**MERGED** Royal Rumble 2013 & Aftermath Discussion (Keep it in here!!!!)

[GameOver]

That is it. I am officially done with WWE.

They just killed something amazing for a two month title reign for a part timer, setting up yet another Cena run as champion. So I'm done. I will no longer watch World Wrestling Entertainment television, buy their products, nothing.

Time to start watching TNA and ROH primarily from now. The TNA Heavyweight Championship means more now than the WWE Championship does.

CM Punk could've gone on to headline Wrestlemania and accomplish his dream. He could've set a new standard. But now we get a rematch of last year and I just don't care anymore.

Goodbye, WWE. You've disappointed me for the last time.

Yeah good luck with that. TNA Heavyweight title will never mean anything and ROH is losing stars left right and center to other promotions.

Agree partially with your centiments tho i could care less about Punk losing and Rock winning, that's good for WrestleMania buys, it's all a work anyway Punk will get his title back and wasn't gonna break another record for 2years, he did a good job in that 450+days, be thankfull they even gave him that. Cena winning tho was my aggravation point Ziggler or Ryback should've won that. as for Rock vs Cena well that aint set in stone there's still 2 months til WrestleMania and 1 PPV to go through yet tho it is likely it's not a guarentee. For instance could still be Punk vs Rock vs Cena, Punk wins and gets a Jericho like claim of beating The Rock and Cena in the same night and on the grandest stage of them all.

Personally i prefer Zigglers plan for the titles, unify them.

 

[Face/Off]

The results tonight will get everyone making up their own wee rumours and scenarios to whats going to happen at WM and beyond. The Elimination Chamber is going to be huge, possibly the most important ever, in February. With CM Punk losing tonight surely that tees up a match with Taker or Lesnar with Cena squaring off with The Rock again.

How great would it be for Raw tomorrow to have Vince come out and proclaim that it wasn't The Shield that interrupted the title match. We find out it was Lesnar or Taker who cleaned The Rock and this sets up the WM scenario.

 

[Stallion123]

Kept getting transmission pausing throughout the PPV too, usually get that atleast once a PPV in Australia but this seemed like every 20mins.

I had that happen too, I thought it was just my cable. It only seemed to happen during the rumble and Rock vs Punk though.

 

[DJ Kyo]

Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.

Ok, the Rumble has ALWAYS been about being unpredictable. We had NO IDEA that (as stupid as it was) that Sheamus would win last year.

We had no idea a few years ago that Cena was done with his injury and would come back and win.

This year though? We KNEW Cena would win. We KNEW that DWAYNE (he's not 'The Rock') was going to win eventually.

I'm sorry but I've been watching WWF/E for the past 20+ years and I've seen a lot of back and forth crap, but this PPV tonight and this upcoming mania screams that Vince has lost all sense of the business and cares about that bottom line $$$ at the end of the day NO MATTER WHAT the expense is later on down the line.

So many superstars tossed down the line to Cena, and the BIGGEST insult of the night is CM Punk losing to a move that only jobbers used to lose to, 'the People's elbow.'

I lost ALOT of respect for WWE tonight. Vince is a fucking jack ass. Pure and simple.

 

[lenguy]

I'll start off by saying that I enjoyed the PPV.

Sure there will be people who will be crying themselves to sleep tonight(some proclaiming to even stop watching WWE altogether) but hey,you can't please everybody.

I figured the show would start with the World title. It was a pretty solid match with a few good spots and a pretty clever finish I thought. I think handcuffs might have been a bit more effective and saved a bit of time but hey,show has pretty big feet so it will have to do. (B)

The tag team title bout was pretty much everything I expected it to be. An average tag team match that served more of a filler than anything.(loved the Cody Rhodes mustache drawing sign BTW,awesome). I was expecting a title change as it seemed time. What with WM season starting I just expect Kane and Bryan to move on to something else. Oh well,soon. (C-)

The Royal Rumble match. Okay, I don't care what's on the show,the Royal Rumble should always be the main event. It is the selling point of the PPV and should be treated as much. However I can understand why it didn't go on last. I didn't like it but I can live with it and move on. The match itself was exciting as it usually is. Jericho retuning was obviously the shocker of the night, as nobody expected that. Good one WWE. Of course Kofi had to try and do something to out perform his spot from last year but it was stupid(why didn't he utilize the chairs wheels and just use a bit of momentum to wheel himself back over?). I was glad to see Ziggler last as long as he did,I was sure he was going to be last going up against Cena but then Ryback entered. I had completely forgot about him. Even though I knew Cena was going to win. A win for Ryback would have been great as well, he's lost a lot of momentum since HITC and that win would have brought it back. As for the winner,yes,sure it was predictable but it's honestly what I expected. If they really are setting up Rock Vs Cena again at WM,it was the obvious move to make. Great match as always.(A)

