The True Story Of The Royal Rumble

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 437 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 3
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: December 5 2016

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

The Royal Rumble match is arguably the most anticipated WWE encounter of the entire year, more so even than the main event of WrestleMania. The potential for big moments, elevation of younger talent, surprise returns or debuts, shock eliminations, face/heel turns, unexpected square-offs and more, along with the guarantee for the Rumble winner to earn a World Title shot at Mania (usually, anyway), all combine to create a match that has seen its legacy grow over the years, especially during the modern era where fans know so much of what will happen long before it hits the screen. The Rumble match remains unpredictable, where the key layers are a closely-guarded secret and almost anything can happen.

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The True Story Of The Royal Rumble coming soon on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Fetch Publicity

The following story is courtesy of Fetch Publicity ...

For nearly 30 years, both WWE Superstars and WWE Universe members alike begin their Road to WrestleMania at Royal Rumble! An over-the-top-rope free-for-all battle where the winner is given a one-way ticket to the Showcase of the Immortals. For the first time ever, WWE brings you behind-the-scenes to get the unique story of the monumental January event from those who created it and the Superstars who have competed in the Royal Rumble match. Get all the history, get all the stories, and learn The True Story Of The Royal Rumble!

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WWE Royal Rumble 2014

Image Source: Wrestling
DVD Network

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: January 26 2014
Location: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Attendance: 15,715

Royal Rumble is usually one of the most anticipated and exciting supershows of the WWE calendar. One reason is due to its unpredictability, as it's the one night of the year when literally anybody could potentially show up in some capacity (well, maybe not those under contract to competitors, but you get the point). A bigger reason, though, is its knock-on effect on WrestleMania: as every WWE fan knows, whomever wins the Royal Rumble match earns a World Title shot in the main event at WrestleMania (usually, anyway). This year, with WrestleMania hitting its 30th entry, there was even more interest on who would win the Rumble match, boosted further by the fact that the recent unification of World Championships means that there would only be one World Title match at WM, further heightening the importance of winning the Rumble match.

Going in, the most likely contender seemed to be Batista, after his much-hyped return to WWE; an Animal victory would set up a star-studded main event for Mania. CM Punk was also in the Rumble, albeit from the #1 position, reducing his chances of victory. There were no other real contenders, at least amongst those officially announced, meaning that a surprise entry would have the best chance of upsetting the odds. As it turned out, however, it was the non-entry of a certain wrestler which would ultimately be the most memorable aspect of the 2014 Rumble match.

On the night of annual unforeseen developments, there was a surprise on the pre-show, as The New Age Outlaws - who returned at Old-School Raw, then stuck around long enough to turn heel on CM Punk and become minor members of The Authority - unexpectedly defeated The Brotherhood combo of Cody Rhodes and Goldust to win the WWE Tag Team Titles. That Road Dogg and Billy Gunn were even back in a regular role was surprising enough, but the fact that they won their first WWE Tag Team crowns for nearly 14 years was fairly shocking. Surely this is a short-term run to set up the next babyface triumph, which may very well be Goldust and Cody again.

Kicking off the PPV proper was Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt, in the culmination of a strange yet intriguing storyline. The Wyatts targeted Bryan and CM Punk in October, and Bray said "The devil made me do it" which hinted at Authority involvement. That didn't happen, and Punk disappeared from the picture after Survivor Series, but Bryan remained a Wyatt target. Then, on the final Raw of 2013, Bryan unexpectedly joined the Wyatts, although it became clear that he was going to destroy the group from within. It seemed like this plotline would last months rather than weeks, but only a fortnight later, Bryan turned on Bray inside a steel cage to an unbelievably loud "Yes!" chant, all of which set up Bryan vs. Bray here.

This was Wyatt's biggest match to date, and it was by far his best match yet; Bray showed skills here which fans have yet to see from him, which combined with the always-energetic Bryan, and the loud Pittsburgh crowd, made for one hell of an opening match. Bryan started strong with a high crossbody, but after plonking his head on the steel stairs, Wyatt took control. Wyatt largely worked on Bryan's head and arm over the next few minutes, but Bryan mounted a big comeback, which hit a peak with a great top rope hurricanrana. A running Wyatt crossbody was followed by a huge tornado DDT by Bryan, with the crowd now truly loving this back-and-forth match. Bryan hit a sequence of running dropkicks, the last of which was countered by a big Bray clothesline. Bryan tried to win with the Yes Lock and a top rope headbutt to no avail, and after a failed attempt at a Running Knee, Bryan unleashed a tope to the floor. But Wyatt reversed it into a cool and painful-looking Sister Abigail into the ringside barricade. Wyatt laughed as he threw Bryan back in the ring to hit one more Sister Abigail for the pinfall win.

This was a superb battle, and a fantastic start to one of WWE's biggest events of the year. As noted earlier, it was Bray Wyatt's best match to date by a wide margin, and the first sign that Wyatt's big push is also justified by his in-ring skills, as well as his unique character and topnotch mic work. The one surprising aspect of this match was the result, and the fact that Bray won cleanly. It was assumed initially that it could lead to a rematch at Elimination Chamber where Bryan finally put Wyatt in his place, but Wyatt-related developments in a later match would put that theory to bed. Confusion led to uproar when Bryan wasn't seen again later, which I will explain in due course.

Next up, we had Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show. It seemed strange that WWE would use one of Lesnar's few PPV encounters against a man he had fought in his initial WWE run, but the layout of this bout made it clear that Show was simply installed as Brock's opponent to take a brutal beating. Indeed, Lesnar pounded Show with chairshots before the bell rang, and whilst Show retaliated once the match officially began with a killer WMD punch, Brock survived it and hit an almighty F5 for the quick win. Afterwards, Lesnar picked up the chair and again unleashed a ferocious beating on Show, even breaking the chair and leaving Show with nasty-looking cuts and welts.

I thought Lesnar would be entered into the Royal Rumble match, but the fact that WWE kept him away (despite Paul Heyman stating Brock's intentions to win the WWE Title) means that WWE is either going to have Lesnar win the gold at Elimination Chamber and defend it at WrestleMania against the Royal Rumble winner, or he is being saved for another match with a view to his title shot coming after Mania. If the goal was to make Lesnar look like a killing machine, this match achieved it perfectly, even if Show oddly walked out, albeit slowly and in pain, rather than being carted out (which he has been in the past, despite his enormous size).

Following this, we had Randy Orton vs. John Cena for the WWE Title, in Cena's mandatory rematch following the title loss/unification at TLC. Logical thinking, one would assume, except that Orton and Cena have fought so many times that it's not even funny. To be fair, their last extended feud was in 2009, with sprinkles of square-offs since then, and their pairing at TLC could be justified given the significance of their match. That they were meeting again, even if only to end their latest feud (Orton even attacked Cena's dad again in a repeat of his actions back in 2007), was not a wise decision, even if it could be justified by the fact that the World Title match at RR is sometimes forgotten due to the Rumble match, meaning that in many cases the number one contender has little chance of winning. In front of the right crowd, it might have worked. In front of this hardcore, smarky Pennsylvania crowd, it didn't.

Indeed, whilst the action was respectable and at times rather entertaining (and the two men deviated from their routines by hitting the other man's finishing moves; Orton hitting an AA, and Cena laster nailing an RKO), one could not enjoy the match because the crowd pretty much s--t all over it. Awakening memories of when the New Jersey crowd hijacked Raw the night after WrestleMania 29 during Orton's match with Sheamus, the audience let the combatants and WWE know that they had no interest in what was happening in the ring, The big difference here from when it happened the night after WM 29 was that, unlike Orton vs. Sheamus - a basic match on a weekly episode of television - this was a World Title match on the second or third (depending on your point of view) biggest event of the year, and it involved arguably WWE's two biggest full-time stars. Cena has received similar treatment for years, so it went over his head, but Orton (the heel) was clearly not amused, and at one point played to the crowd in such a manner that it said "I'm pretending I'm liking this because I'm a villain, but in reality I'm fuming".

