The Royal Rumble is the most fun show of the year. It’s better than WrestleMania, way better than SummerSlam, and don’t get me started on Fast Lane… But it could be much better. WWE treats the rules of the Royal Rumble so flippantly it weakens the match, and thus draw, of the entire event.
This year, the Royal Rumble match was booked exactly as one would expect. Reigns started strong and was looking like he could go the distance, but was taken out by the dastardly Vince McMahon and the League of Nations (what year is this?), and then made a valiant comeback, only to come up short. Reigns took home the bronze while HHH took home the gold. (Dean Ambrose won the silver.) The story was well executed, and they got where they needed to be in terms of progression, but good Google people, the rules, what happened to the rules?!?!
WWE needs to enforce the rules of the Royal Rumble. As it is explained to the fans, the only way to win is to be the last man in the ring after all 30 (ish) members have entered. Elimination occurs only when a participant goes over the top rope and both feet touch the floor. No DQ, no anything else. It’s a free-for-all. There’s no time limit, there’s no “wrestling” rules. This begs the question… WHY EVER GET IN THE RING!
The huge loophole in the rules is that the wrestlers actually CAN get out of the ring, as long as it’s not over the top rope. Reigns was pulled out of the ring and attacked by the League of Nations and stretchered out. However, since his body never went over the top rope, he was never eliminated. A similar thing happened last year with Curtis Axel. He was never eliminated (yet most didn’t notice). VInce McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin pulled a similar stunt like this in 1999, and it was stupid then. This year, Reigns was carted off, only to re-enter, seemingly fine, and nearly win. Hmmm…. Why wouldn’t EVERYONE get out of the ring, under the rope, and NEVER be eliminated? It’s important, because just like Santino in 2011 hiding under the ring and nearly winning at the end, why wouldn’t everyone use this strategy? It’s so glaring that it’s frustrating. I understand that this is the WWE Universe and every competitor has a larger than life ego and thus wants to ALWAYS fight and ALWAYS win and ALWAYS be the best, but if it were real, even slightly, the obvious strategy would be to wait to actually enter until the very end, then roll in as the fresh man and toss out the final guy.
Obviously, we don’t need to hash out every little detail to really put it on the level but here are some rule changes that would make this match more legitimate and more of a draw.
Amendments to the Bill of Royal Rumble Rights:
1) Make the time a complete shoot.
We need a clock, a real clock, on the Tron / TV at all times. Make it transparent. I realize that they are trying to hit certain spots at certain times and it’s easier to do if WWE works the time, but that’s on the performers. Plus, I hate guessing what number they are on and trying to count backwards. “Was Dolph number 7?” Just tell us! Put all that info up as it happens! The WWE claims this event is all about the numbers, but really it’s just about two numbers, 1 and 30. How cool would it be to see Rey Mysterio’s longest run streak on the Tron and see everyone’s time in comparison? “Oh wow! If AJ Styles lasts two more minutes he’ll break the record!” Instead, we have no clue. The announcers are doing a better job of telling us cool stats than in the past, but why not show us the numbers?
2) Once the time is up and the buzzer sounds, you have 10 seconds to get to the ring.
If you dilly dally, and don’t make it, you’re out. Or make it even simpler and explain that if you’re 23 and number 24 gets in the ring before you because you were jaw jacking with the fans, you’re out.
3) If any part of your body touches ANYTHING (including people) outside of the ring, you’re out.
Screw the top rope. You can still eliminate guys over the top, but it’s just not necessary. None of this hopping on one foot, riding Big E’s shoulders, or putting a cookie sheet on the floor, if you’re outside of the ring at all, you’re out. I’m waiting for the year when someone protests, “My shoes touched the floor, not my feet!” As it stands, get yourself a good lawyer, and you could possibly wind up in the main event of WrestleMania.
4) Yes, you can lose by DQ!
Why don’t these guys enter the ring with guns and knives or steel chairs? Why not enter the ring as a gang? There’s no DQ.
5) No managers or posses at ringside.
There’s enough to keep track of already. We don’t need more distractions.
Of course, WWE will do whatever it does, and ignore all of these suggestions and even their own rules because then they could not do the stupid Kofi Kingston plate spinning juggling act spot which is why we all watch. Right.
