You ever show up at an AEW event we are gonna chant you so fricken hard that you'll feel so singled out and insecure that you'll be forced to ACKNOWLEDGE Tony and his Daddy. You will show praise to Cody and you will drop you your knees and stand before Nyla Rose. We do not know what will happen as you gaze upward slowly, from her boots to hir hips to her glaring eyes. What will happen to you? What will Nyla make you do?

Watched this with a friend today....

Forgot how slik WWE is at their production values.... just blows AEW out of the water.

Opening match was a fun time... Rollins seems fun now... not sure if he has turned face, but it was fun a face with that "flamboyant" swagger/laugh..... The ending was a bit weird, especially with events later on.... I guess they are just leaving this Roman/Seth feud open for another month before getting on to WM. Wish Jon Moxley had come out for the save after the match.....

Enjoyed the women's Rumble.... rumbles are always fun.... was a bit "anti-climactic" at the end with the final two having no real "sequence" but just instantly Ronda winning.... always fun when the final two have an extended battle.... Still was a fun ride....

Becky/Doudrop I didn't really care about and couldn't really get into since it was "obvious" that it was just a "filler feud" and Becky would win.... I did learn that "Doudrop" is pronounced "Dew Drop" and not "Dough Drop" like I've been thinking....

Lashley/Lesnar video package was legit. They do such an awesome job with those. It made me pretty hype for the match..... though it kinda made me want to see them actually fight for real..... instead we got a fake fight filled with mostly suplexes and a finish full of shenanigans that doesn't make Lashley look like the beast from the video package.

Miz/Maryse vs Edge/Beth was pretty "meh" as well.... pretty obvious filler with an obvious winner.... and couldn't help but think the entire time "They are both gonna choose to have this petty and pointless match instead of being in the Rumble and having a chance for a title shot/main event?"

Men's Rumble... the winner was completely obvious the moment Lesnar lost so that took away some of the "mystery".... but Rumbles have had obvious winners before and been awesome..... but this one was pretty "not good"..... no real stories or moments...... Like the women's one it also had a very anti-climactic battle between the final two....

I'd probably say the women's one was better again....

Why would you chant me? :rofl:

Also, page 21 now by the way, R.I.P. AEW :nono:

Solid takes, as always. My biggest grievance with the booking of the show is the Edge stuff too. Why would he be so happy to just watch a Rumble go by. I guess on the reality show it will be because the husband and wives stuff is “so important,” but it would be good if Edge got a title shot from winning. Or if he cut a promo about how he now gets to reinvent his pathway to the top.

I’m not a big fan of the Rumble being used for B programs.

Lol, what a load of shit.

That assumes you’re only aiming to have 1 “A programme”. With 2 shows, and 2 nights of Mania shouldn’t they try to make 2 programmes worthy of headlining? They’ve got the women too so you can do Charlotte/Ronda as the headline one of the nights (not sure if the fans would be more in to Becky/Ronda 1-on-1 though?).

I might be crazy but I’d be wanting to build a solid core of guys so that they’re primed to be in an “A programme”. By using the tools you have to re-highlight your already established top guy you’re keeping everybody else stagnant. To be fair, there weren’t many guys in there with any momentum but that’s more a symptom of the booking.

You only really have one A-program anyway. The WWE Title is basically the IC Title in the current setup. Ronda/Becky should be the other main event. Those are the two driving forces on each show.

Hey, I pitched an idea for Riddle to win. If you’re fine your Rumble being used to build a mid-card match, that’s cool. But I’m not about to blast a promotion because they put their top guy over to get him into position on a platform this big.

Lol. That’s a little bit of a “straw man” you’ve created there. I didn’t say anything about using it to build a midcard match. I’m not proposing Riddle as a winner, although I guarantee whatever you booked for him would have been a more interesting story.

You’re taking things as they are, I’m discussing how they could be. The WWE Title might feel like the IC of yesteryear because that’s how they’ve booked it. They sacrificed whatever story they were telling with that belt because the other champ was taken off the last show. They didn’t have to do that.