After the random chants for the likes of Chris Jericho, Randy Savage and Daniel Bryan, and several remarks about how bored the crowd felt watching what, if muted, was an adequate title match, the fans finally came to life when a potential Cena victory was unexpectedly thwarted by an appearance by the Wyatt Family, whose presence distracted Cena enough to taste an RKO that kept the WWE Title on Orton. Afterwards, the Wyatts beat Cena down, and Bray ended the pummelling by hitting Cena with Sister Abigail. No, Wyatt vs. Bryan isn't continuing, because this was a heavy hint that we're getting Wyatt vs. Cena, either at Elimination Chamber or perhaps at WrestleMania. As for Orton, it looks like he'll either be defending the WWE Title at WrestleMania, or he may lose it to Brock Lesnar at Elimination Chamber. Unfortunately, most will remember this match for the apathy showed by the Pittsburgh crowd. Even worse for WWE, it would prove to be just a sample of what was to come later on.

After WWE's typically well-presented video to promote the 30-man collision (although it needs a refresh, since WWE has essentially used the same video save for a few clips since 2008), to quote Howard Finkel, "It is (well, was) now time for the ROYAL RUMMBLLLE!" (Actually, Vince McMahon's old-school intros were the best when he used to rip his throat apart by growling "It's time to RUMMMBLLLE!" It's time for the ROYYYYYYYYYYYAL RUMMMMMMMMMMMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE!") CM Punk was out as #1, as announced beforehand, and Seth Rollins was #2. The two ex-ROH Champions had some nice exchanges before the arrivals of Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes at numbers 3 and 4. Kane come out as #5 in corporate attire, only for the man with the most eliminations ever in a single Rumble to be eliminated almost immediately by Punk. (By the way, I'm only going to cover significant eliminations, since two-thirds of the throw-outs are usually of little importance.) NXT star Alexander Rusev was next in at #6 to virtually no reaction, although he looked strong and competitive during his Rumble stint. Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston were in at #7 and #8, with fans beginning to wonder how Kofi would miraculously survive elimination this year.

Jimmy Uso and Goldust entered at #9 and #10, and after a multi-man effort, Rusev was ousted (which bodes well for his future, paradoxically). Rusev remained at ringside when Kofi was knocked over the top rope, and Rusev attacked Kofi, leaving him laying on a ringside barrier (which was a stupidly obvious indicator of what was coming; why wouldn't someone force Kofi's feet to the floor? At least allow Kofi to fight Rusev off to get to this point). From there, since he was still in the match, Kofi unleashed a huge leap from the barrier to the ring apron, to an almost standing ovation, and he re-entered play as Dean Ambrose arrived as the 11th entrant. The ring began to get crowded as Dolph Ziggler and R-Truth entered in 12 and 13, and number 14 was the first big surprise with Kevin Nash resurfacing, although I doubt he will stick around after Rumble this time. Kofi humorously saved himself again by whacking Swagger with his own boot; Kofi is beginning to become Mr. Royal Rumble, just as Shawn Michaels was Mr. WrestleMania. More impressively still, Kofi has never won a Rumble, and probably never will.

Roman Reigns was a significant arrival at #15, for he would soon dominate proceedings. Before The Great Khali arrived at #16, Reigns had already eliminated Kofi, Dolph (following a wicked Spear) and the veteran Nash (in a passing-of-the-torch moment, perhaps). The Shield worked together to eliminate Khali, and Goldust inadvertently threw out Cody (in a nice piece of accidental revenge for Cody previously eliminating Goldust from the Rumble ... assuming it was an accident, of course), and The Shield then eliminated Goldust, while first entry Punk was still hanging in there. We then got the surprise return of Sheamus at #17, with the Celtic Warrior having been on the shelf since July 2013. The 2012 Rumble winner got a nice pop as he began to take control in his first match for six months.

The Miz was #18, but fans were more interested in Fandango at #19, as the Pittsburgh crowd began Fandangoing at a deafening volume. El Torito was a novelty entry at #20, although he humorously managed to eliminate Fandango before Reigns tossed the little bull out. Antonio Cesaro was in at 21, who hit Cody and Rollins with a Giant Swing, followed by Luke Harper at 22 and Jey Uso at 23. John Bradshaw Layfield then surprisingly rose from his commentary position to enter at #24, but after handing his coat to Michael Cole, he was eliminated in near-record time by Reigns to boos. At this point, Reigns had claimed seven eliminations, as the OTHER announcers, Cole and Jerry Lawler, began to wonder if he would beat Kane's aforementioned record (11 eliminations in the 2001 Rumble).

Erick Rowan and Ryback entered at #25 and #26; this underlined how far Ryback has fallen since the 2013 Rumble, where he was a genuine favourite and the last man dispatched by John Cena. Here, he was just another face in the crowd, as the number of remaining entrants began to rapidly decrease. Alberto Del Rio was in at #27 and, since he had slated Batista aplenty prior to his return, it was a typical WWE coincidence (wink, wink) that Batista was in next at #28 to a big cheer (remember that), and he quickly threw ADR out to the floor. Big E Langston was in at #29, leaving one man left to enter the match.

Now, let's pause. If the show had ended there, the Rumble match would have been considered a moderate success with some momentum for Reigns, a few nice surprises and a good reaction to Batista's official comeback appearance. Unfortunately for WWE, it had to continue, and the match, and the event as a whole, were about to take a pretty big turn for the worse.

Fans were loudly chanting for Daniel Bryan to enter at #30, assuming he was entered (although WWE had never officially announced him as a Rumble entrant). That Cody and Goldust were included meant that it wasn't impossible for WWE to use Bryan here. Nevertheless, he was never an announced participant, so it wasn't like WWE had shafted Bryan. However, it still made little sense that the most over guy in the company wouldn't at least be given a shot at winning the Rumble. Regardless, fans were expecting Bryan to come out, and hoping that he would win. In truth, I knew he wasn't because, when watching the Rumble each year, once it comes down to around #25, I begin thinking who's left that has been announced as an entrant. (The best years are those when the last of those names arrives at #29, setting up a surprise final entrant.) And I remembered that WWE had advertised Rey Mysterio as a Rumble participant. So, once Big E was in, I knew that Rey was #30 and that Bryan wouldn't be included. The fans hadn't realised this. When they did ...

Rey Mysterio came out at #30 and, after a few seconds of stunned silence, fans began booing. Very loudly. And chanting for Daniel Bryan very loudly. Rey, the unfortunate scapegoat who once won the Rumble (in 2006) to huge cheers, had his every move booed and his elimination by Reigns was loudly cheered. Strangely, fans now also turned on Batista, who they had just cheered when he came out, probably because Bryan's non-entry made it clear that Batista was going to win the match. Whilst the crowd was hijacking the Rumble match, CM Punk was dragged out by Kane (whose hidden presence at ringside was accidentally caught on camera just beforehand) and he was Chokeslammed through an announcer's table. Let's discuss whether wrestlers should really be eliminated by eliminated competitors or non-competitors another day; the point is, Punk was out. At the time, this seemed to set up Punk vs. Kane, which in all likelihood would set up Punk vs. HHH at WrestleMania. Or so we thought ...

More on Punk in a bit, as we resume covering the Rumble match. In between the crowd expressing their disgust at Bryan's non-entry, Ambrose tried to dump out Reigns, but Roman put a stop to that, and Dean looked worried. That came back to bite Ambrose when Reigns dumped him, Cesaro and Rollins out in one big triple elimination (Rollins had been in since #2, a fact which wasn't emphasised enough by the announcers); Reigns had now equalled Kane's record of 11 throw-outs. This meant that the Rumble match came down to Batista, Sheamus and Reigns. Three big men of the preferred Vince mould. Not Daniel Bryan. Fans booed loudly.

