The Wrestling Thread

[Gamerforlife]

Godamn it

I knew Cena would win, but I hoped the WWE would surprise me.

Maybe we'll get lucky and Cena will catch an injury before Mania

Okay, I know that's an evil thing to say, but that's how sick and tired of Cena I am. I went there.

[Jmenglan]

At least we got a good surprise in Jericho and Goldust showing up, that was pretty cool.

[Gamerforlife]

At least we got a good surprise in Jericho and Goldust showing up, that was pretty cool.

Jericho was the highlight of the show for me, as well as all of Ziggler's mic work. He really, really made me want to see him win, but we live in John Cena land so we all knew that wasn't going to happen. This would have been the perfect night for Ziggler to win as his mic work really made you believe that this guy could do it.

A fun, but unspectacular Rumble pay per view. It was all so very predictable. I vote Del Rio and Big Show as match of the night while the Royal Rumble match itself was fun to watch even though it was ridiculously obvious who the last guys would be. The Rock/Punch match was okay. Rock looked good out there for a guy who doesn't wrestle on a regular basis, but it certainly wasn't an amazing or classic match by any stretch of the imagination. What happened with the table? They just fell through it. They were going for a big spot there and it's a shame it didn't work.

I LOVED seeing Jericho put the breaks on Rybak, but once he started nailing codebreakers on people I pretty much knew he was about to get eliminated. Same with Orton after I saw him hit like fifty RKOs in succession. For Jericho to be the first guy to put the breaks on Rybak was unexpected and I really liked that. Made you think that even know Rybak's a badass, he's still a rookie and Jericho's a veteran

[retrosportsgamer]

Good showing for Jericho - I mean, almost 40 minutes (if not 40) and a prime spot. There was *gasp* a little continuity with he and Ziggler as well.

Otherwise, very little in the way of storytelling in the Rumble, which sucks because it's SO EASY. As always, some dumb logic like Ziggler stopping Cena from dumping Jericho, to only punch Jericho into the corner (W-T-F) and I really wish someone was there to kick Kofi off that chair. Ryback got a nice little rub there finishing 2nd. Cena effortlessly eliminating him though was lame.

Punk/Rock: Before that table spot I was holding my breath it wouldn't go early and sure enough, they're both standing on the edge with way too much weight. Ugly setup too - like it was wavering already. The restart was telegraphed (come on 10:41 pm) although the PPV still ending 12 minutes early! Punk being pinned by the elbow is bad too. I will say, Rock/Punk worked real well together. Unlike Cena/Rock, these two guys seem to like each other and Rock really put Punk over early and took a beating.

[retrosportsgamer]

Also, Del Rio lifting the Cena/Batista LMS finish from 2010 was pretty lame. Although I did like the arm work Del rio did to set up *why* Big Show couldn't pull himself up. Helluva bump by Del Rio through the table too. He pretty much took that on his head for some reason.

Hopefully Rhodes Scholars will move on to something else now. They've jobbed clean consistently to team Hell No - including multiple times after winning #1 contender matches.

Also wish they would have done something better in the Rumble then giving spots to Sin Cara, Tensei and Rey. I get the Shield not being in the match for later but where is Brock already.

Punk/Brock vs. Rock/HHH at EC would have been awesome if they went that route.

[Gamerforlife]

Yeah, I don't like how Del Rio won either. It's very heelish. I liked the match otherwise though. There were some nice spots and bumps. I enjoy how they keep telling a story in these Del Rio/Show matches. You see Del Rio really strategizing and using his brain in these encounters with Show, but the duck tape thing is taking it too far though

I think they put all their eggs in the Jericho basket, as there weren't a ton of cool, surprise entrants in the rumble. He was the big story of that match

Unlike Cena/Rock, these two guys seem to like each other and Rock really put Punk over early and took a beating.

Yeah, just think of how awful this second Cena/Rock feud is going to be by comparison. Cena is no CM Punk.

Punk being pinned by the elbow is bad too.

That really irritated me. The People's Elbow is not a finishing move. It makes Punk look very weak.

Thank god for the crowd. They really elevated an otherwise pretty average Royal Rumble PPV. WWE creative really phoned this one in

[BurningDoom]

I didn't buy the PPV. But I've loved the lead-up to it. WWE really stepped up their game for the lead-up to Royal Rumble and I'm hoping they keep this pace up all the way up to WrestleMania.

After the reading the results, the pay-off of Rock becoming WWE Champion again, and Jericho returning is freaking awesome, IMO! Like I said, I didn't see it myself so I can't comment on the execution, but I'm definitely not complaining about the results.

I hope since The Rock is now champ, that means he continues showing up every week like he has been the last few weeks (Smackdowns included, even).

Not happy Cena won the Rumble, though. That means we just get a repeat of last year for the main-event of WrestleMania...whoopdee doo! So many guys in WWE nowadays haven't had the chance to square-off against the Rock. There's so many fresh matches there just waiting to be explored. A repeat is of last-year is such a disappointment.

[retrosportsgamer]

Yeah, will give lots of credits to the Phoenix crowd. They were amped for this and it lifted the show.

Agree with the heelish-ness with Del Rio. I do like the story they told though and he's plucky enough of a babyface to pull it off. I just couldn't believe they dusted that one off after just 2.5 years! Show is so awesome right now as a heel.

I really wish Mark Henry returned in the Rumble (forgot to put that in my Tensei thought). The one story they did weave was Bo Dallas (who up until today, I thought was the same person as Husky Harris - just with a new name) and Wade. I liked that a lot, although I couldn't care less for Dallas. 20 minutes is a lot for a rookie too. I laughed out loud when John Cena and two other guys couldn't lift Bo out and over in the corner.

Twice in a lifetime is going to be me saving my voice to boo the shit out of Cena (along with 80,000 others). That story and atmosphere only pays off if they do something dramatic.

[Gamerforlife]

It's amazing how much of a buzzkill Cena is. I was enjoying the royal rumble match, and as soon as his music hit, I could literally feel the joy just seeping out of me. You could tell a lot of people in the crowd weren't thrilled to see him either. The rumble was so much fun without him in it, then he shows up and it's like you've been at some awesome party for an hour and some loser shows up and everyone decides to go home.

I honestly can't wrap my head around this Cena thing. I'm convinced he's giving Vince blowjobs every day. Everyone who isn't a ten year old or a soccer mom HATES him.

[Gamerforlife]

And can I say how stupid some of those fans were with their, "you still got it chants" at Jericho. What the hell? When did he lose it? He can still out wrestle a ton of people on the WWE roster and he's just a part timer.