WWE Championship match CM Punk(c) Vs The Rock. I thought this was a great match,much better than Rock/Cena from WM. Pretty aggressive and pretty physical,like both men were out to make a statement between one another. Crowd was really alive for this one and almost seemed split down the middle at times. I myself was also torn. I didn't want to see Punks reign come to a close but at the same time, I was never around to witness Rock as WWE champion. So the idea just excited me so I think I was gonna be happy ether way. Sure the shield assault was to be expected as I knew Punk wouldn't beat Rock cleanly. However the restart of the match was a surprise(too me at least). Once that happen I knew Rock was gonna win and sure enough a spinebuster and an elbow later followed by the 1.2.3 it was a reality. Good match that lived up to its hype,some people may not like the finish but hey what's done is done.(A-)

Overall rating(A)

People shouldn't be upset that Punk lost. The guy had a glorious title reign that completely unrivaled and eclipsed any of the past 25 years. It's a title reign that will be remember for the rest of time and for that reason alone people should be celebrating Punk for what he has accomplished. What better way to end you're title reign than by losing to the Rock. Lets face it,at this point,Rock might have been the only believable opponent to end Punks reign.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

I thought this Rumble was awful. It seemed like they were just going through the motions. I don't care for the Big Show, so that match meant nothing to me. Then we get Team Hell No vs. Rhodes Scholars for what seems like the 100th time somehow. Then the rumble starts off great with a surprise from Jericho...but nothing interesting happens.

Cena winning was something I was sure wouldn't happen because it didn't need to. Once he did win, I assumed that it was to setup Punk winning. Surely we couldn't have the choreographed ending of Cena winning and The Rock winning to face each other at Wrestlemania. But that's what happened.

Insanely predictable. Rather boring. Tonight's show probably swayed me to not get Wrestlemania.

 

[SacredMesa]

People shouldn't be upset that Punk lost. The guy had a glorious title reign that completely unrivaled and eclipsed any of the past 25 years. It's a title reign that will be remember for the rest of time and for that reason alone people should be celebrating Punk for what he has accomplished. What better way to end you're title reign than by losing to the Rock. Lets face it,at this point,Rock might have been the only believable opponent to end Punks reign.

What pisses people off isn't that Punks title reign came to an end. It's how it came to an end and who ended it. Punks reign needed to end cleanly and it needed to be used to establish a new star for the future of the business, not pat the ego of a movie star part timer.

The Rock being champ doesn't bother me, The Rock being the guy who ended Punks reign does.

 

[Kidpolean]

Ok so I just got home from the US Airways Center after seeing Royal Rumble live.....Some people will never be happy if you dont want to watch WWE then dont. I dont understand how some people think that if the person they wanted to win didnt win then the ppv sucked. Royal Rumble was great. The crowd was hot all night. I know the matches were predictable but so is almost every match in wwe history. This was a top 3 event I have ever seen live and I have been to around 30 wrestling events.

Live Notes:

Jericho had loudest pop of the night
Everyone there saw the shield hide under the ring before the match which kind of ruined the moment
NO DIVAS MATCH????
Cm punk and rock fans were about 50/50
Half my section left after cm punk won and didnt see the match get restarted

Overall I say 8 out of 10...every match was good I take two points off because of predictability

 

[VinnieSunshine]

What pisses people off isn't that Punks title reign came to an end. It's how it came to an end and who ended it. Punks reign needed to end cleanly and it needed to be used to establish a new star for the future of the business, not pat the ego of a movie star part timer.

The Rock being champ doesn't bother me, The Rock being the guy who ended Punks reign does.

That's where I stand. Anyone but Rock. Anyone but Cena. Bring up someone that is going to be the "next" guy. Someone should've been pushed awhile ago...NOT RYBACK.

What aggravates me more was HOW he lost it. Yes many stars have lost do to the People's Elbow, it's his signature move. But the fact that, from what I read, Punk had him beat. Then all Rock does was hit a spinebuster and an Elbow to win???? SERIOUSLY!?

I think it' dumb to give it to the Rock. I understand from a money point...but still dumb. You can make as much of a buy promoting him challenging for the title than you can having him as champ.

 

[Jenna.]

What pisses people off isn't that Punks title reign came to an end. It's how it came to an end and who ended it. Punks reign needed to end cleanly and it needed to be used to establish a new star for the future of the business, not pat the ego of a movie star part timer.

The Rock being champ doesn't bother me, The Rock being the guy who ended Punks reign does.

That's ******ed. I mean really. The latter championship matches Punk has had, hasn't even been won cleanly, so why on earth would he lose cleanly? That's just not logical. The heel he has become is a heel who win by any means neccessary. If Vince didn't come out and the match didn't restart, you would of taken the win regardless so let's not kid ourselves here.