The trio exchanged strikes and moves before Reigns eliminated Sheamus to a big cheer, and Roman had now broken Kane's record; he had set a new record by eliminating 12 participants here. By now, the fans had turned almost 100% on Batista, and were loudly cheering the younger star Reigns on to a previously-unlikely victory. Each man tasted a signature move from the other, and it was clear that fans, to make up for Bryan not being entered, really wanted Reigns to win as a substitute. So, they of course weren't happy when Batista eliminated Reigns to win the match, and heavily booed as Batista did the usual "stand on the ropes and point at the WrestleMania sign to set off fireworks" pose. Batista was back, had won the Rumble and was main eventing WrestleMania, and Roman Reigns had seen his career take a huge step forward (this pretty much confirmed that Reigns will receive a major solo push in the future), but none of it seemed to matter. Despite an eventful Rumble match, the only thing that you could think about was just how much the crowd loathed the ending of this match, primarily the fact that Daniel Bryan was not entered into the match. Not exactly the way that WWE hoped to begin the trek towards the milestone thirtieth edition of WrestleMania.

So, this was certainly a memorable show, if not for the reasons that WWE had hoped for. The opening bout was awesome, Brock Lesnar's match served its purpose, and the Rumble itself had some cool spots, surprise appearances and a dominant display by Roman Reigns. I daresn't say that had the crowd responded more positively to the outcome, the match would be remembered quite fondly.

Unfortunately, they didn't. The reaction to the WWE Title match was embarrassing for the participants, albeit one which embodied the feeling of fans who have watched Cena vs. Orton so many times. But it's the response to Batista's win and Daniel Bryan's non-entry which will be the most memorable aspect of the 2014 Rumble event. As if WWE wasn't having enough of a backlash from this show, things took another twist when it came out that CM Punk had walked out of WWE before Raw the next night, torpedoing the Punk-HHH match pencilled in for Mania.

Has Punk really left? If so, will he return in time for WM XXX? Or has he really decided that enough is enough in the occasional political minefield that is WWE? Who knows, but this couldn't have come at a worse time for the company given the negativity in the aftermath of the Rumble match.

The Road To WrestleMania XXX has begun with several big speed bumps rather than with a flying start. Can WWE turn things around? It may well depend on whether the CM Punk walk-out is in fact permanent, because right now without Punk and with Batista favoured over Bryan in spite of the wishes of the fans, it seems WWE has a challenge on its hands to have its audience invested in the historic thirtieth WrestleMania. From an in-ring standpoint, Royal Rumble was pretty good (hence the rating I gave the event), but the show will always be remembered for the night that the fans stood up to WWE and told them what was wrong with their booking. If that didn't send them the message, CM Punk's walkout certainly did.

Overall Rating: 7/10 - Respectable

WWE Royal Rumble 2016

Image Source: Wrestlezone

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: January 24 2016
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida, USA
Attendance: 15,998

The 29th annual Royal Rumble event marked a first for the format. Instead of the match deciding who faces the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania, the title would actually be defended in the match by champion Roman Reigns (the 1992 Rumble was also for the same prize, but the title was vacant as opposed to being defended by, say Hulk Hogan). One vs. All, WWE called it, as the Rumble match was based on whether Roman could successfully defend his crown against 29 opponents. And with him entering as #1, he would have to battle through the entire field to retain the championship. Add to that some intriguing under-card matches, and whispers about certain wrestlers potentially appearing/debuting, and you have a Pay-Per-View that was eagerly anticipated by fans.

The Kick-Off Show was notable for the panel appearance of Jerry Lawler, who appears to have been downgraded from commentating on PPV events after doing so for over 20 years, save for his nine-month absence from WWE in 2001. The King isn't as good as he used to be at announcing, but he is still more entertaining than Byron Saxton or JBL, and his recent heel turn has re-energised his commentary, so it was a bit sad to see what is actually the end of an era; the legendary Jim Ross-Jerry Lawler announce team has now completely disappeared from Pay-Per-View.

Also on the K-O Show (not the Kevin Owens Show as the wrestler KO would say) was a four-way tag match for the final two spots in the Rumble match, pitting The Dudley Boyz against the teams of Mark Henry and Jack Swagger, The Ascension and Darren Young and Damien Sandow. Wait, hold on: why are Henry and Swagger teaming together? And why the hell are Young and Sandow teaming when Titus O'Neil, Darren's Prime Time Players partner, remains active? Never mind that we've barely seen Sandow in months, so it felt weird seeing him unannounced here (although he did get by far the biggest babyface pop and chants of the match).

I assumed that The Dudleyz would win here as the most established team involved, and due to the surprising fact that D-Von Dudley has never entered a Rumble match. But no: after a blown spot, Mark Henry pinned Ascension member Viktor to claim the two Rumble spots for him and Swagger. Even though none of the winners here were likely to win the Rumble, I felt this was an odd choice for the victors (no pun intended), since Henry hasn't been pushed properly in years and Swagger has been typecast as a loser for ages now. The Dudleyz deserved to be in the Rumble as a team for the first time, or even Sandow to reward his great work as Miz's stunt double in 2014-5, which was ignored by them ignoring him for the remainder of 2015. But no: WWE went with two performers who are not over, were arguably never truly over, and who had zero chance of winning. Silly decision by WWE there. (Do you think that Mark Henry has something he's holding over WWE to receive chance after chance after chance?)

Rumble properly started with a Last Man Standing match between Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental Title, and since the WWE Title was being defended in the 30-man match, this was technically the big non-RR match of the evening (which makes you wonder why it was on first). Continuing the theme of their recent brawls on Raw and SmackDown, this was filled with fast-paced punch exchanges, big moves and the use of weapons, all combined with the usual drama of a Last Man Standing match and a pretty hot Orlando crowd, all of which made this a really good opening contest.

Tables have been pretty prevalent in this rivalry (both have put each other through announcer's tables in recent weeks), and so it was fitting that a table (or two) would be used to bring an end to the match and the feud, as Ambrose pushed Owens off the top rope, causing Owens to flip over and crash through two ringside tables, which was enough for Ambrose to pick up the win after Owens couldn't make it up before the 10-count. I wasn't surprised that Ambrose retained the Intercontinental Title as he could potentially have a great title reign, and this first PPV defence was a very good start to his run with the gold. That Owens has lost on three consecutive PPV events may be worrying to him, but he's so good that he will definitely rebound and regain a high-card spot, should the end of the Ambrose-Owens result in him being slightly demoted as the Road To WrestleMania gathers steam.

Next up was The New Day vs. The Usos for the WWE World Tag Team Championships (say that last part like Xavier Woods does). If you were watching WWE for the first time here, you would assume from the crowd reactions that New Day were hugely popular babyfaces and the Usos were the heels, because New Day were greeted by a huge pop and major cheers and laughs throughout their promo, even during the points which weren't so funny. The opposite is true, however: The New Day remain heels and Jimmy and Jey Uso are clear babyfaces who have been awaiting his two-on-two title shot at New Day for months now. That the reactions were so opposite to WWE's desires is not a good sign. And just in case you didn't think that the reactions were "wrong", New Day confirmed it by using Xavier's outside interference en route to the titleholders picking up the win.

At this point, New Day have to be turned babyface. They are so popular, and their act is essentially bulletproof at this point, that it achieves nothing by keeping them as heels. Besides, now that they have beaten The Usos, and since the Lucha Dragons may be kept apart for now, there aren't exactly any fresh babyfaces teams for ND to face, unless WWE called up some NXT talent. I don't think this match indicates that the Usos should be turned heel since they usually get a good reaction, but they could do with some character development, since Jimmy and Jey are at danger of being used within the same squeaky-clean babyface model as Roman Reigns and John Cena, and it's safe to say that in 2016, this doesn't work very well (look no further than the general reactions to Reigns and Cena, save for the TLC-Royal Rumble period).

I mentioned the Luchas earlier; Sin Cara is still injured, but Kalisto was in action here, as he challenged Alberto Del Rio for the United States Title. Kalisto pulled off the upset title win a few weeks ago, only for ADR to quickly regain it on SmackDown that same week in a baffling booking decision. This was the rubber match of their sort-of-feud, and given the Del Rio push and the way in which the carpet was pulled from under Kalisto weeks prior, the assumption was that Del Rio would beat Kalisto again here and then move onto another opponent.