They’ve created the setup they have; 2 shows that they want to present as relatively even, with a top champion on each brand. You don’t have to sacrifice everything at the altar of your top guy/top programme. Brock vs. Roman might be the thing that gets the “casuals” to tune into Mania. Does that get enhanced by Brock winning the Rumble? This story has been building since Summer 2020 when Roman aligned with Heyman. I’m not sure what rhe plan was for their match at Day 1 (although I’d guess that’s where the Heyman turn would have happened and we’d end up exactly where we are today with Brock winning the Rumble :lol:) but would they have run the same Brock/Roman match again?

I don’t think it is a straw-man at all. I’m not saying those are your specifics, just that anything outside the Brock/Roman program is going to be less important than the Brock/Roman program. That’s the problem with two titles. You can’t have two “A1” champions. You just can’t.

Blah.


The Royal Rumble match is one of the few things I still watch live, but not after this year.


Everything they do is always are centered around Lesnar, to the point where it really feels like no one else exists or even matters. Him being in the Rumble doesn't even make sense, if you look at it from "Kayfabe" how was Brock even able to enter, with everyone "getting their numbers" before Saturday?


I dunno. Never thought they'd make the Rumble feel so stale, like nearly everything else.


The fact the Mania event is so predictable from so far out is sad. We've seen the match before and there's zero interest. Whatever happens at Chamber won't matter.


Rollins v Reigns was the most exciting part of the night, because of Rollins. As predictable as that match was, there were a few legit "oh shit" moments that were generated.

In terms of kayfabe it's weird to me when they allow one guy from the earlier title matches to enter the Rumble but not the other.

Like yeah, we definitely have a spot for Lesnar but nah, fuck Rollins, send out Ridge Holland instead.

For me it turns into a "well, we know who's winning now" - kinda making the past 45 minutes of "fun" all pointless.


Felt the same about Rousey, but at least (for now) she hasn't been the ONLY women's wrassler who matters. Also, she's pretty good to watch in the ring, loads better than 99% of the current roster.

Ivory being 60 feels ridiculous, looks like she hasn't aged a day since 2001.

And that might just be her worked age. She started out in GLOW at 24/25 years old but with it being Hollywood there's always a chance she adjusted her age down on the way in.

DOB: 11/26/61 - math czechs out as well as Damn iNator's accu-weather Doppler predicterator 9000!

That was the plan, Heyman turning and Roman beating Brock at Day 1. Rumble booking was to get things "back on track". Brock would have just been an announced participant of the Rumble.

Like.... Cesaro would have been a better pick than Shane.

Maybe to you or me. But would it have helped Cesaro or been a bigger deal to the average fan?

The average or casual? Is it the casual fan which no longer exist? Does that then make the average fan "hardcore"?





The casual fan wouldn't know who either are, presumably, especially when there are a LOT of other people in the match. Unless the casual fan = hardcore fan and by that logic, they would definitely have wanted Cesaro over Shane.

As for it helping Cesaro. He could check every single box and still not be utilized.

Not going to argue with anyone, but that show was more mid than MJF. No interest in watching or supporting WWEs efforts with the Saudis, so I'll see you at the Wrestlemania Thread, brother. *points to Wrestlemania thread sign that is literally on fire for some reason*

:|

Casual fans do exist. And believe it or not, there are regular WWE viewers that like Shane, or at least respond to the McMahon family drama. There are plenty of people who like Cesaro too. But how many Royal Rumbles has he been in, where he comes storming down, looking peachy keen, to hit a couple of European uppercuts, swing a person or two then get dunked out? I remember him being in the 2015 Rumble.

Cesaro is utilized. The company has invested millions of dollars into him. He might be used the way you want. You’re allowed to have that opinion. But he doesn’t check every box (unfortunately) and they decided to leave him out of this one. It is what it is.

