WWE Royal Rumble 2015 **Official** General Discussion Aftermath Thread

[kadroan]

You hypocrite E fans have only yourselves to blame on how bad the E is. Starting last year, all you did was gush your loads over Roman Reigns even though he was just another big guy with no mic skills. The E took note of that, and started his push to be the next main face. Now all you hipster idiots are hating on him when he's on the verge of winning the belt. Why? Cause the IWC's love boy called Daniel Bryan isn't there? My God. Get over it. The way the E fans are, they'll just turn on Bryan anyway if he does have a lengthy world title run.

I guess they were cheering for him because they wanted anybody but Batista to win the match last year. Rusev got the same reaction this year. It wouldn't surprise me if they take note of that.

Yeah it's unfortunate, can't make everybody happy.

 

[phlewfy]

Did anyone else notice that even The Rock looked confused by the fan reaction when he was raising Roman's arm? This was not a good way to try and get Reigns to the top spot. The poor guy just is not ready yet. I feel for him, cause I do like him but he is obviously the weakest of The Shield trio. This poor guy had the potential to be special, but unless he puts everything together in a couple of months, I fear his days are numbered. After Hogan, Vince tried to make Lex the next hero, but people had enough of that type and we got Bret and Shawn. Now Cena is winding down and Reigns is being tapped as the next hero. It won't work. It's not Reigns fault, but he is Lugar following Hogan. He is done.

 

[Navi]

Well the Philly crowd aren't the only ones unhappy with tonight's events. My son just told me the WWE's network cancellation page just crashed. Apparently due to an overwhelming response of people cancelling their subscriptions.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I can usually find out a way that what the WWE makes business sense, or story sense, this I have no fucking idea.

it was a great show with a horrible final 5 minutes. First off, eliminating Bryan so early was dumb. Second, eliminating Dean and Bray the way they did and leaving Kane/Show/Reigns (Rusev doesn't count) was stupid because it killed ALL climax. Everyone knew the finish at this point. Dumb booking. Dumb person to book to win. Reigns is not ready.


Batista was actually a draw, snubbing Bryan from the Rumble all together gave them an open to write him in, not booking Bryan made him a stronger baby face. On purpose or not, it made sense. This makes no fucking sense. Reigns isn't a draw. He's not over. I guess you can write Bryan in by saying that he never lost. Even a Rollins cash in won't save Lesnar/Reigns from looking like Lesnar/Goldberg.

People saying "well Reigns was over before" no, he really wasn't. He isn't, and NEVER has been as over as Bray, Rollins, Bryan, Ziggler, or Ambrose. Doesn't matter face/heel, he's just not on that level yet and never has been.

 

[L@RISANO]

Well the Philly crowd aren't the only ones unhappy with tonight's events. My son just told me the WWE's network cancellation page just crashed. Apparently due to an overwhelming response of people cancelling their subscriptions.

If true, I'm not in the least bit surprised. WWE continue to put forward poor booking at every turn and sprinkle it with nice segments like the one to end last RAW in the hope that people will continue to tune in.


I really feel for Roman Reigns, tho.
The guy was feuding with the Big Show coming into this PPV after spending 2 Satellite interviews saying he'd go after Rollins. Go figure. Illogical Booking at its finest and I really wonder if Vince is trying to sabotage his own company before he moves on...

 

[Crocker]

Damn you know things are bad when even the biggest WWE creative team supporters criticize this PPV..

 

[Radical]

It's astounding to me that they didn't expect this kind of reaction. They HAD to know Reigns was gonna get booed out of the building if he won the Rumble. Bryan getting eliminated before Reigns came into the match didn't help, Reigns and Ambrose reuniting didn't help, the Rock coming to give the rub didn't help. Reigns was positioned as a strong top babyface and it fell flat. If there are people backstage right now actually scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong that's amazing to me, because it was plainly obvious that this would happen.

What's even worse is that it's even Roman's fault.

You must know that it's not actually Roman's fault.

If anything you should feel bad for Roman. This is Pro Wrestling, the wrestlers do not book their matches as much as they may want to. But the wrestlers DO get chances to take the ball and run with it.

Roman did that. He was impressive with The Shield, he broke away and was strong and got too reactions. Despite any shortcomings he was getting good reactions up until the Rumble. That's not his fault, that's him doing the best with what they gave him.