Therefore, it was a surprise that, after some regrettably-botched moments, Kalisto hit Del Rio with the Salida Del Sol and captured the United States crown for the second time. The outcome received a big pop, but Kalisto's previous title win got a much bigger reaction and was a more unexpected development. WWE should have kept the title on Kalisto and had him retain it against ADR here, since the two latter title changes were unnecessary. It's still good for Kalisto (less so for ADR), but keeping his first title reign through Rumble and beyond would have been better; at least he still left RR with the belt. Had the action been smoother, this could have been a bigger moment for the masked man, especially since their Raw meeting a few weeks ago was a very good match.

The final pre-Rumble bout was Charlotte defending the Divas Title against Becky Lynch, accompanied as ever by Ric Flair. Charlotte's heel character has officially launched since TLC, and she is a far more interesting personality as a result of it. Meanwhile, her logical rivalry with Lynch has made for the first truly interesting female feud since the Divas Revolution began in July. There were plenty of good moments in this match, although the most memorable aspect was Ric Flair forcing a kiss on Becky (this wouldn't have raised eyebrows during the Attitude Era, but the backlash to this incident led WWE to edit it off their Network version of the show). Flair got involved again at the end by humorously throwing his jacket over Becky's face while she had Charlotte locked in the Dis-Arm-Her, which allowed Charlotte to regroup and pin Becky to remain champion.

Fans were annoyingly chanting "We want Sasha!" again during this match, despite it being obvious that WWE are saving The Boss's title quest for WrestleMania 32. And this was evidenced by Sasha coming out after the match to a huge reaction, following a boot to Becky with a take-down of Charlotte and the Bank Statement, indicating that she has or will be turning babyface as she aims to challenge Charlotte for her title. Exciting times then for the females, as the Revolution looks to be hitting a peak at just the right time. It's possible that Becky will still be involved in the situation given that it was Ric Flair who cost her the match, but Charlotte defending her championship against Sasha is definitely on the cards going forward.

And so we come to the Royal Rumble match. Besides the usual excitement surrounding this annual mega-brawl, many were interested to see how Reigns would be received by the Orlando fans after seemingly quashing the haters from TLC onwards, especially in the event that Roman were to win the Rumble and retain his WWE Title. Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho and possibly Dean Ambrose were the only feasible candidates to take the title from Reigns, at least amongst the announced competitors, so if WWE were to remain committed to Reigns (which it clearly is), any title loss would have to be handled very carefully. Meanwhile, the last two Rumbles were greeted so poorly due to the outcomes (wins for Batista and Reigns) and the booking of said bouts (Daniel Bryan not being entered in 2014, virtually everything about the layout of the 2015 match) that WWE would have to ensure that this would not be the third consecutive Rumble to result in mass fan disgruntlement.

Reigns entered at #1, and the fan response was around 50/50, or maybe 60/40 in the favour of negativity. It wasn't as brutal as some of the responses Reigns has received previously, including at Rumble 2015, but it still had to be a disappointment considering how well he has been received over the last six weeks. I expected a heel to enter at #2 for Roman to dispatch quickly, so as to "prove" that Reigns winning could happen, and so it transpired with the once-mighty Rusev. The symmetry was cool here as the two men who ended last year's RR began this year's bout, and as stated Reigns quickly eliminated Rusev.

Entry number three was AJ Styles, and ... wait, AJ Styles?!? Yes, AJ Styles, once the face of TNA Wrestling and widely considered to be the greatest wrestler never to have competed in WWE, made his stunning debut. Rumours had been running rampant that Styles and some other New Japan Pro Wrestling stars might be heading to WWE, but nothing was officially announced. At first, the unfamiliar music confused fans, until Styles came out and the Amway Center crowd almost blew the roof off the place. Where better than Orlando to debut Styles, since Orlando is the home-base for TNA? And whoever foresaw the day that the WWE arrival of AJ Styles would be trumpeted by the company as a major occurrence? This jaw-dropping debut appearance was without question the highlight of the show, and Styles held his own against Reigns in their brief exchanges (although having Roman fight off Styles inevitably led to boos, which suggests that Rusev perhaps should have been tossed out by AJ instead to keep Roman's reaction as strong as possible).

Fourth entrant Tyler Breeze was quickly dispatched (which suggests his push is officially over), and Curtis Axel, entering at #5, was also eliminated rather quickly. WWE should have made more of this throw-out, since Axel's previous year was based around him never being officially entered into the 2015 Rumble, and thus never being officially eliminated. Chris Jericho arrived at #6, followed by Goldust at #7, Kane at #8 and Ryback at #9. So far, so good as there was plenty of star power, at least by current standards, and fans were still buzzing from Styles' debut, and the novelty of seeing AJ clash with the likes of Y2J.

Kofi Kingston entered next at #10, accompanied by Big E and Xavier Woods (why Kofi was entered ahead of his New Day brethren should require no explanation if you recall Kofi's recent Royal Rumble appearances), followed by Titus O'Neil at #11 and R-Truth at #12. Capitalising on his confused gimmick, Truth humorously brought a ladder into the ring and began climbing it, thinking that this was Money In The Bank. Kane quickly dispatched of Truth after this flawed attempt to win the match, and other bodies began flying at an increased rate as Luke Harper and Stardust entered at numbers 13 and 14. During this point, Kofi pulled off another miraculous Rumble escape by being thrown over the top ropes but landing on Big E's shoulders and being paraded around the ringside area by New Day, during which time he even took a fan's drink while recovering.

Kofi would be eliminated off-screen during the next pivot point of the match, which was the booking flaw of the night. The League Of Nations appeared from nowhere, with Vince McMahon at their side, and dragged Reigns out of the ring from under the bottom rope, proceeded to maul him at ringside, and Rusev ended up running across announcer's tables to hit a big splash on Roman through the final desk. That stunt was impressive, and the attack as a whole was designed to build sympathy for Reigns. Had he been left laying at ringside for 5-10 minutes, and then slowly crawled back in and put up a fight from an exhausted position, this beatdown would have worked. Instead, Reigns was carted off backstage, seemingly at his request, and would not return for some time. More on that later, and why that was a big booking mistake.

Big Show, Neville and Braun Strowman entered at numbers 15-17, with Strowman beginning to dominate the ring in typical big-man fashion; he even eliminated Kane and Big Show single-handedly. Kevin Owens came in at #18, limping after his LMS bout, and he was the man to eliminate AJ Styles, shouting "Welcome to WWE!" as he did so. Fans booed loudly, which was to be expected. KO was the perfect guy to do this because, realistically, Styles wasn't going to win the WWE Title in his debut match, but whoever eliminated him would have had huge heat. Owens, as the template disrespectful villain, was an ideal choice to throw out AJ, and it increases the chances of a Styles-Owens feud further down the road. Coincidentally (wink, wink), Dean Ambrose was in at #19, and went right for Owens, in their second battle of the evening.

Sami Zayn made a surprise appearance at #20 to a loud ovation, and he also immediately targeted his old enemy from NXT and the indies, Kevin Owens; it was Zayn who would eliminate Owens, which potentially creates a second future feud for KO. Erick Rowan and Mark Henry were in at 21 and 22, as the Wyatts began to dominate proceedings, although Jericho and Ambrose were still able to hang in there. Brock Lesnar marched out at #23, in his first Rumble participation since 2003 (unless you count his 2004 run-in; and this was only Brock's second ever Rumble appearance), and he began destroying the competition as only Brock Lesnar can. Lesnar brawled with Strowman and threw him out, then Rowan, and then the 24th entrant Jack Swagger (so much for the significance of Henry and Swagger winning on the Kick-Off Show). The Miz (number 25) wisely chose not to enter the ring while Lesnar was dominating and instead sat on commentary, humorously referring to the Orlando location as "Mizney World", as Alberto Del Rio arrived at #26 and was belted by Brock, who also dispatched of Luke Harper.