Hey WWE, rules are important. We need to know the rules of your universe or else it doesn’t make sense and it feels totally contrived. Imagine if we woke up and the rules of our universe just changed. “Uh, red lights now mean green, but just for today. Oh, and when you spit, gravity takes your loogee up.” That wouldn’t end well. Consistency is important when telling a story, and the consistency lies within WWE enforcing the rules of professional wrestling.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back tonight with tons to talk about including a full review of Raw from Monday, the Royal Rumble fallout and road to Fastlane, Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi from FantasticaMania, Smackdown ratings, an update on Tanahashi, Lucha Underground, Fabricio Werdum and so much more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs. Guerrero Maya Jr. and The Panther
This is officially the young lions’ last match before they go to CMLL on their excursion. Nice action from both teams. Pretty quick match with Panther submitting Komatsu with a high angle armbar. Komatsu grabbed a microphone after the match. He promised that they would come back as stars. Tanaka said he had the time of his life as a young lion, and promises to come back stronger than ever.
Tiger Mask, Fuego, Kushida and Stuka Jr. vs. Yoshi-Hashi, Okumura, Hechicero and Bobby Z
Stuka and Kushida brought in girls to dance with them and Fuego while Tiger Mask stood in the distance unamused, I guess because he’s a stick in the mud. Good six man tag with some decent heat. Okumura’s manager Mima Shimoda kept getting involved. The faces wasted no time in laying her out every time she came into the ring. That’s certainly something to see in professional wrestling in 2015. Stuka Jr. won with the torpedo on Okumura and Shimoda.
Virus vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
This was very much a mat wrestling match as both exchanged holds back and forth. These kind of straight up technical matches you don’t see too often, so it’s pretty fun to watch. Virus went for a sharpshooter but Liger reversed it, took him back down and somehow transitioned into a pendulum swing (or the campanara for the submission. Haven’t seen Liger use that move before, but it worked here in the context of the match. It didn’t last too long, but the mat wrestling was good while it lasted.
Ryusuke Taguchi, Atlantis and Mascara Dorada and vs. Tetsuya Naito, Bushi and Evil
This is also Mascara Dorada’s last match as a full time NJPW wrestler as he’s heading back to CMLL. This time when someone removed Taguchi’s pharaoh mask he had his eyes painted like Evil’s, which he didn’t take too kindly to. Solid match, just your typical six man here with some cool dives here and there. Dorada hit a great looking Asai moonsault to the floor, wiping out everyone. Dorada countered Bushi’s codebreaker and went for the Dorada screwdriver but he escaped. Naito came back to the ring and low blowed Dorada, allowing Bushi to get the win with a bridging pin.
Naito faked an injury, so Komatsu came in and gave him ice. Naito put the Ingobernables hat on him and teased like he was a new member, but it was a swerve and laid him out with a clothesline. That was a payoff to what had been going down in the last month with Naito being nice to Komatsu before and after matches.
Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura and Barbaro Cavernario vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson and Titan
The latter team came out in their outfits from Saturday morning, but this time Cavernario had a wheel painted in his back. Okada had a skull mask similar to Nakamuras but was gold colored. Really good six man with, again, lots of crazy dives. Robinson, Titan, Robinson and Tanahashi all did stereo planchas on the outside. Titan did a awesome moonsault from the top rope that took out Nakamura. Robinson threw Cavernario out to the floor but Okada did his comeback and pinned Robinson with the rainmaker.
Hirooki Goto appeared immediately after the bell had rang and laid out Okada, Gedo, Titan – pretty much everyone in his path. He laid out Okada with his reverse neckbreaker on the leg and promptly made his exit. Goto’s kind of had a loose cannon like gimmick attacking Okada at every opportunity.
CMLL Lightweight Champion Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi
Incredible match, easily blows everything from the last two days out of the water. Just a series of incredible moves and counters that has to be seen to be believed. Lee did a great running rana from the ring, over the ropes and to the floor. Lee did a double footstomp that sent them both to the floor. Lee went for another, this time facing the ring but Kamaitachi avoided him and ended up doing a dropkick that sent Lee to the floor. Kamaitachi followed with a big senton off the top rope that was absolutely crazy. Sinked in a figure four but Lee grabbed the ropes. He had been grabbing his knees during some of the match. Just a ton of flashy, awesome back and forth counters. Crazy nearfalls by Dragon Lee including another double foot stomp and a cradle German suplex. They traded moves back and forth. Awesome heat from the audience. Lee went for a powerbomb but Kamaitachi somehow floated over him and countered with a Canadian destroyer for an incredible finish to win the title.
Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero
This was slightly hard to get into at first after the previous match, but these guys had a very good match that the crowd did get into. They did their same routine from the last few days where Mistico and Guerrero would fight over who got the bigger reaction. Mistico did a lot of great high flying and Guerrero looked good in doing big power spots and keeping him grounded. He powerbombed Mistico off the middle rope, for example. Guerrero hit a top rope reverse suplex for a nearfall but Mistico kicked out. Mistico came back and sank in la mistica and got the submission.
