For the most part,the quality of wrestling was pretty good tonight. However, the strange backdrop of months of completely disregarding what the fans wanted ruined the chance for this to be a great PPV.
I quite enjoyed the show on a purely in ring basis. Orton v Cena was entertaining somwhat, Bryan v Wyatt was excellent and the rumble itself was pretty good (outside of who won the thing) I've always though that they would use Reigns to beat Kane's record, and It was done really well, some nice moments throughout the rumble too. Bit disappointed at the lack of Punk during the match and the bitch ass way he got eliminated.
Booking wise the show was a disaster, it's clear at this point in time no one cares about sheamus, they don't care about Batista and they don't care about Ryback. They care about Reigns, but they better be real careful how they approach his main event push. The crowd made the ppv worth a watch though and it will be interesting to see how Raw reacts after watching that, will they emulate the crowd and truly get something rolling?
They really needed to give Batista a mic after he won, and let him go all "screw you, I'm here for the money. Boo all you want, nerds!" That would have made him as over as a heel as Bryan is as a face. I mean, he already is, but right now it's X-Pac heat.
Back at the hotel, watching Malcolm X on BET. Because why not.
Show was a subversive trip. I don't even know where to begin. As the crowd chanted "WE WANT DIVAS", my friend Bacon thought they were chanting "WE WANT TIVOS."
Match quality vs. booking decisions. If you had a perfectly booked PPV in every way possible, but the match quality sucked, would this be a good PPV or a bad PPV? At this point, the perfectly booked PPV has Daniel Bryan in every match, WINNING every match, and drawing #1 in the Rumble and WINNING the Rumble, and headlining WM and WINNING the main event. I consider myself part of the IWC, but I'm fixing to pull a Shawn Michaels and throw you all through the Barber Shop window.
most amazing crowd experience i've ever had. the boos for the supposed "best for business" guys was deafening. so many people around me were hoping to God that dbry would somehow be in the rumble. as the numbers dwindled down and the reality of the process of elimination started to sink in, everyone just got so deflated
not sure if it made the air or not, but as batista was walking to the back, he came across a dude flipping him off. they jawed a bit, then batista gave props to the guy next to him who was actually congratulating him, and then after a moment when he stepped away, batista went right back to the critical fan and gave him the finger square up close in his face. crowd boo'd that big time.
some of the more amusing chants during the title match:
we want divas thank you wyatts (after they interfered) you both suck please just quit (or something like that, dont remember exactly) end this match
the chanting for reigns was legit - very strong. a lot of people around me commented that they'd go home happy if reigns actually won
hard to say if rey was boo'd b/c his #30 entry confirmed no dbry, if the crowd was sick of him in general, or what
good pops from deeper in the rumble: el torito, nash, jbl, sheamus when he 1st came out*, fandango
* people definitely boo'd him once he became one of the usual suspects at the end
ziggler was very over
i know the usual places will decry our criticism as iwc fanboys smarks wanking over their indy darlings, but tonight in that sold out arena, the overwhelming majority shit on everything once it became clear we werent going to get what we want. it was far more than the supposed 10% or whatever of the general fandom that the iwc supposedly comprises
i really hope vince heard us tonight. like i said, this was not a case of the iwc whining, it was a case of their precious wwe universe not getting what they wanted. they could have completely built on the future this evening by calling an audible and shifting the focus to bryan, their "set in stone WM plans" be damned. the crowd is going to shit on the wm BIG time, and it will be extremely embarrassing for wwe. tonight more than the ever, the wwe universe spoke
but in the end, i bet when vince hears crowds like tonight, he guffaws and says "ho ho ho, those wacky fans! they kill me! ha!"
I don't think it's much to ask that the guy who draws the best fan reaction gets treated similar to Hogan, HBK, Austin, Rock, and Cena have in the past.
So what exactly does Vince do tomorrow if the crowd actively rejects everything? It doesn't matter if Bryan kills ratings(which he really doesn't, if anything, the reason the ratings are low have more to do with 12 years of gradually eroding ratings than Daniel fucking Bryan)the fact of the matter is this: THIS LOOKS BAD. Even if you hate Bryan, you can't possibly deny that this PPV was disastrous in a variety of ways for the WWE.
I'll take the positives. Two new guys - Wyatt and Reigns getting good pushes. Brock Lesnar being a monster. And Daniel Bryan getting by far the loudest crowd reaction, even when he wasn't wrestling. WWE has a fine line to walk - Cena, Batista sell merchandise and PPV buys, while the crowds that come to these events clearly don't like them. Really a no win situation.
Don't see how you could say this show was booked well, they got themselves in trouble and had no way to get themselves out. They should have had a Punk singles match and cut down his Rumble involvement
Before tonight, I NEVER thought I'd see a crowd turn on the Royal Rumble match. It's something that is impossible to screw up, but WWE sure did find a way. Just baffling.
Makes you pine for the old days when Hogan could just leave the promotion if his booking was going to affect his earnings, only Orton and Batista couldn't lace Nick Bockwinkel's boots.
Maybe Vince should shoot several weeks of RAW at once at MGM Studios at Disney World with rotating casual crowds who respond to "Boo" and "Cheer" signs.
No, that's ridiculous. No wrestling company would ever do that.
Kinda harsh. I like Lesnar's part time deal. Makes his appearances special, keeps him fresh and seemingly motivated. I just saw an interview with UFC by CM Punk. He is sick and tired and worn out. Lesnar won't get that way working 20 dates a year or whatever.
I would have put Bray over Bryan. Brock over Show. Orton over Cena about as they all had happened. However, Daniel Bryan would have won the Rumble at #30.
i'll add this to my comments below: bray wyatt definitely came into his own this evening. major kudos to him for a young guy making the most of his opportunity.
the pop when the wyatt's tron video cut was one of the loudest of the night (followed by as i noted below, a very prominent "thank you, wyatts" chant
The Royal Rumble title match is always supposed to be a filler match... but who would have thought it would be between two of the biggest stars in the company.