The casual fan doesn't exist, because CM Punk didnt draw them back, so it is not on him of course, they just dont exist, because Phil said so :roll:

I don't like casual fans, they don't know the history of this business, the greatest business of them all, pro wrestling. When I come across a casual fan of wrestling I make sure they know it by calling them "a casual". Fucking nerds don't know shit about wrestling. Don't come up to me talking about Kofi this and Rhea that, who gave Flair his first crack at the belt? Who was The Hulksters last match with for Verne brother? How many time has HBK been fired by Vince? Come on casual! Lets go!

:wtf:

That's what he's been "written into" though isn't it? Again, this is why it "isn't for me" anymore. I still watched the Rumble because it is usually quite good and one of the last things I watch, WWE wise. It was bland AF this year.



This year it was just another event, really. No one was surprised by anything and the results wouldn't have been different if you had a #1 contender tourney on RAW or some other weak stuff. Rollins was the star of the night for the Rumble PPV, given his showing.

So drave is a “casual fan”?

I just can’t believe how many people I’m seeing are acting like the Royal Rumble hasn’t lost something before this. The last must-see Rumble was probably 2015, and that’s being generous. The 2020 Rumble match itself was good. I heard good things about the 2018 match too. But come the fuck on with this “the Rumble is the last special thing” crap. We’ve had Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus as winners — and that was over a decade ago now.

Sheamus is awesome.

The 2015 was the one where Kane and Big Show eliminated all the fan favourites, right? Awful match. It might have been “must see” before the event but they “shit the bed” with that one too. Which I guess is more evidence for your point than against it tbf.

I never said it didn't lose anything before this year. Remember what you told me earlier, (for me) it was indeed the last thing I looked forward to with any semblance of positivity.


I also can understand that the product isn't "for me" anymore, and I'm okay with that. I don't have any issue with Lesnar winning either. Just more of the fact that there's really no other outcome is there? For this, for Mania, etc.


Not faulting them for putting their "biggest names" either. That's what entertainment companies do.


It just..... yeah. First Rumble I didn't finish watching (albeit, it was over anyway wasn't it) nor even cared for the follow up of "OMG WHAT CHAMP IS GONNA GET KILLED" - but we all knew. We all knew last year.

Yeah this was the first year I didn’t even watch the Rumble matches. Always looked forward to them.. just don’t trust WWE not to waste my time anymore.

I wish AEW would do a Rumble. They would have some super fun surprises.

Yeah I like the idea of the Casino Rumbles but in practice they end up a mess.

Shame AEW will probably never do a traditional Rumble though due to the optics of copying WWE's most popular match.

He’s a talented guy, but the stories heading into Mania that year were Cena/Rock and Punk/Jericho. Him winning the Rumble was building up something low priority on the card. And the most it did was accidentally get Bryan over.

That’s the one. And I’m not trying to argue everyone for the sake of it or anything, but was this Rumble really that much flatter than Del Rio, or Sheamus, or the matches that all blur together. Remember when we got Triple H repeating from #30 and Roman spent most of the match taken out by The League of Nations? Are we really saying this was worse than that?

I’m caught between “The Rumble has sucked for years” and “this Rumble actually had some good stuff,” but that’s just how I feel about it. Has Shane EVER been in a Rumble? That is probably interesting to some people. You had AJ anchoring the first section of the match (from what I hear), before a big guy comes in and eliminates a bunch of people before getting eliminated themselves. You have a few cameo appearances and then the winner cleans up.

It just seems…fine by Rumble standards. Pretty textbook for a Rumble, really.

By the way, if AEW did a Rumble it would absolutely suck. Have you ever seen Rumbles on the indies? They suck. It would be too self-aware and everyone would interact with everyone. Bad idea.

Not only has Shane competed in a Rumble, it was the Greatest Royal Rumble.