CMLL Welterweight Champion Volador Jr. vs. Mephisto
I saw most of this match, excluding the last couple of minutes as the stream completely died. From what I saw, this was a decent match but not as good as the two prior matches and the crowd wasn’t as into it. Still, they worked hard and had a good match. Volador came to the ring wearing pain inspired by Venom from the Spider Man universe. Basic lucha match. Mephisto did some cool dives, as did Volador Jr. There was a cool spot at one point where Mephisto slid under Volador, and he responded by dishing out a moonsault. Volador kicked out of the double underhook facebuster that had him pinned the previous night. I didn’t catch all of the finish as the stream completely died, but Volador retained with a top rope spanish fly.
Everyone came to the ring after the match and posed for cameras. Volador thanked the crowd and said they’d hope to see them again next year.
*****
All three of these shows were pretty fun to watch. Definitely check out Dragon Lee/Kamaitachi as that’s a match that needs to be seen.
The Rock returned for a 25-minute segment where he dueled with the New Day over the mic. He built up WrestleMania, but there were no plans for him announced for the future. He was still the most entertaining thing on the show, which had its high points. The main event of Fast Lane will be Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar in a triple threat match, with the winner facing HHH in the main event at WrestleMania for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. A.J. Styles made his Raw debut. Shock of shocks, he had the best match on the show, defeating Chris Jericho. It looks like those two are headed for another match, likely at Fast Lane, as well. Easily the best Raw of the year, so far.
Vince and Stephanie McMahon came out gloating over Roman Reigns losing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to HHH. Vince said that, just like the fans, Reigns couldn’t rise above adversity. Instead, when adversity faced him, he whimpered and whined. Stephanie said they pulled off a coo in getting HHH into the Royal Rumble. Did she see the odds leading up to the show. She mentioned A.J. Styles, who got a huge pop and “We love A.J.” Chants. Stephanie built up her husband and introduced him.
HHH came out and said Reigns might be among the most amazing athletes he’s ever seen, but he lacks respect because he’s arrogant and cocky. He claimed Reigns lacked respect for Vince, who might as well be God because he’s the one who created all this. The man who went from 6.7 ratings in September 1999 against football to a 2.3 running unopposed? Alrighty…HHH said anyone who disrespects Vince might as well be distracting his religion because the ring was his church.
HHH then spoke to those who said his time had come and gone as a wrestler. He admitted he didn’t have to be WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but now he wanted to be because people need to show proper respect. That started a light “Roman” chant.
Stephanie said the main event for Fast Lane would be announced tonight, and the winner of that match would face HHH in the main event of WrestleMania.
Kevin Owens defeated Dolph Ziggler (8:45)
As usual, a good match between the two. Kevin Owens won with the Pop-Up Power Bomb. Ziggler went to the top rope trying to give Owens a huracanrana, but Owens crotched him. Owens looked like he was going for the F-Cinq, but they couldn’t get in position for it. The show-long storyline is wrestlers are trying to impress the Authority in order to get the spot in the Fast Lane main event.
Flo Rida is in the building.
JoJo interviewed Reigns backstage. He told her to let the Chairman and the champion know that he was here and he wasn’t leaving until he hears the Fast Lane announcement.
Social Outcasts came out. Heath Slater saw Flo Rida at ringside and ordered him to not make him mad. Bo Dallas challenged Rida to come in the ring and face the four Superfriends. He got in the ring. Slater challenged him to a rap battle against Bo Rida. Bo ran down Florida and said he had a Full House “just like Danny Tanner.” Had to use Wikipedia to find that Danny Tanner was the role that Bob Saget played on that show. It’s scary that Bo Dallas rapping was ten times more entertaining than that show that Adam Rose hosted, but it’s unlikely we’ll see Bo Rida again. Flo Rida said Social Outcasts had no skills and “Welcome to Dudleyville.” Bubba Ray and Devon Dudley came out to their nu metal song from 2000. It’s more dated than Petey Pablo.
The Dudley Boyz defeated Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel (4:27)
The Dudleys won with the 3-D on Curtis Axel. Devon got the pin. Rida was in the Dudleyz corner. There was a spot when Flo Rida dumped Slater into the ring, and the Dudleys gave him Wazzup. Dallas now has a singlet. He looks like Eric Embry in 1990 Memphis when he let himself go. There’s a spot where the four members of Social Outcasts walked around the ring together that’s called the “Bo Train” Michael Cole announced later this year, the Dudleys would celebrate their “20th year anniversary” together. Thank you, Phil Simms.
Styles did an interview with Rene Young. She asked him, for those who don’t know, tells us exactly who you are. Chris Jericho walked up, called I’m the hottest free agent in the world. Jericho derisively said “Welcome to the Big Leagues, kid.” Why do I have these images of Braden Walker floating through my head?
They announced that Nikki Bella will miss the next six months because of neck fusion surgery. It was supposedly reported by E! To promote Total Divas.
