stats, neither truly dominated the match by cleaning house. Same for powerhouse vets like Nia Jax and Bobby Lashley. There was alot of "8-man stand around" in both Rumbles. There were also an overabundance of outright lazy elimination attempts where a guy would "toss" someone over the top rope and then immediately turn around, not even pretending to check and see if the person they tossed over had actually touched the ground. Also, I know Kofi can't do his gimmicky near-elimination spots every year because that would be "too predictable"...but I don't care, this match needed that sort of silliness. There were some particularly sloppy exchanges in the women's match, but that's to be expected when you consider how often some of these performers have worked together. Becky seemed like a non-factor, which is a shame because she was once the biggest act in the company (male or female). Bianca/Cargill has money all over it, but the WWE would have to be crazy to put that match on considering that Bianca isn't always super smooth in the ring/often depends on a great dance partner and Cargill is still relatively green. 

- Never doubted Cody Rhodes winning the Rumble and challenging Roman at Mania. There are multiple ways to get to Punk/Rollins, but they'll probably have Punk win the Chamber to do it. I'm not sure where that leaves Drew McIntyre, which is a little sad because I think he's been terrific on Raw over the past few weeks, cutting great promos that actually make me want to root for him at times. He's got issues with Jey Uso, Damien Priest, and Sami Zayn, so the groundwork is there, but I'm just not sure how it leads to a Mania program...

- Are we thinking Cena & Orton vs. Solo and Jimmy at Mania now? 

- Triple H saying he hasn't read the lawsuit is so silly and stupid. 

 

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38 minutes ago, DMJ said:

- I know they've been hyping the 40 Years of Hulkamania stuff recently, but seemed weird that they continued to promote it on this show. Most people have probably forgotten (or just don't care) that Hogan is a racist, but its definitely what comes to mind when I see him now and, considering how his last few on-screen appearances have gone, its not like he adds much value to the product anyway. Have similar thoughts about Flair in AEW. Just don't see the value in wheeling out these particular dinosaurs.
 

I think realistically unless someone is going to slap them about then it's a pointless exercise

I know it's a different context but if you look at e.g Austin getting into some shit with Stu Hart at Canadian Stampede, there can be uses for the nostalgia figure, but I'd be perfectly happy to never see either on TV again 

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8 hours ago, El-P said:

Their hottest star is Cody Rhodes. And without AEW, they don't get that Cody Rhodes.

I know there’s no point in arguing this with you (and probably better suited for the AEW folder anyway) but this is exactly backwards. Cody had already developed the American Nightmare persona (with theme music!) before AEW - he made the All In bet with Meltzer. There’s no AEW without Cody.

9 hours ago, Dav'oh said:

Drew McIntyre grabbing someone's face and screaming "I own your ass!" was way-too-close to the lawsuit allegations, for me. It was a planned spot which the director focussed on. Curious.

Yeah, whether Drew improvised that line for the closeup or it was scripted, this wasn’t great. Probably the only stain on an otherwise great Rumble performance.

5 hours ago, Tetsujin said:

Bron Breaker was the only one that moved and acted like he really was trying to wrestle in that match. In both matches, actually. Which makes even more hilarious his lame booking.

Bron had four eliminations, but you wouldn’t know it by how the Rumble was booked and produced. As someone said earlier, it felt like there was constantly 8+ people in the ring, so Bron never really got to clean house and shine.

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55 minutes ago, The Man in Blak said:

I know there’s no point in arguing this with you (and probably better suited for the AEW folder anyway) but this is exactly backwards. Cody had already developed the American Nightmare persona (with theme music!) before AEW - he made the All In bet with Meltzer. There’s no AEW without Cody.

Except you're missing the point entirely. Which is that WWE trying to establish a monopoly is completely ass-backward for their own sake. The fact Cody was very instrumental in the development and birth of AEW is an obvious fact, it's not even a point that is being debated. So yeah, there's indeed no point arguing about an obvious fact.

(as far as "there's no AEW without Cody", well, that is very much debatable. There's no AEW without Matt Jackson and Omega vs Jericho at the Tokyo Dome, for sure, if we keep it strictly on the pro-wrestler side of it. But it is neither here nor there and quite frankly completely irrelevant to the conversation)

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Punk being gassed so easily is wild because cardio was always the one thing he had going for him. He never had an exceptional physique and was always sloppy, but he could go for pretty long matches back in the day. Dude entered at 27 and was visibly gassed within minutes, I sure hope he’s made a bunch of appointments with Ric Flair’s Stairmaster before WrestleMania.

