Where to start with the Rumble. Have to say I was hugely dissapointed, but being a fan who uses the internet, I cant help but feel I ruin it for myself. I was expecting more and it was anti climatic. Where to start on re-booking the clusterfuck...
Legends
I had no issue with Mick Foley, he is fairly relevant, Road Dogg isnt. Yes it is nice for nostalgia to have a few old skool surprises but there was 1 or 2 too many. Hacksaw Jim Duggan should have come in at number 2 and got the crowd pumped from the off. Him and Miz could have done their thing for 90 seconds then he is gone and out of the way. I understand why they put Duggan in though.
Announcers
King and Cole were just ridiclous additions. The Booker T thing didnt take me by surprise, I knew he would enter and I liked the fact he did. He is also relevant.
Wade Barrett
He should have entered earlier and been much more dominant. Give him a good run and Orton comes down and eliminates him pumping up the crowd.
Ziggler and Big Show
They already wrestled earlier in the evening. We had seen them and I didnt want to see either again. You can argue a case for Big Show because of his size. I like him in the Rumble but his number 30 appointment was stupid.
Kharma and Great Khali
Kharmas return as welcome, but in the Rumble? Seriously, just fuck off. Have her come down and stare down Beth Pheonix after the Divas match for fucks sake. Khali is a big man, the Rumble is his type of match so I had no issue with that. He got the 'woooooooooh' pop given Mark 'always a Rumble threat' Henry wasn't in there.
Lack of Star Power
John Cena and Kane were missed in the Rumble. Love him or hate him, Cena garners a reaction. It made no sense for Cena to be in there given his WM match being sorted, but why no Kane when you give Ziggler a chance? A Rumble without Kane is like bread without butter. The Big Red Machine always makes an impact. I get that he had wrestled but you could argue a case for him coming down and destroying a few in the ring. Maybe have Cena come down as a non participant and eliminate him and seek retribrution for what happened earlier.
Missing superstars
Christian was there and is ready to return (apparently). That would be a welcome addition. Skip Sheffield and Mason Ryan were never going to win the damn thing but they look like threats and could have gained something from a short dominant spell in the Rumble. Much better than Road Dogg or Kharma.
The end
WWE like to think they pulled the wool over everyones eyes with Jericho not winning, but it made them look stupid. The internet ruins pro wrestling at times and I suppose WWE were damned if they did, and damned if they didnt. However, they should have stuck to their guns and given Jericho the win. He needed it to get his return over because now it looks fucking stupid. He is not 'a force'. This is not a dig at Sheamus. The last two should also have being Orton and Jericho. It was obvious when Orton went out that Sheamus was to win it.
And finally - Undertaker and Triple H
Put Triple H in the Rumble, it adds star power. Number 30 out comes the Undertaker. The big surprise everyone wanted. A heap of broken bodies (Sheamus, Orton, Jericho, Miz, Rhodes) lay on the canvas. Triple H and Undertaker stare each other down for a short while. Undertaker eliminates himself by climbing over the top rope. Triple H follows suit. A strong message by both. They dont care about the belts at Wrestlemania, they want EACH OTHER and will sacrifice everything to get it on again.
Point 1, legends, they all got a pretty good reaction, so yea, doesn't matter.
Point 2, announcers, how is Cole and King any different than say Warlord other than Cole and King are both a LOT more over than Warlord ever was? WWE's philosophy seemed to be that instead of pretending like a bunch of midcarders or upper midcarders actually have a shot (like Kane every fuckin year), why not actually, you know, make something fun?
Point 3, having a heel have a long run in the rumble really doesn't do much, especially if another one (Miz) is already doing it. It negates the whole thing. It didn't hurt Barrett at all and that's really nit picky.
Point 4, Kharma's return at the Rumble match is a LOT bigger than if she had stared down Beth, people don't watch Divas matches, if you have a return, you want the most eyes to see it, marketing 101. Second, maybe that's not how they're going to build Beth vs Kharma, or maybe they aren't going to do it at all? Khali was in instead of Mark Henry and that's a fault? So....exchanging an apple for an apple and you're upset because it wasn't the particular apple you wanted, awesome dude.