A.J. Styles defeated Chris Jericho (13:43)
A very good match where Styles won by reversing a cradle after Jericho escaped the Styles Clash. Jericho appeared to be calling the match and Styles looked like he was trying find his footing in a new ring. Some of his trademark spots, like the flying drop kicked, weren’t executed perfectly. In the final eight minutes, it was excellent. Jericho got the Liontamer and Styles had a lengthy struggle before getting to the ropes. Crowd popped big for that. Fans embraced this match from the opening bell, chanting “This is awesome” right from the outset. Styles went for a splash but missed, leading to Jericho going for a lionsault, but Styles got his knees up. Afterwards, Styles extended his hand for a handshake. Jericho shook his hand, then pulled Styles together for a face-to-face confrontation. Looks like this could be a program and that’s goodie, goodie gumdrops.
Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch went to a no contest (3:33)
Sasha Banks had Becky Lynch in the Bank Statement when Charlotte ran in for the DQ. Charlotte gave Banks Natural Selection and also sent Lynch out of the ring. BK<anks wrestled as the heel even though she got more cheers.
Goldust found R-Truth backstage. Golddust was doing a combination of his original effeminate gimmick and his Tourette’s Syndrome promo, asking R-Truth to be his partner. R-Truth showed him his wedding ring and said he was a married man. After R-Truth bolted, Goldust said he meant tag team partner and claimed they could call the team “Gold and Truth.”
Bray Wyatt defeated Kane (7:05)
Bray Wyatt won with Sistery Abigail after a distraction from Luke Harper. Crowd was dead, which isn’t a good sign since they teased Wyatt vs. Brock Lesnar at some point over the next few months. Wyatt is basically a ring entrance now. There was a fan who was dressed up as Randy Savage at ringside who took attention away from the match. Crowd started chanting for him and Wyatt didn’t look happy about it. It looked like the ushers forced to tone it down, which got the ushers more heat than the match. Later, those four men turned up away from the hard camera during the Rock’s segment. Braun Strowman gave Kane the head-and-arm choke afterwards.
A WWE reporter knocked on the door of a limo parked backstage. Crowd chanted for the Rock, but the Miz got out. He started to do an interview, but then a big black truck pulled him. And it was the Rock who got out.
Rock handed Miz the keys of his truck to park it. On his way to the ring, Rock shook hands with Rick Ross. Then Rock saw the Big Show and they talked about the Royal Rumble in 2000 where they were the last two in. They did a finish that year where they went over the top rope together and the Big Show’s feet were supposed to hit first, but it was the Rock who did it by mistake. Rock was awarded the win. Rock admitted the Show should have won that year, and said producers from the Scorpion King were going to give the role in that film to the winner of the Rumble that year. It could have been the Big Show who was in the Fast and Furious sequels, chasing Van Dielsel around. Big Show got this classic sad look on his face and broke a laptop that he was holding for no reason in two. He wasn’t mad at Rock at all, but Show had some great timing and facials here.
Rock stumbled on to Lana, where they talked about the last time Rock confronted Rusev. He claimed that after the show, Lana said she didn’t want to be with Rusev anymore. They went inside a hotel room and did special exercises like the Wisconsin Wheelbarrow, and the D.J. Mustache Ride. Rusev came up from behind. Lana informed Rock they were now engaged to be married. Rock told Rusev that Lana was flexible as all hell.
Rock continued his walk backstage, where he slapped hands with Pat Patterson, to the Gorillia Position. Finally he made his way out to the crowd to the Miami fans, who chanted “This is awesome” before he even started speaking. Rock said he was ready for WretleMania and asked the fans if they were. He pretended not to know Byron Saxton’s name.
Rock saw four guys dressed at ringside and went totally off script. He interviewed the aforementioned Savage impersonator, a Hulk Hogan impersonator, an Undertaker impersonator and someone dressed as Rock.The New Day came out doing this scripted material. Kofi Kingston said the Rock was supposedly the People’s Champion, but he didn’t have any gold around his waist. They were WWE tag team champions.
Big E. Said the Rock was like LeBron James, he bolted Miami for greener pastures. Xavier Woods did an impression of Rikishi saying “He did it for the picture.” Even Rock couldn’t hold back a smile over that one.
Rock said the New Day found a way to be entertaining with llama penises strapped to their heads. Rock said they looked like three Chocolate Cornholes running their mouths all of the time. He said Big E. Was so nerdy, he looked like what would happen if the Incredible Hulk banged Urkel.
Rock challenged them to get in the ring. New Day started to leave. Rock said he had a Plan B: family. The Usos came out. Rock gave Big E. The Rock Bottom, Kingston took a double superkick from the Usos and Woods took the People’s Elbow. Rock delivered his catchphrase and that was that. All of this shows that ther’s only Rock, and there will never be another.