Fuck it, they really want to save this whole thing while letting Batista earn the paycheck, have him come out tomorrow and crap on daniel bryan and the internet, and how he's better, stronger, better looking and he has the physique of an A+ guy, have him mention that REAL fans like him, he pops the ratings and brings in the buyrates, brings in all the money and that everyone that disagrees with him is a basement dweller...and then to top it all off, have him hit on Brie Bella and then when Dbry comes out to defend his fans, his honor and his woman, he gets bombed through a table.
4 weeks later, have Bryan beat Orton and everyone else for the title at the chamber, then have HHH, Steph and Vince hound Batista to stop Bryan and shut his fans up for good at WM and prove to everyone that Bryan will always be the B level dude. People would go insane for that WM main event and you wouldn't even have to screw Batista out of his title shot, even if you wanted him to win the damn thing and screw the fans over further, I gurantee you people would tune in just for the possibility that Dbry would win.
Or at the very least add bryan to the Orton v Batista match, a sort of Benoit/HHH/HBK for the newer generation.
You know whats really even worse? If Vince wanted to deliberately troll the fanbase, he didn't even do a job better than B+! Bryan should've come out and gotten tossed by Sheamus if Vince wanted to truly ruin Pitts' day, but he even half-assed this!
Not that Vince ever cared what we thought or wanted but does anyone else think that maybe this WWE network that the majority of us are getting is making him care less? Were all buying it mostly for archive stuff and the PPV's are just a nice bonus. So Vince has our money no matter if he kills Bryan every ppv from here on out and has Cena and Orton headline from here to there retirements.
I'm going to Raw in Cleveland tomorrow. I plan on buying a Daniel Bryan T-Shirt and yelling a lot. Help me rally the troops. Here's the official Twitter hastag as well as the Facebook event page:
I guess I should have added "respectively". Batista was attributed a spike in RAW's rating, and at least they seem to believe that he would sell some PPV buys.
Hopefully you guys keep it going. If the crowd just acts like a normal crowd again, they'll write off tonight as "Oh, that Pittsburgh crowd" and nothing changes.
No, he needs to beat Taker and then gets five-ten minutes of berating HHH, who's crying like a cunt who's been exposed at the altar as a cheating whore and jilted at the alter ala romantic comedy movies, with Bryan rubbing it into HHH's face that he did what HHH could never do: end the streak.
I really don't think Bryan losing ANOTHER big match, even if it's to Taker, is "damage control." Bryan eating a tombstone after bouncing around for Mean mark for 20 minutes isn't a way of getting Bryan over or being an olive branch to DB fans, it's a way of giving Taker a good match on his payday.
Bryan beats Orton for both belts, preferably in the opening hour.
HHH and Steph take one for the team, as Bryan and Kane and Punk throw them into a garbage dumpster nad we never see them again on TV for at least two years
Vince comes up, formally apologizes to Bryan for not stopping HHH and Steph earlier
Batista declaring his heel turn with Flair as we do a full-on ending to set the reset button
Here's a story that I think might be getting lost in all this: John Cena is way way WAY less over now than he's been since his run began. This wasn't "we hate Cena, cheer for his opponent" heat. This was NO HEAT for Cena. They treated him like a midcard geek.
Honestly, since The Rock feud last year, I think Cena's progressively lost more and more star power.
Sheamus is a HHH guy so I am betting DBry doesen't dominate. If tonight has shown us anything Sheamus will likely dominate Bryan and Cena will make the save effectively nueturing him yet again. I'm starting to get some serious Zack Ryder vibes from this whole thing albeit on a much bigger scale.
Isn't that part of the problem, though? Keep watching even though you feel they are deliberately not giving you what you want? Not trying to sound like an ass, but maybe *not* watching is the only thing that will wake this stubborn old man up.
"MaffewOfBotchamania @Maffewgregg 2h Sandow's the smartest guy in the Rumble. He's way fatter than usual, making it harder for him to be thrown out."
I'm unspeakably depressed that Sandow can already see the writing on the wall and has pretty much given up. That's the kind of shit that really pisses me off about this company.
If Yoshi Tatsu, JTG and Mason Ryan can still draw a paycheck without trying, why bother killing yourself by working long matches or even worrying about being on the top two shows?
my friends and i were discussing the wasted spots that could have gone to dbry:
- ryback - khali - harper and rowan - not b/c they suck, but b/c really they didnt add anything to the match itself - kofi - if only for the fact that the "omg, how did he not get eliminated/how did he get back in the ring?!" bit is tired - nash - good pop, but didnt add anything in the end - jbl: see nash - russev - like the ze goggles, he did no'zing and everyone around me was like "this dude sucks. he makes me not want to watch nxt"
miz
hard to say on kane. i liked him being their since it furthered his story with punk, and to be honest, i'm not sure his interference at the end would have had the same impact
btw, some of the most intense heel heat of the night went to the tx commercials, no exaggeration
Yeah, that's the biggest problem - it was a complete embarrassment. It reflects so poorly on a publicly traded entertainment company to have the crowd completely shit on the show. How will they show this on replays? How will this effect video packages? What does it say about the company when the supposed "most anticipated rematch in history" is turned into the subject of the crowd's vitriolic and creative chants. It's fascinating from a sociological standpoint but a complete sideshow circus otherwise.
I disagree. The only house show business the wwe is when Cena is on the card. The shows that he isn't working are complete death. Including shows with both Punk and Bryan headlining. Unless Cena is working the house shows no one is going. Doesn't mean that match didn't suck, just saying he still sell tickets. This all according to the WON house show report stuff
And to top off this shit sundae of an evening with a nice fat final turd, the much heralded NIN/QOTSA/Dave Grohl/Lindsey Buckingham Grammy performance lasted all of 2 minutes and was covered in commercials and credits. Jesus what a fucking lame night this has been...that's it, I'm getting a hooker. Goodnight.
Ryback was fine; he was the runner-up last year. the nxt guy is a great way to introduce someone new to the general audience and show that he can really be a force.