Point 5, lack of star power. Star power isn't always a good thing in the rumble. Even if you have a bunch of stars, every year there are only about 3 guys who you think will win. You want KANE in another rumble? I mean, besides the fact that EVERYONE knows he won't win, the fact that it doesn't make any sense as far as his character's motivation goes, and the fact that doing so will sort of turn it into every other boring ass Rumble....damn dude, that's an awful idea. I'd rather watch Ricardo steal the show. Second CENA???? Really? I mean, he was supposed to have been destroyed after the Ryder match and also torn up over his buddy getting hurt. So again, doesn't make any sense. Neither of those guys make sense in the rumble.
Point 6 Apparently Christian is not ready to return. Donno how else to put it. No, Mason Ryan and Sheffield DON'T look like legit threats. NOBODY in their right mind thinks they'd win. Everyone knows it's a work and when half your audience will go "is this that one guy?" "no he's that other guy remember" "o yea" and they AREN'T as over, and they AREN'T as entertaining, why the fuck waste time with them? So they can come out and eliminate a bunch of people (which, with Kane and both of these guys, how can they all have "dominant runs"), also, how does a dominant run really get these guys over? Fans don't have a scorecard, it's if you make them care about you or not. Ryan and Sheff aren't that over and would just clog up the apron. I'd much rather see comedy shenanigans than their 'GRRR I R A BIG DUDE AND A THREATZ!!!!" bullshit that nobody buys. Finally (on this point), no, they couldn't have gained ANYTHING. Nobody would remember or give a shit that Sheffield or Ryan eliminated 5 guys. That's not how you get over, you get over by having a memorable character. People will remember Ricardo because it was character-driven. Not vanilla ass "WOW HE'S BIG AND HE FLEXES AND HE THROWS PEOPLE OVER LIKE IT'S 1985".
Point 7, the internet only ruins wrestling for stupid people. If you REALLY think WWE went "O NOZ, NO ERBODY KNOWS OUR PLANZ!!!! ZOMG LET'S CHANGE THEM" then you're an idiot. Sheamus was likely the planned royal rumble winner ever since, iunno, they didn't have him job to Henry and have made him look strong since like June. The Jericho thing was just to add some depth to the pool of "who could win". stop making excuses for foolishly believe anything these "reporters" say. Jericho DOESN'T need the win to get his return over. Holy fuck what do you think this is? 1920? No one says "well he lost, he sucks" if anything the loss adds motivation to his character and makes it more interesting (which makes it more over). If the last two were Orton and Jericho, then it'd be OBVIOUS that Jericho was going to win. Why would they put Orton over? That doesn't make any sense. Sheamus, despite the fact that he might not be a "5/5 on the mic, 5/5 in the ring" or whatever other bullshit "evaluation" you do, is very VERY over. This push will put him in the inner circle of babyfaces and he's doing a great job.
Your final point is just dumb, cliche, and basically a really tired and bogus and contrived idea overall. Are you REALLY suggesting the Undertaker goes in? Why? So he can win? Or so he can lose? If he loses, it's pretty irrelevant and the ONLY pop you get out of that and the ONLY entertainment you get out of that is the "5..4..3..2..1..ZOMG UNDERTAKER" that's it. No longevity with that plan, it sucks. Triple and Taker come out to add "star power"? Nobody thinks they'll win. Plus it doesn't fit either one of their characters.
You sound like a mark who is pissed that your favorites weren't in. Bottom line, this rumble had less wasted grab ass on the apron and more character and scope of emotion. Believe it or not, no one would buy it if Taker, HHH, Kane, Cena, or anyone else who obviously isn't going to win comes out. There is the initial entrance pop, they punch a few guys, pose, get hit from behind, then hold the ropes for 20 minutes. That shit is old and boring.
