The Royal Rumble Match
Best Case Scenario: A compelling narrative, lead by some sort of transcendent performance(s) by CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Big E. Langston, Albert del Rio and/or Antonio Cesaro that also allows for the likely winner (Batista) to shine in the match without having it (unintentionally) look the match fell into his lap.
What Nick Wants to Happen: Roman Reigns to Level Up, CM Punk took give us our money’s worth and Batista to be less winded from walking down the aisle than he was Monday Night.
While the ending — or, more accurately, the lack of Daniel Bryan involved in it — left many fans unhappy. Those fans, for the most part, are crying over split milk. That’s not to say that they don’t have a right to be upset, or they are being childish — although they definitely were during the WWE WHC match — the idea that Bryan should have been in the Rumble AFTER facing Bray Watt is ludicrous, at best.
There’s no reason for him to win, as putting him in the main event of WrestleMania with Randy Orton by having him win the Royal Rumble — ESPECIALLY as the 30th entrant — wouldn’t speak to the larger issues at play over why he hasn’t been made the champion. Winning from the same spot as The Undertaker and John Cena puts them on the same level as them.
And he isn’t.
That’s not to say they are better performers than him, and it doesn’t have anything to do with how over he is relative to their peaks. But he isn’t a super man or a supernatural being, and he shouldn’t be treated or booked as such. He’s the ultimate underdog, which while an effective archetype, does not benefit from things being handed to him, like a Rumble win after coming in as the 30th man.
With this in mind, while the complaints over the lack of Bryan — both in the crowd and in certain corners of Twitter — overshadowed the end of the match, the build up to it was as good it has ever been in the Rumble match. There was a record breaking performance from Roman Reigns, great storyline development with the Rhodes Brothers, The Shield, and CM Punk’s feud with The Authority. Kofi Kingston and Alexander Rusev both look like they will be getting some kind of pushes following this, hopefully in a feud against each other.
While some may quarrel with the finish, the (unfortunate) truth is that Batista and Orton is probably the best option in terms of a story line for the WWE WHC, and leaves Bryan being free to face whichever gigantic star (or relatively big star, like Sheamus [or up-and-coming stars like the Wyatt family) they have planned from him at WrestleMania. Finally, if nothing else, Roman Reigns will have a serious say in what comes over the next few years of wrestling. And you can believe in that.
Match .75
Bottom Line
This managed to be, not surprising considering the card, the highest rated PPV so far on a per-match basis. While your mileage may vary on the Rumble (although outside of the ending [which didn’t bother this review AT ALL] it would be hard to argue with the quality of the match itself) and almost definitely will for the Cena/Orton match, this was a highly enjoyable PPV for this member of the WWE Universe.
This review will not jibe with what a large portion of the #InternetWrestlingWriting community and vehemently go against what the “IWC” is saying and that’s because, well, it’s really hard to agree with most people when they seem to be missing the point: the WWE have plans different from the ones that a certain (incredibly vocal) segment of fans want to see. Accepting that makes reviewing and critiquing what happens much easier in terms of the enjoyment of the moment, which is an important step in realizing that wrestling is what you make of it, not what you want it to be. Picking and choosing what you do and don’t like as a way to review things is perhaps the worst possible way to try to review or be critical of anything. For fans, it’s fine, but as a reviewer, being TRYING to be objective about what they were attempting to achieve and judging it based on that is the main goal.
There’s nothing wrong with what that segment of the fans wanted to see. But it’s probably not the majority — even though it seems like it, because the crazy reaction that some performers get from the crowds — and definitely not what everyone (this reviewer included) needs to see feel like they got their money’s worth. And if you disagree with me, I have TWO WORDS FOR YA: That’s fair.
Overall PPV 3.075 | Match Avg .76875 (.77 if you’re nasty)
I’ll admit I was upset about the Rumble – but some perspective from @THEN1CKSTER at @juicemakesugar calmed me down: http://t.co/i0VbtsqntY
Man, the WWE’s strategy of keeping Bryan clear from The Rumble is absolutely genius. Getting covered by the BBC. People calling for protests to “push” Bryan. A change.org petition.
They deprived the fans of the D-Bry they love for two weeks for the Wyatt deal and it ended up with him getting an Austin reaction. Now they deprived him of appearing in the Rumble and it’s glorious.
People are so invested in this. A+++.