Royal Rumble LD- Lets have a Royal Champion!

[Hyorinmaru]

Reigns vs HHH was the match that should have happened last Mania when the SHIELD betrayal was fresh, lMO. It was the logical storyline for Reigns but his injury made them fast track him to Brock and it backfired spectacularly.

I agree but this is just as good IMO

 

[L@RISANO]

I agree but this is just as good IMO

Indeed, they have clearly tried to retrace their steps with Roman, but the backlash he has had to face from the smarky fanbase in particular continues to hinder him after his post-injury push towards Mania 31.
At this point, whilst I am looking forward to Reigns vs HHH, I can't help but fair that poor booking will see even HHH fail to garner any sympathy for Reigns, and that is quite sad and pitiful, tbh.

 

[L@RISANO]

Kinda sounds like what they did with Cena.

??
Explain.

 

[Coco]

No, but I'm worried for Reigns if he goes over Brock to close the show. The heat would be off the charts.

That's where I'm at. They've done good work with Roman, but he still has the stink of "company man" all over him. The heat for the Trips-Ambrose finish told the whole story. They need to tread lightly.

But what's the alternative?

If ever there was a time to throw bombs, this is it.

Unfortunately, they're going to play it safe. Have they sold out Jerry World yet?

 

[Navi]

Indeed, they have clearly tried to retrace their steps with Roman, but the backlash he has had to face from the smarky fanbase in particular continues to hinder him after his post-injury push towards Mania 31.
At this point, whilst I am looking forward to Reigns vs HHH, I can't help but fair that poor booking will see even HHH fail to garner any sympathy for Reigns, and that is quite sad and pitiful, tbh.

Listen I like Reigns, Ambrose was my favourite in the Shield but Reigns was a close second. There is something about Reigns that the audience has never been able to connect with. I have no idea what it is, but the WWE has spent the last year trying and using everyone they can to get the fans on his side, and it's worked to an extent but for some reason there are people out there who just don't like him and never will.

You can call them smarks or marks or whatever you want, but it's clear they would rather cheer someone else than him. Bryan was a good choice, and everyone blamed Daniel Bryan and his fans for ruining Reigns push. While they might have done that to an extent, they can't be blamed for what happened tonight. As soon a Styles debuted the crowd was firmly on his side and Reigns was getting boo's. HHH got cheered for throwing him out. The biggest heel in the company gets the pop, so you have to wonder what is wrong here.

Part of it might have been the laser beam that's been put on him to the expense of other wrestlers, part of it might be his absence from the Rumble for a good portion of it when it was supposed to be all about him. The fact is fans aren't flocking to his side, and no matter how much the IWC, myself, or anyone else wants it, they are cheering anyone they can other than him.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

??
Explain.

When Cena became the guy his same basic character was the same but they changed a lot about him, essentially tried to make him the next Hulk Hogan. When he became their guy it's like they took a piece of sandpaper and smoothed all the rough edges that made him popular in the 1st place, made him more PG as it were.

In essence they're doing the same thing to Reigns, his basic character is there but they're smoothing out his rough edges instead of just doing what worked for them in the 1st place.

I'm just saying Cena 2.0 is pretty much the same as Hogan 3.0

 

[klunderbunker]

That's where I'm at. They've done good work with Roman, but he still has the stink of "company man" all over him. The heat for the Trips-Ambrose finish told the whole story. They need to tread lightly.

But what's the alternative?

If ever there was a time to throw bombs, this is it.

Unfortunately, they're going to play it safe. Have they sold out Jerry World yet?

Mostly. From what I can tell it's all limited viewing (behind the set) and floor seats which are like $2000 each. Scalpers from StubHub got A TON of seats so while WWE has sold them, they might not have people for them yet. A lot of those will fill in closer to the show date.

 

[Lee]

I make 12 former champions in the Rumble tonight.

Considering no Rollins, Cena, Orton, Bryan, Undertaker and any opportunity by the Rock to appear that's quite a lot of former champions.

