ARN - Royal Rumble 2016 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Today’s show is all about the 2016 Royal Rumble - one of the best ones ever, according to the fans. It went down on January 24, 2016 - FIVE LONG YEARS AGO - but it’ll probably feel like yesterday for a lot of us. The event happened at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. They announced 15,170 as the crowd, but the real number was just under 12,000, according to Meltzer. It was an immediate sellout (although there were some tickets put on sale in the days before the show after production’s move in opened up seats, but they went quickly).

The Rumble has a new logo in 2016, with an elegant style font for the wording. It’s the only time this logo was used, unlike almost all other pay per view event logos. The graphics for the show are a Roman colosseum style theme with columns. The subtitle to this Rumble was One-Vs-All. The idea being that Roman would defend his world title in the Rumble, entering in the first spot. That’s never been done before and gave the event a unique feel from the same thing we see year-in and year-out.

How did you like the gimmick booking of the Rumble? Did it make it more interesting to you?

We’re in the era of the WWE Network now but there are still a surprising number of pay-per-view buys for the show - 91,000. But, if we’re talking about viewers...we probably should get in the habit of talking about how many WWE Network subscribers there were.

In the most recent earnings report leading up to the event, the fourth-quarter 2016 numbers showed that on average, 1.41 million subscribers paid for the WWE Network. That doesn’t just mean that 1.41 million people though, since some will have canceled while others will have signed up. But that’s the number we have. The number is 14-percent better than in 2015…

Revenue increased 17% to $194.9 million as compared to the prior year quarter. On that, the company reported a net income of $8 million (they lost money the year before).

Business is improving here. Is that because the company is improving the quality of shows, quality of matches, etc…?

News and Notes

At press time, John Cena confirmed that he will be undergoing shoulder surgery on 1/7.

The injury is believed to be either a torn labrum or a torn rotator cuff. We’ve been told both from those within the company. This comes shortly after frequent training partner Cesaro had recent surgery for a torn rotator cuff. It continues the large number of shoulder injuries and surgeries in WWE over the past year.

No other details are available past that the normal recuperation period from that surgery is in excess of six months, so whatever plans there were regarding Cena, the Royal Rumble, and WrestleMania, are now out the window. When Seth Rollins went down with knee surgery, the WrestleMania plan was for Roman Reigns defending the WWE title against Cena. We do know that plan had changed and a new card had been made with different matches for both men, although because the company is so sensitive, nobody would confirm anything past that.

(We would have gotten Cena/Reigns but instead, got Hunter/Reigns at Wrestlemania this year. Which would you have preferred to see? And...who would have been cheered if Reigns/Cena happened?)

As New Japan Pro Wrestling was about to start its biggest show of the year, four major stars--IC champion Shinsuke Nakamura, 36, top foreigner A.J. Styles (Allan Jones, 38), and tag team champions Karl Anderson (Chad Allegra, 35) & Doc Gallows (Andrew Hankinson, 32)--all gave notice.

All four are expected to head to WWE. WWE was hoping and planning to debut Styles as one of the surprise entrants in the Royal Rumble on 1/24 in Orlando, figuring he’d get a huge reaction from that audience. That could change, given the word is out. WWE was hoping it could pull off a surprise like it did when Alberto Del Rio, the champion from AAA, showed up to face John Cena on 10/25 in Los Angeles, and obviously that’s not happening.

After we had reported the story, it grew so big that WWE even acknowledged it on 1/5, doing a story on the rumors and stating that HHH declined to comment on the story, as opposed to denying it.

(Aside from AJ Styles, who we know has done great things in the WWE...which of the three do you see as the biggest missed opportunity for the company - and why did the company miss the boat?)

In a Where Are They Now, Barri Griffiths, 33, who wrestled for WWE as Mason Ryan from 2009 to 2014, had just joined Cirque de Soliel as the chief archer for the shows that take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Griffiths was a huge bodybuilder from Wales who started pro wrestling under Orig Williams, a legend in that country, in 2006. Interestingly, one of the names he used was the Celtic Warrior, which became Sheamus’ nickname in WWE. He performed as Goliath on the U.K. Gladiators show in 2009 (Magnus performed at. around the same time on the same show as Oblivion) and then signed a five-year deal with WWE. He was brought to the main roster in 2011, as part of a new version of Nexus under C.M. Punk, and was brought up to be in a significant role as Punk’s back-up. He was huge, muscular and super green and was one of the string of guys from Ezekiel Jackson to Jackson Andrews that Vince McMahon would see and give big pushes to, wouldn’t get over and then pretty much be forgotten.