Bray Wyatt came in at #27 and given the Wyatts beatdown of Lesnar on Raw, this seemed the moment for Brock to smash Bray. Instead, continuous Wyatt interference led to another 4-on-1 beatdown, a Sister Abigail by Bray to Brock, and a shocking four-man elimination of Lesnar by the Wyatts. That one of the heavy favourites was eliminated at this point was a big surprise, and the layout of Brock's elimination suggests a Lesnar-Wyatt match is on the cards, possibly at WrestleMania 32. The fact that Brock didn't go on a tear at ringside after this technically illegal throw-out was weird, though; the situation called for Lesnar to go berserk, throw equipment around and beat up everyone in sight, including next entrant Dolph Ziggler. Miz came in here and hit Ziggler with the Skull-Crushing Finale (Miz would have been ideal for Lesnar to batter at ringside, and Miz could have gone the Curtis Axel route and said this denied him winning the Rumble without being allowed to officially enter).

Sheamus came out as entrant 29, only for Roman Reigns to run back in and attack Sheamus and re-enter the match. At this point, fans were almost unanimously booing Reigns, proving that the earlier situation was a mistake, and here's why. Reigns was beaten down at ringside; fair enough. But was it excessive enough for Roman to spend nearly thirty minutes backstage recuperating, essentially skipping half of the match in which his own title was on the line? I don't think so. Even if it was, the fact that Reigns ran back out as if nothing had happened added to the feeling that Reigns was over-protected. The idea of this match being a challenge was for Roman to spend an hour fighting off 29 men, not to skip half of it and return with only one more entrant to go. Never mind the backlash over the previous 12 months, this booking decision alone would have turned fans against Reigns given the context of what happened.

Compare it with 1999, when The Corporation attacked Steve Austin early on, Austin was taken away in an ambulance, only for him to return with around 10 entrants left. Well, Austin was massively popular and it was a different era, an easier one to receive cheers, but that's beside the point. It was part of the wider Austin-McMahon feud, and Vince having Austin destroyed fit the storyline perfectly, just as it appeared that Austin was returning to exact vengeance, refusing to stay out of the match. In contrast, Reigns received a beating but a generally tame one, got taken away for half an hour, and returned fresh as a daisy right at the end, at a time when fans were already resenting him. If ever the booking of Roman Reigns was flawed, this was the night, as evidenced by the overwhelmingly negative reaction once Reigns was back. I mentioned earlier how this could have worked; what they chose to do certainly didn't. (And never mind the fact that everybody knew Reigns was coming back at some point in the match.)

Triple H was entrant #30, in a surprise entry which wasn't exactly a big surprise. It was cool to see HHH come out to exact revenge on Reigns for the TLC beatdown, but there's the problem. HHH is the heel, so why create a situation where we're excited to see the heel beat up the babyface? There was a big-time feel to the HHH-Reigns square-off, but handled differently, it would have felt far more special. Plus, did Roman Reigns truly not expect Triple H to come back at some point?

The final seven (Reigns, HHH, Wyatt, Y2J, Ambrose, Ziggler and Wyatt) had some good exchanges, and it was a cool moment when Wyatt squared up to HHH, making it clear that he was no corporate puppet. HHH threw out Dolph and then Bray (which should have had some link to the Lesnar situation, because it made Bray look a bit weak), and Ambrose eliminated Jericho (who lasted longer than anyone in the match outside of the often-absent Reigns, and increases the chances of an Ambrose-Jericho feud which was first hinted at back at Night Of Champions). Reigns then eliminated Sheamus, only for HHH to sneak up behind Roman and eliminate him, thus guaranteeing that Roman was losing the WWE Title. More worryingly for Roman was the almighty cheer which greeted this moment, and the positive reaction to Tripper's babyface-esque DX crotch chop. HHH should have clobbered Reigns with his sledgehammer and threw him out to remain the heel; as it was presented, a first-time viewer would think that HHH was the good guy and Reigns was the bad guy.

Therefore, it surprisingly came down to HHH vs. Ambrose, which suddenly raised hopes that Ambrose might pull off a big upset and win the WWE Title. (If it was designed to ensure a babyface vs. heel ending with desired reactions, then Roman's big babyface push is definitely flawed.) And Ambrose had HHH in trouble more than once, but not enough to get the win, as HHH managed to eliminate Ambrose to win the Royal Rumble match for only the second time in his career, and his 14th WWE World Title in the process (his first for seven years). Vince and Stephanie came out to celebrate with HHH to close the show, as Michael Cole stupidly said that HHH was going to WrestleMania (since HHH could potentially lose the gold before then; and as COO of the company, do you really imagine that Triple H wouldn't be at WrestleMania? Plus, he's competed at all Manias besides one since 1996, and ... oh, never mind).

Overall, the Royal Rumble match was a big improvement on recent battles; there were plenty of cool moments, and a third consecutive riot-esque reaction to the conclusion was prevented. That HHH was essentially presented as the conquering babyface hero and the booking of Roman was deeply questionable was worrying, though, because it once again suggests that Reigns will have to fight against the audience as he aims to regain the WWE Title (HHH vs. Reigns is guaranteed for WrestleMania, even if it won't be announced for a few weeks) after seemingly defeating the haters over the preceding six weeks. Some complained at HHH winning, but realistically only he, Roman or Brock were likely to win it (HHH wasn't announced, but those who have watched wrestling for a while will have realised he was entering this match), and once Lesnar went out, it was obvious what was going to happen. And besides, HHH is (apparently) a heel, so fans should be angry that he won, even if it wasn't for the reasons that WWE would prefer.

There was a major debut in AJ Styles, which certainly makes WWE a more interesting place going forward, and Sami Zayn appears to now be on the main roster, with a feud against Kevin Owens having been restarted here. There were no appearances by retro stars for the first time in many years; I felt that one legend should have been included, preferably someone with a chance of somehow winning the whole match or someone who had previously held the WWE Title. Add to that the good action throughout and the other cool spots involving the likes of R-Truth and Kofi Kingston, and you have a pretty good Rumble, probably the best for a good few years. Had WWE booked the Reigns beatdown-and-recovery better, and had WWE not made it so obvious that HHH was entering, this could have potentially been remembered as one of the very best Rumbles to date. As it was, the match was far better than it has been in recent years, but it didn't reach the levels of the greatest ever Rumble matches. That the WWE Championship was on the line ensures that it has a greater chance of being remembered as a historic Rumble bout.

As for the show in its entirety, again it was much better than in recent years. The opener was a great match, the tag team bout served its purpose, ADR vs. Kalisto was disappointing but had the right result, and the Divas Title match was good and had a satisfying post-match sequence, while the Royal Rumble match was more good than bad. The show hinted at several possible WrestleMania matches and/or future rivalries (Reigns vs. HHH, Lesnar vs. Wyatt, Charlotte vs. Sasha, Ambrose vs. Jericho and Owens vs. Zayn), and the arrival of AJ Styles was the most memorable moment of 2016 thus far in WWE. The Road To WrestleMania will be turbulent given the large injury list, and the reactions here suggested that Roman Reigns will once again have to try and fight for support from the audience en route to Mania (One vs. All could describe his struggles against the crowd), but at least the path to the biggest event of the year began with a mostly enjoyable Royal Rumble event.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10 - Good

WWF Royal Rumble 1992

Image Source: Hoffco-inc.com

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWF
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: January 19 1992
Location: Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, New York, USA
Attendance: 17,000

For this week's retro show review, the spotlight shines on the 1992 Royal Rumble, an event largely remembered for one match - but what a bout it was.