Agreed you’re not trying to argue with anyone; it seems we’re all in agreement that the Rumble was “fine” - albeit you’re arguing from a position of “on paper”, when some of us have actually watched it (more fool us, right?). :lol:

It seems we depart along the following lines; I think it’d be great they actually did something interesting, you’re resigned to the fact that they won’t.

“Fine by Rumble standards” and “textbook for a Rumble” shouldn’t be where they are aiming.

I cannot remember much about the Greatest Royal Rumble, so I honestly did not even register that as a possibility.

I appreciate you’re trying to see my point of view. I’ll mainly agree with what you’re saying, except I don’t even think that it was as bad as people are saying. It’s not my idea of good, but a lot of what I am seeing suggested are just things they’ve done countless times in other uninteresting Rumbles.

We don’t need a cliche NXT appearance every year. Or Cesaro doing his signature spots…again (and I love the guy). Would this Rumble really be improved by a Headbanger appearing as a “surprise?”

What entertains the hardcore fan is very different from what appeals to more general audiences. Shane McMahon, Bad Bunny and Johnny Knoxville are probably way more effective in that role than most of the other suggestions I have seen.

Compare this Rumble to the 2001 one. You had lots of tag teams in that, with very few of the members meeting up. Drew Carey was in. D’Lo got shafted. You had Grand Master Sexay but no Scotty. No fun Kaientai spots. A bunch of talented guys like Saturn, Raven and Tazz got eliminated by jokes. Did Taker even do anything special? All we got for surprises were Haku, Big Show and Honky Tonk Man? Really? Did really need to be the runner-up, the marathon man and get the most eliminations ever? Why did they protect Rock so bad with the Chokeslam through the table? Why bring back Big Show just to have him lose so easy? Rikishi didn’t do much. Billy Gunn in the final four? Bradshaw and Albert sucked. I can’t believe The Hardys went so early. No Shawn Michaels. Why did Austin get to enter after being laid out on the floor? Couldn’t they have just let Kane win? Austin didn’t need it and winning 3 times is overkill.

Y it can do this with so many Rumbles. I’m not saying this was as good as 2001, but it was structured in a pretty conventional way. I think what the internet wants is so far away from what would even be considered a good Rumble anyway.

Just wanted to say I didn't mention Cesaro specifically for any reason. Replace him with anyone on the roster, really, and it's better than what we had.


At least Bad Bunny looked good doing his ring work.

That’s my point though — it really wouldn’t be.

You're right. The outrage over Shane is fabricated. I wasn't even "outraged", just makes me give less of a crap than I thought was possible. Think it's because it's always been a "part of my life", going to my first live event when I was 4. So there's instances where I think "Hey, I'll give this another go".


Rumble is one of those events, and this year was just.... not there. But again, paper v. the actual match speaks differently so I don't know why I bother.

Compared to that fucking amazing 2017 Rumble. Holy shit, take me back there, right?

I couldn't tell you a single thing about any rumble from years past, my memory is cursedhausen.


Was there an outrage over it like there was for this one?

Was there even outrage over this one? I don’t know how to quantify that. I’m sure people whinged about Randy Orton winning and the match being boring. Can’t even remember the rest of the card.

Don’t let Cornette hear you saying that about Bad Bunny!

Yeah, I was being sarcastic, because the Rumble has been completely forgettable for years.

oh

for you...hausen?

2020 Rumble when Lesnar entered at #1 and eliminated a million guys was great...

Yeah, I’ve said that one was great before. The show itself around it seemed kind of flat though.

Not every Rumble is going to be 1992. Honestly, where would everyone rank this one and why?

The overall show or the match?

I watched it and I would say the lack of creative character stuff during the match left it feeling bland. Obviously it lacked surprises and was reliant on the #30 spot which is probably one of the worst potential outcomes unless the superstar at 30 is a true surprise.

I don't think the Rumble needs any major names coming from outside the promotion but it doesn't hurt to bring back a few crowd favorites. I would have gone with NXT guys that have a strong fan base.