Then for the Rumble, they tell him he's going to win it. So he does. Wouldn't you? Even if you knew there might be a sour reaction? Are you going to say no, don't let me win the Rumble? Roman just did was he was told.

Vince and Vince alone is who you should point fingers at if you don't agree with the booking. He makes all the final decisions and he decided Roman should win the Rumble.

And I do feel bad for Roman. I like him but I wouldn't have booked him in the Main Event of WM this year. He's young enough that if they booked him strong in the Rumble but eliminated by someone else he could have a feud and win big over a guy like Big Show, Rusev or Cesaro at WM and give him that push that most people could get behind because it isn't for the WWE title and then a year later he could win the Rumble or be in the WWE title match at WM and have a much better fan reaction because he would have had some solid singles matches and possibly a singles title reign (no pun intended) by then.


But, what is done is done. It will make for a VERY interesting Raw and Road to WM to matter what because you know the show must go on and Vince has to start listening to the fans on the Road to WM.

Questions will be:

How do non-smark cities react to Reigns? Do smark cities continue to boo Reigns like crazy? How does Vince adjust to this mixed reaction?

Where is Bryan's spot on the WM card? Will it be enough for Bryan fans to really care? Does he need to fight for a title like the IC or US title or will that seem like more of a slap in the face because he we fighting for the WWE title last WM?

Where is Ziggler's spot on the card? A IC title match? Something less significant?

Where is Ambrose and Wyatt's spots on the card? Surely they won't be feuding but they both desperately need good feuds and good matches at WM to regain momentum I feel they lost in the last part of 2014.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The Ascension VS The New Age Outlaws
Nothing special, it was what it was intended to be. The Ascension got the win they needed and likely move on to some other legendary tag team to defeat while gaining momentum before a Tag Team Championship shot.

The Miz and Damien Mizdow VS The Usos (Tag Team Championship)
Sucked. The sooner The Usos lost the belts the better. I went into the match having predicted Miz & Mizdow would win the belts back, which should have happened.

The Bella Twins VS Paige and Natalya
Absolutely useless and a waste of everyone's time. Paige and Natalya both deserve better. First of all, they should have won, secondly.... this should have been a Divas Championship match with Paige in Natalya's corner, with Natalya taking home the belt. I went into it expecting it to be the match when it was time to head to the fridge for a snack, and I was right. I feel bad for Natalya and Paige, there is only so much they could have done to carry those awful Bellas through a tolerable match. Worst of the night, but that's the Bellas' fault. They can't wrestle and can't cut promos! When will WWE realize they are a waste of two roster spots!?

Brock Lesnar VS John Cena VS Seth Rollins (World Heavyweight Championship)
Wait, what? You mean to tell me that WWE has a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP? And it's going to be defended on PPV!? In all seriousness, this was a good match. The best of the night including The Rumble itself which I will get to in a moment. My only issue with this was the ending. Lesnar better begin defending the belt monthly like he SHOULD be. He doesn't deserve to be World Heavyweight Champion if he's not going to show up. Seth should have won. Good match otherwise.

2015 Royal Rumble Match
I liked seeing some of the returns/cameos that we did. Bryan got to participate, even though he did not win and I admittedly thought he would be the winner of the match. I'm fine with Reigns winning, in all honesty. As long as Lesnar loses the belt. The ending was kind of stupid with Kane and Big Show having lasted far longer than they should have. I suppose it's to create tension between Reigns and The Authority, but still.... I would have been ok with Bryan, Ambrose, or Reigns winning it so it could have been worse. Reigns wasn't my first pick, but he has my support going into Wrestlemania at this time.

Overall Thoughts
Not much of a great start to the year for WWE's PPV events, as we had a few useless matches on this card with only the World Championship match (at least we GOT one this time) and the namesake match delivering. Reigns VS Lesnar isn't exactly a match I'm interested in, but with Seth still having the briefcase things remain potentially interesting. Miz & Mizdow should have won the Tag Team Championships, Natalya should have had a Divas Championship match with Paige in her corner going on to win said match instead of the pointless divas tag match, Lesnar should no longer be our World Heavyweight Champion, and well Reigns winning the Rumble is fine compared to last year's match. The show could have been far better, but it was a big improvement from that disaster-filled trash of a PPV we got at last year's Royal Rumble.

 

[CyberPunk]

I feel for Reigns. He looked confused, his smile after the win look confused. You know you have a problem when even Rock can't get you a pop. What the hell was WWE thinking?