Ah, sort of. Brock still had to cheat to win, and STILL got beat up a little. Why even give Big Show that out with pre-match cheating? Anyway, to me, total waste of a Lesnar match. Dude's wrestled 7 PPV matches for them, and now FOUR of them have been varying degrees of shitty.
I don't think it's fully sank in that this company seriously plans to close Wrestlemania XXX, allegedly the biggest PPV of the year, with Dave Batista vs. Randy Orton.
They are SERIOUS about this! They want people to pay MONEY for this!
What's odd is they have effectively used the storyline of the over babyface gets fucked with all year but overcomes the odds to win the Rumble then at WM for years, to great success. It's the easiest gimmick they have and lately with Del Rio, Cena, Batista, they just have no idea how to use it.
LOL oh no they did not! The piano ruins the song completely. I'm serious, STOP WATCHING. Everyone is mocking the shit out of it online if you look around. At one point they showed Trent backstage and you could tell he clearly was pissed off at something...he knew they were getting shafted.
Not that it matters, and not that I believe the majority of fans feel the same way, but there's ZERO chance I'm ordering the Network. To be honest, the archive is a bonus for me, not the main sell. (I can find random old clips on Daily Motion or a fucking Russian version of youtube or whatever if I really feel the urge to watch some old match.) My main reason for buying the Network would be getting the current PPVs at a cheap price, and after tonight I have no interest in paying for the current PPVs.
So I was there live (Pittsburgh!), and I don't know how it came off on TV, but this was not a "bored crowd amuses them self" type of thing- this was pure visceral disgust with the product. Even the little kids were booing Batista at the end. Once Punk got eliminated,it got super ugly- like not funny chants, but people just screaming how much it sucked and swearing at Vince. Pittsburgh is kind of hit or miss with crowd reactions, molten hot for Raw in 97 and just there and bored other times, but I have never been involved with a crowd like tonight. The "Yes" chants were going strong before the show even started.
When everyone just checked out of Orton/Cena - there were all sorts of mini-chants for some really weird stuff including The Brooklyn Brawler,, Ben Roethlisberger, and Omaha. My friends and I even got a small Mulky-Mania chant going in our section. Also, Pittsburgh loves doing the wave.
I think the sad thing- is the crowd did not really hate Big Dave to start, just once it became clear he was not Bryan that it got bad. They managed to turn a crowd on two returning main-eventers and a massively popular merchandise seller because they just refuse to give in to what people want. If they would have called an audible and put Reigns over, they would have minted a new mega star because the crowd would have embraced the shit out of him. Hell- if they would have had Bryan come out and get in Batista's face at they end they could have saved some good will- but no, so the crowd telling the WWE to go F itself now goes up alongside Ladder Match 2 and Hell in the Cell 2 in great moments in Pittsburgh wrestling history.
As it is, it was a good in ring show, a fun show to be at and a show that pissed a lot of people off.
Angle is pretty damned good, even now as we all worry he's going to kill himself he is still great with his psychology in the ring.
But I am one of the biggest DBry marks in the world, loved him ever since I first saw him in the beginning of ROH as well as his Velocity & Heat matches. I do think he is the best worker around atm.
If I were an interdisciplinary studies major I'd find this whole thing fascinating enough to want to study. As it is, I'm just a wrestling fan and I just don't understand any of it.
I watched this in a pretty full theatre which was interesting. There were a lot of Bryan chants, a smaller but vocal pro-Wyatt crew, but JBL got the undisputed pop, and longest sustained chant of the night.
I thought that Wyatt/Bryan was awesome, Brock/Show was a let down because I was actually interested in a short match from them, but it did keep the momentum of the show going nicely, and the Cena/Orton match was boring and overbooked, although it might have seemed better if the crowd wasn't actively shitting on it.
The Rumble was ok, but not one of the better ones. It was neat for me because I haven't been watching this past year and it was the first time that I'd seen a few of those guys, including the Big E, The Wyatts, and the Shield in any meaningful way. The Shield remaining cohesive as long as they did was a good angle, and I liked the NXT guy who I'd never seen before, he reminds me of a pre-blue fur Beast. I don't like the goofy Kofi spots, Batista didn't really do it for me, and I would have preferred a few others to win, including the obvious.
Dammit.. I was hoping to see a few people get hot pokers.
ReplyDeleteHoly Shit that was fast. Show sounds disappointing
ReplyDeleteCole gets one for his "JBL character" line. Shut up
ReplyDeleteWhere is Raw tomorrow night?
ReplyDeleteFor the most part,the quality of wrestling was pretty good tonight. However, the strange backdrop of months of completely disregarding what the fans wanted ruined the chance for this to be a great PPV.
ReplyDeleteThe Rumble, and WWE in general, would be greatly improved if, instead of Batista, Chris Pratt had won the Rumble.
ReplyDeleteI was without Internet for six weeks, so I need to touch on this:
ReplyDeleteYou're now looking at the TWO TIME TWO TIME FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE OF DOOM CHAMPION, NOW CAN YOU DIG THAT?!
......SUCKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
ReplyDeleteDoes @WWE actually hate their own audience? I've never been so disgusted with a PPV.— Mick Foley (@realmickfoley) January 27, 2014
ReplyDeleteI don't believe Duggan will be back after spoiling the surprise of Ziggler returning in the Rumble. I don't recall him being advertised.
ReplyDeleteI could be mistaken. Usually am.
So anyone wanting to think Undertaker will be sacrificed to Bryan to try SOME semblence of damage control over this debacle?
ReplyDeleteBrock can job like a worthless cunt to Punk for all I care. At least Batista will work a full-time schedule.
Props, Scott, for so quickly posting your rant.
ReplyDeleteCleveland
ReplyDeleteYes, Mick. YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS.
ReplyDeleteHmm, who'd a thunk the crowd wouldn't be excited about a Randy Orton vs. John Cena match in the year 2014. That's just strange.
ReplyDeleteToo bad this show wasnt in Chicago or Philly.
ReplyDeleteAlso I guess this company forgot how to make new stars.