Paige and Natalyia defeated Brie Bella and Alicia Fox (2:45)
Paige pinned Brie Bella with the Rampage. They had to rush because the Rock segment took over 25 minutes.
Kalisto (C) defeated the Miz (10:23) in a nontitle match.
Kalisto won with the Solida Del Sol after Miz attempted the Skull Crushing Finale. OK match, but the U.S. Title around Kalisto’s waist feels like the championship is a secondary belt again. Highlight of the match was when JBL said Rock was ” the number one international box office hit” in 2015. Box office hit as opposed to box office attraction. Even Cole couldn’t hold back a chuckle after that one. JBL launched his candidacy to win the Worst Announcer award again next January in quality fashion tonight.
Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns defeated Rusev and Sheamus (15:19)
Dean Ambrose got the heat after Rusev threw him into the timekeeper’s table. Ambrose, who had his left shoulder taped up after his match with Owens last night, took three Irish Curse backbreakers from Sheamus. Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick on Reigns, but Ambrose made the save. Sheamus shot Reigns into the ropes, but Reigns came off with a spear for the pin.
Afterwards, to get payback on the League of Nations for jumping Reigns during the Royal Rumble, Ambrose helped Reigns get Rusev up to power bomb him through the announcer’s table.
Stephanie came out to announce that the main event for Fast Lane would be a triple threat match: Ambrose vs. Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar.
SUMMARY:
It’s always so entertaining to see the Rock on Raw because he makes it feel like an event. It’s always so depressing the week after the Rock visits Raw because you know the product will never be as good as it was during his prime. And not just because of his personality and his presence, which comes along once in a generation. It’s because the fabric of what made the Rock special has changed. He would have never become the personality that endeared himself to millions with scripted interviews on weekly three hour shows. When he first appeared, Raw was an one hour show and still relied on syndication for first-run matches. The Rock was only as good as his creative ability, which might be his most underrated quality. Nowadays, most wrestlers don’t get that chance because it’s how the system is. Anyway, hate to sound old, but that’s what it feels like watching so far ahead of the modern pack. Show was largely entertaining. Styles-Jericho was worth going out of your way to see.
More than one year after the actual event took place, it appears that the U.S. air date of the “Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows” hopefully, Vince McMahon willing since half his booking ideas seem to come from attempts to gain some sort of personal retribution, will finally put closure to what without question will go down as the most famous ending of a match in North American history.
Bret Hart is among the leading candidates to be the pro wrestler of this decade. He’s one of the best in-ring performers of this generation. Vince McMahon, is the most successful wrestling promoter ever, and from a historical standpoint is probably the most important one of all-time, although some would argue the latter point. Yet for all of Hart’s great matches and all of McMahon’s business accomplishments, the defining moment in both men’s professional lives and possibly even what both will over the long haul most be remembered for, at least personally, is chronicled in this movie.
The documentary, which aired last month in Canada, and airs from 9-11 p.m. on the A&E Network on 12/20, has gotten unanimously positive reviews from every media source in North America that has reviewed it, which is amazing given the subject of the movie is pro wrestling. Certainly that is a first for any movie on pro wrestling, or even with a theme revolving around pro wrestling. The version of the movie on television will be the “Child Friendly” videotape version, with some language edits from the original version.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with tons to talk about including our full Royal Rumble post-show, thoughts on all the matches, your thoughts via POLL on whether the Rumble match itself was good or bad, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today to talk all the weekend news! Royal Rumble 2016, Raw on Monday, more on the death of the Stomper and Espectrito, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Cain Velasquez injured, and so much more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The Bryan & Vinny Show is back tonight with tons to talk about and we’ve got a very special guest — MARK IS BACK for the annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view review! A full recap of all the matches and angles leading to WWE’s biggest show of the year, WrestleMania! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The 2016 WWE road to Wrestlemania begins in Orlando, Florida, where 30 men will enter the Royal Rumble match to determine the WWE World Champion! For the first time ever the WWE World Champion, Roman Reigns, will be in the match, and be forced to defend his title against 29 other participants. Roman must be the last man remaining in the ring in order to go into Dallas, Texas at Wrestlemania 32 as the champion.
The only other time something similar to this happened was at the 1992 Royal Rumble. In December 1991, the WWF title had been vacated, so it was declared that the winner of the Royal Rumble match would become the WWF Champion. Ric Flair won the Rumble that night, and he will be in attendance tonight as his daughter Charlotte looks to defend the WWE Divas championship. Could we see Flair enter the Rumble and win it again? No, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a tremendous night of action.
