Royal Rumble 2018: Best one yet?

I’m just going to say it right now, the 2018 Royal Rumble PPV might be one of the better PPVs WWE have done in a long while. Everyting was done almost perfectly, albeit with a few dodgy timing and the ending which didn’t really fancy me at all.

 

I had feared one of the Royal Rumble matches (yes there’s two now, a males and females one) might open the show so I can’t say I’m not disappointed that the WWE title match opened it. The finish with Styles pinning the wrong guy should continue on with Owens/Zayn issue with the authority so I’m not upset by that.

 

The Usos winning 2-0 was a bit of a surprise to me, that usually never happens in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Up to the first fall, the match was amazing but then it finished rather quickly. I wasn’t up for the RAW tag title match, too tired after the first Rumble but not surprised that The Bar won. Jason Jordan will turn heel eventually. Usually I’m not a fan of Lesnar matches but the triple threat was not bad at all.

 

And now time for the 2017 Royal Rumble match! The gents one first.

#1 Rusev – RUSEV DAY! RUSEV DAY! RUSEV DAY. If this doesn’t prove he’s not over, I don’t know what else the poor guy can do. He’s now got the fans on his side. He did alright in this one too even if he didn’t eliminate one guy.

#2 Finn Balor – The ironman of this Rumble. He was in there for 57 minutes, not bad for his first Rumble. And Finn got the most eliminations of anyone with 4, three of which were big ones.

#3 Rhyno – Let’s be honest, he’s just there for the ECW fans in Philly.

#4 Baron Corbin – HAHA! He got eliminated in one minute! Never been a fan of his anyway.

#5 Heath Slater – Poor Heath got hit by entrants 6 to 11 while they were making their way into the ring. Sure did give us some funny moments and eliminated Sheamus in 2 seconds.

#6 Elias – GO ELIAS! He did get a pop when the guitar sounded, I’ve been a fan of the guy since his NXT days and I’m happy to know that the fans are starting to see the greatness in him that I’ve known in a long while. Plus did I mentioned he plays the guitar? Him entering when no-one was up made sense so he could give us a song.

#7 Andrade Cien Almas – As putting on what could be the best match of the year the day before, the NXT Champion Almas makes a surprise entrance in the Rumble. Almost 30 minutes in there, good showing for him. Outsmarted New Day when eliminating Kofi so that gave me a good laugh.

#8 Bray Wyatt – Didn’t really do much in this Rumble, was just there to continue his story with Woken Matt Hardy so it does confuses me why their entries weren’t near each other.

#9 Big E – Surprised he was the first New Day member out. Gave Heath some pancakes and helped Kofi got back into the ring.

#10 Sami Zayn – Well actually it was supposed to be Tye Dillinger but he got beat up by Owens and Zayn. Zayn got thrown out by Nakamura so look for a story there.

#11 Sheamus – HAHA. He got eliminated by Heath Slater in 2 seconds. TWO FREAKING SECONDS!

#12 Xavier Woods – Once again just there to help out Kofi Kingston. The first spot of saving Kofi was quite clever on his part.

#13 Apollo Crews – Did nothing in this match. This spot could have been given to an NXT guy or a surprise entrant like a returning face.

#14 Shinsuke Nakamura – My pick to win the whole thing and he did win the Royal Rumble! The first guy to win from entries 8-18 in a 30 man Rumble match. Threw out Cena and Reigns for the win, need I say more?

#15 Cesaro – Threw out Crews and then eliminated by Rollins in 5 minutes. Then again he had a match later on.

#16 Kofi Kingston – Yup he saved himself again. Finally someone hopped on one foot outside the ring, I’ve always wondered if anyone would be smart enough to do that and someone finally did. The spot where he got a cheerleader style jump from his New Days brothers was pretty cool.

#17 Jinder Mahal – The former WWE Champion only lasted 3 minutes but he did throw out 2 guys so even if WWE try to make him look bad, he still did alright.

#18 Seth Rollins – A little surprised he showed up during the jobber spots of the teens spot but then again he also had a match later on. Got thrown out by his own Shield brother Roman Reigns.

