2015 Royal Rumble Thoughts

   Well, they managed to do it again!  The 2015 Royal Rumble ended up being just as much of a problem as 2014 was.  In an odd turn of events, Roman Reigns was now in the spot Batista was in last year, yet when Reigns was the last one left in the ring with Batista, Reigns got cheered then. Based on what happened in 2014, many fans still wanted Daniel Bryan to win the 2015 Rumble, which most knew he wasn't going to.  I feel like Reigns may not have endured what he did, if Bryan never showed up in this Rumble or was promoted for it.  I think that was the mistake!  It might have even been a good idea to not have Bryan come back until WrestleMania or the night after.  The reality is, they announced his return in January and he competed in this Rumble.  Let me get to the other matches first, as there will be a lot said by me later on about the Rumble match itself.

Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. The New Day

   The New Day were so annoying and hated as faces, that they turned heel.  In that respect, they became extremely entertaining, which in tern made them so popular that they became faces once again a year later.  I also enjoyed the pairing of Kidd and Cesaro, also known to some as the Brass Ring Club.  Of course, Natalya was there to cheer them on.  During this time, they had a ally in Adam Rose, whose character I actually liked for a time.  At least, I liked it in NXT!  However, as we've found out many times in the last few years, what worked in NXT doesn't always work on Raw and Smackdown.  That will be a specific blog of its own.  Kidd and Cesaro won but The New Day would soon get their time in the sun.

New Age Outlaws vs. The Ascension

    When the Ascension made their debut on the main roster, they quickly became irrelevant and never reached the success they had in NXT.  Common theme, but again, that's for another blog!  They immediately compared themselves to legendary teams like the Road Warriors, which drew the ire of the fans and colleagues alike.  On a recent Raw, they interfered in an nWo reunion segment.  Later on, the nWo, along with the New Age Outlaws and the APA, confronted the Ascension and issued a beating.  The Ascension then challenged the Outlaws to a match.  In this match, the Ascension were made to look strong, as they defeated their opponents in just over five minutes.  A squash win over legends was a start but it wasn't long before the Ascension descended.

Tag Team Titles - The Usos vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow

   At this point in The Miz's career, he was portraying a Hollywood A-lister due to his WWE produced movies.  And what Hollywood A-lister would be complete without a stunt double? Enter Damien Sandow, who became Damien Mizdow. He took the stunt double thing a little too literally and emulated every single move The Miz did. They even had a short Tag Team Title run.  It was very entertaining and I think breathed new life into both men.  The Usos retained in the end!

Bella Twins vs. Paige & Natalya

   The Bella Twin angle during this time was confusing for sure.  At SummerSlam 2014, Nikki turned on Brie during her match with Stephanie McMahon.  By Survivor Series, Nikki became the new Diva's Champion with help from Brie. Suddenly the Bellas were on the same page again but heels this time around. Meanwhile, Paige and Natalya joined forced to try and defeat the Bella Twins.  The Bellas won here with Nikki getting the pin.  When Paige teamed with AJ Lee at WrestleMania, they were finally able to put a chink of the armor of the Bella Army.

WWE Title Triple Threat Match - Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins

   This was clearly the match of the night.  All three men were on their game for this match. Rollins was the "Money In the Bank" holder but the Authority granted him a Title match here anyway.  As always, he was flanked by Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury, known as J&J Security.  Lesnar dominated early and took both opponents to Suplex City.  Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Lesnar executing a German Suplex to both members of J&J Security at the same time. Lesnar delivered an F-5 to Rollins but Cena broke up the pin.  Cena got Lesnar with an AA but Rollins broke that pin up. Rollins executed a Curb Stomp on Lesnar but Cena broke up that pin attempt.  The highlight of the match was when Rollins brought out the Phoenix Splash out of nowhere.  He also jumped onto Brock from the top rope down to and through the announce desk.  Towards the end, Rollins hit Lesnar twice with his briefcase and went for another Curb Stomp onto the briefcase.  Lesnar countered with an F-5 to retain his Championship.  All three brought a tremendous effort to this match and it was truly incredible.

Royal Rumble Match

  And so it begins!  The ass-backwards booking in this match was insane!  It could be argued that the first half was pretty darn good.  The Miz and R-Truth started as numbers one and two.  After battling for a bit, The Miz caught Truth in a compromising position on the top turnbuckle. Just then, the count down was on and the Philadelphia crowd went bananas when Bubba Ray Dudley appeared.  The ECW veteran went right after The Miz, executing some of his signature moves.  He slammed Miz to the ground and looked up to the corner at R-Truth.  They nailed Miz with the Dudley's famous "What's Up" maneuver and then Bubba, and the crowd, might I add, asked Truth to get the tables.  The Miz would have none of that so he attacked Truth.  Together, Truth and Bubba delivered a 3D to The Miz and the crowd went wild.  Then they eliminated The Miz, followed by Bubba eliminating Truth to get the ring to himself.  Okay, off to a good start!  But as the Carpenters once sang; "we've only just begun."