Bryan could've entered at no 1 with Reigns coming in at 4 or 5 and both of them could've gone on till last 4 and let them slug it out at that time. Not only that, they booked Reigns poorly in the Rumble. What did he do through the Rumble? Nothing. All his actions were reserved for the end of the Rumble and by then, the damage was already done.

It's damage control for WWE now.

 

[d_henderson1810]

So you people are only happy if Daniel Bryan wins every Royal Rumble until the end of his career?

I wonder if SCSA and the Rock would have been as big stars with today's fans, as it seems that who the fans love and who the WWE push are never the same people. It almost seems like the fans deliberately pick the opposite to what WWE is doing, and then bitch and moan that WWE doesn't listen to them.

I read reviews, and like always, there is the obligatory "I'm never watching WWE again" or "I cancelled my Network subscription". My answer is- "See you next month".

Because the fact is, you actually don't hate what WWE do. Not really. If you hate something, you want nothing to do with it. That includes posting on message boards about how bad Raw was, or how bad a PPV was (when, you could have only known that if you watched it or read on websites about it, which you wouldn't do if you care anymore).

I know that most of the people booing are just sheep who do what everyone else in the crowd does. If some in the crowd stood on their heads, the others in the crowd would follow as well. I sometimes go against the crowd at shows to troll them, and laugh at their annoyance that their idiot ideas don't get used by WWE.

I liked the Rumble match. There were great returns this year (I hope Bubba Ray has signed full-time). The ring wasn't overcrowded, and interactions between guys made more sense (like the Wyatts in the ring together, or Bray targetting Bryan or Ambrose). The second half wasn't as good, but at least no-one booed No. 30 this year (maybe make Ziggler No. 30 next year, and then not have Bryan in the Rumble at all, and see the stupid IWC fans not know whether to cheer or boo.

 

[blueskyy]

After watching though Royal Rumble, I've have to say, it was a disaster. Only one match delivered, and that was the World Title triple threat match between Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and Seth Rollins. That was a 4/5 star match, simply an amazing astounding superb match that was put together so beautifully. But after how the Rumble unfolded, all that was taken away. Roman Reigns was literally booed out of the building, nothing helped, not even The Rocks endorsement. The Rumble match itself wasn't good either... Now, everyone is discussing how bad the Rumble match was, instead of how great the World Heavyweight Title match was. WWE really screwed themselves this time...

 

[CyberPunk]

So you people are only happy if Daniel Bryan wins every Royal Rumble until the end of his career?

I wonder if SCSA and the Rock would have been as big stars with today's fans, as it seems that who the fans love and who the WWE push are never the same people. It almost seems like the fans deliberately pick the opposite to what WWE is doing, and then bitch and moan that WWE doesn't listen to them.

I read reviews, and like always, there is the obligatory "I'm never watching WWE again" or "I cancelled my Network subscription". My answer is- "See you next month".

Because the fact is, you actually don't hate what WWE do. Not really. If you hate something, you want nothing to do with it. That includes posting on message boards about how bad Raw was, or how bad a PPV was (when, you could have only known that if you watched it or read on websites about it, which you wouldn't do if you care anymore).

I know that most of the people booing are just sheep who do what everyone else in the crowd does. If some in the crowd stood on their heads, the others in the crowd would follow as well. I sometimes go against the crowd at shows to troll them, and laugh at their annoyance that their idiot ideas don't get used by WWE.

I liked the Rumble match. There were great returns this year (I hope Bubba Ray has signed full-time). The ring wasn't overcrowded, and interactions between guys made more sense (like the Wyatts in the ring together, or Bray targetting Bryan or Ambrose). The second half wasn't as good, but at least no-one booed No. 30 this year (maybe make Ziggler No. 30 next year, and then not have Bryan in the Rumble at all, and see the stupid IWC fans not know whether to cheer or boo.

And what's wrong if he wins every year, especially if he's popular? When Austin was popular, he won 3 Rumbles and main evented, what, 3-4 Manias? So why can't Bryan go ahead and do that?

WWE's obsession with the 'face of WWE' thing is astounding. Instead, why not have 3-4 faces who can fleet in and out as face of the company? Austin and Rock together did great. Why do we need one singular face? You go with the person who's most over and put him in the main matches. That makes money. Reigns is no where close to the most over face on the Roster. He's not even no.2, 3 or 4. Why not take time with him and let him develop?