(Why do you think Mason Ryan didn’t work out? And...do you think he looked just like Batista?)

The WWE announced that Sting (Steve Borden, 56), is the first inductee and likely the “main eventer” of the company’s 2016 Hall of Fame ceremony which takes place on 4/2 at the America Airlines Center in Dallas.

Sting is scheduled to be inducted at this point by Ric Flair, his career rival, who put Sting on the map as a star in their March 27, 1988, main event at the first Clash of the Champions in Greensboro. Sting at the time was a mid-card babyface who got a world title shot, which ended up as a 45 minute draw that won match of the year honors on what was the biggest day for wrestling that year.

The induction makes sense, given that Borden lives in the Dallas area and his career appears to be over, since he needs neck surgery due to spinal stenosis and injuries related from his 9/20 match in Houston at last year’s Night of Champions with Seth Rollins. It was one of only two singles matches he would have in WWE and his lone WWE title match.

(Were there any feelings, positive or otherwise, about seeing Sting honored in the Hall of Fame?)

Even though the show is supposed to be PG and Brad Maddox was recently fired for using the word “pricks” in a promo, Vince McMahon on the 1/4 Raw show flipped off the fans who were booing him. There will always be a different set of standards for the ruling class.

(Do you agree with that last sentence?)

A bit of a mystery here and I know it’s a long shot that you might have details on this...but I want to try.

WWE canceled a house show on 1/29 in Albany, GA. The claim was it had nothing to do with ticket sales, but WWE hadn’t run the city since 2012 and they made no attempt to reschedule the date, and are instead refunding all tickets. If the advance was good, they’d have worked a new date into the schedule. The WWE claim was they canceled to give their performers time to rest. But the crew in Albany is still booked for shows the next two nights in Macon and Columbus, GA

(Any idea what the deal was here?)

The Build

Observer: With one week of television left, WWE has largely built the 1/24 Royal Rumble show in Orlando up as Roman Reigns against everyone for the WWE title.

As far as other matches go, the only other thing announced is a Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens last man standing match for the IC title. Alberto Del Rio and Kalisto have traded the U.S. title back-and-forth in one week. It didn’t make much sense to do the match twice already to set up a Rumble match. But who knows. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch has been done a few times, but only once for the title and they are building for a return. On Raw, they had the Usos beat The New Day, so that should set up a tag title match. But it also appears the New Day will be in the Rumble as well, particularly since “The Kofi Kingston spot” is not part of the annual event.

The Rumble goes head-to-head with the NFC Championship game on FOX, although with the push of it as a free event for new viewers to the network, and more viewers streaming, that isn’t going to hurt as bad as if most viewers were paying the old prices for pay-per-view.

Still, the build for the Rumble has been weak, but it often is until the final week. Almost nobody is even talking about winning. The story isn’t who wins, but is Reigns winning or not. This could make it a difficult match to lay out when the crowd’s interest may be limited to thinking so few have a shot at winning.

(Did you share Metlzer’s feelings about the build to the show? Who would have laid out the match?)

The Event Itself

WWE ROYAL RUMBLE POLL RESULTS

• Thumbs up 296 (84.6%)
• Thumbs down 18 (05.1%)
• In the middle 36 (10.3%)

BEST MATCH POLL

• Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens 201
• Royal Rumble 124
• Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch 24
• Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio 10

WORST MATCH POLL

• Four team match 93
• New Day vs. Usos 84
• Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio 66
• Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch 35
• Royal Rumble 29

Meltzer:

The Rumble itself on 1/24 at the Amway Arena in Orlando was a strong show. As far as the main card went, every match was good, and the Ambrose vs. Owens last man standing match was great. The Rumble itself was one of the better ones in history. It was clear more work than usual was done on detail work. Usually there are dead periods in such a match and peak for the bigger stars to enter. Here it flowed the entire time. Even with limited roster depth, there weren’t many throw away entrants, and those that were all had something entertaining to do before they were quickly dispatched. More of the eliminations seemed to have purpose. More of the squaring off of talent seemed to have unique interest than usual. There was little in the way of surprises so that the only big surprise, Styles making his WWE debut, would have more of a meaning. And they picked the right audience since he ended up getting the biggest reaction on the show and got the biggest reaction in the match. Really, the only reactions of heavily booing when people were eliminated were for Styles and Lesnar. And in the case of Styles, as soon as he was dumped, with the crowd starting protesting “A.J. Styles,” chants, they immediately brought in Dean Ambrose, and then the other surprise, hardcore favorite Sami Zayn, the only NXT entrant, and Zayn and Owens went right at it.