We'll see how unedited the Network is if they leave the crowd reactions in tact on this show.
ReplyDeletePlease read maffew's twitter feed for some great lines; this one made me spit out my soda:
ReplyDelete''Duggan, who do you think is going to win the Rumble tonight?''
''I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M STILL ALIVE.''
"So the war that will be ongoing over the next two months will probably be far more fascinating than anything in the ring"
ReplyDeleteA month into 2014 but this already wins quote of the year.
Crap match but I have to admit, as a sociological study, utterly fascinating to watch.
ReplyDeleteI really have to thank the city of Pittsburgh for giving me my 45 dollars worth. Also, Bray Vs Bryan was a great match.
ReplyDeleteTheir only takeaway from all of this will be that they didn't do a good enough job telling us what we want.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment that this was a blast to watch and I will definitely do so again.
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoyed the show on a purely in ring basis. Orton v Cena was entertaining somwhat, Bryan v Wyatt was excellent and the rumble itself was pretty good (outside of who won the thing) I've always though that they would use Reigns to beat Kane's record, and It was done really well, some nice moments throughout the rumble too. Bit disappointed at the lack of Punk during the match and the bitch ass way he got eliminated.
ReplyDeleteBooking wise the show was a disaster, it's clear at this point in time no one cares about sheamus, they don't care about Batista and they don't care about Ryback. They care about Reigns, but they better be real careful how they approach his main event push. The crowd made the ppv worth a watch though and it will be interesting to see how Raw reacts after watching that, will they emulate the crowd and truly get something rolling?
"At least Batista will work a full-time schedule."
ReplyDeleteAs if anybody right now gives a fuck.
You know, Scott, I don't get it. They pretty much perfected the formula in 2010 yet they continually stray from it. Odd.
ReplyDeleteThey really needed to give Batista a mic after he won, and let him go all "screw you, I'm here for the money. Boo all you want, nerds!" That would have made him as over as a heel as Bryan is as a face. I mean, he already is, but right now it's X-Pac heat.
ReplyDeleteBack at the hotel, watching Malcolm X on BET. Because why not.
ReplyDeleteShow was a subversive trip. I don't even know where to begin. As the crowd chanted "WE WANT DIVAS", my friend Bacon thought they were chanting "WE WANT TIVOS."
Only if he enters three times under himself, Star Lord, and Burt Macklin.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard nor seen such sustained booing in my life. To be a fly on wall backstage.
ReplyDeleteBut Burt Macklin is retired...
ReplyDelete"Kofi Kingston has been eliminated!"
ReplyDelete"No, he's been caught by a Russian."
"Every year there's a Russian!"
"Or a barricade!"
"Or ringsteps!"
"Quiet! I will not hear another words against the Ghanan Jamaica sympathizer!"
Match quality vs. booking decisions. If you had a perfectly booked PPV in every way possible, but the match quality sucked, would this be a good PPV or a bad PPV? At this point, the perfectly booked PPV has Daniel Bryan in every match, WINNING every match, and drawing #1 in the Rumble and WINNING the Rumble, and headlining WM and WINNING the main event. I consider myself part of the IWC, but I'm fixing to pull a Shawn Michaels and throw you all through the Barber Shop window.
ReplyDeleteOh I get it now. Vince McMahon is Ron Burgandy. "Go fuck yourself, Pittsburgh."
ReplyDeletejust got back from attending the ppv, brahs
ReplyDeletei dont even know what to say
most amazing crowd experience i've ever had. the boos for the supposed "best for business" guys was deafening. so many people around me were hoping to God that dbry would somehow be in the rumble. as the numbers dwindled down and the reality of the process of elimination started to sink in, everyone just got so deflated
not sure if it made the air or not, but as batista was walking to the back, he came across a dude flipping him off. they jawed a bit, then batista gave props to the guy next to him who was actually congratulating him, and then after a moment when he stepped away, batista went right back to the critical fan and gave him the finger square up close in his face. crowd boo'd that big time.
some of the more amusing chants during the title match:
we want divas
thank you wyatts (after they interfered)
you both suck
please just quit (or something like that, dont remember exactly)
end this match
the chanting for reigns was legit - very strong. a lot of people around me commented that they'd go home happy if reigns actually won
hard to say if rey was boo'd b/c his #30 entry confirmed no dbry, if the crowd was sick of him in general, or what
good pops from deeper in the rumble: el torito, nash, jbl, sheamus when he 1st came out*, fandango
* people definitely boo'd him once he became one of the usual suspects at the end
ziggler was very over
i know the usual places will decry our criticism as iwc fanboys smarks wanking over their indy darlings, but tonight in that sold out arena, the overwhelming majority shit on everything once it became clear we werent going to get what we want. it was far more than the supposed 10% or whatever of the general fandom that the iwc supposedly comprises
i really hope vince heard us tonight. like i said, this was not a case of the iwc whining, it was a case of their precious wwe universe not getting what they wanted. they could have completely built on the future this evening by calling an audible and shifting the focus to bryan, their "set in stone WM plans" be damned. the crowd is going to shit on the wm BIG time, and it will be extremely embarrassing for wwe. tonight more than the ever, the wwe universe spoke
but in the end, i bet when vince hears crowds like tonight, he guffaws and says "ho ho ho, those wacky fans! they kill me! ha!"
fuck you, wwe
Yeah I thought they were chanting Divas also.
ReplyDeleteFriend corrected me that it was "We want refunds" which is 100x better.
For the kind of reactions this company is getting from crowds, they may as well go full retard and shoot for a Lesnar/Goldberg rematch.
ReplyDeletei hear lerxst_pratt was from pgh...
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see them pushing these young stars of the future like Orton and Batista.
ReplyDeleteNever go full retard!
ReplyDeleteNope. You gets Sheamus and you likes it!
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's much to ask that the guy who draws the best fan reaction gets treated similar to Hogan, HBK, Austin, Rock, and Cena have in the past.