And really? Who on earth is capable and worthy of even being in the main event let alone ending Punk's reign that is a new star? I guarantee if some new up and coming star that isn't even established, Punk fans and IWC dweebs will bitch about that. And outside the IWC, no one is going to sit there and rally behind this new star just because they beat Punk. That's not going to make that wrestler the NEW face and every fan buy that wrestler's merchandise. That's crazy to even suggest doing that. It takes time for a new star to be established and even worthy of being in a title picture let alone the WWE title.

And I really don't get the issue about Rock being a movie star...HE'S A WWE LEGEND. Like I stated before in another thread...this isn't a random movie star the WWE brought in, they brought in HOMEGROWN talent that was able to elevate his career and status PAST the WWE. Yeah he's a part timer..so what? He's a pat timer that still generates pops and merchandise sales like no other. That says a lot about who The Rock is and the current roster. Stop it already. The part time movie star agrument is so old and tired.

 

[SacredMesa]

That's ******ed. I mean really. The latter championship matches Punk has had, hasn't even been won cleanly, so why on earth would he lose cleanly? That's just not logical. The heel he has become is a heel who win by any means neccessary. If Vince didn't come out and the match didn't restart, you would of taken the win regardless so let's not kid ourselves here.

And really? Who on earth is capable and worthy of even being in the main event let alone ending Punk's reign that is a new star? I guarantee if some new up and coming star that isn't even established, Punk fans and IWC dweebs will bitch about that. And outside the IWC, no one is going to sit there and rally behind this new star just because they beat Punk. That's not going to make that wrestler the NEW face and every fan buy that wrestler's merchandise. That's crazy to even suggest doing that. It takes time for a new star to be established and even worthy of being in a title picture let alone the WWE title.

And I really don't get the issue about Rock being a movie star...HE'S A WWE LEGEND. Like I stated before in another thread...this isn't a random movie star the WWE brought in, they brought in HOMEGROWN talent that was able to elevate his career and status PAST the WWE. Yeah he's a part timer..so what? He's a pat timer that still generates pops and merchandise sales like no other. That says a lot about who The Rock is and the current roster. Stop it already. The part time movie star agrument is so old and tired.

Thats the point, this entire thing completely stinks of bad planning. It's blatently clear that the only reason Punk has this title reign was because of this moment, the moment where The Rock would beat him to set up Cena v Rock II at Mania. From the second Rock came out after Mania last year and said he would do it to RAW 1000 where he found out he would have this match it was pretty damn clear Punks reign was only lasting as long as it was because of the unofficial Punk vs Rock match at Royal Rumble.

This is bad booking because Punk's reign got to the point where it was an icon unto itself, much like Goldberg's streak was. It was something that was unique in it's era and could of been used to help solidify a star but instead of doing that they tunnel visioned in on The Rock.

There hasn't been one moment where people actually thought Punk would lose the title after RAW 1000, and don't try and say Ryback everyone knew it was to early for him and it wasn't going to happen. The fact that there isn't anyone "worthy" of ending such a reign that is young on the roster is a direct result of piss poor booking. How hot was Daniel Bryan after Mania last year? Did they capitalize on it? Nope. What about Ziggler, he was in a damn TLC match with the face of the company and was getting cheered while the face of the company of booed. Have they capitalized on him? Nope.

People are there but booking and back stage BS isn't capitalizing on it and as a result we have what is by far one of the biggest wasted opportunities that WWE has seen in a long with with Punk reign and that is extremely frustrating.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

Why "NOT RYBACK"? What's wrong with him? Is he too much of a muscle-head to be a good wrestler or a deserving champion?

Because Ryback was pushed, then dropped. They needed to bring up someone along with Punk as champion. An NXT star, a mid-carder...SOMEONE! Someone other than the same people holding the title. (But Rock hasn't held the title in over 7 years!) Blah blah blah. He's a legend and a part-timer. Why do we need to give the title to guys that want "one more shot"? Did Jericho need it? His last run put guys over. Guys like Bryan, Ziggler, and Punk.

Now a WWE Legend is going to drop it to Cena, someone who has had it 11 TIMES! Punk doesn't need it, so keep it on him and use an upcomer to take it from him...a future star.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be just as pissed if say, Undertaker took it from him. Or Lesnar. Hell even Kane or Mysterio. Let someone like Bryan or Ziggler take it. Hell, you could've pushed someone from NXT from the start and had them take it at WM...that's over a year of a build for a new star.

Ryback is someone that, right now, is a transitional champion. He isn't ready...YET. He needs more mic work. He is John Morrison at his prime, all flash and no talk. He is stiff on the mic. You need a talker.

 

[Radical]

Because Ryback was pushed, then dropped. They needed to bring up someone along with Punk as champion. An NXT star, a mid-carder...SOMEONE! Someone other than the same people holding the title. (But Rock hasn't held the title in over 7 years!) Blah blah blah. He's a legend and a part-timer. Why do we need to give the title to guys that want "one more shot"? Did Jericho need it? His last run put guys over. Guys like Bryan, Ziggler, and Punk.