(It seems like it’s risky business booking the elimination of a hot star without some effective distraction for the crowd, right?)

1. Mark Henry & Jack Swagger won a four-team match to determine who would go into the Royal Rumble, beating the Dudleys, Damien Sandow & Darren Young and The Ascension in 7:57. There wasn’t much to this. Sandow got a big reaction even though it’s been months since he’s been featured. His elbow is no longer the elbow of disdain, but he’s still from Palo Alto, CA (which is someone’s knock at Stanford University). The finish saw the Dudleys hit Viktor with the 3-D and Swagger saved by putting the ankle lock on Bubba. Henry then gave Bubba a splash. Henry then paused, like he wasn’t sure what to do next, before he pinned Viktor. *½

(There’s a lot of talent in this match that ended up leaving the company. Who do you think was the biggest missed opportunity?)

2. Dean Ambrose beat Kevin Owens in a last man standing match to retain the IC title in 20:20. Ambrose did a tope knocking Owens over the announcers table and he flew right onto Michael Cole. Ambrose got a kendo stick and used it for a number of shots. Owens came back and gave Ambrose a cannonball through the barricade and Owens used the stick a few times before breaking it over his knee. Then they used chairs including Ambrose backdropping Owens through some chairs. Ambrose went for another tope, but Owens caught him and drove him into the apron and twice into the steps. He whipped Ambrose into the steps but Ambrose got up at nine. Owens set up two tables, one on top of the other, while Ambrose was selling. Really, this took too much time and Ambrose had to sell way too long. Owens went for the pop up power bomb, but Ambrose turned it into a huracanrana, and hit Dirty Deeds onto a chair. Owens rolled out of the ring, landing on his feet. Since he was on his feet when landing, he had beaten the ten count. Ambrose came off the top rope with an elbow to the floor, putting Ambrose through a table. Ambrose set up a table in the ring. Ambrose went to superplex Owens through the table, but Owens reversed it into a super falcon arrow through the table. Owens hit the pop up power bomb and Ambrose barely got up from that. Owens hit Ambrose with a hard chair shot to the back and set up four chairs and put Ambrose on them. The idea was he was going to moonsault Ambrose through the chairs, but Ambrose got up and shoved Owens off the top rope. Owens fell backwards through the two tables he had set up and couldn’t beat the ten count. ****¼

(Is Ambrose/Moxley opening eyes here backstage or are they still looking elsewhere?)

3. Kofi Kingston & Big E retained the tag titles over the Usos on 10:53. Xavier Woods debuted the new trombone, Francesa II. JBL noted that The Freebird rule with the tag team title started right here in Florida with Ole Anderson. Actually it was Georgia, but Ole Anderson was the booker when the National tag team titles were defended under Freebird rules for the first time. Good match. The finish saw Jey and Kingston going back-and-forth with near falls. Big E tagged in with Jey not seeing him. Jey superkicked Kingston and went to the top for the splash. E got in, and caught Jey coming off into a Big Ending for the pin. ***¼

(Where do you rank The New Day in terms of tag teams or groups in wrestling? Are they on Mount Rushmore?)

4. Kalisto pinned Alberto Del Rio in 11:28 to regain the U.S. title. Not sure why they needed that Smackdown switch but I guess it’s the idea it was necessary to prolong the program. Kalisto hit a tope in the first 90 seconds. Del Rio went for the mask at one point. Lots of cool moves by Kalisto leading to near falls. Another good match. There was a botched infrared spot. Kalisto hit the Salida del Sol the first time but Del Rio got his hand on the ropes. Del Rio undid the padding on the turnbuckles. Kalisto gave him a huracanrana and Del Rio’s head hit the exposed metal, and Kalisto hit the Salida del Sol for the win. ***¼

(I liked this Kalisto push that happened here. What do you remember about it and were you a fan?)

Stephanie McMahon was out with Paul Heyman. She agreed to renegotiate Brock Lesnar’s contract if he took Reigns out. If they’re willing to do that, why did they willingly put Reigns in the main event on the next show? (Meltzer)

Let’s get to the next match. It’s for the DIVAS title. It started on the January 4 episode of Raw, Becky Lynch was attacked by Divas Champion Charlotte after defeating her in a non-title match. With the help of father Ric Flair, Charlotte defeated Lynch to retain the championship on the January 7 episode of SmackDown. Subsequently, Lynch challenged Charlotte for another title match at the Royal Rumble. Though Charlotte was unwilling to grant Lynch another title opportunity, Lynch goaded Ric Flair to accept the challenge on his daughter's behalf. Delightful fun stuff.