ReplyDeleteSo what exactly does Vince do tomorrow if the crowd actively rejects everything? It doesn't matter if Bryan kills ratings(which he really doesn't, if anything, the reason the ratings are low have more to do with 12 years of gradually eroding ratings than Daniel fucking Bryan)the fact of the matter is this: THIS LOOKS BAD. Even if you hate Bryan, you can't possibly deny that this PPV was disastrous in a variety of ways for the WWE.
ReplyDeletePatience. This is wrestling booking, not a McDonald's drive thru.
ReplyDeleteI'll take the positives. Two new guys - Wyatt and Reigns getting good pushes. Brock Lesnar being a monster. And Daniel Bryan getting by far the loudest crowd reaction, even when he wasn't wrestling. WWE has a fine line to walk - Cena, Batista sell merchandise and PPV buys, while the crowds that come to these events clearly don't like them. Really a no win situation.
ReplyDeleteYou thought he was dead? So did the president's... enemies.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm in that crowd I cheer it ironically.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Vince will come out tomorrow night and cut a promo firing all of us again.
ReplyDeleteTHAT and bringing in part time guys to main event instead of concentrating on building new stars.
ReplyDeleteDon't see how you could say this show was booked well, they got themselves in trouble and had no way to get themselves out. They should have had a Punk singles match and cut down his Rumble involvement
ReplyDeleteI didn't say it was booked well. I meant that the match quality was very good.
ReplyDeleteScott thank you for re-using the VINTAGE '93 Runmble line.
ReplyDeleteBefore tonight, I NEVER thought I'd see a crowd turn on the Royal Rumble match. It's something that is impossible to screw up, but WWE sure did find a way. Just baffling.
ReplyDeleteMakes you pine for the old days when Hogan could just leave the promotion if his booking was going to affect his earnings, only Orton and Batista couldn't lace Nick Bockwinkel's boots.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Vince should shoot several weeks of RAW at once at MGM Studios at Disney World with rotating casual crowds who respond to "Boo" and "Cheer" signs.
ReplyDeleteNo, that's ridiculous. No wrestling company would ever do that.
Kinda harsh. I like Lesnar's part time deal. Makes his appearances special, keeps him fresh and seemingly motivated. I just saw an interview with UFC by CM Punk. He is sick and tired and worn out. Lesnar won't get that way working 20 dates a year or whatever.
ReplyDeleteYour awesome Scott thanks for posting this for us cheapskates that didn't buy the show and yet were still dying to know what went down!
ReplyDeleteI would have put Bray over Bryan. Brock over Show. Orton over Cena about as they all had happened. However, Daniel Bryan would have won the Rumble at #30.
ReplyDeletei'll add this to my comments below: bray wyatt definitely came into his own this evening. major kudos to him for a young guy making the most of his opportunity.
ReplyDeletethe pop when the wyatt's tron video cut was one of the loudest of the night (followed by as i noted below, a very prominent "thank you, wyatts" chant
The Royal Rumble title match is always supposed to be a filler match... but who would have thought it would be between two of the biggest stars in the company.
ReplyDeleteI honestly thought Bryan would beat Wyatt, but I forgave the decision because of the excellent match.
ReplyDeleteAnd here is Scott Keith, ghost writer of the Shield, with his recap.
ReplyDeleteBatista sells merchandise?
ReplyDeleteBut if it's not booked well, who cares? The attitude era is awash in mediocre ring work but solid booking
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that no one is going to be talking about Bray Wyatt. It's all about the crowd.
ReplyDeleteFuck it, they really want to save this whole thing while letting Batista earn the paycheck, have him come out tomorrow and crap on daniel bryan and the internet, and how he's better, stronger, better looking and he has the physique of an A+ guy, have him mention that REAL fans like him, he pops the ratings and brings in the buyrates, brings in all the money and that everyone that disagrees with him is a basement dweller...and then to top it all off, have him hit on Brie Bella and then when Dbry comes out to defend his fans, his honor and his woman, he gets bombed through a table.
ReplyDelete4 weeks later, have Bryan beat Orton and everyone else for the title at the chamber, then have HHH, Steph and Vince hound Batista to stop Bryan and shut his fans up for good at WM and prove to everyone that Bryan will always be the B level dude. People would go insane for that WM main event and you wouldn't even have to screw Batista out of his title shot, even if you wanted him to win the damn thing and screw the fans over further, I gurantee you people would tune in just for the possibility that Dbry would win.
Or at the very least add bryan to the Orton v Batista match, a sort of Benoit/HHH/HBK for the newer generation.
We didn't land on Plymouth Rock! PLYMOUTH ROCK, LANDED ON US!!!
ReplyDeleteI disliked a lot of the Attitude Era because of the match quality. That's what it is for me, quality ring work. I don't care much for the booking.
ReplyDeleteYou know whats really even worse? If Vince wanted to deliberately troll the fanbase, he didn't even do a job better than B+! Bryan should've come out and gotten tossed by Sheamus if Vince wanted to truly ruin Pitts' day, but he even half-assed this!
ReplyDeleteOrton =/= Benoit or HBK.
ReplyDeleteNot that Vince ever cared what we thought or wanted but does anyone else think that maybe this WWE network that the majority of us are getting is making him care less? Were all buying it mostly for archive stuff and the PPV's are just a nice bonus. So Vince has our money no matter if he kills Bryan every ppv from here on out and has Cena and Orton headline from here to there retirements.
ReplyDeleteSo guessing WM is Bryan beating Sheamus in 16 sec. to get his revenge and big "Yes moment"?
ReplyDeleteI'm going to Raw in Cleveland tomorrow. I plan on buying a Daniel Bryan T-Shirt and yelling a lot. Help me rally the troops. Here's the official Twitter hastag as well as the Facebook event page:
ReplyDelete#WWECleveland
https://www.facebook.com/events/217862638395097/
I guess I should have added "respectively". Batista was attributed a spike in RAW's rating, and at least they seem to believe that he would sell some PPV buys.
