THE ROYAL RUMBLE CONUNDRUM…What Happened Last Night (Jan. 25th, 2015)

Oh my goodness, Enthusiasts!  This was a very interesting Royal Rumble, the first I’ve ever witnessed actually and talk about a sticky situation.  The WWE has decided to go ahead and push Roman Reigns by letting him win the Rumble and Philadelphia, as most predicted, was not having it.  I don’t really blame them, he isn’t ready but I don’t hate it that much but, I get what the problem is.  The question now becomes, how will We the Audience actually respond.  Will the WWE Universe wash their hands of this whole thing, or just Philly?  It’s hard to say but I wouldn’t be surprised if rewrites are flowing furiously as we speak.

 

So, we open the night with what we would think in our precursor with Big E. Langston and Kofi Kingston of the New Day with Xavier Woods on the mic up against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro with Adam Rose & the Rosebuds at ringside.  This is actually a solid match.  Langston and Kingston work well together.  Langston, took care of the power moves, opening strong with a series of Backbreakers and Kingston made good use of his agility when they truly double-teamed.  Cesaro and Tyson Kidd aren’t slouches either.  Cesaro displays his power in delivering some devastating elbows and his patented “Swing”.  Seeing how we’re paying for it this time around, these guys make sure their technique was on full display because as the match progressed, the exchanges become more creative and complex.  After Kingston executes a clean Trouble in Paradise to Kidd, he takes the opening to roll him up but Cesaro connects with an uppercut from outside the ring and Kidd reverses to get the pin and the win.

Up next, we have the true veterans in The New Age Outlaws out to teach The Ascension a lesson.  Well, though the Road Dogg and Billy Gunn still can pull off the moves, they’re old.   And that’s just what sticks out the most.  It really does feel like your dad or uncle is out there wrasslin’.   The match is quick too, probably on a count of the older gentlemen.  I will say that Billy Gunn looks good, though clearly passed his prime.   He gives some good hits but with a clean execution of the Fall of Man, The Ascension announce themselves, kinda to the WWE Universe.

 

We then go to a familiar scene in The Usos battling to retain the Tag Team Titles against The Miz and Damien Mizdow.  This is also a solid match.  Though we’ve seen this exchange countless times, they somehow continue to make it entertaining.  The most engaging moment comes with Mizdow sneaking into the match when The Miz gets into trouble and pulling off a Skull Crushing Finale to Jey but, by the time The Miz gets over for the pin, Jey is recovered enough to kick out at 2.  With some fluid teamwork from Jimmy, The Usos get the win via a well set-up “Splash”.

To follow, we have the Divas in Paige and Natalya up against The Bella Twins.  This is a well executed match but I found it boring.  It comes off like the ladies are almost too focused on the execution.  They’re so focused on hitting their spots, that the feud is forgotten.  I won’t knock the skill that is displayed but it is “sports entertainment” and I’m not training in NXT.  The highlight is certainly Nattie and Paige executing the double suplex on Brie.  Nevertheless, The Bella Twins unite to get the win.

We then get to the highly anticipated Triple Threat Match with John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins.  This is by far the best match of the evening.  It starts off hard too with Lesnar just taking it to both Rollins and Cena.  He just goes into that fabled “Beast Mode” and destroys any and all in his path.  Cena would make some respectable advances but Philly is a tough wrestling crowd and any effort Cena makes to be the “Hero” is booed mercilessly.  Rollins does as Rollins does and any time he gets in trouble, J&J Security jump in to the rescue.  Lesnar does his job and makes quick work of Rollins any time he gets near him and Cena does manage to serve up Attitude Adjustments o’plenty whenever he can, to tag Lesnar back for all those suplexes.  When all this spills out of the ring, Cena takes Lesnar out by ramming him through one of the barricades and Lesnar seems done for.  Cena and Rollins continue to box and we see a stretcher roll pass in the background.  Word is, Lesnar has got at least a broken rib.  Gracious!  Rollins and Cena continue to box for what seems like hours.  It’s clear that one of these guys are gonna win a shot at the title.  Then, out of no where, Lesnar recovers and proceeds to decimate Rollins and Cena to retain his title and place at Wrestlemania.  With the crowd no fan of Cena’s, this works.

 

This brings us to the Rumble itself and to be honest, I thought it would be more chaotic. It drags on for some reason.  There are some of the rumored surprises with Bubba Ray Dudley making a return but no complete set of Dudley Boyz and Diamond Dallas Page makes an appearance but seeing how the 2 are well past due, they are clearly for show.   The big surprise is Daniel Bryan coming in at #10 and lasting what seems like only 5 minutes.  This brought the whole show to a screeching halt.  The Philadelphia crowd is actually a lot of fun before this happens.  They are responsive, engaged, enthusiastic and then, their worst fears are suddenly realized when they see Our Hero…fall.   Well, that is that.  There is no getting them back.  They trusted that the WWE would do them right and they failed.  They disappointed.  They did as they pleased, thinking we’d take it and like it.  Well, We the Audience did not.  We did not like it at all and even with The Rock to serve as some sort of either punctuation or salve, it was all too clear who We are not  behind.   How can Roman Reigns be “The Face” of the company if no one wants to see him? The WWE has a big question to answer and only a few hours to do it.

Let’s see what they come up with, Enthusiasts.

See You Tonight,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)