(Did you enjoy seeing these two work together? How much did Ric like it?)

5. Charlotte pinned Becky Lynch in 11:40 to retain the Divas title. This was probably the best Divas match on a PPV in recent memory, and if not, definitely was the one with the best crowd reaction. It was the first time where it appeared that attempt to make the women more serious was working. A ton of the credit has to go with Lynch, who the people really wanted to see as a face win the title. Charlotte is also far better off right now as a heel, even though nobody wants to boo Ric Flair. Lynch needs to drop that corset thing. Crowd was really into Lynch’s quest from the start. Flair at one point kissed Lynch. That was notable because in the past when spots like that have been suggested over the years, Vince McMahon was adamantly against them. Lynch jumped Ric and Charlotte jumped her and gave her some wicked ground-and-pound. JBL compared Charlotte to Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain, who were the stars of the previous era’s world cup winning women’s soccer team. Lynch tried the figure four but Charlotte turned it into an inside cradle for a near fall. Lynch kicked out of the first spear. Ric Flair was going crazy. Lynch got an armbar in the middle of the ring, but Charlotte broke it with a power bomb. Charlotte went for a baseball slide but Lynch moved and she took out her father. Lynch got a near fall with a schoolgirl. Lynch then got the disarmer on in the middle. Flair threw his jacket into the ring on top of Lynch. It was a stretch for the ref to ignore that, as it really should have been either a DQ or seen as a throwing in the towel submission. But wrestling is wrestling. Lynch argued with Flair and Charlotte, I think, poked Lynch in the eyes (the camera missed the key shot, and there were a number of key misses during the show) and Charlotte got the pin after a spear. Sasha Banks came out and the crowd exploded, as they really wanted Charlotte vs. Banks as enough of them knew it from NXT. But instead, Banks first did a tease that she was joining with Charlotte by attacking Lynch and kicking her out of the ring, clearly trying to make herself a heel. But the crowd was still behind her. Banks and Charlotte then acted like they were friends as both smiled and held arms like they were joining up. Then Banks attacked Charlotte from behind with the back stabber and put her in the bank statement and Charlotte tapped out. The crowd was hugely behind Banks and cheered as she held up the belt. ***¼

(What was the reaction to this match? Did you expect Sasha to have as big of a reaction?)

6. HHH won the Royal Rumble and WWE title in 61:42. ROMAN REIGNS was out first and booed. RUSEV was No. 2. Reigns laid him out quickly, hitting the drive by, the spear, and throwing him over the top at 1:30. A.J. STYLES was next in. It was at 1:47 when the buzzer sounded but he wasn’t in the ring until 3:00 as they milked the reaction. He teased the Styles Clash on Reigns and the people popped. He hit the Pele kick, tried it again but Reigns reversed into a Samoan drop.

(One of the coolest debuts in WWE history. How do you recall this coming together? Was there debate about making AJ look so good? Worry about eliminating him and the fans revolting?)

TYLER BREEZE was announced at 3:54 and in at 4:15. Breeze got offense on Styles and Reigns. There was a loud “A.J. Styles chant. Styles had Breeze on his shoulders. Reigns punched Breeze and Breeze went over the top at 5:15. CURTIS AXEL was announced at 5:32 and in the ring at 5:56. The rest of the Social Outcasts were in his corner. Styles knocked Adam Rose off the apron and Reigns knocked Dallas off the apron. Styles used a running clothesline to eliminate Axel at 7:04. CHRIS JERICHO was announced at 7:17 and in at 7:52. The crowd was really hot for him. KANE was announced at 9:17 and in at 9:36. He’s gained weight since he was last featured. It was really noticeable. GOLDUST was announced at 10:55 and in at 11:19. RYBACK was announced at 12:41, ran to the ring and was in at 12:59. The New Day’s music played and it was KOFI KINGSTON in at 14:47. Styles took a crazy high backdrop from Ryback. The guy just had a herniated disc in his back in November and hasn’t had it fixed. Fans booed Ryback for getting offense on Styles, who was clearly the crowd favorite. Styles used a springboard elbow on Jericho. TITUS O’NEIL was announced at 16:06 and in at 16:18. He was cleaning house on everyone. O’Neil gave Jericho and Styles backbreakers. O’Neil used a shoulderblock to knock Goldust off the apron and eliminate him at 17:16.

