2016 Royal Rumble Thoughts

  The 2016 Royal Rumble was not perfect but it was definitely not as much of a shit show as the 2014 and 2015 versions were.  The event overall was decent.  There was an excellent "Last Man Standing Match," Kalisto won singles gold, and other solid matches.  The Rumble match itself was interesting in that WWE Champion Roman Reigns was forced by the Authority to defend his Title within the Royal Rumble.  The last time the WWE Title was decided in the Rumble match was 1992 when Ric Flair walked out as Champion.  The Rumble match was fine but there were still some questionable booking decisions in my opinion.  The biggest positive of the Rumble was a "phenomenal" debut!

Dudley Boys vs. The Ascension vs. Mark Henry/Jack Swagger vs. Damien Sandow/Darren Young

   This was a Fatal Fourway tag team match on the Kick-Off Show to decide which two men would compete in the Rumble match.  I'm not fond of this because half of those men should automatically be in it, especially the Dudley Boys!  The All American team of Mark Henry and Jack Swagger won the match and got to participate in the Rumble.  

Intercontinental Title Last Man Standing Match - Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens

   What a way to start a Pay-Per-View!  Ambrose defeated Owens for the Intercontinental Title at TLC 2016 and this was Owens' rematch.  This match was incredible with tremendous spots and both men put it all on the line.  Due to the nature of the match, both would surely be worse for wear later when they would both participate in the Royal Rumble.  The end came when Kevin Owens was perched upon the top rope.  Ambrose pushed Owens off and he went through two tables on the outside of the ring.  Owens couldn't answer the ten count and Ambrose prevailed in a very hard fought victory.  This was a lot to live up to for the rest of the card.

Tag Team Titles - The New Day vs. The Usos

   After a year of being extremely entertaining heels, The New Day were so over that they became babyfaces once again.  Their antics in and out of the ring were well liked and the crowd loved to participate.  Meanwhile, the Usos were still riding high from their incredible 2014 and 2015. At TLC, The New Day retained their Titles against the Usos and the Lucha Dragons.  Any time you put The New Day and the Usos in the ring, you're bound to be entertained. Towards the end, Jey Uso leaped from the top rope onto Big E, who caught him in mid-air and executed a Big Ending for the win.  The New Day went on to become the longest reigning set of Tag Team Champions in WWE, while the Usos feuded with the Dudley Boys going into WrestleMania.

US Title - Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto

   In October of 2015, Alberto Del Rio returned from a year-long hiatus and dethroned John Cena for the US Title after Cena's fantastic run as US Champion.  When Sin Cara was injured in December, Kalisto had to go solo since there would be no more Tag Team pursuits for the Lucha Dragons. Kalisto was quite an exciting Luchadore and was ready to break out in singles competition and earned himself a US Title shot against Del Rio.  Kalisto defeated Del Rio to win the Championship in an upset after executing the Salida Del Sol!

Divas's Title - Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

    Charlotte was the ultimate heel Champion and with her father Ric Flair by her side, she became the new dirtiest player in the game.  The match itself was very good until the ending.  It looked like the Title might go to the "Lass Kicker" when Becky caught Charlotte in the "Dis-Arm-Her." Flair interfered and distracted Becky, causing her to break the hold.  This gave Charlotte enough time to gather herself and execute a Spear for the win.  Sasha Banks then made her return and applied the Banks Statement to Charlotte.  What this did accomplish was setting a up a Triple Threat Match between the three at WrestleMania for what would be the reinstated WWE Women's Championship.

Royal Rumble Match

 To the surprise of no one, WWE Champion Roman Reigns started the Rumble at number one.  Number two was League of Nations member Rusev.  The backstory for why Reigns' Title was on the line goes back to the Survivor Series.  Just minutes after Roman Reigns won the Title, Sheamus cashed in his "Money In the Bank" contract to win the Title, followed by joining up with Rusev, Bad News Barrett, and Alberto Del Rio to form the League of Nations.  These men were also backed by the Authority and WWE owner Vince McMahon, all of whom were feuding with Reigns.  After getting screwed at TLC, Reigns looked like a total bad ass by beating Triple H to a pulp.  The next night on Raw, Reigns punched out Mr. McMahon and regained the WWE Title, which finally got fans on Reigns' side.  The thought here for the Title being on the line in the Rumble was to make Reigns look good in the eyes of the fans.  They touted it as one vs. all!  Unfortunately, after finally figuring out how to get Reigns over in a positive light, they almost immediately screwed it up.

 Reigns and Rusev began and traded blows to start the Rumble.  After brawling for a bit, Reigns was able to eliminate Rusev. He only had 28 more men to go if he wanted to retain his Championship. The countdown started for the third entrant and the buzzer rang.  Some music started playing and Reigns wondered who it could be.  It turned out to be "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles!  The fans jumped out of their seats as AJ removed his hood to reveal his face and he walked to the ring, standing face to face with Reigns.  To see this man finally step foot in a WWE ring was just like his moniker, phenomenal! They battled until Tyler Breeze entered at number four.  Both eliminated Breeze and then AJ took care of the next entrant, Curtis Axel.