#19 Woken Matt Hardy – Came in to DELETE Bray Wyatt’s chance of making it to Wrestlemania. Him working with Bray for a bit was DELIGHTFUL. But then it was OVAH.

#20 John Cena – Big match John came, threw 3 guys and got eliminated by the eventual winner. Not much to say. Came in a bit earlier than I expected.

#21 The Hurricane – Hey an actual surprise entrant! Too bad he got eliminated by Cena in 20 seconds. WASSAUPWITHDAT?

#22 Aiden English – Didn’t really do much, but I guess because he’s Rusev’s partner, they might as well throw him in. And yes there were Rusev Day chants.

#23 Adam Cole – Another NXT entrant, it’s Adam Cole BAYBAY! Would have been nice if he got an elimination for his effort.

#24 Randy Orton – For a guy who’s won the Rumble two times, he really didn’t do much in this one. Came in, did a cool RKO on Almas before eliminating him and lasted up till the final 6 for the Old School vs New School face off. Got thrown out by Reigns, roll reversal of last year.

#25 Titus O’Neil – Did nothing at all, that spot could have been given to another surprise entrant.

#26 The Miz – Go Miz! But sadly he didn’t last long, Reigns got him and threw him out after 5 minutes.

#27 Rey Mysterio – Holy shit it’s Rey! Another surprise entrant and this one got me good, I didn’t think I’d see Rey in a WWE ring. He looked in fantastic shape too. Hope he’s back for another run. Lasted up to the final 6.

#28 Roman Reigns – Well at least he wasn’t #30 this time. Came in and threw out some guys. Was the final guy to get eliminated. So pretty much a typical Reigns performance in a Rumble, it’s getting boring.

#29 Goldust – A nice surprise, I wasn’t expecting to see him in it! His entry did make some history, he’s now joint 2nd with Shawn Michaels and Big Show for Royal Rumble apperances. I’m expecting him to be in the 2019 Rumble then. Kane still leads that bit.

#30 Dolph Ziggler – Why him? Of all the people they could have gotten for the 30th spot, they had to get the uninteresting copycat loser Ziggler? I mean they could have put the US Champion Bobby Roode, or a returning Bobby Lashley or Kevin Owens, or a Rumble veteran like Shelton Benjamin. Heck, I would have preferred Jason Jordan over Ziggler. Literally anyone but him. I don’t care about him, don’t care that he’s back. glad he got eliminated very quickly.

 

So Shinsuke Nakamura wins the men’s Royal Rumble, as I predicted at the end of last year in the hopes that it would set up the dream match of him and AJ Styles. And guess what, IT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENING!!! For once I’m really looking forward to Wrestlemania.

 

Now for the first ever women’s Royal Rumble

#1 Sasha Banks – Not a fan of hers but she was the ironwomen in this one. Did show a side of her heel persona so maybe that’s coming soon. Her eliminating Bayley surely proves that point.

#2 Becky Lynch – Big fan but why she gotta be out so early? Was hoping she’d come out later. Lasted 30 minutes, still a good showing for the lass-kicker.

#3 Sarah Logan – That headbutt spot with Sasha Banks looked awesome. Lasted longer than I thought she would, good on her! Impressed me in this match.

#4 Mandy Rose – Made history, she was the first women eliminated in the women’s Royal Rumble.

#5 Lita – She’s back! The first of many returning faces but one of the best ever. That Moonsault looked nasty though. Got a couple of eliminations. Nice tribute on her arms for all the women who couldn’t make it.

#6 Kairi Sane – Yay Kairi! Big fan of hers. The winner of the first Mae Young classic, got in her amazing elbow drop twice but sadly got eliminated quickly. Should have been in the match longer.

#7 Tamina – Didn’t really do much, would have prefered another NXT girl to take her spot.

#8 Dana Brooke – Also didn’t do much (other than eliminating Kairi but I want to forget that), would have prefered an NXT girl in now that Brooke isn’t working in a wrestling role.

#9 Torrie Wilson – Another return! Wasn’t expecting her to come back.