R-TRUTH was announced at 17:55. He went under the ring and grabbed a ladder at 18:17. So this was a comedy spot as he set up the ladder, with the idea he thought he was in a TLC or ladder match for the title. He climbed to the top and saw there was no belt hanging, and then gave his stupid look. Kane threw R-Truth out at 18:55.

(How awesome is R Truth?)

Kane then clotheslined Kingston out of the ring but Kingston landed on E’s shoulders on the floor and E ran around with him, celebrating that he wasn’t eliminated.

(Kofi’s yearly spot! Did you have a favorite of all of these? I liked when he hopped back in the chair.)

LUKE HARPER was announced at 20:00 and in at 20:17. At this point, Vince McMahon came out with Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and Rusev and they all attacked Reigns. They threw him into the barricade. Del Rio superkicked him. STARDUST was announced at 22:14 and in at 22:28. Rusev, Del Rio and Sheamus continued to destroy Reigns. They put Reigns on an announcers table. Rusev ran across two tables and splashed him through the Spanish announcers table at 23:03. Vince and the League of Nations celebrated and Vince hugged all of them. Jericho eliminated Kingston at 23:05. This was done at the wrong time as the cameras were all outside the ring. BIG SHOW was announced at 24:11 and entered at 24:44. Show threw out O’Neil at 25:13 and knocked out and threw out Ryback at 25:20. Just the treatment of Ryback here and of late seems to indicate they’ve decided to not do much with him. Reigns was taken out on the stretcher, then got off the stretcher on the stage, and walked to the back. NEVILLE was announced at 26:00 and in at 26:13. He did a missile dropkick on Harper, followed by a springboard huracanrana on him. BRAUN STROWMAN was announced at 27:42 and entered at 28:01. Kane went to choke slam Strowman, but he powered out and threw Kane out at 28:19. He put Show in the head-and-arm choke, and choked him out and threw him out in 29:09. It’s very clear with him taking out former monsters that they are building him up for something major, and given the Mania landscape, that could be Undertaker.

KEVIN OWENS was announced at 29:37 and limped out, selling his injuries from the last man standing match, and he got in at 30:13. The crowd popped as Owens and Styles went at it. Owens eliminated Styles at 30:46. The crowed booed this one heavily, far more than anyone to date, with loud “A.J. Styles” chants. DEAN AMBROSE was announced at 30:46, with his shoulder all taped up selling the previous match, and he was in at 32:01. SAMI ZAYN was announced at 33:42 and in at 34:01. Ambrose and Zayn got two of the bigger reactions coming out.

(That’s smart booking, right?)

Owens and Zayn went at it and Zayn threw out Owens in 34:37. Clearly, they are slated for something on the main roster in the future. ERICK ROWAN was announced at 35:22. Rowan threw out Neville at 36:16. Harper superkicked Stardust out at 36:21. Strowman tried to put out Jericho with a head-and-arm choke. MARK HENRY was announced at 37:12 and in at 37:33. Strowman body slammed Henry and Strowman, Harper and Rowan threw out Henry at 38:00. Strowman threw out Zayn in 38:36.

BROCK LESNAR was announced at 39:00 and in at 39:19. He got one of the bigger pops, as expected. Lesnar worked as the star of the match the entire time he was in. He knocked Strowman down with clotheslines a couple of times in the monster collisions. Lesnar gave Rowan a German suplex, and Harper an overhead belly-to-belly. Lesnar clotheslined Rowan over the top in 39:57. It was clear they weren’t going to let Lesnar suplex Strowman in this sequence. JACK SWAGGER was announced at 40:48 and in at 41:02. Lesnar gave Swagger an F-5 and threw him out at 41:17. Lesnar suplexed the hell out of Harper and threw a running knee to Strowman. THE MIZ was announced at 42:30. But with Lesnar and the monsters there, Miz went to the announcers table and wouldn’t get in the ring. Lesnar did another belly-to-belly suplex on Harper, followed by a German suplex to Rowan, Ambrose and Harper. Lesnar clotheslined Harper out at 44:17. ALBERTO DEL RIO was in at 44:34. Lesnar clotheslined Strowman out at 45:45. BRAY WYATT was in at 46:17. Harper, Rowan and Strowman came back out when Wyatt got in. They all attacked Lesnar. Lesnar threw Rowan, Harper and Strowman over the top again and hit a German suplex on Wyatt. He had Wyatt up for the F-5, but Harper broke it up with a superkick. Wyatt gave Lesnar Sister Abigail and all four Wyatt family members threw out Lesnar at 48:31.