Now a WWE Legend is going to drop it to Cena, someone who has had it 11 TIMES! Punk doesn't need it, so keep it on him and use an upcomer to take it from him...a future star.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be just as pissed if say, Undertaker took it from him. Or Lesnar. Hell even Kane or Mysterio. Let someone like Bryan or Ziggler take it. Hell, you could've pushed someone from NXT from the start and had them take it at WM...that's over a year of a build for a new star.

Ryback is someone that, right now, is a transitional champion. He isn't ready...YET. He needs more mic work. He is John Morrison at his prime, all flash and no talk. He is stiff on the mic. You need a talker.

Ryback wasn't really pushed then dropped. He was pushed, fans got behind him and when Cena was injured for Hell in a Cell Ryback was the only face hot enough to potential draw at least some interest in a WWE Title match.

Problem was, we now know that Punk was only holding the title for so long so that Rock, not Ryback (and up-and-coming star) could take it from him and benefit.

I agree, it probably would have been a little too early for Ryback to win the WWE title at Hell in a Cell but I wouldn't mind if he won the Royal Rumble and won the WWE title at WrestleMania.

I don't exactly agree that he's not ready to be champion yet because of his mic work. I think is mic work is very effective. He gets to the point. His character is an intense machine-type animal so he isn't supposed to be talking flashy like The Rock but he has an intimidating presence and it works.

To me, Ryback kind of reminds me of Ultimate Warrior in that their mic work is more about intensity than being a smooth talker like, say CM Punk or Jericho or whoever.

Not everyone has to be a smooth talker to be considered 'good' on the mic, in my opinion.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Well the good news is that since the divas match that we supposedly were going to get never happened, we did not have to endure a Tamina match. That easily would have been the worst match of the night. I'm rarely a fan of the World Heavyweight Championship opening the show, but it made sense this time around. Del Rio retaining as well as Team Hell No retaining both made sense. As did Dolph Ziggler not cashing in, given him losing the Royal Rumble match itself he now still has a shot at getting a world title match at Wrestlemania if he saves his briefcase long enough.

I really did not think Cena was going to win, I won't argue with that decision though. He now joins the list of wrestlers who have won it more than once and whether you like him or not, he deserves that honor. It's pretty obvious which champion he will be choosing to face at Wrestlemania. Cena VS Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship will be one hell of an interesting match. Yeah.... Kidding. Like THAT'S going to happen. He'll choose The Rock's WWE Championship while Ziggler and/or whoever wins at Elimination Chamber will most likely be in the World Heavyweight Championship match. Hey, we may be seeing our Royal Rumble winner CLOSE Wrestlemania AND also WIN their world title match for the first time since Batista in 2005. That would be excellent.

Which brings us to our new WWE Champion, The Rock. I really wanted Punk to win. I thought that going over The Rock would have been very beneficial for CM Punk and I wanted to see his WWE Championship reign last through Wrestlemania. You know what though? I still enjoyed the show tonight and this won't make me stop watching even though it's a decision I strongly disagreed with. Cena VS The Rock II for the WWE Championship is enough for me to purchase Wrestlemania this year. I doubt I'm alone in that opinion. So Punk's reign ended before I thought it should have. It's not like this is the first time I have disagreed with WWE's booking. I'm going to give this a chance and see where it goes. We ARE in Wrestlemania season now, and this is the best time of the year. A good PPV event despite not fully agreeing with all of the results.

 

[USMNT]

This is only my second post, I thought I'd throw my .02 in on the whole 'Punk lost to the weak People's Elbow' topic.

I'm fine with it. I'm fine with it, because Punk is fine with it. A wrestler of Punk's stature has enough say in the mechanics of the match that if he had serious beef with taking the People's Elbow, he would have said something.

If Punk would have said 'Give me the Rock Bottom, instead.' It would have happened. At the end of the day, Punk, Rock, Vince and the match agent agreed that the People's Elbow was a fine finish. No offense to any one here, but if the People's Elbow is good enough for the Best in the World, one of the 5 all-time biggest stars in WWE/F history and Vince, it is good enough for me.

 

[dukes07]

My biggest issue with the Rumble stemmed from the fact that the faces won every single match. The Final Four in the Rumble: All faces. The WWE has to create some strong heels. They desperately need to when five of the last six in the Rumble were faces. Also, the outcome was predictable. Cena wins and then challenges the Rock. Part of me is glad that they did not go with some sort of asinine swerve. But at the same time, and I enjoyed the show, I am so damn tired of Cena. It does set up the money match at WM, and maybe Punk will get involved in the match. I just question the necessity of putting the title on the Rock. People are going to buy WM no matter what.