#10 Sonya Deville – The badass from Absoultion, should have given her some more eliminations in the match. Been impressed with her lately. I will say Paige’s theme kinda suits her.

#11 Liv Morgan – Wasn’t as impressive as her Riott Squad member Logan

#12 Molly Holly – Yay Molly is back! Still looks as good in the ring as she ever did, very appropriate surprise entrant for the first women’s Royal Rumble.

#13 Lana – Well it’s Mrs Rusev so more Rusev Day chants. Can’t say much to be fair.

#14 Michelle McCool – Another appropriate return and the most impressive of those whoe returned. Got the most eliminations of anyone in this match with 5 eliminations. Mrs Undertaker sure still has it.

#15 Ruby Riott – Eliminated Becky so expected to see a new rivalry there. Did alright in this match but I would have put her in a later entry.

#16 Vickie Guerrero – EXCUSE ME! Good to see her back, did the comedy elimination for the match, can’t say much.

#17 Carmella – Not one elimination but lasted 17 minutes. Her screams when almost getting eliminated sure was funny.

#18 Natalya – Way earlier than I thought she should have showed up. Did throw out her best friend Beth and Michelle so two big eliminations there.

#19 Kelly Kelly – Well she still looks good! Good to see her again.

#20 Naomi – Another one who I thought came in earlier than I expected. She did the Kofi Kingston save spot by walking the guardrail and using a chair to save herself. Nice one!

#21 Jacqueline – Another surprise entrant. Seems to me whoever was at Raw was pretty much included in this match.

#22 Nia Jax – Wrecked house the moment she showed up, not surprised it took 6 girls to get her out but she sure was one of the stars in that match.

#23 Ember Moon – The second NXT entrant in the match, and it’s the NXT Women’s champion. Got a cool spot in with her old rival Asuka.

#24 Beth Phoenix – The only person to be in the male’s and female’s royal rumble now. Only got to show a bit of her strength against Nia before being backstabbed by her friend Natalya. Should have been in longer.

#25 Asuka – The unbeaten one. Perhaps the most dangerous superstar in WWE today, male or female. All three of her eliminations were huge. Glad they went with her to win the first ever women’s Royal Rumble, no-one looked to be in her league the whole time.

#26 Mickie James – Woohoo go Mickie! Like Beth, they didn’t let her do much which is sad. But she did get a cool staredown with old rival Trish that got a reaction from the crowd.

#27 Nikki Bella – Oh god she’s back. Not a fan of hers. Overrated. Mrs John Cena so do I need to say more? I mean she was the last one eliminated. Really, of all the girls, her? Also, her elimination of her sister is one of the stupidest thing I’ve seen, you’ve got an advantage over Asuka and not use it? Dummy.

#28 Brie Bella – Actually surprised to see Brie back. Too bad her sister was a dummy.

#29 Bayley – I’ll be honest, I’d rather see her early on in the match.

#30 Trish Stratus – How appropriate that the last entrant is perhaps the biggest femal superstar in WWE history. Thank god for Trish, at least it’s not Ronda Rousey. Trish still looks good in the ring!

 

Glad to see Asuka win the first ever women’s Royal Rumble but yeah still bitter than Ronda Rousey stole her spotlight after the match. No need for that. Asuka would beat Ronda easily in a match anyway. So yeah, the two winners of the Rumble were two Japanese, how about that? Things sure are changing in WWE and for the better.

Royal Rumble 2017: It was going so well…

So the 2017 Royal Rumble PPV is done and I thought it was one of the better PPVs I’ve seen from WWE in a while, as I said it could be. The four championship matches before the Royal Rumble match was really good, even a possible match of the year in one of them and the Rumble was going alright too…..until #30 showed up and almost ruined the whole damn thing…

Not much to say about the 3 pre-show matches other than congrats to the good brothers Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows on winning the WWE Raw Tag Team championships. Naomi pinning Alexa was a surprise as was Nia Jax beating Sasha in quick fashion.