Basically the issue is you have no real thread in this Rumble, AJ is in for a while and seems to play the guy keeping it all together but he get's tossed out unceremoniously, and the same thing with theory. The fans get hot for Orton and Riddle but nothing special happens with either guy.

It was just a basic Rumble with nothing too interesting getting you through it and then Brock comes in and takes it over and that's it. Pretty much a Rumble you can enjoy from highlights but it's not creatively satisfying like 92 with major stories starting and being developed.

The match.

Doesn’t seem like a bad take. I definitely think they could have done more with Orton, but I think the point about surprises is subjective. Many people would consider Bad Bunny, Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre surprises.

Not every Rumble is going to be a masterclass in epic storytelling.

Drew McIntyre has been gone for a month. Not nearly long enough for his return to have any real impact. Shane McMahon only appeal is nostalgia and doesn't add anything to the rumble itself. Would have rather seen someone who can actually do something interesting. You can't tell me that with Cesaro's incredible physical ability, that they couldn't come up with something that would have been more memorable than whatever terrible looking shit Shane did.

Bad bunny was a surprise but I can only care about celebrity entrants so much, and they'll never match the hype surrounding an actual wrestler.

I legit didn't even know Drew was gone. Wondered why everyone seemed "surprised".

It really should be though. I know WWE's model is totally different now than it was in the 80's and 90's, then everything built up to selling PPV's because that was the highest chance of big big pay days for the company and everyone involved. Every show that WWF had, had to build to the pay per view.

Now and since TV rights deals have come into play, the foot is off the gas creatively and WWE sits fat and happy with no reason to push themselves. The Rumble could be a true masterclass in storytelling, why not? You want to make it something super important that leads to something even more important. You can base the whole start of the year off this one match. And treating The Rumble with that kind of creative respect will only give positive returns year after year to fans.

Still, so many fans watch The Rumble that don't watch WWE normally. Wouldn't it be smart to try and hook them with something really great so that maybe you can get back some of those TV numbers you've been losing for the past 15 or more years?

Went back and watched the 2019 match. Can’t remember who wins this one. Seth?

Interesting how much and how little has changed in the 3 years since.

Surprise Entrants: Jeff Jarrett, Kurt Angle, Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne, Aleister Black (5)
Talents no longer in WWE: Samoa Joe, Kurt Hawkins, Dean Ambrose, No Way Jose, Andrade, Aleister Black, Jeff Hardy, Braun Strowman, Nia Jax. (9/30% of the field)
Talents not seen in a long time: Titus O’Neil, Mustafa Ali, Elias
Notable Talents in the same/worse position Kofi, Big E, Nakamura, Corbin, Ziggler
Talents that have been elevated: Drew McIntyre, Xavier Woods, Bobby Lashley

Notable happenings: Opening spot with Jarrett/Elis, Ambrose/Rollins continuation of animosity, Titus O’Neil calling back to his GRR botch, NWH’s conga line, nice little feature for Gargano inc. eliminating Jinder, nice little feature spot for Dunne, Drew looking dominant (only to be eliminated by former partner Ziggler), decent little feature for Black inc. eliminating Ambrose, Lashley as IC champ lasting 12 seconds/taking out Rollins, Nia taking out Truth to enter and taking a Ziggler superkick, a 619, and an RKO, Andrade in the Final 4.

It was Seth that won. Went on to beat Lesnar in the opening match of mania if memory serves. To be fair, can’t remember a great deal of stuff that happened in the Rumble meaning much beyond the match.

Verdict: Better than 2022.

XL pulling the equivalent of "he actually did the math"


:)

Sounds like a good assessment. I have not seen either show. I’m really interested in 2022 and 2015 comparisons.

Dude, I’ve tried to be reasonable in all our exchanges and you put this on me!? For shame.

FTR, I will do it. I have 5 days in isolation due to COVID, what else am I gonna do?

And we’re off…

First things first, this match is part of a “Best of” on the network. Trolling surely.