Ultimately, I would have liked to see: Cena v Lesnar II and Rock v. Punk II and that way Punk gets his rematch. But they fucked up the former last year. Oh well...Hopefully the build is better this year than last. And overall the PPV was pretty damn good despite having weak heels.

 

[Harthan]

Harthan Reviews Royal Rumble 2013 (January 27th 2013)

World Heavyweight Championship - Alberto del Rio (c) vs the Big Show

Pretty good match. Del Rio and Show have loads of chemistry together. Del Rio's kicks are an excellent staple of his offense, and I really like him working in some high flying offense. It'd be better if his ranas and sentons were a little cleaner, but it doesn't help that he's having to hit them on a giant. As it stands, they're good additions to what he does. Meanwhile, I love Show's strikes and the two of them play of one another really well for a high impact striking match. They both sold each others offense beautifully and engineered a number of really fun spots. It's not easy to have the exact same match type twice inside of a month and make it different, but still good. Their first match was better, I think, but the work they did on the entrance stage was very good, ending with the huge table spot. It kind of sputtered toward the end, unfortunately, as it became obvious they couldn't figure out a good finish to it. The duct tape was a terrible finish that I hated when Cena and Batista did it, and like it just as little now. Still, the match was really solid for most of its time, and got the show started off right. ***1/2

WWE Tag Team Championship - Team Hell No (c) vs Rhodes Scholars

A decent but unspectacular match. Nothing that couldn't have been on Raw. They followed the formula, and had enough time and talent to make it worth seeing. Still, it never really got out of second gear and didn't have much memorable. It's not really the kind of match you're likely to remember, but it filled out the card more than adequately.

**1/2

Royal Rumble Match

I have mixed feelings here. I though the first half was brilliantly done. Every elimination was perfect, done by the right person at the right time for the right reasons. Jericho's return and performance was phenomenal, and Ziggler really tied this match together by being everywhere and making everyone look good. You could almost feel the match decline when Godfather had his little abortion of an appearance. It slowed everything down, and it never really recovered. I'm not saying that killed it, it's just that it seemed to mark the decline. Cena was way too understated in this match if he was going to win - he was barely noticeable until the very end of the match, except for an unspectacular toss out of Antonio Cesaro that didn't get them anywhere close to where they needed to be. Orton, Sheamus, Ryback, Jericho, and Ziggler all had fantastic performances - why didn't they bother selling Cena like that? It was lazy, and makes his win feel boring. The final six had loads of potential and I feel like they really shit the bed with it with an unimaginative final stretch. Having everyone hit finishers only to be eliminated? Let's do that for literally four of the final six. The Ryback vs Cena mini battle at the end was too short, although Cena's STF to Ryback was a pretty great highlight. It really fell short of last year's amazing final two showdown between Sheamus and Jericho, though. A pretty solid first half with a mediocre finish does not a great Rumble make.

***

WWE Championship - CM Punk (c) vs the Rock

Where do I even start? The horrifying slow pace that was the result of Rock's age, shape, and lack of particularly strong in ring capabilities? Rock's inability to pursue the simplest possible offense of working over Punk's knee? The blown spot on the outside that literally induced a groan from me? This match was not good. Everytime Punk hit some offense, he stood around for twenty seconds and waited. I can only assume it's because Rock couldn't keep up. The Rock's offense was weak - none of his strikes looked good, his submission work was sloppy. Punk wasn't able to really do what he does best, which is string together offense and engage in great back and forth countering. As such, he didn't look great either, though he did his best to drag a match of Rock. I have some hope for the inevitable Cena/Rock match, though, both because the hype will be greater and Cena is really good at making other people look good. His offense works so much better with what Rock does, or needs to do - Cena can do the "big move then wait" thing really well. Punk just doesn't do that, or at least, he can't lead it, and Rock obviously can't. The table spot on the outside was a huge waste of time that really took me out of the match - I don't know if it was supposed to happen like that, but I can only hope it was just a dumb mistake. Ultimately, it was slow, plodding, and unengaging. As if that wasn't enough, the horrific finish was just mind numbingly bad. Shield interference we can't see, restarted match, and Super Rock wins with a People's Elbow. Christ. A clean win with a Rock Bottom would have been miles better than that. Not good at all, but at least Punk is done with it and can move on to better things, while Rock vs Cena II will probably be really good still. **

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The show was entertaining overall. There were no major surprises in terms of match outcomes, but the action was fun.

I wasn't wild about how the LMS match ended, but the match itself was entertaining. The tag title match was as solid tag match and I think most people are mostly upset with it because it didn't have the outcome they wanted. The Rumble match was, in my opinion, the best Rumble match in several years. They spread out the big names well and has a few pleasant surprises. It was fun to see Jericho and I'm glad he & Ziggler had a strong showing. I'm not crazy with Cena winning the Rumble but I think most of us knew it was coming. The WWE Championship match was fun though I wasn't wild about the ending. I would have preferred Punk retain, but it didn't go down that way. The ending of the match was different, though this match didn't have nearly that epic feel I expected it to have, possibly because they ended it a good 10 to 15 minutes too early.