ReplyDeleteNo chance but maybe Bryan will get jobbed to undertaker to do some damage control. The fans would love the match, and it wouldn't matter who won.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you guys keep it going. If the crowd just acts like a normal crowd again, they'll write off tonight as "Oh, that Pittsburgh crowd" and nothing changes.
ReplyDeletehttp://i.imgur.com/Fk73G4j.png
ReplyDeleteNo, he needs to beat Taker and then gets five-ten minutes of berating HHH, who's crying like a cunt who's been exposed at the altar as a cheating whore and jilted at the alter ala romantic comedy movies, with Bryan rubbing it into HHH's face that he did what HHH could never do: end the streak.
ReplyDeleteRaw's in Cleveland tomorrow? Does this mean someone else will beat up Miz's dad?
ReplyDeleteQuite possibly. If anything, he thinks that's the bone to us and nothing more needs to be done. ( although it is a pretty big bone!)
ReplyDeleteNo Papa Shango? REFUND!
ReplyDeleteI can get behind Jesse's booking in this case.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Please please please shit all over everything!
ReplyDeleteMan, I really found something perversely glorious about that crowd reaction. It really felt like GAB 1991.
ReplyDeleteIt's just also disappointing and sad that it would happen in the most entertaining match of the year.
Not in the script. Can't happen.
ReplyDelete…It's been almost two years. That's pretty long, even if it were, like, a Sonic drive thru.
ReplyDeleteI just up voted Jesse Baker. if anyone needs me, I'll be in the shower, crying, and scrubbing until I bleed.
ReplyDeleteExactly. I want to make some noise tomorrow. I want to at least attempt to make them force to call an audible.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think Bryan losing ANOTHER big match, even if it's to Taker, is "damage control." Bryan eating a tombstone after bouncing around for Mean mark for 20 minutes isn't a way of getting Bryan over or being an olive branch to DB fans, it's a way of giving Taker a good match on his payday.
ReplyDeleteIf Batista didn't come back, I wonder who would have won. When in doubt, go with Cena probably
ReplyDeleteI kinda hope they don't try and save face by putting the title on Bryan and have him face Batista at 30. That is kinda boring to me.
ReplyDeleteBatista looked like anything but a star in the Rumble tonight.
ReplyDeleteCena is a way better option than Batista right now. It blows my mind that would go with Batista over Punk/Cena/Bryan.
ReplyDeleteBryan beats Orton for both belts, preferably in the opening hour.
ReplyDeleteHHH and Steph take one for the team, as Bryan and Kane and Punk throw them into a garbage dumpster nad we never see them again on TV for at least two years
Vince comes up, formally apologizes to Bryan for not stopping HHH and Steph earlier
Batista declaring his heel turn with Flair as we do a full-on ending to set the reset button
I saw this suggested on a forum:
ReplyDelete#30 hits and Bryan's music plays but then stops.
"I'm afraid I've got some BAD NEWS for you. Daniel Bryan isn't in the Royal Rumble, but BAD NEWS BARRETT IS!"
He'd be a made man for years.
Here's a story that I think might be getting lost in all this: John Cena is way way WAY less over now than he's been since his run began.
ReplyDeleteThis wasn't "we hate Cena, cheer for his opponent" heat. This was NO HEAT for Cena. They treated him like a midcard geek.
Honestly, since The Rock feud last year, I think Cena's progressively lost more and more star power.
His new look, his terrible in ring performance, the crowd shitting on him, just all around embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteYou just made me smile James. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWM handicap match Hogan/Sting vs Bryan
ReplyDeleteAgreed. At least have him come out, dominate, and earn his strips in the process. He won with a late entry and didn't even do all that much.
ReplyDeleteSheamus is a HHH guy so I am betting DBry doesen't dominate. If tonight has shown us anything Sheamus will likely dominate Bryan and Cena will make the save effectively nueturing him yet again. I'm starting to get some serious Zack Ryder vibes from this whole thing albeit on a much bigger scale.
ReplyDelete... plus he was absolutely gassed, even though he only worked 10 minutes or so.
ReplyDeleteSo here's a question: If you wanted to see Bryan win the Rumble, what would you have him do at Wrestlemania? Who would he face for the title?
ReplyDeleteIsn't that part of the problem, though? Keep watching even though you feel they are deliberately not giving you what you want? Not trying to sound like an ass, but maybe *not* watching is the only thing that will wake this stubborn old man up.
ReplyDeleteNah, that's not even a possibility. Bryan's not winning the title at EC.
ReplyDeleteOn a different note...
ReplyDelete"MaffewOfBotchamania @Maffewgregg 2h
Sandow's the smartest guy in the Rumble. He's way fatter than usual, making it harder for him to be thrown out."
I'm unspeakably depressed that Sandow can already see the writing on the wall and has pretty much given up. That's the kind of shit that really pisses me off about this company.
Bryan vs Brock is the dream match of the moment.
ReplyDeleteBrock. Brock winning the title at EC, him vs Bryan at Mania. Would have been pretty awesome.
ReplyDeleteHe finally gets one over on Orton, when it really matters.
ReplyDeletePretty much this. It'd be his greatest underdog fight ever and it'd also lead to a HHH/Heyman unholy alliance. So great for so many reasons.
ReplyDeleteIf Yoshi Tatsu, JTG and Mason Ryan can still draw a paycheck without trying, why bother killing yourself by working long matches or even worrying about being on the top two shows?