Now onto the main PPV show. Charlotte beating Bayley was no surprise, she’s up to 16-0 in PPVs. Kevin Owens is still the Universal Champion, thanks to….Braun Strowman? Yup I don’t get it but hey at least it’s not Roman Reigns winning. That match was pretty good, the frog splash onto the table and the chair spot was top stuff. Chris Jericho didn’t have to do anything in this one. I still think he shouldn’t be in a freaking shark cage, he’s Chris Jericho damn it!

Neville is the new Cruiserweight champion, thank goodness for that. He’s been on fire since returning, in the ring and on the mic too for once. I’m just glad everyone is finally getting to see what I’ve known all along. You lot may jump aboard the Neville bandwagon.

AJ Styles vs John Cena could already be match of the year, it was seriously good. Kudos to the both of them for putting on a classic. Me being a Styles fan, I’m not happy about the ending. Also, surely they could have saved that historic 16th title reign for Cena on a WrestleMania right? I mean he might end up having a two week title reign with Elimination Chamber coming up real soon.

And now time for the 2017 Royal Rumble match!

#1: Big Cass – I called it! I said he’d be #1 or #2 just so he and Enzo can have their little shtick at the start of any of their matches.

#2 Chris Jericho – WHAT? Why is Jericho out so early? Then again, if anyone could last the distance, Y2J is the guy who can do just that. He had the perfect game plan too, picking his spot and taking a break when he needed. As I said, I wanted him to win this and for him to be eliminated by “that guy” really pissed me off. At least he was in the final 4 and lasted 1 hour and 13 seconds, which I believe puts him 3rd in the all time list for the longest appearance in a Rumble.

He does now have the record for the longest time spent in cumulative Rumble appearances, well over 5 hours in 10 matches! His only elimination was that of Sheamus and Cesaro, but a really good one at that too. I did like his tactic of saving energy outside the ring a few times. He’s a smart man people.

#3 Kalisto – Meh. The last two Rumbles saw a surprise entrant in this spot. It would have been nice to see someone like a Pete Dunne or Trent Seven from the UK tournament make a surprise appearance in the Rumble match in this spot.

#4 Mojo Rawley – Not a fan of the guy but I can’t complain about this one, he did earn his spot by winning a battle royal.

#5 Jack Gallagher – Woohoo! Go Jacky boy! I did say a 205 Live guy would show up and Gallagher was my first choice, I’m glad they did go with him. He had some nice spots with William the third. Shame he was the first one eliminated and was there mainly for the comedic relief. I’d love to see him in a match against Chris Jericho someday in the future.

#6 Mark Henry – WHAT? I wasn’t expecting to see him, not sure if you can call him a surprise entrant. At least he had a better showing than last year and if this was to be his last Rumble, at least it was in his home state of Texas.

#7 Braun Strowman – One of the big favourites is in very early! I did not want to see him win the Rumble so at least I knew it wouldn’t happen with his early entrance. He was on fire in that match, had the most eliminations with 7. I was half expecting Reigns to come out and get him eliminated so imagine my shock when I saw him eliminated by Baron Corbin. Even bigger shock, I had to see it on a reply as the network froze during Corbin’s entrance so I had no idea what happened to him and #10 initially.

#8 Sami Zayn – Ok well this one was no secret since we already knew he drew #8 from the tumbler scene with Ambrose. Don’t ruin the surprise for us please. He had a great showing, lasted a long while and well, he took a jackhammer from Goldberg and got eliminated by The Undertaker. Not many people can say that.

#9 Big Show – I called it! I knew he’s showed up once Braun showed up. He was in there only to make Braun look good, as did Henry.

#10 Tye Dillinger – HAHA THEY ACTUALLY DID IT! The Perfect 10 coming in as entrant #10. At least for once WWE did listen to the fans. He did alright in there, and like Strowman I didn’t see his elimination. I wonder if this means he’ll be in the main roster now or still be sticking around in NXT.

#11 James Ellsworth – Errr….okay? I kinda knew this would be another joke entrant. Good to see Ellsworth and Strowman back at it again…for the few seconds they were in the ring together. Ambrose bailing on him for Strowman was pretty funny, that gave me a good laugh.