Of course, the feature bout was the Royal Rumble match, but what made this one special is that, for the only time in history, the winner of the Rumble would become WWF Champion (the title had been declared vacant in December 1991). As this was the early days of the Rumble, and the match had a star-studded field, there were plenty of potential winners, and the vast majority of entrants were Hall Of Famers or similarly memorable stars. And if all that wasn't enticing enough beforehand, the performances of two people - one of whom wasn't even a participant - elevated the match, and the event, to all-time great status. The card began with a promo video that featured a classic Vince McMahon voiceover: "It's time to RUMMBBLLE! It's time for a ROYYYALLL RUMMMMMBBLLLE!"

The opener pitted The New Foundation combo of Jim Neidhart and Owen Hart against The Orient Express. This was a short yet enjoyable tag team match which marked the first PPV appearance for Owen, minus the mask of the Blue Blazer. The New Foundation won, although Neidhart would leave the WWF shortly afterwards. The team reunited in 1994, by which time Owen had become one of the WWF's top villains.

Match two saw The Mountie defend the Intercontinental Title against Rowdy Roddy Piper. Mountie had won the crown from a (storyline) ill Bret Hart days prior on a house show, and so Piper replaced Bret in this PPV bout. Again, this didn't last long but it did deliver enough excitement as Hot Rod repelled the interference of Jimmy Hart to defeat Mountie by submission with a sleeper hold to win the IC Title, his first championship in the WWF. But with Piper entered into the Rumble, there was a chance that the Rowdy One could leave the show with two titles (a nice way to add weight to his odds of winning the main event).

Next was a tag team match between The Bushwhackers and The Beverly Brothers. Considering the era and who was involved, this is a very standard tag team match which ends on a DQ in favour of Luke and Butch, who celebrated afterwards with their manager Jameson (who incidentally was one of the oddest personalities ever on WWF television, in my opinion).

The pre-Rumble match was The Legion Of Doom putting their WWF Tag Team Titles on the line against The Natural Disasters. Hard to believe that this was the only time that the LOD ever defended the WWF Tag Titles on PPV. And this big-man match had the third different finish for a tag bout on the card as the LOD were counted out, so Earthquake and Typhoon won the match, but not the titles. Hawk and Animal reminded everyone of their superiority by standing tall in the post-match fracas.

Before the main event, we got a series of interviews from entrants stating their various intentions to win the Rumble. I used to love these promos, which perfectly showed the varied cast of characters in the WWF at the time; sadly, the use of these speeches would decrease in frequency going forward. (Incidentally, the 1990 Rumble was the best one for these promos; some of them are truly hilarious in hindsight.) By the way, one interview with a recently-turned Shawn Michaels (we see footage of the Barber Shop break-up of The Rockers as an explanation for why Marty Jannetty was unable to enter) is interrupted by The Barbarian walking past; I don't know why I find this funny but, to this day, I still do.

And so, to paraphrase Howard Finkel, "it is now time for the Royal Rumble!" Jack Tunney, then the on-screen WWF President, brought the vacant championship to ringside beforehand; despite technically being a good guy, he was largely booed by fans, proving that even in the days before the wrestling business became more "open", not every babyface got the desired reaction.

Entrants one and two were The British Bulldog and Ted DiBiase. The Million Dollar Man lasted 45 minutes as #1 in 1990 but, here, he was swiftly eliminated by a Bulldog clothesline. Number three was next, and it was ... Ric Flair! The Rumble match properly began here with one of the favourites entering early, and so did the greatest heel commentator performance of all-time by Bobby Heenan, who fumes at Flair's early drawing. As Gorilla Monsoon points out, "no man who has ever drawn numbers 1-5 has been there at the end" (this was one of the early Rumbles, remember), so Heenan's frustration was understandable.

Still, Flair held up well against Bulldog and the next entrants, including Jerry Sags (strange that only Brian Knobbs entered in 1991 and only his Nasty Boys partner Sags entered here), Haku and Shawn Michaels, whose exchanges with Flair are intriguing in hindsight given their unforgettable match 16 years later at WrestleMania XXIV. More names come in: El Matador, The Barbarian, Texas Tornado and Repo Man. Greg Valentine and Nicholai Volkoff felt like nostalgia acts at this point (okay, so maybe not everyone who was entered could have potentially won this thing).

Meanwhile, Flair was having a rough time of it. Bulldog had him jumping up and down in an uncomfortable manner on the top rope, Shawn had Ric on the ropes (quite literally), and when Big Boss Man entered at #13, he too had the Nature Boy reeling. But Flair hung on in there, and after Boss Man eliminated Hercules before accidentally putting himself out, Ric was the only man in the ring. Midway through, he still looked like having a chance ... then his longtime WWF nemesis Roddy Piper entered at #15, looking for his second title of the night.

Fans popped huge as they realised Flair's tough night was about to get worse, and an airplane spin was warmly received. Ric' reaction to Piper coming in was superb; his face perfectly conveyed the emotion of a desperate man who knew that he was in trouble. Meanwhile, in the announcer's booth, Bobby Heenan was just something else. Renowned for funny one-liners and dramatically defending the heels, he was on absolute top form here as he begged for his associate Flair to survive. His calls were so dramatic that one may think this really was a genuine every-man-for-himself clash. Here are some of Heenan's best lines from the match:

As Piper attacked Flair: "This is not fair to Flair! This is not fair to Flair!"

As Piper prevented a troublesome situation for Flair: "Oh thank you Roddy. It's not a skirt, it's a kilt!"

As Piper later attacked Flair again: "Oh, it's not a kilt, it's a skirt!"

Talking to an assistant off-camera between dramatic moments: "I need something to drink. Hey, you, stupid, get me something to drink!"

There were more, believe me.

Despite Piper's arrival, Flair still survived, even with more threats coming in such as Jake Roberts, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, IRS and Jimmy Snuka. The Undertaker entered at #20 (Taker and Hulk Hogan were granted numbers between 20 and 30 given their involvement in the situation that saw the title held up), followed by Randy Savage who eliminated his sworn enemy Jake and then threw himself out to attack Roberts. The Macho Man was allowed back in the match; in later years, this would be classed as an elimination (and nowadays, even someone not involved can eliminate a participant).

The Berzerker, Virgil and Colonel Mustafa made up the numbers; Rick Martel's great 1991 showing was referenced when he arrived. The odds-on favourite Hulk Hogan was next, and the late draw combined with wins at the previous two Rumbles made him a certainty to win ... right?

Hogan eliminated Undertaker (I loved how Taker landed on his feet from being thrown out), indicating again that he was the best bet to win. Skinner, Sgt Slaughter, Sid Justice and the Warlord completed the field (what a letdown at the time that Warlord was the last entrant of this star-laden field with the WWF Title at stake). The action continues until only Flair, Hogan, Savage and Sid remained, and with Hulk down, the Macho Man was disposed of by the other two superstars.

With Sid a good guy at the time, it seemed he and Hogan would team up to finally dump Ric, and Hulk began trying to get him out. It was a huge shock, then, when Justice eliminated Hogan. It was every man for himself, so Sid's actions were justifiable, but the sneaky nature left Hulk upset. To be fair, I thought Hogan was a poor sport as he tried to pull Sid out. A shove by Flair and some help by Hulk got Justice eliminated, meaning that Ric Flair, who entered at #3 and had been the face of the NWA/WCW, had won the Royal Rumble match and was the new WWF Champion! Bobby Heenan's reaction?

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh my God, yes!"

Post-match, Hogan and Sid argued furiously. But not Flair, who cut a simple yet legendary backstage interview: backed up by Heenan and Mr. Perfect, his Executive Assistant at the time, Flair said: "With a tear in my eye, this is the greatest moment of my life!" Mind you, the highlight of this was interviewer Mean Gene Okerlund's hilariously unprofessional demand of "Put that cigarette out!" to someone off-camera. Good advice, but during a live interview after a historic match? Really, Mean Gene?

So, what a Royal Rumble that was! In fairness, the star power and the title being on the line masked many in-ring shortcomings common of the era, but the drama of Flair's situation and Heenan's commentary took this great Rumble match to legendary heights. In fact, without The Brain, this match would have suffered a lot. As it is, the 1992 Rumble was unforgettable, a classic for the stipulation.