(Was there a directive or a goal here to make Brock look unstoppable while stopping him? Good stuff)

DOLPH ZIGGLER was in at 49:19. With Lesnar and Strowman gone, Miz came in at 49:49. Miz gave Ziggler the skull crushing finale. SHEAMUS was in at 50:58. Reigns returned and nailed Sheamus with a Superman punch. Reigns threw out Miz at 51:26 and eliminated Del Rio at 51:36. He hit the Superman punch on Ziggler as well. The crowd was booing Reigns a lot when he made his triumphant return. He then gave Wyatt a Superman punch. HHH was in at 52:38, drawing No. 30. The announcers talked about how we haven’t seen him anywhere since Reigns put him in the hospital. They sure haven’t been looking hard. He hit a pedigree on Ziggler. Reigns speared Wyatt. Sheamus hit Ambrose with a Brogue kick. Wyatt hit Sheamus with a uranage. Jericho used a bulldog on Wyatt. Ziggler used a Zig Zag on Jericho. Ziggler superkicked HHH. HHH side stepped a Ziggler charge and Ziggler went out at 56:29. They did a big tease of HHH vs. Wyatt. HHH wanted him to join him in taking out Reigns. HHH ordered Wyatt to attack Reigns. Wyatt instead attacked HHH and set up Sister Abigail, but Sheamus hit Wyatt with a Brogue kick and threw him out in 57:41. Ambrose threw out Jericho in 58:39, leaving the final four as HHH, Sheamus, Reigns and Ambrose. Reigns badly missed a Superman punch on HHH, but it was supposed to connect and HHH sold it big. Sheamus hit the Brogue kick on Ambrose. Reigns gave Sheamus the Superman punch and threw him out at 59:48. HHH then eliminated Reigns at 59:51. With just HHH vs Ambrose, the crowd got behind Ambrose. Ambrose hit the rebound lariat. They traded some moves before HHH threw out Ambrose to win in 61:42. The show ended with Vince, HHH and Stephanie all celebrating HHH’s title win. ****

(What did you think of the match and about Hunter’s 14th title win?)

Here’s what Meltzer said about the main event.

HHH won his 14th world championship at the Royal Rumble on 1/24 in Orlando. This is still planned as the means to the end game of setting up the big coronation of Roman Reigns as the company’s top star by winning the title at WrestleMania on 4/3 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

The long Reigns push, which was scheduled for him to beat Brock Lesnar for the title at WrestleMania in 2015, but stalled based on fan response, had gotten more successful of late with the return of Vince McMahon as a heel adversary.

But the booking moves to lead to this over the past week have been interesting and questionable. In the Royal Rumble, with Reigns as the first champion who had to defend the title in the match, he had to start at No. 1. At just after the 20:00 mark of the match, Vince McMahon led Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus, who both had yet to enter the match, and Rusev, who Reigns eliminated at the 1:30 mark, to attack the champion. They threw him into the barricade. Del Rio superkicked him and continued to beat on him for several minutes until Rusev ran across two tables to splash him through a third table at the 23:03 mark of the match. Vince and the League of Nations all celebrated and EMT’s came out. At past the 26:00 mark, Reigns was put on a stretcher and carried out. However, before he got to the back, he got off the stretcher–and walked to the back.

The idea was that they didn’t want him to appear weak by being taken out on a stretcher. The idea was he showed his toughness by getting off the stretcher and refusing to give them the satisfaction. But that was never explained. To the fans, and this was the reaction from many people who were casual fans, he was able to get off the stretcher, so why did he walk to the back instead of back to the ring. Fans have been conditioned forever for the walk to the back to be the heel coward move. If anything, they should have done a cutaway of the doctors taping him up and refusing to let him return, and him returning anyway. Even though the reaction to Reigns had improved greatly in recent weeks, he was booed during this match. But after all that, he was booed considerably more when he returned at the 51:26 mark, and fans cheered when HHH eliminated him at 59:51. HHH then, after about two minutes of going back-and-forth with Dean Ambrose, threw him out to win the match and title at 61:42.

Although some WWE announcements stated that was the first time the title was ever up in a Rumble match, that would be incorrect. It was the first time the title was defended in the Rumble. The 1992 Rumble, won by Ric Flair, was also for the title, which had been vacated after a Hulk Hogan vs. Undertaker match with a disputed finish.

Reigns going after HHH as champion is better for WrestleMania this year than Reigns defending against HHH. So once the decision was made to go with that as the main event, HHH winning the Rumble for the title made sense. That way he wouldn’t outright beat Reigns in a match to win it, although he was the guy to throw Reigns out and it was far cleaner than one would have expected. You could really make the case it would have been better, especially for the next month and intrigue, for Ambrose to have dumped Reigns and HHH coming from behind to dump Ambrose in more heel fashion and fluke into the title instead of looking so strong to win the title.