I thought the show was a solid B overall. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped and I didn't agree with some of the booking choices, but it was still a good wrestling show.

 

[GeneralKarim]

World Heavyweight Championship - Alberto del Rio (c) vs the Big Show

I like the match, it was the match of the night.Which is sad. Del Rios offense becomes more and more awesome match by match.He is really diggin his new face run.Big Show have to give props to him for putting on consistant matches throught this year, and this one was no exception.




WWE Tag Team Championship - Team Hell No (c) vs Rhodes Scholars

Pretty standard match, nothing really happened.Good that they retained tho and that made the elimination in the RR even better.Not much to say about this.


Royal Rumble Match

This for me was an abomination after the first half.First half I really enjoyed everything went acording to plan everything looked good, the boys were howling for The Big Deal Titus 'O Neal, everything was fine. The second half sucked major major ba**s.

The finish was predictable, way way to predictable, but I guess Cena diserves this.But they should've streched the ending a few more min, it was a bit too quick, I mean Ryback was supposed to be the nr.30 entrant and he was beaten way too easy.Not too mention Ryback basically did jack-all if in that match, nice way for WWE treat its new star.


WWE Championship - CM Punk (c) vs the Rock

This for me was one of the most dissapointing matches I've ever witnessed.Slow, no direction.Rock's performance in terms of his offense was just ridiculously bad.Nothing agaisnt the Rock, the man is who he is, but that was just a bad bad very bad match.

The table crumbling didnt help either.Shield attacking was dull and predictable, SuperRock winning with an elbow after all he went through was just ridiculous.

As a side note, I adored Punk giving "respect" to the spanish announce table.Think it was the only entertaining thing.


This is all my opinion tho, as other people might have loved the entire PPV.

 

[Why Always Me]

Okay, when Ziggler was talking about unifying the titles, I marked out. So seeing Sheamus eliminate Ziggler was disappointing, but in reality Ziggler wasn't winning the Rumble. We all knew Cena would win, just as in past years we knew Austin would win in 98 and 2001, Rock in 2000, Triple H in 2002 and Lesnar in 2003.

We knew with Cena winning Rock would be champion but could Punk have not left the Rumble as champion and lose to Rock at the Elimination Chamber? Hell even lose the next night on Raw? Maybe the exposure would not have been the same but Punk looks weak now. I am the biggest Rock fan ever but Punk should have won (and his 'victory' beforehand doesn't really count). I hope Rock puts Punk over before he leaves as Punk needs to come out of this not looking weak.

Not 100% sure how I rate the Rumble or the road to Wrestlemania. Cena will beat The Rock in a re-match at Mania and then what? Super Cena dominates the WWE title picture? I guess we should all just sit back and see where the WWE goes over the next 3 months.....

 

[Con T.]

Maybe the exposure would not have been the same but Punk looks weak now.

Are you serious?

CM Punk had 400+ days as champion; if you really think he comes off looking weak at all, I don't know what to tell you. CM Punk went for thirty minutes with a legend, still in great shape and still an icon. But of course, if he doesn't get the "win", he comes off looking weak, right?

I thought this was the best Rumble in ages; why would you need swerves, when the simplest road is the best. WWE has been shredding themselves over Occam's Razor for years, because they're trying to swerve a small minority of fans (us, the IWC) to placate an insignificant portion of the audience. The money match is in Rock-Cena, and this does a perfect job of building to that.

Why would Rock fight Cena, when he's already beaten him? Well, now Cena gets his choice to challenge the Rock for redemption; it's in his own hands, to redeem himself for last year. It's a tale as old as time, simple and effective.

This show was great, man
and built Wrestlemania
perfectly, brother

 

[HeenanGorilla]

A few thoughts from the Rumble...

1) Oh, look, Rock's Mom in the crowd...that answers that, good night!

2) The "business" of WrestleMania ended an interesting Punk/Shield run too early. Rock, Cena, money..yeah we get it. But, these rushed storylines are what piss people off. And if you had a good idea like the Shield...have them assist the OTHER world champ so you don't have to dump all over the angle to set up Rock and Cena for the big show. A heel Orton as WWE champ with the Shield on his side could have worked. Even as I write that, it wouldn't have been as good because...

3) They should have waited for the Shield angle to start to get old and just when it did...BROCK. Not in a Punk-helping way, because why would he? But in some way that brought fuel to the fire--even if it ended in Punk vs Brock at WM.