 

[Coco]

If you have the book, what closes Mania?

 

[Coco]

I make 12 former champions in the Rumble tonight.

Considering no Rollins, Cena, Orton, Bryan, Undertaker and any opportunity by the Rock to appear that's quite a lot of former champions.

I assume that's the tail end of the brand extension making its unfortunate mark.

 

[klunderbunker]

If you have the book, what closes Mania?

Reigns beats Brock and becomes the new Corporate Champion.

 

[Lee]

I assume that's the tail end of the brand extension making its unfortunate mark.

Reigns
Jericho
Kane
Big Show
Henry
Lesnar
Swagger
Miz
Del Rio
Ziggler
Sheamus
Trips

Staggering.

 

[L@RISANO]

Listen I like Reigns, Ambrose was my favourite in the Shield but Reigns was a close second. There is something about Reigns that the audience has never been able to connect with. I have no idea what it is, but the WWE has spent the last year trying and using everyone they can to get the fans on his side, and it's worked to an extent but for some reason there are people out there who just don't like him and never will.

You can call them smarks or marks or whatever you want, but it's clear they would rather cheer someone else than him. Bryan was a good choice, and everyone blamed Daniel Bryan and his fans for ruining Reigns push. While they might have done that to an extent, they can't be blamed for what happened tonight. As soon a Styles debuted the crowd was firmly on his side and Reigns was getting boo's. HHH got cheered for throwing him out. The biggest heel in the company gets the pop, so you have to wonder what is wrong here.

Part of it might have been the laser beam that's been put on him to the expense of other wrestlers, part of it might be his absence from the Rumble for a good portion of it when it was supposed to be all about him. The fact is fans aren't flocking to his side, and no matter how much the IWC, myself, or anyone else wants it, they are cheering anyone they can other than him.

Reigns had a logical push lined up in the Summer of 2014, but got injured shortly into it, and thus, WWE fast tracked his push on his return when he was clearly 'green'. It also didn't help that he wasn't good in-ring or on the mic and alongwith that, the rumours about him being the "Chosen One" didn't sit well with the 'smarks'.


Nevertheless, the WWE went ahead and pushed Reigns all the way to the Main Event of Mania 31. Since then, they have tried to go about things the correct way, but the backlash of the initial push remains fresh and Reigns continues to remind many of the current "FotC, John Cena" which many fans do not want but Vince seems adamant that is what Reigns has to be.
Quite simply, no one wants Superman, and that is exactly what Vince's Roman Reigns continues to be.

 

[L@RISANO]

Reigns beats Brock and becomes the new Corporate Champion.

lol. I was thinking the same thing, given the likes of Cena, Orton, Rollins to return alongwith others already available.
But we said the same back at Survivor Series, didn't we?

 

[klunderbunker]

lol. I was thinking the same thing, given the likes of Cena, Orton, Rollins to return alongwith others already available.
But we said the same back at Survivor Series, didn't we?

Yeah but this time they have a bit better chance to set it up.

 

[Coco]

Reigns
Jericho
Kane
Big Show
Henry
Lesnar
Swagger
Miz
Del Rio
Ziggler
Sheamus
Trips

Staggering.

More troubling are the people who think we need the brand extension back to save SmackDown or whatever the fuck.

 

[Sean Valjean]

Great show and one of the most exciting Rumble matches I've seen in years.

I'm surprised no one mentioned this, but it seems pretty clear that Owens will cost Sami the NXT title to get revenge. He'll probably interfere in next week's #1 contender triple threat. That'll give Sami all the reason he need to chase Owens to the main roster and set up a match at Mania to finally blow off their feud.

 

[Galvatron]

I enjoyed the show. Nice to see the positive reaction after the Rumble for a change, was expecting the opposite.

I'm looking forward to Wyatt/Lesnar the most to be honest. The great midcard matchups that can happen for Mania are endless. I think it has potential to be a great show which is amazing considering the injuries they've been dealing with.