#12 Dean Ambrose – Yet again I called this one. The moment I saw Ellsworth I thought, maybe Ambrose will be next. He lasted 26 minutes but didn’t really do much in this Rumble for once, did he? Can’t remember anything big he did. Lesnar eliminated him, no surprise there.

#13 Baron Corbin – Another big men in but I will say he has been impressing me little by little lately and also his elimination of Strowman did surprise me, one of the better highlights of the match.I thought he might do a bit more but yeah, just the one elimination in 32 minutes.

#14 Kofi Kingston – The first member of the New Day is in! His typical Rumble spot this year wasn’t that great if I’m honest, he jumped from the top rope, damn near impaled himself and hung on to the ring post.

#15 The Miz – He lasted a good 32 minutes in there but like a lot others, didn’t get to eliminate anyone. Seems like WWE were only allowing the big boys that honour this year.

#16 Sheamus – The first former winner of a Rumble is in. He and Cesaro had their little bit getting rid of New Day before he turned on his tag team partner, once again I called that one.

#17 Big E – Ohhhh San Antonio! This is when I noticed something funny was happening. Big E suddenly jumped up to something, the cameras moved away and back to him making his way to the ring quite quickly. Why? He, like a few big men, all took the golf kart to make their way down the long ramp inside the Alamodome. Come on guys, exercise!

#18 Rusev – What the heck is that on his face! I didn’t knew he broke his nose so he wore a face mask similar to what Cody Rhodes did during his undashing phase.

#19 Cesaro – Not surprised he was next with his partner in just a few entries before. He was involved in that bit with the New Day. At least he did give almost everyone in the ring during that time a Cesaro Swing, including his tag partner Sheamus…well almost.

#20 Xavier Woods – Not surprised he was next with his partners in just a few entries before. He was involved in that bit with the Sheamus and Cesaro. See what I did there? Yup their appearance were all linked together. Oh well. A bit too gimmicky for me.

#21 Bray Wyatt – And the lights go out! Now we’re into the business end of the Rumble starting with Wyatt. He had his best showing in a Rumble so far and he didn’t even eliminate one person. For a while I thought he might win it. He almost did. Almost.

#22 Apollo Crews – Why? He’s not done much on SmackDown anyway, didn’t do much here either. That spot could have gone to an NXT guy or a surprise entrant. What a waste.

#23 Randy Orton – Here comes trouble. Was I the only one who noticed he came out to his own theme song and not the Orton/Wyatt mix as he had for the past few months? He only had the one elimination but that was enough for him to win the match. His RKO on a flying Sami Zayn was amazing.

#24 Dolph Ziggler – Meh. I completely forgot he was in the match. As you can tell, I’m not a fan of Ziggler. Could have had an earlier spot really, give a late spot to someone who deserves it more.

#25 Luke Harper – Here comes the interesting entry for me. Will he side with his family or not. And we got our answer quickly! He almost hit Bray Wyatt with Wyatt’s own finisher! He got rid of Crews so thank you for that.

#26 Brock Lesnar – Here comes the pain! Lesnar was his usual self, being a monster and knocking everyone down before Goldberg showed up.

#27 Enzo Amore – Are you kidding me? You wasted the lucky #27 spot on a jobber? It could have gone to a Samoa Joe or any of the other two big names next. Another wasted spot on the Rumble, could have gone to a surprise entrant at least. Plus, he wasn’t supposed to be in this match right, it was all about Big Cass apparently. At least Lesnar killed him in seconds. Now imagine if it had been Samoa Joe entering in at #27 with Lesnar waiting for him in the ring. That would have been $$$.

#28 Goldberg – Now we’re talking. Goldberg and Lesnar in the same ring again and once again it did not last long, again in Goldberg’s favour. That was a huge surprise. He only lasted 3 minutes in the ring, one less than Brock so we still don’t know if he can do a proper match. He did have this cool moment with the next entrant.