We start off with Miz and Truth. Probably one of the most lacklustre first 2 ever.

Surprise Entrants: Bubba Dudley, Boogeyman, DDP (3)

Talents no longer in WWE: Luke Harper, Bray Wyatt, Erik Rowan, Curtis Axel (who is still active in this Rumble 7 years later), Sin Cara, Zack Ryder, Daniel Bryan, Fandango, Tyson Kidd, Stardust, Rusev, Goldust, Adam Rose, Damian Sandow, Jack Swagger, Ryback, Dean Ambrose, Big Show (18)

Notable happenings: great reaction for Bubba in Philly and a great little comedy spot with Truth replacing D-Von, former Wyatt Family members mixing it up, Wyatt/Boogeyman interaction, Bray cuts a promo/owning the field until Bryan arrives, crowd reaction to Bryan, Diamond Cutters, crowd reaction to Bryan’s elimination, The Dusts Collide, Rosebuds catch Kofi, immediate negative reaction to Reigns, Miz tries to take Sandow’s spot to re-enter/Sandow goes in himself/comedy after elimination, CM Punk chants, Titus lasts 4 seconds, Ziggler on fire, Show/Kane dump Ziggler’s lifeless body over the top, Show/Kane dump “Iron Man” Wyatt out, Shield reunion vs Show/Kane, boos for Roman, Show/Kane dump Ambrose, “bullshit” chants, Show goes at it with Kane, crowd boo, Roman elims Show & Kane, crowd boos Roman, beat down of Roman by Show/Kane, “We Want Rusev” chants, Rock arrives, arena goes banana, Rock takes out Show/Kane, crowd boos Roman, wait! Rusev was never eliminated, Rusev is eliminated, crowd boos, Rock raises Roman’s hand, crowd boos. HHH & Steph arrive, Rock raises Roman’s hand again, crowd boos Roman again.

Thoughts: This was a pretty well booked and enjoyable match until about the mid-point. The elimination of Bryan killed the match dead. The unfortunate thing is this was completely avoidable. Bryan was away with an injury, they had him return in January and declare for the Rumble. In Philly. Then they had him eliminated about half way through the match to put Roman over. In Philly. The Show/Kane portion dug up the corpse of the match, and did a Katie Vick. I doubt putting Roman over in Philly would have got a much better of a reaction if they’d held Bryan’s return off until after the Rumble but this was the the route they went with. The surprises were more fun than the 2022 offering and were used to better effect IMO.

Verdict: Really tough one. Without Bryan it would probably have been better than 2022, with Bryan it’s worse.

2017

Surprise Entrants: Mark Henry, Tye Dillinger

Gone from WWE by 2022: Big Cass, Jericho, Kalisto, Mojo Rawley, Jack Gallagher, Mark Henry, Braun Strowman, Big Show, Dillinger, James Ellsworth, Ambrose, Rusev, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Enzo Amore (15)

Notable occurrences: First 7 entrants no longer work in WWE, Gallagher umbrella spots, Braun clears the field, Braun/Show go at it, 11/12 of the first entrants no longer work in WWE, Ellsworth does not enter, Ambrose/Ellsworth spot, Ellsworth brutal elimination, Corbin eliminates Braun to a big pop, Kofi spot, Cesaro swinging everyone, The Bar eliminate The New Day/Jericho elims The Bar/Cesaro and Sheamus get in each other’s faces, RKO party, Wyatt Family drama, Brock enters, elims Ziggler and Ambrose, Suplex City, F5 party, Enzo vs Brock, Goldberg vs Lesnar, Goldberg gets the bettter of Brock again, Taker appears in the ring, Taker vs Goldberg, Taker elims Goldberg, Roman enters at #30 and gets booed, Roman vs Taker, Reigns elims Taker to big boos, Orton & Wyatt vs Roman, Orton wins.