There was nothing heelish about HHH’s win, and Reigns was the one who took the 25 minute powder in the middle of the Rumble match, which the crowd didn’t see as a babyface move.

(Do you agree with his criticisms of the finish of the match?)

As the next step of the story, for Fast Lane on 2/21 in Cleveland, there will be no title match, with the main event being Reigns vs. Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar, with the winner getting the shot at HHH at WrestleMania.

That scenario was even more perplexing. First, if the idea is to get Reigns over more as a face and the problems with crowd reaction last year, when it became apparent the heel Lesnar would be cheered more at Mania (and, in fact, the still heel Lesnar was by far the most popular wrestler at Mania, and nobody was booed anywhere near as much as Reigns), why is he facing two babyfaces in this match. It’s a lock he’s the one getting booed. Granted, for the money they pay Lesnar and storyline, given Lesnar never actually lost the title and would be the biggest name appearing on that card, he, in theory, should be in the match. And Ambrose was added because on paper it seems to be a way to avoid having Lesnar get beat. But the long-term vision dating back to Lesnar beating Undertaker at WrestleMania was that Lesnar would become bigger than ever, and it would set up Reigns as bigger than ever when he beat the guy who had beaten guys like Undertaker and Daniel Bryan (who morphed into John Cena when Bryan was injured, and Cena probably would have been beaten at some point as well that year). But instead, Lesnar’s first loss after was to Undertaker to prolong that feud. But Lesnar still was the ultimate winner of the feud, so is still in fans’ eyes the biggest win to get in the company. Before WrestleMania last year, when questions were being asked about how the crowd wasn’t taking to Reigns the right way and maybe to think about the direction, until Vince did change his mind on it, probably a little more than a week before the show, his argument was that they essentially would be squandering the value of the Lesnar win over Undertaker to not have it lead directly to the creation of the next superstar and babyface long-time face.

(Did Vince make the right decision to wait here on having Roman beat Brock?)

The one thing I can see with the three-way is if Ambrose is to lose, they can turn him out of jealousy, because Reigns does need new heel foes as champion. There are plans to heat up The Wyatt family, Bray and Braun Strowman in particular as singles top guys, but both have issues as challengers. With Bray, it’s because Reigns vs. Wyatt wasn’t a very good program and people tired of it already. When their last program ended, it was presented as open-ended and something that would come back. With Strowman, the issue is him not being ready. It’s about it not being 1985, when a giant like that, put over strong, would be viewed by the fan base as a monster wwaaand could draw on top as a heel, even without much ability. But with Ambrose, Reigns would have a challenger with history, who could have great matches with him and do great promos.

But that’s all well and good, because next month, Ambrose is going to be cheered and Reigns will almost surely be heavily booed in a match he’s supposed to come out of with a big win and great babyface momentum.

They have enough to turn Ambrose (and we don’t even know they are doing it, but there have been hints) without him losing in this match. The problem is they don’t have the heel strong enough. Sheamus wasn’t the guy. They don’t want to beat Wyatt. They could have gone with Rusev and done the Rumble angle, but Reigns not only eliminated him, but the feeling was he had to get his revenge and destroy Rusev immediately, which happened on Raw.

(It would be two years before Ambrose would end up turning and that was pretty bad, by his own words. Would it have worked here?)

There is a mentality I can understand, in the sense that HHH, as champion, may have felt that he’s the main event heel in WrestleMania and the guy who is losing to the guy they are trying to make, so he should be set up as strong as possible coming in. Obviously, that was how Lesnar was set up. So he beat Ambrose head-up when they were the last two and really didn’t cheat to throw out Reigns either. Still, the Reigns elimination should have been more in heel fashion. HHH was booked to look strong against guys like Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho in the match, so Reigns should have been left with a bigger gripe.

And none of this addresses the storyline way they came to the Fast Lane main event. On Raw, Stephanie McMahon said that they would, at the end of the show, based on what happens during the show, pick a match to headline Fast Lane where the winner would get the Mania title shot.

So, after Kevin Owens gets an impressive clean win on Ziggler, and A.J. Styles pinned Jericho, the heel authority figure announces a match with three babyfaces, one of which wasn’t even on the show. And it undermines everything about the company working to steal the title from Reigns in the first place, to them, with no explanation at all other than “best for business,” that they would put Reigns in that match and in position to get the title match at Mania, not to mention putting Lesnar in that match since he’d be seen as the biggest threat to the title.