#29 The Undertaker – Yes! Well that wasn’t my initial reaction, I was telling my parents Taker will be entrant #30, since he was that in 1997 and 2007. So WWE ruined my little fun there. He had that cool moment with Goldberg and got to action with some of the newer stars before some idiot eliminated him. And that idiot is…

#30 Roman Reigns – “Why? Oh for fuck sakes, why him again?” My exact reaction to see Reigns come out at #30. It could have been anyone. I was hoping to see Samoa Joe or Finn Balor or even Kurt Angle. It had to be a surprise entrant surely. I was on the edge of my seat and then Reign’s music hit. And I covered my face right away. Please not him. He’s already ruined the last two Rumbles. Thank fuck for Randy Orton. That’s all I can say.

You heard the boos from the crowd when Reigns showed up and it got louder when he eliminated Undertaker and Chris Jericho, the two big fan favourites. Why does WWE keep trying to shove Reigns down our throats. We don’t want to see him getting the push. Please stop it. He’s had his chance, give someone else that chance.

And also, why was Reigns in the Rumble and not AJ Styles? Like the crowd was chanting, “bullshit!”. Imagine if it was Styles in #30, the roof of the Alamodome would have blown off, the fans would have gone nuts, especially since he had a match just before the Rumble. If anything, Styles deserved that spot more, he came into the event a champion anyway but of course Vince McMahon’s favourite big men gets the push. I’m starting to think Vince has this unhealthy obsession of torturing and trolling the fans with bullshit decisions and have the guy he personally likes get the big push over guys who are way better like Styles.

Hell, I think I could have wrote a better Royal Rumble than that and I’m not even a professional writer, some parts were way too predictable. It’s the Royal Rumble, it’s not supposed to be predictable. And where was the surprise entrants? Apart from maybe Dillinger, there were none! There were at least 4 spots that could have gone to them but it had to go to the likes of Kalisto, Crews, Ellsworth and Amore (the last two were our joke/jobber entrants). If it was me, I would have used two of the guys from the UK tournament for that surprise factor. Would have been the best way to introduce a few new faces.

This Royal Rumble match could have so easily been one of the better ones. It had the potential but they really screwed it up big time. The final four were Reigns, Orton, Wyatt and Jericho and I can tell you Jericho and Wyatt are the two guys people really wanted to see win this one. They just couldn’t help themselves and go with the safe bet and a repeat winner (4th time in 5 years, not good at all). Why not Wyatt winning it, that would make him a huge star. Why not give Chris Jericho his long overdue Rumble win?

Also, apart from Jericho, all the eliminations were done by a big sized guy. Come on Vince, we know you love big sweaty man but this is too much. Oh yeah and the bit about the predictable entries, there was also a pattern to it, apart from Kofi’s entrance. A couple of Raw guys goes in, then a couple of SmackDown guys then Raw then Smackdown and repeat and repeat.21 to 25, Smackdown guys. 26 to 30, Raw guys. Need I say more.

We all want that Jericho-Owens match at WrestleMania. But they just had to do it, put Reigns in a position to win and have Orton end up winning. I like Orton but he’s not the guy I want to see headlining WrestleMania against John Cena of all people. If it was Orton vs Styles or Wyatt, I’d be ok with that. Come on WWE, do what you claim to do and actually listen to the fans, give us a good Rumble finish for once next year. Stop pushing Reigns. Please, just stop doing it. It’s not working. Don’t get me wrong, the Rumble match was alright, good even I’d say. The near ending of it almost completely ruined it for me. There was no need for it. Reigns didn’t need to show up or be #30 or be in the final two. Thank god Randy Orton prevented another nightmare.

Royal Rumble 2017: I can’t wait for the 30th Rumble!

Hey people, guess what? IT’S ROYAL RUMBLE WEEKEND! Woohoo! Yes I’m a huge wrestling fan and yes, the Royal Rumble as always been my favourite wrestling event. And yes, I like the Royal Rumble more than Wrestlemania, the Rumble is way better and more fun for me.

And this year’s Royal Rumble could be the biggest one yet. And before anything let’s start with the venue itself. San Antonio’s Alamodome. Sounds familiar? Yup, it’s the same venue that hosted the 1997 Royal Rumble. Some of you probably don’t know but the 97 Rumble is one of my earliest memories of watching wrestling and back then it was on a tape recorder! I remember being upset that Bret Hart got screwed out that Rumble win by Steve Austin but then became happy when Shawn Michaels won back his WWF Championship. Just for that and the memories of watching it, I’m happy that they’re back in the Alamodome.