Thoughts: This was a great Rumble. Not much in the way of surprise entrants but a very strong field with multiple potential winners. The thread of Lesnar vs Goldberg/Goldberg vs Taker/Roman vs Taker that carried the last third of the match was sensational in continuing the Lesnar/Goldberg programme, a first interaction between Taker and Goldberg, and starting up Roman/Taker for Mania. The Wyatt’s programme was kept ticking along too.

Verdict: Head and shoulders over 2022.

I was at the 2015 Rumble and can confirm what XL said. Bryan's elimination killed the crowd. Rock got a pop and then we all realized what he was there to do. Just took the air right outta the place.

(As a Kane mark, I actually enjoyed his little run with Big Show. But I 100p get why others hated it.)

For me it’s a similar situation to Brock in this years match; he got a great reaction - especially considering he’d already been out earlier in the night - but it seemed the live crowd quickly worked out “oh, he’s def. gonna win this then, no point getting into to the end of the match”. I will watch the 22 match again, probably after 20 and 21 so that I can draw better comparisons.

I really love Randy Orton


<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Don't know how else to tease this news besides saying the Royal Rumble numbers got mixed up, Shane McMahon got frustrated, and Randy Orton told him that he wasn't coming out to &quot;here comes the money,&quot; so he'd better get on out to the ring.<br><br>Subscribe!<a href="https://t.co/87AAQcY8Eb">https://t.co/87AAQcY8Eb</a> <a href="https://t.co/swqGTr0Skc">pic.twitter.com/swqGTr0Skc</a></p>&mdash; Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1490051389451550736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>

Lol, I didn’t mean for you to do it, specifically. But kudos.

I want a third national company that is built around Randy Orton being Randy Orton.

2020

Surprises: MVP, Keith Lee, Edge, Riddle.

Exits: Rowan, Morrison, Keith Lee, Braun, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Aleister Black, (+ Murphy & AOP). (7)

Brock enters #1 as WWE Champ. Brock vs. Kofi II. Brock vs Mysterios rivalry continues. Big E/Kofi/Rey team up on Brock to a great reaction. No “Kofi Spot”. Shelton vs. Brock. Brock dancing to MVP’s music :lol:. Brock vs. Keith Lee. Brock vs. Lee vs. Braun. Brock’s total: 14. Drew eliminates Brock with some help from Ricochet to a HUGE reaction. Drew picks up where Brock left off. Drew/Dolph relationship revisited. EDGE RETURNS!!! Edge and AJ face off. Rated-RKO Reunion. Roman booed. Possibly the best ever final field: Reigns, Orton, Edge, Black, Drew, Owens, Samoa Joe, Rollins. Seth’s Disciples take out half the field. AOP catch Rollins/help eliminate Owens, Murphy helps Seth eliminate Joe, ringside brawl. Rollins tries to team with Roman, takes a beating from the remaining field. “This is awesome” chants during Final 4. Rated-RKO implodes. Edge faces off with Roman. Drew eliminates Roman to win.

Thoughts: Almost perfect Rumble. The inclusion of Brock as Champion from #1 gave an immediate framework to the early stages of the match. It touched on Kofi/Brock after the 8 second match in October, Rey vs. Brock following stuff with Brock and Dominick, the history with Shelton and Brock, framing of Keith Lee as a big test for Brock, Braun coming in and raising the stakes for Brock, low blow from Ricochet that led to a match vs Brock, minimal contact between Brock and Drew leaving it all on the table to their match. Everyone that came out to face Brock was either a well liked babyface or a heel that presented a “challenge” (Rowan) or someone that people wanted to see get their sh*t pushed in. Drew looking like Brock’s equal by taking over the field. Edge’s return probably in the top 3 surprise Rumble entrants of all time, arguably the best ever. Hints at Edge/AJ. RKO reunion and elimination sewing the seeds for their Mania programme. Rollins’ Disciples making his chances of repeating look good. Arguably the strongest ever final field. Very little in the way of a back-and-forth between the final 2 that seems to have become the norm. Only things I’d tweak would be holding off MVP until after Brock is eliminated to give him a little more shine, the timing was a little off with some of the Brock elims in that some were so quick it led to 60-90 seconds of downtime, albeit Brock did enough to fill the time. Riddle was a non-factor in his appearance. The follow up to Keith Lee’s appearance was non-existent. They could have called him up here and made something of him using the momentum from this.