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I am shocked. Baffled. How could anyone even think this would have happened after his last year in AEW, where he only got injured badly twice in two big matches, being out of actions for only a few months at the time. Really, I'm totally flabbergasted. Plus the report of his house-show matches had been so awesome, with Punk displaying insane cardio and looking younger than ever, a feature that was obvious to anyone watching the Rumble. Really. I have no words, I'm just shocked this happened. Wow. Totally incredible. Wow. Did not see this coming for one second. Wow.

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32 minutes ago, strobogo said:

0OB14uCAx3IX9hII0kblYxUDzsnKP8bD7DetJzQd

lmao record time

I thought he would make it to Mania, though when I saw how bad he moved with his jumping knees to the corner, I almost assumed this might happen.

I only watched the two Rumbles - the Tribal Chief has jumped to shark for me worse than Backlund allegedly did in his later years (which by all evidence was exaggerated anyway, and Logan Paul vs. KO did not interest me yesterday evening when I was watching the show either. The men's Rumble felt pretty forgettable, though I had to laugh that they did not manage to keep Andrade hot for a single night. Let's see when he wants out again. Also I agree that McAfee screwed up the timing completely which lead to them rushing through Omos' and Breakker's eliminations so that Breakker could get in his spear on McDonagh. I don't know why they did not call an audible and scratched that spot.

Speaking of spots: was this the first Rumble appearance of Kofi without trying some silly "I am not eliminated" spot?

The first two thirds of the women's Rumble was bad, bad, bad. Naomi was off on everything she tried and Ivy Nile and Maxxine were green beyond believe. Jade also had a funny interaction with Naomi that looked a-couple-of-weeks-into-wrestling-school bad. Actually shocking looking at who entered pretty early, that they could not hold the match together. At least that match picked up towards the end.

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2 minutes ago, Robert S said:

Speaking of spots: was this the first Rumble appearance of Kofi without trying some silly "I am not eliminated" spot?

There was this one Rumble, I believe either 2023 or 2022, in which he tried but failed. Then he went on Xwitter to say "I'm washed lol" essentially.

I just don't think we'll get that from him anymore.

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Jordyn Grace was by far the workhorse of the Rumble. Maybe Kevin Dunn was onto something with his camera bullshit, because I can't recall seeing so many completely whiffed spots and basic strikes in WWE ever than on this show. Seemed like cameras caught every single one of them in every match.

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1 minute ago, strobogo said:

Maybe Kevin Dunn was onto something with his camera bullshit, because I can't recall seeing so many completely whiffed spots and basic strikes in WWE ever than on this show. Seemed like cameras caught every single one of them in every match.

It was very noticeable all night and, unfortunately, it's going to be that way for a while - it's going to take some time for the talent to relearn how to lay their shots in.

43 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

Based on footage of him lamenting his elimination, it looks like it was something related to his right arm, possibly his elbow or triceps again.

Yeah, I'm guessing it's the arm - he immediately crawled over to the corner and started talking to refs on the outside after the double-arm DDT from Drew.

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I'm getting no joy at the news of CM Punk getting injured. Quite frankly, at this time I get no joy out of anything pro-wrestling related. The only "joy" I'd get right now, is if all this awful criminals that are still working in WWE would get exposed and punished and that entire rotten system would be burned down to the ground. And even then, "joy" would be a big word considering all of victims over the years and what they have endured. Satisfaction for some kind, any kind of justice, would be better phrased.

But about CM Punk, I'm amazed at anyone who did not see this coming. The guy was falling apart in AEW already. Reports of his house-show matches in WWE painted a pretty dim picture of a guy completely out of in-ring shape. So yeah, I'm gonna be sarcastic as fuck about CM Punk getting injured *again*, while it was the most predictable thing possibly this year (that was gonna be either injury or melt-down). 

Gotta say though, Andrade getting crickets for a comeback reaction, coming off him looking better than ever in the Continental Classic, after he spent half his AEW stint wanting to get out, that is indeed pretty amusing, if we're gonna seek some kind of schadenfreude.

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8 minutes ago, El-P said:

I'm getting no joy at the news of CM Punk getting injured.

Fair enough.

8 minutes ago, El-P said:

The only "joy" I'd get right now, is if all this awful criminals that are still working in WWE would get exposed and punished and that entire rotten system would be burned down to the ground. And even then, "joy" would be a big word considering all of victims over the years and what they have endured. Satisfaction for some kind, any kind of justice, would be better phrased.

Agreed.

8 minutes ago, El-P said:

Gotta say though, Andrade getting crickets for a comeback reaction, coming off him looking better than ever in the Continental Classic, after he spent half his AEW stint wanting to get out, that is indeed pretty amusing. 

He found out quickly that he's not nearly as good or valuable as he thinks he is.

Andrade vs. Gargano is still an all-timer of a match IMO, but I can't really think of another from him that reached anywhere near those heights since then. 

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