I enjoyed the Rumble myself. The triple threat was an insane match. Even the pre-show match worked. The Rumble match was, however, underwhelming with not much action happening. Was great to see Bully Ray and DDP. I enjoyed what Bray did, but the second half of the match was poorly booked. I don't have any problems with Reigns winning. I still feel they shouldn't fast track him like they are doing. Hopefully, we'll have a better build as the Road to Mania continues.

 

[stingray11214]

There had better be some slam-bang matches for WM31. Otherwise, this will be a financial catastrophe of epic proportions.

1) The entire planet knows that Lesnar is LEAVING after WM. Why, in the name of God, do you let him carry the belt to WM?

2) By Rollins not getting the belt, you lose the opportunity to permanently destroy the Authority, a storyline that by that time, will be as rancid as milk left on the counter for a week.

3) You hand the Royal Rumble to someone who is clearly not ready to carry the mantle. Why do it? To protect Cena and Lesnar?

4) Why deny the most popular wrestler in the Company, Daniel Bryan, an epic Rumble win that will print money in the long term?

5) Is VKM truly trying to tell people that he knows best, and that he does not wish to create new stars for the long haul?

6) Give me a reason to buy the Network, or plunk down $65 for the privilege of knowing that Reigns will win the strap because Lesnar is leaving?

7) Why bring in people like the Boogeyman and DDP, and keep out people like Sami Sayn and Adrian Neville? And, people wonder why Justin Gabriel quit? (At least PWS will probably give him the Suicide Six-Man strap next Saturday.)

What was VKM so afraid of in having a Rollins v Bryan Main Event for the WWE Strap? Did he think THAT LITTLE of ether man that they could not put on a Main Event for the ages? I really think that VKM has REALLY lost it. He left so much money on the table, that if I was an investor who was a wrestling fan, I would be talking proxy fight right now. The Royal Rumble was a disaster. However, this will be patty cake compared to the real cluster the WM31 is going to be.

 

[MERPER]

Very disappointed in the Rumble match itself after an outstanding championship match.

First off, they totally forgot Rusev was still in it. After Big Show/Kane got eliminated the bell even rang, the announcers botched it and it turned out very confusing (the second confusing finish to a PPV in the last 6 months, how in the name of Vince does this happen)???

They failed to develop any storylines in the Rumble except for giving Bray Wyatt a bit of a push to what is likely a match with Undertaker at WrestleMania.

Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler were barely in the match at all, Bryan got eliminated with nothing substantial coming from his night. Where in the world does he go from here?

The "final 4" were set and could have turned into an interesting Reigns/Ambrose final but of course Dean gets tossed so then we're left with 2 of the final 3 you know aren't winning it, thus the match was over the moment Dean went out.

Just terribly written/scripted as is he case with all WWE programming (short of last week's RAW) lately. I swear they just don't care anymore and are giving us all a giant middle finger.

For mania, we're looking at:

Lesnar vs. Reigns, Triple H vs. Sting, Cena vs. Rusev, Bray Wyatt vs. Undertaker and I still think Orton vs. Rollins whenever they actually bring Orton back.

This leaves zero stories that make sense at the moment for: Ziggler, Bryan, Ambrose.

Not good.

 

[hollowpoint]

Although this wasn't a surprise ending, I was surprise at the fans reaction of Reigns. I know he's not the most over of all the competitors, but I am not a huge fan of the Philadelphia crowd. They were awful. Chanting for Daniel Bryan for 15 minutes after he got eliminated tells you everything you need to know about the crowd. I agree with most that Reigns hasn't connected to the crowd as much as the WWE envisioned he would. Also his mic world and in ring psychology needs a lot of work. I will give credit to the WWE in a sense that they tried everything they could to make people love this guy. Between having Bryan exit early, to the save by the Rock and even the Authority coming in the get some heat off of Reigns didn't do the trick. It got worse when they interviewed Reigns and the Rock together. Who says they are gonna go watch tape? The Rock needs to give Reigns a wake up call and teach him about delivery and swag, because right now he has neither. I mean if a made man like the Rock can't get you over, what else is there?

 

[dkorolenchuk]

Wow on the WWE app,footage of Axel finally making to the ring, ref ran in and did a 10 count on Reigns and Curtis Axel was declared the winner,I'm in shock!!

 

[Navi]

Wow on the WWE app,footage of Axel finally making to the ring, ref ran in and did a 10 count on Reigns and Curtis Axel was declared the winner,I'm in shock!!