Elsewhere, the matches never really rose above satisfactory, but then more than now the Royal Rumble show was all about the Royal Rumble match, and this one was exceptional. It's odd that the WWF/WWE has never had the World Title at stake in a Rumble since then, but perhaps that helps to keep this one special: it was a one-off Royal Rumble match of historic proportions, and it was incredible, helping to make the 1992 Royal Rumble event an unforgettable night in WWF/WWE history. To quote Flair at the end of his show-closing promo:

"I love it. I love it! I LOVE IT!"

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent

WWE Royal Rumble 2015

Image Source: PWMania.com

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: January 25 2015
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Attendance: 17,164

The Royal Rumble traditionally starts the Road To WrestleMania, usually the most exciting time of the year in WWE. This, in turn, makes the Rumble one of the most anticipated matches of the year: the Rumble shapes the big one, WrestleMania, which in turn sets up the remainder of the year.

Last year, the Rumble misfired when Daniel Bryan was not entered into the match to the dismay of fans who wanted him to win, leading to resentment towards the victor Batista and storylines changing to give the people what they wanted. There was an element of risk heading into this year's show too: Bryan was back from injury and was clearly a favourite to win, but reports dating back to last summer suggested that Roman Reigns was the man who WWE wanted to win. It would make for a fascinating Rumble, as we would all learn who got the big opportunity and what fate awaited the runner-up (it was very unlikely that somebody else was going to win).

Unfortunately, this time WWE not only misfired, it ended up shooting itself, and only for an amazing title match, the 2015 Rumble would go down as one of the worst WWE shows ever; fortunately, as I will explain, the card had some redeeming moments before the Rumble that nearly caused a riot.

Pre-show, we got Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs. The New Day. Being in Philadelphia meant a strong possibility of "real" wrestlers being cheered over "gimmicks", but the ovation that Kidd and Cesaro received and, more importantly, the boos which greeted The New Day were something else. This was actually a very good tag bout which saw the New Day fall, a result which pleased the Phillie throng. What could have been a career-enhancing character change for Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods has had the opposite effect so far; responses like this haven't been uncommon for the trio, leading me to suspect that the group may not have a long shelf life.

On the PPV (the first to be shown in the UK on the WWE Network), the opener saw The Ascension battle The New Age Outlaws. It was a bit thrown-together, it was rather short and whilst the newcomers won with the Fall Of Man, it wasn't particularly memorable either. An important result for Konor and Viktor, then, but unlikely to be remembered in future as a landmark career moment for The Ascension.

Next up was a WWE Tag Team Title match between The Usos and the team of The Miz and Damien Mizdow. Mizdow was his usual entertaining self, but he didn't get much ring time, a decision that cost Miz as he ended up dropping the match for his side. Some complained that Damien wasn't used much, but I felt that it fit within the story: yes, Miz is a cowardly villain, so he should be more inclined to let his stunt double do the work; however, the increasing jealousy towards Mizdow's popularity is keeping Miz from allowing Mizdow to tag in, hence the reduced ring time. If used as part of what will no doubt be a break-up storyline, then it works. My bigger issue was that, whilst entertaining, this match could have been any tag bout from Raw, especially given their frequent meetings and the lack of build to this latest installment.

We then got the third consecutive tag team match of the supershow (fourth if you include the Kick-Off bout), this time involving Divas. The Bella Twins vs. Paige and Natalya was alright, but I didn't see the point of the Bellas winning and preventing one of their opponents getting a non-title win in a tag environment which could lead to a title shot at a future event. Although it is likely that Paige and/or Natalya will challenge Nikki Bella next for the Divas crown, a result like this doesn't really help. Mind you, the booking of this match is a very mild complaint compared to what was to come later on.

In the semi-final spot, Brock Lesnar finally defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after a four-month absence against John Cena and Seth Rollins in a Triple Threat match. Originally set to be the final chapter in the Cena-Lesnar rivalry (Cena had to win a Hell In A Cell match to get the title shot, and then win a Tables match to keep it), Rollins was abruptly added after he helped bring back The Authority. Although some didn't want to see another Cena-Lesnar meeting, I did wonder whether adding the talented but credibility-challenged Rollins to this match would reduce it somehow. Nearer the time, and especially after the pre-Rumble Raw, I started to believe that Rollins would enhance it - he would undoubtedly increase the quality of wrestling on show, I was thinking more about the match's big-fight feel - and felt we would be treated to a pretty good title match.

However, the 3-way ended up being an absolutely brilliant affair. The crowd heat was there from the start. All three competitors were on top form, especially Rollins in his biggest match to date who delivered a performance to rival that of Shawn Michaels as he was first ascending the ladder in the WWF. There were a ton of big moves, including an insane top rope elbow by Rollins to Lesnar through an announcer's table and an astonishing Phoenix Splash by Mr. Money In The Bank onto Cena. The intensity was at a high, realistic level. There were a wealth of extremely close calls before the finish. In short, everything about this clash was spectacular. It was the match of 2015 thus far, and will probably be a strong contender come the end of the year as well. Lesnar won with an F5 on Rollins after he brilliantly intercepted a Curb Stomp. There was no MITB cash-in as some had predicted, but no matter: it enhanced all three participants, most notably the titleholder Lesnar who reacted to criticism of his light schedule with a performance to blow everyone away, and Seth Rollins who will look back on this as the day he proved that he indeed was, or will be a big part of, "The Future" in WWE.

All that remained, then, was the Royal Rumble match. Would it be Daniel Bryan or Roman Reigns to triumph - and, if so, how? Oh, boy, here we go ...

The Rumble started well enough, even if having The Miz and R-Truth as the first two entries felt a bit stale. Bubba Ray Dudley returning after a 10-year absence from WWE as #3 was a massive surprise and blew the roof off the Wells Fargo Center (in the hometown of the original ECW, don't forget). Miz going out before Mizdow even arrived was unexpected and not in a good way, but that would prove to be a recurring theme in this match. Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt entered, with Wyatt taking control (he eliminated Bubba quicker than most would have liked), before the non-participant Erick Rowan attacked Curtis Axel en route to the ring (so, Axel never entered). It seemed this would lead to a Wyatt Family reunion, something most seemed to want - until they suddenly started brawling, which was a bit disappointing. Wyatt cleared the ring before another retro character entered in The Boogeyman. Wyatt dispatched of him and began "owning" the ring, as he handily threw out Sin Cara and Zack Ryder, before Daniel Bryan came in at #10. Fans roared "Yes!" as one of the favourites had arrived, and whilst Fandango, Tyson Kidd, Stardust and even the returning Diamond Dallas Page entered, Bryan had taken control; all eyes were on him as fans looked out to see how he would either go on to win, or how he would be eliminated near the finish once Roman Reigns entered. Then Rusev entered, had an attempt to eliminate Bryan but of course DBryan repelled it; it was obviously too early for him to go out ... then Wyatt knocked him off the apron and he was out.

Eliminated halfway through. Fairly easily. And he was a favourite!

Needless to say, fans were disappointed. Actually, that's an understatement; they were livid. I wasn't angry, but I did feel that his elimination was a big let-down. Rather than let him fight to the end, or even have his dream denied by The Authority, he was thrown out like a mid-carder who had no chance of winning. Fans booed as Goldust entered, which meant that a confrontation between Goldust and Stardust went unnoticed. Fans booed as Kofi Kingston came in (although he was also booed for being a New Day member), and as Adam Rose's entourage saved Kofi in Kingston's annual Rumble escape. The boos just kept coming, along with chants of "Daniel Bryan!"

Then, at number 19, Roman Reigns entered, and fans gave him a thunderous 100% boo. If it hadn't already, the Royal Rumble match had just fallen apart.