I got no problem with the very likely main event of Reigns/Triple H at Mania. I think it can be a damn good match.

Only thing that sucked for me was we started the show about 40 minutes late where I was and the network was the worst its ever been. It would bounce back and forth during the Rumble and Brock's elimination was spoiled. It was brutal.

 

[M]

Reigns had a logical push lined up in the Summer of 2014, but got injured shortly into it, and thus, WWE fast tracked his push on his return when he was clearly 'green'. It also didn't help that he wasn't good in-ring or on the mic and alongwith that, the rumours about him being the "Chosen One" didn't sit well with the 'smarks'.

The thing was how blatantly obvious they made it that Reigns would be the only thing they cared about that you didn't have to read rumours online to see it. They went so far out of their way to give him accomplishment after accomplishment to try and conjure the fans' cheers that it became ridiculous. The underdog should never be a wisecracking monster face.

 

[Sean Valjean]

Listen I like Reigns, Ambrose was my favourite in the Shield but Reigns was a close second. There is something about Reigns that the audience has never been able to connect with. I have no idea what it is, but the WWE has spent the last year trying and using everyone they can to get the fans on his side, and it's worked to an extent but for some reason there are people out there who just don't like him and never will.

You can call them smarks or marks or whatever you want, but it's clear they would rather cheer someone else than him. Bryan was a good choice, and everyone blamed Daniel Bryan and his fans for ruining Reigns push. While they might have done that to an extent, they can't be blamed for what happened tonight. As soon a Styles debuted the crowd was firmly on his side and Reigns was getting boo's. HHH got cheered for throwing him out. The biggest heel in the company gets the pop, so you have to wonder what is wrong here.

Part of it might have been the laser beam that's been put on him to the expense of other wrestlers, part of it might be his absence from the Rumble for a good portion of it when it was supposed to be all about him. The fact is fans aren't flocking to his side, and no matter how much the IWC, myself, or anyone else wants it, they are cheering anyone they can other than him.

Honestly, they should have turned Reigns heel at Survivor Series. Ambrose should have won the tournament and the titles, Reigns snaps at coming up short again and beats the crazy out of Dean, Reigns becomes a mega heel and Ambrose is a white-hot face.

I like Roman, but everything about him screams perfect heel to me. He's a pretty boy who descends from wrestling royalty – a relation fans perceive as the sole reason he's in the spot he's in. He wears a protective vest which provides an unfair advantage, making it hard for me to care much when he gets beat up most of the time. Plus he just looks mean as hell.

Just turn Reigns heel so that fans can get the booing out of their systems. Plus it'll make his eventual face turn more organic, as the fans will inevitably want to cheer for him again down the line.

 

[Sean Valjean]

The thing was how blatantly obvious they made it that Reigns would be the only thing they cared about that you didn't have to read rumours online to see it. They went so far out of their way to give him accomplishment after accomplishment to try and conjure the fans' cheers that it became ridiculous. The underdog should never be a wisecracking monster face.

Booking him as an underdog is the main problem, in my opinion. He's an intimidating powerhouse with big muscles, good looks, related to a wrestling legend/huge movie star, and wears a protective vest. He's damn near infallible. Roman is not an everyman/underdog kind of guy.

He should have booked more like Goldberg. Have him annihilate dudes and fuck up The Authority when they dare to screw with him instead of trading weak insults and smiling all the time. Let him be the mostly silent and somewhat mysterious juggernaut who is cool because of how badass he is.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I need AJ's theme song.

 

[Lee]

I need AJ's theme song.

Let's Light it Up.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

Let's Light it Up.

Lulz.

 

[Bernkastel]

Na, he was beaten down by the entire Wyatt family and then eliminated. It made sense how it was booked, and they went on to make Bray look 'strong' also. Well booked, lMO.

Not only that but Braun looked like a monster. He was no selling Brock for a good while there. Lesnar actually had to try in order to inflict any real damage. He didn't even get a suplex off if I recall. That was a great teaser.