You're kidding right? No friggin way. I mean they rang the bell and the match was officially over. So that couldn't have happened could it?

 

[MERPER]

Although this wasn't a surprise ending, I was surprise at the fans reaction of Reigns. I know he's not the most over of all the competitors, but I am not a huge fan of the Philadelphia crowd. They were awful. Chanting for Daniel Bryan for 15 minutes after he got eliminated tells you everything you need to know about the crowd. I agree with most that Reigns hasn't connected to the crowd as much as the WWE envisioned he would. Also his mic world and in ring psychology needs a lot of work. I will give credit to the WWE in a sense that they tried everything they could to make people love this guy. Between having Bryan exit early, to the save by the Rock and even the Authority coming in the get some heat off of Reigns didn't do the trick. It got worse when they interviewed Reigns and the Rock together. Who says they are gonna go watch tape? The Rock needs to give Reigns a wake up call and teach him about delivery and swag, because right now he has neither. I mean if a made man like the Rock can't get you over, what else is there?

Sorry but any city that has vocal fans, ones who are smart and NOT catered towards the kids would have reacted the same way.

Chicago, New York, LA would have all done the same thing.

I don't blame them one bit. Fans react to the steaming pile of poop they are witnessing.

They LOVED and reacted well to the championship match because it was an outstanding match.

They treated the Rumble with disrespect because it was sloppy, poorly written and booked and insulted the intelligence of "real" wwe fans.

 

[ColeMc]

Sorry but any city that has vocal fans, ones who are smart and NOT catered towards the kids would have reacted the same way.

Chicago, New York, LA would have all done the same thing.

I don't blame them one bit. Fans react to the steaming pile of poop they are witnessing.

They LOVED and reacted well to the championship match because it was an outstanding match.

They treated the Rumble with disrespect because it was sloppy, poorly written and booked and insulted the intelligence of "real" wwe fans.

Smart? They are huge DB marks and ONLY DB marks, how is that smart?

This year's WM card:
Daniel Bryan vs Rusev for the US title.
Daniel Bryan vs BNB for the Intercontinental title.
Daniel Bryan vs The Usos for the Tag Team titles.
Daniel Bryan vs Nikki Bella for the Diva's title.
Daniel Bryan vs Seth Rollins for the MiTB briefcase.
Daniel Bryan vs Brock Lesner for the World Heavyweight title.
and finally...
Daniel Bryan vs Cena for kicks.

"We're all cheering Daniel Bryan and booing Roman Reigns because we're not sheep!"

Well, let's highlight the words in that last sentence that people in this "smart" crowd should be saying.

"We're all cheering Daniel Bryan and booing Roman Reigns because we're not sheep!"

They wanted one guy over at the expense of literally everyone else on the roster, if the crowds always got what they wanted, why would anyone watch the RR match at all? I paid for and watched a good PPV today(still today here in Oz) that, if ruined by anything, it was the crowd.

 

[stingray11214]

Smart? They are huge DB marks and ONLY DB marks, how is that smart?

This year's WM card:
Daniel Bryan vs Rusev for the US title.
Daniel Bryan vs BNB for the Intercontinental title.
Daniel Bryan vs The Usos for the Tag Team titles.
Daniel Bryan vs Nikki Bella for the Diva's title.
Daniel Bryan vs Seth Rollins for the MiTB briefcase.
Daniel Bryan vs Brock Lesner for the World Heavyweight title.
and finally...
Daniel Bryan vs Cena for kicks.

"We're all cheering Daniel Bryan and booing Roman Reigns because we're not sheep!"

Well, let's highlight the words in that last sentence that people in this "smart" crowd should be saying.

"We're all cheering Daniel Bryan and booing Roman Reigns because we're not sheep!"

They wanted one guy over at the expense of literally everyone else on the roster, if the crowds always got what they wanted, why would anyone watch the RR match at all? I paid for and watched a good PPV today(still today here in Oz) that, if ruined by anything, it was the crowd.

What is your hardon for Daniel Bryan? You complain how people have gone for one person over everyone else. And, how long have you been watching pro wrestling? To make a statement like that, it can only be recently. Stuff like this, where one man is beloved above an entire roster, has been going on for eons. I can only wonder what you would have said about someone like Bruno Sammartino, who was treated like he was Christ off the Cross for his two title runs. Like Bruno was for Vince Sr., Daniel Bryan is for VKM: In other words, money in the bank. People would pay good money to sell out arenas up and down the Northeast to see Bruno, even if he fought a paper bag. Same could, and I believe will be, for Daniel Bryan. Remember, Bryan headlining against a plastic bag (he is green, you know.) will mean one thing for the rest of the roster: They are going to get paid. What is wrong with that?