The Alamodome isn’t the typical arena WWE usually host their event, it’s a stadium! That’s usually only for Wrestlemania events so that was cool to see them bringing the Rumble to a stadium (back to San Antonio) for the 30th anniversary. Hopefully they’ll have an easier time filling up the crowd then they did 20 years ago.

Before the Rumble event itself, WWE’s feeder series NXT will also have their own mini PPV in San Antonio and those NXT Takeover events have been great so tonight’s event should be the same. Really looking forward to NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bobby Roode, that could be a really good match.

The whole 2017 Royal Rumble PPV actually looks really good, almost all of the matches are looking great, it’s got a bit of a Wrestlemania feel to it. Then again PPVs in January has always been good. Don’t believe me? Just watch New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Jan 4 annual PPV show Wrestle Kingdom. WWE will have a tough time top what they did but this might be their best shot for the whole year.

Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

Remember I said almost all of the matches on this PPV looks great? Yeah this is that one exemption. I don’t know why but I’m just not into it. Nia has been beating up poor ol Sasha and surely she’ll come into this match less than a 100% but I can already seeing Sasha finding a way to end up winning. I’ll be surprised if Jax actually wins this.

WWE Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus (c) vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson

I’m digging the whole Sheasaro tag team at the moment, it’s just funny seeing how they can gel into a great tag team but still can’t stand one another. Gallows and Anderson on the other hand is a proper tag team, they’ve kicked ass over in NJPW and hopefully it’s finally their time to win the tag titles in WWE.

 

P.S. Sheamus and Cesaro are in the Rumble and my prediction is that one will eliminate the other. Just wait for it. 😛

Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, and Naomi vs. WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Natalya

I’m looking forward to this match mainly to see Mickie James properly back in a WWE ring (yes she was on the last NXT Takeover in Toronto). And well, they’ve got Alexa, Mickie and Natalya in one team, that’s three of my favourite ladies in wrestling (still waiting for Emma to return, or is it Emmalina now) so I don’t need to say more. They must win!

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann (c) vs. Neville

This could be the show-stealer right here. Anyone that knows me knows how big of a fan I am of Neville, not just because he’s from Newcastle but also because he’s one of the best wrestlers I’ve seen in the ring. Rich Swann has made a fan out of me too with what he’s done on NXT, CWC and now on RAW and 205 Live. So these two guys, if given the time, can tear the house down. And of course, hopefully the new evil Neville gets his long overdue first WWE championship title reign.

WWE Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Bayley

This is another one that could be great. We know how good Bayley can be with the right opponent and well, Charlotte has really turned my opinion about her completely, I wasn’t a fan initially but I am now. She might be one of the best female wrestlers I’ve seen in the ring. Then again it’s in her DNA right?

WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens (c) vs. Roman Reigns

I know this match will be good but I’m not really looking forward to it. For one Chris Jericho will be locked in a cage which is not right (I’m a Jericoholic btw) and second….well I’m not looking forward to seeing another Roman Reigns title reign (no pun intended). It feels like he’ll take it but for me it should be Kevin Owens. WWE just hasn’t used him right this whole time. The other reason why I really want Owens to win….well I’ll keep that for later.

WWE Champion AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena

Do I even need to say what I want to see in this match? I’ve always been a huge fan of AJ Styles, going back to his TNA days, and he has to win this one. Yes, I know the chance of John Cena tying Ric Flair’s record of 16 world titles is there but that can wait. I mean who’s had a better 2016 than AJ Styles? Surely he has to feature prominently in this year’s Wrestlemania with how he’s been the best thing going in WWE today. We already know this will be a great match, hopefully they can one up their great match from Summerslam.