At least in 2014, fans only booed from #30 to the finish, and booed specific people more than those making the decisions (even if the bookers were the target of their wrath). This time, the entire second half of the match was being greeted with an overwhelming negative reaction, and rightly so: Bryan's treatment was inexplicable. The question going in was whether Reigns would be booed at all, and it seems that Bryan was eliminated early because WWE knew that his elimination would not be greeted warmly, so fans could release their boos before Reigns arrived to raise spirits. Instead, Bryan's sudden and poorly-booked elimination took the entire energy out of the crowd, leaving the notoriously tough Philadelphia crowd to boo anything and everything else, especially Reigns. Far from receiving light boos because of Bryan's popularity, the manner of Daniel's ousting led the entire arena to turn on the former Shield member with a vengeance.

If that is the reason why Bryan went out in the manner that he did, that says more about WWE's poor character development. Why would you have to do that to ensure that your next great hope to be top babyface would get cheered? Shouldn't Reigns' popularity overcome that of Bryan, no matter the circumstances? Back in 2001, The Rock entered midway through the Rumble, and eventual winner Stone Cold Steve Austin entered near the end. But Rock wasn't eliminated early, and in fact Rock and Austin squared off in the match, and both were cheered. The reason: both were immensely popular, so there was no fear of fans turning on one for the other. Granted, they are exceptional examples, but the same applied to Batista and John Cena in 2005, when both were rising stars; to The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels in 2007; to John Cena and Triple H in 2008 (Cena was booed but he always is by some, and not anywhere to the degree that Reigns was here). There are other examples too. Case in point: if WWE had to do this to ensure that Reigns was cheered, then should Reigns be pushed ahead of Bryan? Alternatively, don't enter Bryan in this bout at all and have him return from his neck injury at a later date so that Reigns would be the clear favourite. More predictable, yes, but the results wouldn't have been so ugly.

Back to the match, then, and nothing really happened until the finish from there. Big E was booed. Damien Mizdow did get cheers, and his storyline with Miz took a step forward as Miz tried to prevent him entering and when he was denied, Mizdow did go in; however, this was a bit rushed which disappointed those expecting a major incident. Jack Swagger received a better reaction than expected, actually. Ryback's pop was acceptable too, although the non-entrance portions had become an assault on the booking team via Reigns, and Reigns himself of course, and support of Daniel Bryan. I agree with their views, by the way, to an extent at least (I wouldn't necessarily have heckled Reigns for the way Bryan went out, even if it was for his benefit), but for WWE this was a disaster of their own making. Kane was ignored when he entered. Dean Ambrose was loudly cheered. Titus O Neil and Bad News Barrett didn't get much of a response. Cesaro got a decent reaction. Big Show was also ignored. And Dolph Ziggler at #30 got a very good pop.

I was disappointed, though, that whilst Bubba Ray, Boogeyman and DDP entered in the first half, no surprise retro names came in the second half. They would have actually been a genuine way to halt the boos that came after Bryan went out, especially if it had been Bubba at, say, #16 or #17. Additionally, no names familiar with current fans whose comebacks are imminent returned; no Randy Orton was a letdown, and the rumoured reappearance of The Undertaker and, according to his Twitter page as shown on the Kick-Off, The Rock did not materialise. (In the latter case, not yet, at least.) The first half of the match was done fairly well; the second half was done very badly.

More troubling, though, was that Kane and Big Show easily dismantled the remaining entries, including the very popular Ambrose and Ziggler, the only two remaining entries who had a chance of getting cheered for winning. I didn't think Ambrose had a realistic chance, but I thought Ziggler was a dark horse given his renewed push in late 2014. That he lasted 2:29 was beyond belief. And the Authority giants also threw out Bray Wyatt easily, who had dominated much of the match and, of course, had thrown out Bryan. What a waste. This all would have been okay had Kane and Show not been in their mid-to-late 40's, with their best days well behind them, with a slow ring style, and with the only remaining man in the ring being pelted with a shower of boos.

Therefore, the Reigns-Kane-Show ending was the most unpopular in Rumble history. Fans knew what was going on: the giants had dominated so that Reigns could look strong by throwing them out. Therefore, there was no excitement; just a whole lot of boos. Reigns did throw them out to apparently win, only for the mammoths to attack him. Even this was booed. This wasn't like the anti-John Cena boos where his opponents are cheered; everything here was booed. This was a verbal attack on the booking team via the in-ring combatants. One was embarrassed for WWE watching it. They had totally misfired, far worse than last year.

But then The Rock came out! A clear surprise to those in attendance (and it would have been to the viewers at home had WWE not spoiled his presence on the Kick-Off), The Great One defended his cousin Reigns (their relation had not been acknowledged on-screen until now, which didn't help) but when Roman helped Rock, the boos resurfaced. Contrary to reports, Rock was cheered except when he specifically endorsed Reigns after the match. Rock helped, but even he couldn't save this mess. Which wasn't over, by the way: Rusev hadn't been eliminated, something that only became obvious when fans chanted "We want Rusev!" during the Show-Reigns-Kane exchange. Would Rusev surprise everyone by winning? Surely, when he returned to the action, he would at least look like he could win.

Erm, no. He ran back in after Rock cleared the ring of Kane and Show, but he was immediately speared by Reigns and thrown out within seconds. What was the point of having him wait outside for minutes for such a pointless cameo? In terms of actually booking a moment, this was probably the lowest point of the entire match presentation and, once Rusev was gone, there was no longer any doubt: the man who fans suspected would win, Roman Reigns, did so, and with very little to speak of in terms of his performance until it actually finished. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon came out afterwards and glared at Reigns and Rock, but the overwhelming boos made you wonder "what must they be thinking right now?" Fans booed once more as Reigns celebrated and the show went off the air. On the post-show, Rock and Reigns had a backstage interview where Rock was funny but more in a cruel manner, perhaps due to the negative crowd reaction, and Cena and Rusev had a confrontation to lead to a feud which had been predicted months ago for this time of the year. That's not a good thing, by the way.

So, what started as a promising and unpredictable Rumble match disintegrated into a very poorly-booked mess that damaged everyone involved. Those who dominated were easily thrown out. The surprise entrants were quickly dispatched. Kane and Big Show were treated as a real annoyance. Daniel Bryan's rep only survived because of the fans; judging by its actions here, it's as if WWE wanted Bryan to be tarnished. Roman Reigns' chances of being "the man" in WWE took a big hit despite his victory. And even The Rock suffered; it says a lot that Rock should make a surprise appearance at a major PPV and it's almost as if it didn't happen. An absolute car wreck of a Rumble match, then, for the second year in a row, and a bigger crisis this time around as thousands of fans had #CancelWWENetwork as the number one worldwide trend on Twitter afterwards as they literally cancelled their WWE Network subscriptions. I still say that the disappointing aspect wasn't so much Reigns winning and Bryan not winning, but the manner in which Bryan was thrown out, and how little else was done for Reigns' victory to seem unlikely. The other contenders were crushed, and those involved with potential storylines didn't get much of a chance to advance them. In terms of action, in terms of excitement (early on), in terms of generally being a watchable match, the Royal Rumble wasn't the worst in the event's history, but in terms of booking and being a match which resonated with the audience, it was not only the worst Rumble to date, it was one of the worst-received wrestling matches of all-time. If nothing else, it will be very interesting to see where WWE goes from here.

The rest of the card was okay before the title match (which I don't mind; the Rumble is all about, well, the Rumble, and the title match as well; the undercard matches are filler here more than on any other PPV), which was sensational. Only for the incredible 3-way, Royal Rumble 2015 would get an extremely low rating, but the phenomenal action in that encounter elevates the show as a whole to being decent. Unfortunately, WWE has a lot of work to do from here: if this was the beginning of the Road To WrestleMania, then the path to Levi's Stadium could be a rocky one, and there is the very real possibility that as bad as the crowd reaction was to the Rumble match here, it could be even worse for the main event of WrestleMania. It did set up the main event of Mania storyline-wise, but in terms of preparing Mania entertainment-wise, the Royal Rumble flatlined for the second consecutive year. Believe that.

Still, there's always next year, eh?

Overall Rating: 5/10 - Average