 

[dkorolenchuk]

The problem with the Rumble match is its all been done before,all the spots,the feet almost touch the floor moments ect.....

Same early moments,either have a Bray Wyatt thing where he eliminates 4 or 5 guys all before the next one comes and plays it up with the crowd.

Have 4 or 5 Zack Ryder types build in the ring so a noted superstar comes in and gets a quick 4 or 5 eliminations to show dominance.

They need to put PPV's like the Rumble or Hell in the Cell on the shelf for a while and bring them out every so many years to make them fresh again.

 

[#1druid]

Smart? They are huge DB marks and ONLY DB marks, how is that smart?

This year's WM card:
Daniel Bryan vs Rusev for the US title.
Daniel Bryan vs BNB for the Intercontinental title.
Daniel Bryan vs The Usos for the Tag Team titles.
Daniel Bryan vs Nikki Bella for the Diva's title.
Daniel Bryan vs Seth Rollins for the MiTB briefcase.
Daniel Bryan vs Brock Lesner for the World Heavyweight title.
and finally...
Daniel Bryan vs Cena for kicks.

"We're all cheering Daniel Bryan and booing Roman Reigns because we're not sheep!"

Well, let's highlight the words in that last sentence that people in this "smart" crowd should be saying.

"We're all cheering Daniel Bryan and booing Roman Reigns because we're not sheep!"

They wanted one guy over at the expense of literally everyone else on the roster, if the crowds always got what they wanted, why would anyone watch the RR match at all? I paid for and watched a good PPV today(still today here in Oz) that, if ruined by anything, it was the crowd.

The crowd payed for a product and was displeased they can react in any manner they see fit. The crowd like Ziggler and Ambrose too it was only anti reigns although that's probably because of his rocket ship booking making his victory obvious. The crowd want Bryan as their champ what's wrong with that? Cena main even red 9 manias in a row I think Bryan can get two.

 

[steve115657]

The big issue, as everyone knows, is that unless DB got his title shot, the crowd was going to boo whoever won the royal rumble. (As a whole side issue, I hate this problem. it would have ruined the rumble for me if DB won. if you are going to complain about predictibility, giving every fan what they want, especially in the RR which should be the most unpredictable match is about as bad as you get. But alas the crowd ruined it for me anyway)

My solution for this would have been to have Dean Ambrose win the rumble because... it doesn't stop DB's title shot but it adds an element of surprise to it. Ambrose "the lunatic fringe" who is clearly supposed to be unstable, wins the royal rumble and gets a chance to main event wrestlemania. But does he have to use his wm main event for a title match? all he wants is to get his hands on Seth Rollins at mania in a match for his mitb briefcase. He could use his main event for that, it doesn't devalue the title with Ambrose choosing another match over a title shot since a win almost guarantees him a championship anyway and since Ambrose is unstable you could write it off as him making bad decisions.

Then with the rumble winner out of the picture for the title there can be a #1 contender tournament culminating at fastlane where Bryan overcomes the odds to get his title match.

Boom, Ambrose is over as even more unstable, you bring back one of the best feuds of the year that didn't get the finish it needed, your new ppv has an awesome debut, and Reigns could feud with Rusev instead of Cena and actually have a chance to get the crowd behind him As opposed to the toxic heat he is going to get now

 

[FarFromFine]

When they faked that Rusev might win I actually thought about it later and think they should have gone that route. The fans would have gone home happy that Reigns didn't win, Lesnar would get cheered in his last match with the company, and Rusev would have mega-heat after 'Mania. Then they could put him against Cena and have him beat him too. Rusev has never been pinned and never submitted. They should have let him win the Rumble, win the title, and take Lesnar's place as the monster heel champion.

I live in Mexico and Rusev is actually quite over where I am.

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

I seriously would have had it come down to Daniel Bryan and Reigns and had Reigns eliminate Bryan after a handshake and a lengthy battle ala Undertaker HBK in 2007. I think the only way to deal with Bryan's crybabies is directly and in your face. They tried to sneak Bryan out carefully and sneak Reigns in.

Reigns should have taken Bryan out himself. Maybe and I'm probably giving them too much credit but maybe they would have respected it.