ReplyDeletemy friends and i were discussing the wasted spots that could have gone to dbry:
ReplyDelete- ryback
- khali
- harper and rowan - not b/c they suck, but b/c really they didnt add anything to the match itself
- kofi - if only for the fact that the "omg, how did he not get eliminated/how did he get back in the ring?!" bit is tired
- nash - good pop, but didnt add anything in the end
- jbl: see nash
- russev - like the ze goggles, he did no'zing and everyone around me was like "this dude sucks. he makes me not want to watch nxt"
miz
hard to say on kane. i liked him being their since it furthered his story with punk, and to be honest, i'm not sure his interference at the end would have had the same impact
btw, some of the most intense heel heat of the night went to the tx commercials, no exaggeration
Yeah, that's the biggest problem - it was a complete embarrassment. It reflects so poorly on a publicly traded entertainment company to have the crowd completely shit on the show. How will they show this on replays? How will this effect video packages? What does it say about the company when the supposed "most anticipated rematch in history" is turned into the subject of the crowd's vitriolic and creative chants. It's fascinating from a sociological standpoint but a complete sideshow circus otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. The only house show business the wwe is when Cena is on the card. The shows that he isn't working are complete death. Including shows with both Punk and Bryan headlining. Unless Cena is working the house shows no one is going. Doesn't mean that match didn't suck, just saying he still sell tickets. This all according to the WON house show report stuff
ReplyDeleteInstead of Batista returning to win the Bryan-less Rumble, the Ultimate Warrior returns to win the Bryan-less Rumble.
ReplyDeleteBetter or worse?
Goes Benoit hopefully
ReplyDeleteCareful, or this crowd will turn on you, too.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Brock/Show was pretty terrible imho. Seriously, that was a Raw segment that they put on PPV.
ReplyDeleteif he tells Bryan to keep hugging internet nerds and kissing hipsters, all is forgiven.
ReplyDeletethe same really
ReplyDeleteBig Show was injured, that's might have been the reason why.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm guessing Big Show was too hurt for a normal match.
ReplyDeleteSorry bro. He got the miss of death too during that pre Rumble spot looking at his number. Poor guy is heading to Ryder territory.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to Elimination Chamber and I'm definitely going to shit on Randy Orton. Not digging him at all right now.
ReplyDeleteEl Torito was well deserving, I agree
ReplyDeleteLol.
ReplyDeleteWay better. Absurdity always wins over contempt for the audience.
ReplyDeleteMiz's dad is getting his heat back by going over Bryan in a submission match.
ReplyDelete'Well, now Pittsburgh is never getting a TV show again'
ReplyDeletenope, they already announced and started selling tix for a june smackdown taping
And to top off this shit sundae of an evening with a nice fat final turd, the much heralded NIN/QOTSA/Dave Grohl/Lindsey Buckingham Grammy performance lasted all of 2 minutes and was covered in commercials and credits. Jesus what a fucking lame night this has been...that's it, I'm getting a hooker. Goodnight.
ReplyDeleteThere are going to be big snowstorms here, maybe only some will show up.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to keep up in 3 different threads. I think my nose is starting to bleed.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid growing up, all I ever wanted was a Jesse Baker response to my internet comment. I have achieved the dream.
ReplyDeleteGetting a Smackdown is even bigger punishment.
ReplyDeletePeople seem to like to compare Bryan to Austin atm, I'd compare him to early 2000s Angle myself.
ReplyDeleteAt least they completely fed show to lesnar. That helps with his monster heel persona
ReplyDeleteThey are probably investigating how much a CGI crowd for Raw would cost. Maybe ILM still has the pod race crowd files on their server.
ReplyDeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteWhat, is the Rumble live thread running joke over already?
ReplyDeleteNO FUCKING WAY??!
ReplyDeleteTHE ONLY REASON I'M WATCHING THIS SHIT IS BECAUSE OF THAT PERFORMANCE
When Angle was kick ass in the ring and on the mic and super over? Really?
ReplyDeleteRyback was fine; he was the runner-up last year.
ReplyDeletethe nxt guy is a great way to introduce someone new to the general audience and show that he can really be a force.
STOP NOW. Trust me, your head will explode into a red mist if you go any further. They ruin it completely.
ReplyDeleteThey're probably get SD's for next few years.
ReplyDeleteSo they can control the crowd responses.
Well, if you ever wanted to know what it'd feel like if Vince refused to put Austin in the 98 Rumble...
ReplyDeleteAh, sort of. Brock still had to cheat to win, and STILL got beat up a little. Why even give Big Show that out with pre-match cheating? Anyway, to me, total waste of a Lesnar match. Dude's wrestled 7 PPV matches for them, and now FOUR of them have been varying degrees of shitty.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's fully sank in that this company seriously plans to close Wrestlemania XXX, allegedly the biggest PPV of the year, with Dave Batista vs. Randy Orton.
ReplyDeleteThey are SERIOUS about this! They want people to pay MONEY for this!
It's at the Country performance.
ReplyDeleteDid Metallica at least kick ass?
Man, that'd be like Super Bowl 42.
ReplyDeleteBut could people buy into possibly the most massive David vs. Goliath story of all time?
It's not closing, it's curtain jerking or going off at 9PM ET
ReplyDeleteDid Nash really tweet this?!
ReplyDeleteKevin Nash @RealKevinNash 2m
Great time at rr. HHH and I laughing at smarks. Vince yelling at DB. #diesel
What's odd is they have effectively used the storyline of the over babyface gets fucked with all year but overcomes the odds to win the Rumble then at WM for years, to great success. It's the easiest gimmick they have and lately with Del Rio, Cena, Batista, they just have no idea how to use it.
ReplyDeleteStill kinda trying to figure out with Cena/Bray how are Hogan and Sting going to fit into WM?
ReplyDeleteLOL oh no they did not! The piano ruins the song completely. I'm serious, STOP WATCHING. Everyone is mocking the shit out of it online if you look around. At one point they showed Trent backstage and you could tell he clearly was pissed off at something...he knew they were getting shafted.
ReplyDeleteCena/Hogan/Sting vs. the Family seems like the safest bet for the SeniorPowers.
ReplyDeleteStarting at 7.
ReplyDeleteWith Bryan involved? Hell yea
ReplyDeleteI laughed when I heard the bray/cena wm rumors, but after tonight I think theres a good chance it happen. Its laughable
ReplyDeleteIn the ring, Bryan is way better than Angle ever was. Period.
ReplyDeleteMeltzer was right.
ReplyDeleteNo, Bryan vs HHH with HHH eating a pin with Bryan humiliating him ala Ultimate Warrior in terms of making HHH his bitch
ReplyDeleteHe usually is.