   Former Wyatt Family member at the time Luke Harper, made his way out next.  Bray Wyatt himself entered at number five and they double teamed Bubba to eliminate him.  Just before they were about to come to blows, the countdown for number six began.  Curtis Axel came out and was ready for action.  Suddenly, the other former Wyatt member Erick Rowan came from behind. Rowan, who wasn't even a participant, attacked Axel and ran to the ring.  On a side note, with Axel never officially being eliminated from the Rumble, it began the rise of AxelMania!  After an epic stare down between the three former allies, they began to fight.  Bray then eliminated both from the match as he awaited the next participant. That man turned out to be The Boogeyman.  It was the "Eater of Worlds" vs. the eater of worms! Bray quickly eliminated him, followed by Sin Cara and Zack Ryder when they came out.  The fans were on their feet when the buzzer rang for number 10.  It was Daniel Bryan and here was mistake number one.  It was a mistake for him to be advertised for, let alone compete in the Rumble based on the way things went down in 2014.

 Back to the action, Bryan took the fight right to Wyatt, who defeated Bryan last year at the Rumble.  After that, a few more superstars joined in. It was time for another man to enter.  The fans erupted when Diamond Dallas Page showed up. DDP was attacked upon entrance into the ring but he quickly came back, delivering Diamond Cutters to everyone in his path.  Fandango, Stardust, and Bray Wyatt all fell victim to the maneuver.  Just then, Rusev made his way to the ring and started dominating everone in sight.

   Here comes mistake number two!  Are you ready?  First, I'll get to some action real quick. Bryan threw Bray through the middle ropes and onto the floor.  Following that, he executed a Suicide Dive between the ropes to Bray.  Mind you, neither man was eliminated.  Meanwhile, Stardust and Goldust fought each other, only to be eliminated by Rusev.  At this point, Bryan and Bray were back in the ring.  After escaping elimination from Rusev, Bryan was then bum rushed by Bray and eliminated like he was nothing.  From then on, no one gave a damn about the Rumble.  The fans were angry once again and wouldn't relent with Daniel Bryan chants.

   Out next was Adam Rose, who came out along with his Rosebuds, as they danced happily to the ring.  Just then, Rusev threw Kofi Kingston over the top rope.  Luckily for Kofi, the Rosebuds caught him and carried him around and back into the ring, much to Adam Rose's dismay. Kofi did it again! He somehow saved himself from the Rumble, but with a little help. Meanwhile, Rose himself was then eliminated. Only this time his Rosebuds were not there to catch him.  It was a good way to lighten up the Rumble, though!

   The Rumble started to get a little boring after this.  Roman Reigns entered next with about the same crowd support that Batista had the previous year.  Everyone knew Reigns was going to win the Rumble and the fans were experiencing major De Ja Vu!  I didn't want Reigns to win but not for the reason you think!  Most fans simply didn't want him to win because they didn't like Reigns or the way he was booked.  Me?  I like Roman Reigns actually!  The reason I didn't want him to win was because I didn't think he deserved what the fans were about to dish out.  Back to the action, the ring started to fill up with big, lumbering individuals, such as Big E, Jack Swagger, Ryback, and Kane. The fans were somewhat happy again when Dean Ambrose hit the ring at number 25.

   Overall, Bray Wyatt eliminated six people and he was the MVP of this Rumble match for sure. Unfortunately, Bray was eliminated like nothing as well by Kane and the Big Show, both members of the Authority.  Dolph Ziggler entered at number 30 and actually received lots of cheers from the fans.  After being the sole survivor at the Survivor Series and helping rid WWE of the Authority for a brief time, people were really behind him.  Unfortunately, Ziggler was another just tossed out lifelessly, as was Dean Ambrose later.  Mistake number three was the way Wyatt and the two fan favorites were eliminated, also by Big Show and Kane. Meanwhile, it looked like it was down to those two and Roman Reigns.  However, outside the ring layed Rusev, who had not yet been eliminated from the Rumble.  When Reigns noticed Big Show and Kane start to fight each other, he saw his spot.  He eliminated both men in what looked like a Rumble win.

   Big Show and Kane were furious and reentered the ring to attack Reigns.  It wasn't looking good for Reigns.  All of a sudden..."If ya smell....!" The Rock came running out to a thunderous ovation and helped his cousin Roman Reigns fend them off. After a Rock Bottom and People's Elbow to rid the ring of the two behemoths, he gave Roman the ring to celebrate.  The fans were not happy one bit with Reigns. The fans got excited again when Rusev, a heel, reentered and attacked Reigns.  The fans were so unhappy with Reigns that they started cheering America-hating Rusev.  However, Reigns turned the tides and eliminated Rusev to officially win the 2015 Royal Rumble.  The Rock got back into the ring and shared a moment with Reigns and raised his arm.  The fans were not having it and I've never seen The Rock so taken aback by fan reaction for Reigns!  He looked confused and a little angry.

   So there you have it!  What the hell was that all about?  During Reigns' celebration, the Authority's Triple H and Stephanie McMahon appeared on the ramp with a look of disdain for Reigns' win.  It was kind of like the disdain the very fans had at that same moment for Reigns.  The saving grace of this Royal Rumble event was the incredible Triple Threat Match between Lesnar, Cena, and Rollins for the WWE Title.  Other than that, the other matches were tolerable and the Rumble stunk up the place.  Of course, it didn't help that they were in Philadelphia, a town where wrestling fans run amok. Two more to go before this Sunday!




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