Verdict: Best Rumble match I’ve watched so far. Dare I say better than 92?

Tbf if you wanted to build a <s>pro wrestler</s> sports entertainer from the ground up, it looks like Randy Orton.

2021

Surprises: Carlito, Damian Priest, Kane, Hurricane, Christian

Exits: Morrison, Daniel Bryan, Braun

Synopsis: Edge and Orton renew their rivalry from the previous year at 1 & 2. 3-on-1 beat down of Edge. Jeff Hardy in at 5 to help Edge. RKOs for everybody. Edge takes out Randy who is helped to the back. Carlito would have got a nice reaction in front of a live crowd. Ring fills up a bit, guys come in and hit their stuff. Randy worked on backstage. Priest vs Edge. Miz smashes up Bad Bunny’s decks. Miz/JoMo dominate. Priest with double elim. Bunny hits a top rope crossbody (nearly slips off the ropes). Bryan vs. Ricochet. Kane chokeslans Ricochet on the apron. Team Hell No hug/Kane chokeslams DB. Priest elims Kane. Corbin vs. Dom Mysterio continues/Dom elims Corbin. Lashley vs. Big E. Beefy. Hurricane double chokeslam spot calling back to 20 years prior. CHRISTIAN!! returns to a bigger pop than HHH at MSG. 4 guys elim Lashley. C&E reunion. AJ takes Edge’s Spear as a back bump this year after injuring his shoulder the year before taking it with a flip sell. Omos saves AJ and elims Big E and Rey. The Bar go face to face/Big swing to Sheamus/MASSIVE swing to DB. Seth returns from absence. Braun in at #30. Omos saves AJ again. Braun elims The Bar, AJ. Down to the final “6”. Bryan vs. Riddle strike-a-thon Part I & II. Seth elims Bryan. Riddle vs. Rollins. Riddle getting some real shine in this before being eliminated by Seth. Final “4”: Rollins, Braun, Edge, Christian. Rollins tries to team up with Braun, Braun powerbombs Rollins. Braun builds up a head of steam. Edge trying the Benoit vs. Big Show elim. Rollins elims Braun and Christian. BULLSHIT!! Edge elims Seth moments later. Edge wins from #1!! RKO outta nowhere! Orton is still in the Rumble! Edge reverses and elims Orton to actually win the Rumble for the 2nd time and become the 3rd person in history to win from #1.

Thoughts: This felt pretty flat but I think that’s largely down to being in the ThunderDome. Obviously they mishandled Chrsitian’s return by not having him win and go on to Mania to unify the titles (although tbf I’d want to save that until I could do it in front of a capacity Mania crowd), thus forcing Christian into the arms of AEW promoting the demise of the WWE but I’ll set that aside for now. Feel like they didn’t need to cut back to Orton backstage if they wanted to do the “he was never eliminated” deal at the end. That trope has become a little bit played out by now. Carlito was a nice little surprise. Decent amount of “threads” and “moments” through the match.

Verdict: Better than 2022 but not by a mile.

I haven’t gone back to re-watch it, but I felt at the time that 2020 might have just been the best booked Rumble of all-time when it happened. I wanted to let recency bias die down first, but it’s cool to hear you say it.

Only if you’re taking me at my word though, right? ;)

I’ll take your word on that.

Heyman and Brock should help put together the Rumble every year.

I would argue that Kerry Von Erich was never eliminated from the 92 Royal Rumble, but I am pretty sure I would ended up going to a deeper level of hell than the one I'm already going to.