4) I only watch two PPVs a year: Royal Rumble because I get a kick out of surprise entrants and my friends and I draw numbers ahead of time to see who will win--keeps it fun. The other is WrestleMania because it is WrestleMania. But, this year I will pass. I honestly can't remember the last time I was really looking forward to a Mania main event--probably Rock/Austin. But, I always had slight interest in other things: Lawler walloping Cole, Bret Hart walloping Vince, TLC, Undertaker matches (not anymore), other nostalgic instances. Now, I just don't find it interesting. I haven't "cared" who won since I was a kid...maybe Warrior beating Hogan at WM6? But, I was always at least interested enough to go to my friend's house and watch. Now, who cares? Cena has gotten to the early 90s Hogan point where we are dying for a Warrior of some type to come and save us from the same ol' same ol'. Cena won the title...who cares? Rock kept the title...who cares? This WM has no interest to it...maybe a Brock angle, but it needs more. The Shield angle had potential..but that will get wasted.

5) Take care, WWE. See you at the Rumble next year.

 

[Con T.]

Jesus Christ

2) The "business" of WrestleMania ended an interesting Punk/Shield run too early. Rock, Cena, money..yeah we get it. But, these rushed storylines are what piss people off. And if you had a good idea like the Shield...have them assist the OTHER world champ so you don't have to dump all over the angle to set up Rock and Cena for the big show. A heel Orton as WWE champ with the Shield on his side could have worked. Even as I write that, it wouldn't have been as good because...

3) They should have waited for the Shield angle to start to get old and just when it did...BROCK. Not in a Punk-helping way, because why would he? But in some way that brought fuel to the fire--even if it ended in Punk vs Brock at WM.

4) I only watch two PPVs a year: Royal Rumble because I get a kick out of surprise entrants and my friends and I draw numbers ahead of time to see who will win--keeps it fun. The other is WrestleMania because it is WrestleMania. But, this year I will pass. I honestly can't remember the last time I was really looking forward to a Mania main event--probablyRock/Austin. But, I always had slight interest in other things: Lawler walloping Cole, Bret Hart walloping Vince, TLC, Undertaker matches (not anymore), other nostalgic instances. Now, I just don't find it interesting. I haven't "cared" who won since I was a kid...maybe Warrior beating Hogan at WM6? But, I was always at least interested enough to go to my friend's house and watch. Now, who cares? Cena has gotten to the early 90s Hogan point where we are dying for a Warrior of some type to come and save us from the same ol' same ol'. Cena won the title...who cares? Rock kept the title...who cares? This WM has no interest to it...maybe a Brock angle, but it needs more. The Shield angle had potential..but that will get wasted.

5) Take care, WWE. See you at the Rumble next year.

2. Too soon? Really, what more can you do with the angle? The last three months have been, in no uncertain terms;

1. Punk fights babyface
2. Punk's in trouble
3.Shield saves Punk
4. Rinse and repeat

What more did you really want them to do with this? I mean, I see what you want, and we'll touch on it, but it's stupid, because;

3. Brock Lesnar doesn't need to be a part of Punk's angle. You're really adding too much and too many names for one angle that doesn't need it. Rock and Punk was its own angle, and now you can set up Brock for his own angle. He doesn't need to be a part of the angle, and he wouldn't add anything more than overshadowing Punk.

4. Um, a lot of people care... This Wrestlemania will be the highest grossing of all time.

5. If you're going to stop watching, do us a favor and leave the forum, too.

 

[tomthebodz]

My thoughts on the Royal Rumble.

Alberto Del Rio v Big Show
Good solid opening match. I wasn’t really expecting much to be honest, but I was pleasantly surprised. Going into the match I wasn’t a massive ADR fan but he’s starting to win me over. There was one bit that annoyed me, when Big Show chokeslammed ADR off the staging through a table and he managed to get up. I thought that there would be a big spot to finish the match, but that didn’t happen. The ending was stupid when Cena did it to Batista, and it was stupid last night. Both men will be in the Elimination Chamber.

The backstage segment with Ziggler et al was brilliant, especially when Langston interviewed Dolph. I’m guessing that’s not his actually voice, I’ve never heard him speak before.

Team Hell No v Rhodes Scholars
I was very surprised that Rhodes Scholars didn’t get the win. More on this later. I can’t see Hell No staying together for much longer. I can also see both Bryan and Kane being involved in the Elimination Chamber.
Kaitlin v Tamina

Best Diva’s Title match on a PPV for a very long time. Mainly because it didn’t happen.

Royal Rumble Match

Very good entertainment. I nearly choked when Jericho returned, that was a massive shock, very happy to have him back even if it’s only for a few months, he’s always been happy to put people over.

Santino returning was pointless, he needs to leave WWE and was a wasted spot in my opinion.

Goldust’s return was another massive shock. I’m hoping that he sticks around for a while and can feud with Cody for a while. When Rhodes Scholars didn’t win the tag titles I was initially disappointed, but this potential feud made up for it. Am I right in thinking Rhodes eliminated Goldust in 09?

Tensai another wasted entry.