   Not long into the match, Vince McMahon ordered the League of Nations to pull Reigns from the Rumble under the ropes and beat him up at ringside.  All four men battered Reigns and placed him on the announce table.  Rusev then ran and delivered a splash to Reigns through the table.  Reigns was then taken out and although a stretcher was at ringside, he walked back on his own power.  Everyone knew he would pull a Mick Foley/Daniel Bryan and return later on. Here's the problem, though!  That only works if the wrestler is an underdog, which Reigns was not.  It would have been better for Reigns to tough it out and compete in the Rumble throughout.  The main problem within this problem was that Reigns wasn't stretchered out, he walked away on his own.  If he was okay to walk, he was okay to still compete!  There was a 30 minute gap with Reigns not in the ring.  My friends and I refer to this as Reigns taking a nap.  Though they thought this would shed positive light on Reigns, it did the opposite and they were back to square one.

   Meanwhile, the ring started to fill up with more superstars, including Chris Jericho, Kane, Kofi Kingston, and the Big Show at number 15. You'll notice Kofi Kingston's name in there! I bet you're waiting for me to point out how Kofi was able to escape elimination this year! Well, you'd be right! At ringside, were Kofi's New Day partners Big E and Xavier Woods.  When Kofi was thrown over the top rope, he ended up landing on Big E's shoulders.  Big E carried Kofi around the ring and back inside, while Xavier danced along.  Kofi's elimination escapes have almost become somewhat of a tradition in the Rumble.

 Braun Strowman came in at number 17 and just dominated. Not long after the powerhouse entered the match, the Black Sheep of the Wyatt Family eliminated both the Big Show and Kane. Kevin Owens was out next and to the dismay of the crowd, he eliminated favorite AJ Styles.  In Styles debut match with WWE, he lasted almost 30 minutes in the Rumble.  The buzzer rang for number 20 and it was Kevin Owens' old best friend Sami Zayn.  The look on Owens' face was priceless!  Just after Sami finally won the NXT Championship, Owens turned on his best friend and defeated him for the Title two months later. After an injury before a match with John Cena, Sami was out of action while Owens debuted on Raw and became a star.  It was a great moment watching them beat the crap out of each other.

    Next out was Erick Rowan and now 3 of the 4 members of the Wyatt Family were in the ring. Two entries later, Brock Lesnar entered his first Royal Rumble in thirteen years.  He dominated everyone and even eliminated all three members of the Wyatt Family in Strowman, Rowan, and Luke Harper.  Bray Wyatt himself entered at number 27 and at his call, the Wyatt Family returned to the ring.  All four men attacked "The Beast Incarnate" and eliminated him from the match.  Unfortunately, this led to nothing, as it would have been pretty intriguing.  With Rowan and Bray out of action with injuries during this time, it halted the momentum and the angle was dropped.

   Meanwhile, WWE Champion Roman Reigns had finally made his way back into the Rumble. He joined forces with his old Shield ally Dean Ambrose and more superstars entered the match. Sheamus entered at number 29 and immediately was targeted by Reigns.  In something a lot of people expected, yet was still somewhat shocking, Triple H entered the match at number 30.  He eliminated Dolph Ziggler immediately upon entry and with the help of Sheamus, eliminated Bray Wyatt.  The final four were Triple H, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Sheamus.  Reigns eliminated Sheamus but was then eliminated by Triple H.  Now we were guaranteed too end the night with a new WWE Champion.  Ambrose fought his hardest and had the fans by his side.  I started rooting for Ambrose to win as well.  In the end, Triple H won the Royal Rumble and became the new WWE Champion in a poorly received Royal Rumble ending.

   What bothered me the most about Triple H's win is that what it led to was so predictable.  Everyone knew Reigns would get another chance and get his Title back from Triple H at WrestleMania, which he did.  Worst for me is that it led to Roman Reigns becoming a three time Champion in just over four months.  If you've read my blogs before, you'll know that I hate multiple title reigns in a short period of time.  I wouldn't have minded so much if Triple H won the Royal Rumble for a shot at Reigns and they fought at WrestleMania.  The Rumble had some good moments, especially with the debut of AJ Styles.  I also enjoyed Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens fighting and Kofi staying alive one more time.  Overall, it was a poorly booked Royal Rumble match.  I could have done without Reigns missing half the match, that's for sure!  The amazing Last Man Standing Match between Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens was the saving grace of the show.  Onto 2017's thoughts tomorrow and we're vastly approaching this year's Royal Rumble!

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