Maybe it’s just me but I still like the old tradition of having the best guys of the year headlining the big events and not some old part-timer or some guy who isn’t that good but because has the “size” or the “look” that WWE think they can make his a mega star. Please, for once give the truly great wrestlers like Styles or Owens that chance to headline the main event and show what they can do at the biggest stage in wrestling. If you want a counter to Okada-Omega from Wrestle Kingdom 11, get the best wrestlers possibly and WWE already have one in Styles. Don’t mess this up like they did with a certain CM Punk.

Oh yeah and they can’t use this rubbish excuse that Styles is not a big enough star. Who has been getting the loudest reactions week in and week out (not counting Reigns). Who has had the crowd chanting for him even though he’s a heel. Yup, AJ Styles. And now for the main event.

30-man Royal Rumble match

My favourite match in all of WWE, the 30-man over the top rope battle royal known as the Royal Rumble. We’ve always had great action, big returns, surprise entrants, amazing spots (aka the amazing ways Kofi Kingston will save himself from elimination spot), near eliminations and sometimes a mini dream match happening that we’d usually wouldn’t see. And with Raw and SmackDown now a separate brand, we’ll get to see guys in the ring that we’d normally wouldn’t see.

This year’s Rumble match might have one of the biggest rosters going in. I mean let’s just roll out some of the names. Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, The New Day, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Sheamus, Rusev, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Randy Orton and that’s more than half the field already! Yes I missed out Baron Corbin and Braun Strowman, some might say two big favourites but I’m not a fan of big guys. I’m a proper wrestling fan, give me the proper wrestlers like Cesaro, Zayn, Jericho any day over those two.

It’s a damn shame Seth Rollins won’t be in the Royal Rumble match. Blame Triple H for that.

At the moment there’s already 22 names entered and let’s not forget there will be some surprise entrants. I have a feeling we might see at least 2 guys from NXT, that being Samoa Joe and maybe Tye Dillinger (imagine if he came out as entrant number 10). I hope we’ll get one or two guys from the 205 Live crew as well to give them a chance against the big boys. And hey it would be a nice surprise if WWE could bring a few guys from the UK championship tournament for the Rumble. I’d like to see Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and the UK Champion Tyler Bate have a go against the main roster guys too. And yes the surprise returns? Maybe Kurt Angle? Maybe Finn Balor? Maybe Eugene? (I’ve heard some funny rumours, let’s go with it.)

So of those 30 guys, who is going to win the big match and earn a title match at WrestleMania 33? Personally I want to see Chris Jericho win it. I mean he’s been on fire since he turned heel last year and has had some of his best moments in WWE this past year. Ok sure his in ring skills is not as good as it once was but it’s still better than 75% of the whole damn roster! And who’s better on the mic than Jericho right now? And if we’re going to have the best friends turn on each other, why not for the Universal title and at the biggest show on the main event? I’m sure that’s one of the big matches the proper wrestling fans want to see happen.

If not Jericho, who else? And I’m not saying Strowman because he’s not ready for a big match at Mania and for f’ing sakes, I don’t want to see that idiot Reigns in yet another WrestleMania main event. He’s already blown his previous chances, give it to someone more deserving. Perhaps a returning Finn Balor to re-claim the title he never lost. What about Randy Orton? He’s not been in the top spot for some while and he’s been playing second fiddle to Bray Wyatt for the last few months. Surely he’ll turn on him soon and maybe we’ll get a Orton vs Wyatt match at Mania? I’d be cool with that.

For the longest time The Undertaker was the clear favourite to win to set-up the match with John Cena but apparently that’s not happening. But why not make the real dream match, The Undertaker vs AJ Styles. The Phenom vs The Phenomenal One. Come on WWE, do it. Imagine if Samoa Joe were to win it on his WWE debut, now that’d be a huge story.

Whatever happens tomorrow night, whoever does fill up the 30-man roster and whoever the last man standing might be, I cannot wait for the 2017 Royal Rumble. I have a feeling it’s going to be a great one. I wish I was there in San Antonio for it! Happy Chinese new year to all my friends here at home and to my wrestling friends around the world, enjoy Royal Rumble weekend! Almost time for our annual 10 second countdowns! LET’S GET READY TO RUMMBBLLLEEEE!