Rey returning was another surprise, I didn’t think he’d be back until EC at the earliest, with Sin Cara also returning it looks like WWE might final get the 2 to face each other at Mania.

Bo Dallas was absolutely brilliant. I hoped that he’d get a decent run. It seems like he’s going to get a push straight away. He looks very good in the ring and he looked like he belonged there. I can see him feuding with Barrett over the IC title and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won it, freeing Barrett up for a main event push.
Kofi’s just become a spot monkey in the Rumble, it’s entertaining but he never really does much else over the rest of the year.
The Godfather, probably a one off appearance, he has made one off Rumble returns in the past. How long did he last? Did he beat Santino’s record? In my 13 years of Royal Rumble watching I’ve never seen someone go to the ring, enter the Rumble, get eliminated and go to the back whilst their music is still playing. Another wasted space.

What’s the point in Khali?

The bit between Kane and Bryan was awesome, great comedy again. The team is starting to show cracks. I still think they’ll go one on one at Mania with Dr Shelby as the guest referee.

Ryder won’t be on TV but he still gets a good pop, I do like him but I just think that he’s got a bit stale. This will probably be his only PPV appearance this year.

I wasn’t surprised that Ryback was number 30. WWE has put big men last before and they’ll do it again. In his short time in the match he made a massive impact.

I was expecting Ziggler to be eliminated last or to win, I was surprised that Sheamus eliminated him, possible feud between the two? but he still put in a very good performance. He’s now proved that he can last in the ring. Hopefully WWE management will have taken note. Every show he grows on me, I’m a massive fan of his now. He should get a decent run as World Heavyweight champion in the near future.

The feed me more chants at the end seemed lackluster. It seemed that the crowd were the older generation of fans.

Cena got booed when he entered the ring and the reaction to his win wasn't really that positive. ‘d have hoped that Ryback and Cena would have gone a bit longer, but I guess time was needed for the main event.

As soon as Cena won I knew The Rock would.

Ziggler and Dallas were the standout performances for me. It would have been nice if there were a couple more NXT guys in the match instead of Tensai, Santino and 2/3 members of 3MB. I personally think that only one of them should have been in the match.

The Rock v CM Punk

It was a good match, I just felt that it never really got going and seemed very fragmented. It was very physical, but there was never really any time when Punk looked like he could win without help. I loved when Punk put the top back on the Spanish Announce Table. It was brilliant, and a typical Punk thing to do.
The botch spot in the table didn’t help. The Rock bottom on the floor would have beaten most people, kicking out made Punk look strong in eventual defeat.
I knew interference would happen, but from someone different like Brock Lesnar or a potential new member of The Shield.

When the lights went out I was expecting to hear the infamous gong, but that didn’t happen. The Shield interfering was a bit pointless. They barely do anything else apart from interfering in matches. They need to do something else.

Not stripping Punk of the title was a good swerve, and for a moment I thought he would still retain. I think the way The Rock eventually won was a bit odd. I said on Twitter that the People’s Elbow is an awful finisher and I stick by that.

An elbow drop from the top rope is weaker that an elbow drop from standing. It’s ridiculous. Especially after the punishment The Rock took just before. It was a stupid end to the match.

Where does The Rock go now, yes he’ll face Cena at Mania (YAWN). But I can’t see him defending in an Elimination Chamber. They need to add a stipulation to their inevitable match at Mania to make it different to last year. Maybe an Iron Man Match.

Where does Punk go from here? I’m hoping that he faces Taker at Mania.

In my opinion The Rock is only a transitional champion and is making way for Cena to win the title at Mania.

Overall it was a good PPV. The ending isn’t what I wanted to see but it was fully expected. How WWE books the run up to Mania is very important, and it seems like the booking of Royal Rumble was very aimed at the younger audience, and booking Mania the same way could be disastrous.

 

[KettleFace]

I personally thought the delivery & execution of the main event was so, so poor last night.

I thought Rock once again looked very out of shape at stages throughout the match. For long periods it was slow and dull, and although there couldn't have been much done to prevent it, the table botch was just painful to watch. There were high expectations for this match and I personally believe they didn't deliver.

When the lights went out and the Shield attacked Rock, I have one big complaint - WHY OH WHY did Cole have to reveal it was the Shield? It was fucking pitch black, I wouldn't find it hard to believe that he couldn't see what was happening. Why not atleast give us a glimmer of hope or make us think it could've been Maddox/Ryback? That was done very poorly. I think the biggest thing that stuck out to me was that when the match was restarted, Punk beat Rock down for a couple minutes, then in an instant a spinebuster and a People's Elbow got the job done.

I'll still watch Raw. I'll still watch Elimination Chamber. I'll still watch WrestleMania. But that doesn't take away from the disappointment that was the main event last night. The Rumble itself was great, with a number of really entertaining moments, but the predictability of it all put a downer on proceedings.