Royal Rumble LD- Lets have a Royal Champion!

[Y 2 Jake]

I think when Lesnar finally gets put away properly, it should be by Owens. In a year.

 

[Slyfox696]

Just finished rewatching the Royal Rumble match, and I feel pretty confident that the AJ Styles elimination was in error. Multiple times in the match, Styles (and several other guys for that matter) went over the top rope and barely held on to the top rope, avoiding going to the floor and being eliminated, for dramatic effect. When he went over the top rope at the hands of Kevin Owens, he held on for a split second and then fell to the floor. It looked to me like he was supposed to save himself at that point, again, but he lost his grip and went out.

I am not suggesting for a second that he was supposed to win or that he should have won. I thought his showing was fantastic and it was a terrific debut on the grandest stage of them all. But I can't help but wonder if he was supposed to last longer, but eventually get eliminated. I wonder if the spot filled by Jericho was supposed to be held by Styles, and when he went out, they had to improvise and slot the steady and dependable Y2J into his spot. I even wonder if he was supposed to hold Ambrose's spot, lasting right until the end, but ultimately getting eliminated by the evil authority figure in Triple H. Would have resulted in the exact same result, which I totally agreed with, but made the Styles debut that much more exciting.

No one thought the part time Jericho was going to win, so keeping him in so late was curious. Likewise, while they made Ambrose look like a million bucks last night (and deservedly so), I don't think very many people expected him to win, especially after retaining the IC title and nearly getting his head ripped off in the process. Whereas an AJ Styles presence in the final six or even the final two would have been far more dramatic, way more exciting, without changing any of the results.

I think with the chaos of the Royal Rumble every year, shit goes down that wasn't supposed to happen, or at least, when it happened, forcing a certain amount of improvisation. I'm can't help but wonder if Styles last night was an example of this. I guess we will find out tonight when we see who his next opponent is. If it is Owens, then I guess it was all on script. But if Owens tangles with Zayn, and Styles on to someone else randomly, it will leave me wondering.

No, I disagree with you completely. Both when I watch last night and then again just now, it seems clear to me AJ Styles was supposed to be eliminated when he was. Just the whole sequence before, and the fact it was Owens who eliminated him, just makes sense.

 

[hatehabsforever]

No, I disagree with you completely. Both when I watch last night and then again just now, it seems clear to me AJ Styles was supposed to be eliminated when he was. Just the whole sequence before, and the fact it was Owens who eliminated him, just makes sense.

It just seemed odd to me to see Owens eliminate him, but then seem to tease a feud between Owens and Sami Zayn going forward. I would have thought that whoever eliminated Styles would be his opponent in his first feud. And as I said earlier, if he does end up in a feud with Owens, then I guess I am wrong. But if Owens and Zayn happens, and Styles goes on to fight someone else altogether, well that seems odd to me. And it just seemed a little peculiar to me to see two guys, namely Jericho and Ambrose, last until so late in the match, with very little realistic chance they were going to win.

When it came down to Triple H versus Dean Ambrose, did anyone really believe that the Lunatic Fringe would win? Because I certainly did not. But if it had been Triple H versus AJ Styles, I would have been far less certain of the outcome, and far more intrigued by it.

 

[Slyfox696]

It just seemed odd to me to see Owens eliminate him, but then seem to tease a feud between Owens and Sami Zayn going forward. I would have thought that whoever eliminated Styles would be his opponent in his first feud.

You're hardly alone in that, but I don't understand why. People get eliminated all the time, it doesn't have to start a feud.

 

[J.J.]

AJ Styles theme music sounded like some DMX , I could be wrong.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

YAY! AJ STYLES!! aw aww its over here

 

[hatehabsforever]

You're hardly alone in that, but I don't understand why. People get eliminated all the time, it doesn't have to start a feud.

Fair enough, that's a valid point. However, this is not the sort of elimination that happens "all the time". It's not every day that a name as big as AJ Styles debuts in such a high profile manner, with little to no history with many of the guys in the company. Sure, he has history with Owens from the indies, but if he doesn't fight Owens, I wonder what will be the reason behind who he does fight next?

 

[J.J.]

Fair enough, that's a valid point. However, this is not the sort of elimination that happens "all the time". It's not every day that a name as big as AJ Styles debuts in such a high profile manner, with little to no history with many of the guys in the company. Sure, he has history with Owens from the indies, but if he doesn't fight Owens, I wonder what will be the reason behind who he does fight next?

Wasn't Sting in a similar boat? He has history with many on the roster, specifically Bubba Ray in TNA. But it makes for a lot of first time feuds since he hasn't worked matches against a lot of those guys, endless possibilities.

 

[Reflection]

Woo... Not bad! I would have loved to see Ambrose win with Roman's help, but I'll take this too. Keeping the Wrestlemania main event in mind, this makes more sense.
Happy to see Kane and Big Show eliminated by Braun Strowman. Not that I like the guy much, but karma from last years Rumble had to strike these two.
The gang-ups felt like a little too much at times... but then again, who would have eliminated Brock, if not them? Who would have eliminated them, if not Brock?
The ring never felt too crowded this time, eliminations were taking place at a steady pace, instead of just killing time and waiting for the final couple of entrants. The best part was still the first 1/3rd of the match.
Just two surprise entrants and no returning 1980-90's legend this year... but they did many of those little moments like Truth climbing the ladder, New Day saving Kofi, Miz using a strategy, Social Outcasts trying to give Axel an advantage, Styles failing to connect the Styles Clash almost like a running gig, and some not-so-little moments like Rusev's splash on Reigns, Lesnar taking the Wyatt Family to suplex city, and many personal rivalries and dream face-offs getting focus.
Overall, much better than the last two years.

 

[jmt225]

What is the point of this?

Probably just to give a reason for Heyman and Wyatt to have mic battles leading up to 'Mania.

 

[Lee]

How fucking weird was R-Truth's ladder spot though?

 

[Slyfox696]

but if he doesn't fight Owens, I wonder what will be the reason behind who he does fight next?

I could come up with no less than five stories right now for AJ Styles off the top of my head. It's not hard to come up with something and that's if you're going to throw him in a storyline right away.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

The only situation they could put Styles in that would upset me would throwing him in random matches until Mania and making him a participant in the Andre The Giant battle royal. Just drop him into NXT if that's the plan.