We will also see a “Last Man Standing” match between Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental Championship. The match will only end once one competitor is unable to meet the 10 second count. Between this match and the Rumble, get ready for a whole lot of fan-count-alongs.
We are looking for your thoughts on the event, so send a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer.
Coverage provided by Dave Meltzer
MARK HENRY & JACK SWAGGER VS. DUDLEYS VS. DAMIEN SANDOW & DARREN YOUNG VS. THE ASCENSION – WINNERS GET INTO THE RUMBLE
Henry & Swagger won the match to advance. The Dudleys did the 3-D on Viktor, but Swagger broke up the pin and put Bubba in the ankle lock. Henry then splashed Bubba and paused, and instead covered Viktor for the win. Nothing much to the match.
DEAN AMBROSE VS. KEVIN OWENS FOR THE IC TITLE IN A LAST MAN STANDING MATCH
Super match ending with Ambrose winning. Owens had destroyed him for a few minutes including a super falcon arrow off the top rope through a table. Owens put him on four chairs and went to the top rope to splash Ambrose, but Ambrose got up and shoved Owens off the top through two tables stacked up on the floor. Lots of highlights including Ambrose getting up from the power bomb and Owens surviving the Dirty Deeds, as well as Ambrose coming off the top rope with an elbow to the floor, putting Owens through a table.
NEW DAY VS. USOS FOR THE TAG TEAM TITLES
Good match with a hot finishing sequence. Jey sueprkicked Koingston but didn’t see that Big E had tagged in. Jey came off the top rope but E caught him with a big ending for the pin. Xavier Woods debuted a new trombone called Franseca II. Good stuff including E tackling Jimmy to the floor, and Jey doing a splash off the top rope but Kingston got his foot on the rope.
ALBERTO DEL RIO VS. KALISTO FOR U.S. TITLE
So far the odds are 100% as Kalisto won the title. For the finish Del Rio undid the padding on a turnbuckkle. Kalisto gave him a mistimed huracanrana and Del Rio went headfirst into the exposed metal and used the Salida del Sol and got the pin. Kalisto had used the Salida del Sol on Del Rio earlier but Del Rio got his hand on the ropes. This came after a missed double foot stomp by Del Rio.
Stephanie agreed to renegotiate Brock Lesnar’s contract if he took out Roman Reigns tonight in an interview segment with Paul Heyman.
CHARLOTTE VS. BECKY LYNCH FOR DIVAS TITLE
This was easily the most heated women’s title match on a WWE PPV in a long time. Crowd really wanted Lynch to win. Real good match. Lynch had the match won with the disarmer but Ric Flair threw his sports jacket over her head. She let go of the move to go after Ric. This allowed Charlotte to poke Lynch in the eye (which they were out of position to catch) and spear her for the pin. Lynch had survived the spear earlier. Funny spot with Ric kissing Lynch to set up a Charlotte advantage.
Sasha Banks is out to set up the next title match, but she kicked Lynch out of the ring after the match. Very clearly they are building this as the Mania feud. Crowd was way behind Banks. But then they acted like they were best friends. Then Banks laid her out from behind with the back stabber and Bank statement and Charlotte tapped. Huge reaction to Banks as she held up the belt.
Going into the Rumble this has been a really good show.
ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
The crowd is booing Reigng to start. Rusev is out with Lana as No. 2. We’ll be back at certain points.
HHH won the match throwing out Dean Ambrose after he also threw out Roman Reigns. So the show ended iwth HHH, Stephanie and Vince celebrating. The match itself was great, one of the best Rumbles ever. Not really much in the way of suprises, only A.J. Styles and Sami Zayn. Reigns stared, was destroyed by the League of Nations and taken to the back. He came back near the end and started eliminating people. They put over The Wyatts a lot, particularly Braun Strowman, who along with Brock Lesnar were made the Monsters. Lesnar dumped the entire Wyatt family except Bray. Bray came out next and the rest of the Family interfered and they all through out Lesnar. Styles got a big reaction, among the biggest of anyone and came in third and lasted a long time.
A few more highlights:
*Crowd mostly booed Reigns and when he went against HHH, fans cheered HHH
*The attack on Reigns was at just over 20:00 in, with Vince out with the League of Nations to destroy him with Rusev splashing him through a table and he was put on a stretcher. He got off the stretcher and went to the back, coming back jner thje end.
*R-Truth came out, thought it was a ladder match, climbed the ladder, no belt and then he was thrown out by Kane.
*Strowman was put over as a monster, eliminating Show with a head and arm choke and throwing out Kane as well
*Kevin Owens eliminated Styles and the fans booed that more than any elimination. Styles may have been the most popular guy of all in the match.