(Did this make any sense to you?)

Still, it’s Mania season. The show will likely be a success at the end because the name carries it. And with HHH being so popular as the “father” of NXT, the cool brand, and the fact he won the title in non-heel fashion, plus the Mania crowd hated Reigns last year and the Orlando crowd didn’t like him this past week, that puts the WrestleMania crowd into question. HHH is smart enough to, at least to a degree, manipulate the crowd in his match, but crowds have a mind of their own and sometimes aren’t so easily manipulated.

Dwayne Johnson returned on Raw and gave no hints at all what his role in WrestleMania is. The last word we had was that he wasn’t going to be wrestling on the show, but he’s made it clear his role is something big. The obvious thing, whether that’s the plan or not, I don’t know, would be for Johnson to be in Reigns’ corner and Vince McMahon to be in HHH’s corner. That would at least help the crowd have the “right” reaction because Vince usually can turn a crowd at will. If Ronda Rousey could appear, this would be the spot where you added her and Stephanie to the mix. Normally I’d say that’s “too busy.” In this case, the idea of Reigns standing there at the end celebrating with one of the biggest movie stars (and possibly that and the country’s most talked about female athlete celebrity) is a pretty strong moment for those watching. It’s the strongest possible scenario for the finish to get media play and Reigns to get the rub like the one Hulk Hogan got with Cyndi Lauper and Mr. T in his mainstream ascension.

(Do you know if it was ever considered for Rock to be in Roman’s corner?)

As far as WrestleMania goes, there were teases in the Royal Rumble as far as direction goes. Lesnar and Wyatt are earmarked together, either as a singles or in a tag, with the Wyatt Family likely costing Lesnar the three-way at Fast Lane in some form. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks is the likely Divas title match, which makes sense after the matches they had in NXT. A key thing in Orlando, and granted, this is Orlando, where NXT is home and a Hardcore traveling fan base that is more likely to watch NXT on the network, but the women were the most over they have been. The crowd went nuts for Banks and her confronting Charlotte. I could see a three-way with Becky Lynch at Fast Lane as making sense to lead to it. Whether they happen or not, some things teased during the Rumble match included Ambrose vs. Jericho, Styles vs. Owens and Owens vs. Sami Zayn. To show the depth issues, with the exception of New Day’s title defense, and Undertaker’s match (where the opponents seem limited to Strowman, Sheamus or Rusev, or possibly Undertaker & Lesnar vs. The Wyatts, although the Kane & Undertaker vs. Wyatts program where the Wyatts were destroyed for Survivor Series was a big disappointment when it came to interest), that’s pretty much all the key people accounted for.

(Did the Wyatt family suffer from not getting enough wins in programs they were in?)

Questions

Fernando asks...How loud was the pop for the AJ styles debut?

Guy “matt” Manperson asks...Seeing as Rusev finally put on some boots, who was the best to ever do it barefoot?

Ken Brzezinski asks...#AskArn why do you think a guy like AJ debuted on the main roster, but someone like Samoa Joe who was just as experienced had to go to NXT?

Chris G asks...which pop was louder AJ Style’s debut in the Rumble in 2016 or Edge’s return in the Rumble in 2020?

Kurt Zamora asks...How much of AJ did you know to this point & what was the backstage reaction to the ovation he got coming out? Did everyone know immediately he would be a big deal in WWE?

Matt Vare asks...How far out from the event does a Rumble winner tend to be penciled in? Does the eventual winner tend to change alot?

Instagram: A Wrestling Historian asks...Was there talk of Dean Ambrose winning instead?

Maverick Mike asks...Who’s call was it to fuck up AJ’s entrance? Why did they stay on Roman’s face instead of the stage!?

Alan Brown asks...I've heard AJ was worried no-one would know who he was. Did you have an opertunity to speak to him prior to his debut?

Owen asks...I’m sure you were in Gorilla when the RR match was going on what were Vince’s thoughts of AJ at that moment when he saw him debut to that big reaction and how well he performed in the match itself

Brian asks...Was there ever a plan for a Bray v Brock match at WrestleMania since the Wyatt Family eliminated Brock in this Rumble?

Mike asks...What were the expectations for AJ Styles entering WWE? Was his strong reaction that much of a surprise to McMahon?

Mayhem asks...What is it like backstage in gorilla when The Royal Rumble starts? Do they come in groups and get ready to come out to their number. Do they come from the dressing rooms individually? Has anyone been late for their entrance number or missed it completely?