ReplyDeleteNo. He has only tweeted this 8 minutes ago:
ReplyDelete"Great to see my buddies and the boys.Pittsburgh thanks for the love. WWE thanks for letting me be apart of the Rumble. Kodiak insane spot"
Oh it's true.
ReplyDeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteNot that it matters, and not that I believe the majority of fans feel the same way, but there's ZERO chance I'm ordering the Network. To be honest, the archive is a bonus for me, not the main sell. (I can find random old clips on Daily Motion or a fucking Russian version of youtube or whatever if I really feel the urge to watch some old match.) My main reason for buying the Network would be getting the current PPVs at a cheap price, and after tonight I have no interest in paying for the current PPVs.
ReplyDeleteCrappy free streams it is!
i'm so honored i got to be part of one of the best crowds ever
ReplyDeleteit was a really fun show from that perspective. glorious clusterfuck. at least it left us with a good story
i think
*cries in the corner*
*again*
Wwe doctors won't clear hogan to wrestle so that's out
ReplyDeleteAh, good one. Cena + Blade Runners reunion, then?
ReplyDeleteNot sure if you guys heard, but here is the opinion of Dewey Foley(Mick's son) on this shitshow: http://abload.de/img/1390800108899mqpav.png
ReplyDeleteAngle relied on formality and a bunch of false finishers. No psychology and was badly exposed when he wasn't in there was a ring general
ReplyDeleteSo I was there live (Pittsburgh!), and I don't know how it came off on TV, but this was not a "bored crowd amuses them self" type of thing- this was pure visceral disgust with the product. Even the little kids were booing Batista at the end. Once Punk got eliminated,it got super ugly- like not funny chants, but people just screaming how much it sucked and swearing at Vince.
ReplyDeletePittsburgh is kind of hit or miss with crowd reactions, molten hot for Raw in 97 and just there and bored other times, but I have never been involved with a crowd like tonight.
The "Yes" chants were going strong before the show even started.
When everyone just checked out of Orton/Cena - there were all sorts of mini-chants for some really weird stuff including The Brooklyn Brawler,, Ben Roethlisberger, and Omaha. My friends and I even got a small Mulky-Mania chant going in our section.
Also, Pittsburgh loves doing the wave.
I think the sad thing- is the crowd did not really hate Big Dave to start, just once it became clear he was not Bryan that it got bad. They managed to turn a crowd on two returning main-eventers and a massively popular merchandise seller because they just refuse to give in to what people want. If they would have called an audible and put Reigns over, they would have minted a new mega star because the crowd would have embraced the shit out of him. Hell- if they would have had Bryan come out and get in Batista's face at they end they could have saved some good will- but no, so the crowd telling the WWE to go F itself now goes up alongside Ladder Match 2 and Hell in the Cell 2 in great moments in Pittsburgh wrestling history.
As it is, it was a good in ring show, a fun show to be at and a show that pissed a lot of people off.
How long do you think it will be before WWE starts filming all of their show in South Carolina?
ReplyDeleteNo Jake Roberts, but I guess Kevin Nash is a suitable replacement.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think it might curtainjerk. That's fourth from the top. Brock/Taker will probably go off last.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Bryan, the guy getting the biggest reactions since Austin has been getting fucked since summerslam. We're out of patience.
ReplyDeleteThat's certainly something you don't see everyday
ReplyDeleteAngle is pretty damned good, even now as we all worry he's going to kill himself he is still great with his psychology in the ring.
ReplyDeleteBut I am one of the biggest DBry marks in the world, loved him ever since I first saw him in the beginning of ROH as well as his Velocity & Heat matches. I do think he is the best worker around atm.
God knows what would have happened if noted ring general Shane McMahon wasn't there to lead him through that match.
ReplyDelete- No One Ever
ReplyDeleteYep, one of his 284 random "throw on the wall and see if it sticks" predictions was correct.
ReplyDeleteOverrated match.
ReplyDeleteTheyre still getting my money. Its just to good of a deal to turn down, no matter how pissed off I am at them
ReplyDeleteDid you meet any women?
ReplyDeleteI'll say it.
ReplyDeleteIf I were an interdisciplinary studies major I'd find this whole thing fascinating enough to want to study. As it is, I'm just a wrestling fan and I just don't understand any of it.
ReplyDeleteDamn! Shots fired.
ReplyDeleteWell at least Orton would get cheered. don't ask why but that dude is crazy over down here.
ReplyDeleteCane Dewey!
ReplyDeleteYes. But barely
ReplyDeleteMmmmmm Pizza
ReplyDeleteSeriously, can't believe HHH sent El Torido out there instead of Bryan. READ THE ROOM, PAUL.
ReplyDeleteThose ECW fans knew he'd amount to no good.
ReplyDeleteDammit, I was just getting ready to type this!
ReplyDeleteNice knowing your career Mick.
ReplyDeleteI watched this in a pretty full theatre which was interesting. There were a lot of Bryan chants, a smaller but vocal pro-Wyatt crew, but JBL got the undisputed pop, and longest sustained chant of the night.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Wyatt/Bryan was awesome, Brock/Show was a let down because I was actually interested in a short match from them, but it did keep the momentum of the show going nicely, and the Cena/Orton match was boring and overbooked, although it might have seemed better if the crowd wasn't actively shitting on it.
The Rumble was ok, but not one of the better ones. It was neat for me because I haven't been watching this past year and it was the first time that I'd seen a few of those guys, including the Big E, The Wyatts, and the Shield in any meaningful way. The Shield remaining cohesive as long as they did was a good angle, and I liked the NXT guy who I'd never seen before, he reminds me of a pre-blue fur Beast. I don't like the goofy Kofi spots, Batista didn't really do it for me, and I would have preferred a few others to win, including the obvious.
By a 12 year old
ReplyDeleteyup
ReplyDeleteThat would be pretty awesome actually
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of these, but BITE YOUR TONGUE OFF about Kofi!!
ReplyDelete