*Sami Zayn threw out Owens and they really put over their rivalry
*Ambrose threw out Jericho who may have lasted the longest with the exception of Reigns
Overall the show depends on how the Rumble is executed. It doesn’t appear they are set up for the plague of the last two years where the crowd rejects the winner ahead of time. If HHH wins, he is the favorite, the crowd will hate it of course, but that’s their desired reaction. Even last year, the crowd hated it, the network subscriptions jumped up big the two days after the show, so hating can lead to good business.
Royal Rumble match for WWE title – Very much talked about match with the title at stake. The big story of the match is Roman Reigns, who enters at No. 1 and will likely be there until he gets screwed in some form by HHH. The four favorites to win are Brock Lesnar, Reigns, HHH (who hasn’t been advertised for the show) and Bray Wyatt based on the strong push he got at TV this week. I’d expect Braun Strowman to be put over strong, although they have to be careful, but he could be the monster in the match. As far as surprises go, Undertaker wouldn’t surprise me, and one would expect a few names from NXT would make sense as well as the usual one or two names from the past and of course A.J. Styles unless that decision has changed.
Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens last man standing for IC title – WWE last man standing matches are usually strong so this would look to be the show stealing match. If Owens loses, then the program loses steam and they will need to transition into new stuff for both. If Owens wins, then the program would likely continue.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto for U.S. title – Either way, Kalisto losing the title on Smackdown doesn’t make sense. A win would help him and keep the program going. A loss would hurt him, and I don’t think they want to hurt him. They had a very good Smackdown match in particular as their styles work well together.
New Day vs. Usos for tag team title – These two teams always work well together. We’ve seen a lot of it, though.
Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch for women’s title – This has been one of the better storylines in recent weeks. Whatever they do, I expect it to continue. I could see Ric Flair’s interference backfiring in some form.
Dudleys vs. The Ascension vs. Jack Swagger & Mark Henry vs. Darren Young & Damien Sandow – winners get into the Royal Rumble.
We’re looking for your thoughts on all three nights of Fantastica Mania as well as the Royal Rumble show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
Raw is Monday night from Miami. Brock Lesnar is not advertised for Monday’s show but everyone else is scheduled.
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped Tuesday in Tampa.
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today! Our lastest show posted to youtube is WOR featuring Jim Ross!
The 2015 Observer awards issue, the traditional biggest issue of the year,is up on the web site now. The issue not only has the awards winners in more than 40 different categories, but all the top place winners, as well as a history with all the awards winners dating back to 1980, as well as my comments on the placings for many of the awards.
The categories are:
Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award (Wrestler of the Year), MMA MVP, Most Outstanding Wrestler, Most Outstanding MMA Fighter, Best Box Office Draw, Feud of the Year, Tag Team of the Year, Most Improved, Best on Interviews, Most Charismatic, Best Technical Wrestler, Bruiser Brody Memorial Award (Best Brawler), Best Flying Wrestler, Most Overrated, Most Underrated, Promotion of the Year, Best Weekly TV show, Pro Wrestling Match of the Year, MMA Match of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Best Non-Wrestler, Best Television Announcer, Worst Television Announcer, Best Major Wrestling show, Worst Major Wrestling Show, Best Wrestling Maneuver, Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic, Worst Television Show, Worst Match of the Year, Worst Feud of the Year, Worst Promotion of the Year, Best Booker, Promoter of the Year, Best Gimmick, Worst Gimmick, Best Pro Wrestling Book and Best Pro Wrestling DVD
Update on the Royal Rumble and Rumble weekend, full coverage of Dominick Cruz’s UFC bantamweight title win and the records set on Sunday’s show and details on the New Japan/Jim Ross announcing deal as well as a look at how this came about and Jim Ross’ overall career.
2017 WrestleMania, how Smackdown has affected overall ratings for the USA Network, update on A.J. Styles with WWE, WWE injury updates, Daniel Bryan update, more on Mauro Ranallo and Smackdown, Chris Jericho talks his return, new season of Total Divas, How talent is broken down in NXT, the heat on Josh from Tough Enough, new dates for Brock Lesnar, plus notes from the big NXT tour and all the shows, the NXT Florida shows, as well as the WWE shows in India and the WWE weekend domestic shows and all the business notes.
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today.
Hope everyone on the East Coast are doing well in dealing with the terrible blizzard that shut down much of the weekend wrestling in the Northeast. Speaking of that weather, as of this morning, at least some of the WWE production crew were still snowed in.
Bryan and I will be back tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio talking all the weekend news, including Royal Rumble, the Mongolian Stomper, Ronda Rousey on SNL as well as taking your e-mail questions to mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com I’ve been told today’s Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi match from Korakuen Hall on New Japan World is a match of the year candidate. We’ll talk about that as well tonight. We already talked about the Styles and Bullet Club TNA story on Wrestling Observer Radio yesterday.
Dorian Roldan on Twitter said that the original Espectrito, who would be Mario Jiminez, passed away yesterday at the age of 49. On the original When World’s Collide PPV in 1994, Espectrito worked what was at the time among the best PPV openers ever. He was the best working heel mini of his era and maybe ever. He also worked for WWF in the 90s as the original Torito as well as Mini Vader.
The Royal Rumble odds as of a few hours ago, usually the odds that count come in around last hour before the show starts, but there has been significant movement this morning:
Dean Ambrose went from a 2-to-1 favorite to 12-to-1
Kalisto went from an underdog to a 9-to-1 favorite
Charlotte went from a 3-to-1 to 21-to-2 favorite
Mark Henry & Jack Swagger went from underdogs to 9-to-1 favorites
New Day went from 3-to-1 favorites to 15-to-1 favorites
HHH went from a 3-to-1 favorite to a 21-to-2 favorite to win the Rumble
Michael Cole, John Layfield and Byron Saxton will be the announcers tonight. Jerry Lawler will be on the panel instead of announcing.
TMZ.com reported today that the 800-Loan-Mart people feel enough time has passed and they are filming a new commercial featuring Hulk Hogan. They had used Hogan in the past, but had stopped airing his commercials several months ago. Hogan will be doing the commercials with Dennis Rodman.
As far as weekend trending, Royal Rumble has already had 50,000 searches today to put it No. 3 behind the Alaska Earthquake and Tina Fey. Yesterday, Danny Garcia was No. 9. Ronda Rousey was not on the list but Rousey searches were no. 2 for the Saturday Night Live searches that were No. 3 yesterday with 200,000, but Selena Gomez was the top thing searched for off the show and Rousey was second.
WWE
For what this is worth, WWE this past week filmed new promos for the European market pushing Roman Reigns defending the title on the February tour of Germany. That doesn’t mean he winstonight, but does mean they filmed stuff for airing after the fact that would indicate, which in theory would make no sense to do if he’s not champion in a few weeks. But it wouldn’t be the first time that has happened and won’t be the last.
Now this doesn’t necessary mean anything, but Reigns is being advertised all over the U.S. for title defenses against Sheamus over the next few months. But there’s a difference between an interview filmed ahead of time and the advertising, which reflects plans as of that moment that constantly change. (thanks to Jon Southerland)
Besides William Regal, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable, who were advertised, also at the Evolve show in Orlando last night was HHH, which tells you all you need to know about the WWE/Evolve relationship.
MISCELLANEOUS
Last night in our ROH house show report from Duluth, GA, it was Alex Shelley in the six-man tag, not Chris Sabin as was listed until today. (thanks to Larry Goodman)
Pat Miletich said on Friday night on Inside MMA that he would be willing to come out of retirement to face the winner of the Royce Gracie vs Ken Shamrock match. Well, I think a lot of people would be. Don’t expect that one to happen.
World Series of Fighting announced that its 3/12 show, headlined by Justin Gaethje vs. Brian Foster for the lightweight title, has been moved to Greely, CO, and the Bank of Colorado Arena. The arena is on the campus of the University of Norther Colorado, and Gaethje was a Division I All-American as a junior at that school.
Rey Mysterio Jr.’s match with WWC that has been pushed of late on their TV will be the main event of the 2/27 La Hora de la Verdad show in Caguas at Yldefonso Sola Morales Stadium against Mr. 450, who is the same guy that uses that name in AAA, and has worked as Hammet on NXT tapings. (thanks to Ivan Pajic and Leonardo Mendes Toledo)
World Series of Fighting announced new TV dates on 6/17 in Mashantucket, CT, 7/30 in Springfield, MA and 9/2 in New Town, ND.
Dynamo Pro Wrestling from last night in Wood River, IL: Evan Morris b The Snitch, Brandon Espinosa b Ric Maverick, Danny Adams & Paco Gonzalez b Shawn Santel & Mauler McDarby, Jayson Khaos b Keon Option, Alexandre Rudolph & Jake Parnell b Brandon Aarons & Garrett Shanks, Jayden Fenix b Justin D’Air, Billy McNeil b C.J. Shine, Mike Outlaw b Kevin Lee Davidson (thanks to Patrick Brandmeyer)
Lucha Xtreme TV from last night in Fresno: Guerrero de la Muerta b Skitzo-DQ, Jesse Poole & Chat Douglas NC Guerrero de la Muerta & Mortal. Next live show is 1/31 at Hanford, CA at the Civic Center (thanks to Jon Southerland)
Ed Loredo has set up a bus for WrestleMania weekend for readers going to Dallas. The first bus sold out immediately so there may be a second bus added. For more info contact him at f4wfan@hotmail.com
