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(Author’s Word: This gained’t be my normal weekly Wednesday column. I simply had lots to say concerning the Royal Rumble and I didn’t wish to wait the additional few days to speak about it. I’ll be again in my regular Wednesday spot… on Wednesday.)
I’ve been doing Operating Diary columns just about from the time I began on this website method again within the day. There are loads of positives about writing that fashion of column, however one of many main negatives is that, by its very nature, it doesn’t enable me to go in-depth on something that is happening. I can kind a sentence or two about one thing, however by that time, one thing else has often occurred and I have to go to the following entry. It’s an enormous drawback for AEW, because the pacing of their reveals is as rapid-fire as you’ll ever see in wrestling, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a difficulty for WWE occasions, as effectively.
I’m certain you’ve seen the reactions to the Royal Rumble by now. WWE followers, AEW followers, constructive followers, damaging followers, troll followers… it looks like everyone seems to be in settlement about how unhealthy all the present was. Once I do the Operating Diaries and publish my star scores for matches, it looks like I’m a tougher grader than the common fan, as a rule. Nothing loopy, but when I say a match is 3 stars, I’ll go searching and see a shit ton of tweets, posts, columns, and so forth. that say the match was 3.25, 3.5, or 3.75 stars. This time, it looks like my scores are barely increased than lots of people listed.
I puzzled how a lot of it was my preliminary look ahead to the Operating Diary. Clearly, with all the typing I have to do through the column, there are occasions once I don’t have 100% of my concentrate on the present. Nature of the beast. Due to that, I went again and watched the present once more. No columns, no daughter operating round… no distractions in any respect. After the second viewing, I believe I overrated the blended tag match, and I could have underrated the Uncooked Girls’s Title match a bit. Within the Operating Diary, I gave the blended tag match 3 stars, and the Girls’s Title match 2.75 stars. If I needed to do it once more, I’d give the tag match 2.5 stars, and bump the title match as much as 3 stars. The tag match was simply so gradual and, finally, so pointless, with an excessive amount of Beth Phoenix and Maryse, and never sufficient Edge and The Miz. Alternatively, I believe I graded Becky Lynch vs Doudrop too harshly due to the dearth of crowd response, however in fact, an enormous chunk of that lack of response had nothing to do with Becky or Doudrop. That wasn’t honest to them.
Watching every thing else, although, both helped open my eyes to issues or allowed me to completely formulate my ideas. I’ve give you a listing of ten issues I believe I take into consideration why the present has been seen so negatively by so many various teams of wrestling followers. Usually, once I do the “10 Issues I Assume I Assume” columns, I listing them in no specific order. For this one, I believe it makes extra sense to listing issues in as near chronological order as I can, in order that’s what I’m going to do, beginning with the Common Title match and ending with the lads’s Royal Rumble.
Right here we go…
Cease Ending Pay-Per-View Title Matches By Disqualification: I don’t care if it occurs each month, yearly, or any mixture in between. While you’re in these larger conditions, I hate it when these matches finish by disqualification, count-out, no contest, and issues like that. I’d a lot relatively see a state of affairs like Roman Reigns dishonest to win. For those who’re going to arrange a rematch, anyway, that may nonetheless occur with Reigns dishonest. I’m not saying I needed this specific state of affairs to occur, however a straightforward resolution can be one thing I noticed a ton of individuals calling for… the pre-match stipulation mentioned that The Usos can be banned from ringside, nevertheless it didn’t say something about Solo Sikoa being banned. That may’ve been a straightforward story to inform with Sikoa serving to Reigns win, giving The Bloodline a brand new member, and giving Rollins extra purpose to hunt revenge. The match was so good, and it simply ended on a little bit of a popcorn fart.
The Depth In The WWE Girls’s Division Is Atrocious: Of the 30 ladies within the Rumble match, 13 of them had been one-off appearances by names from the previous. For those who’re not good with math, that’s 43% of the sphere. Sonya Deville was concerned, and he or she is perhaps, most likely, presumably, probably not an actual lively in-ring performer and is just doing this to proceed the ridiculous storyline with Naomi. The eventual winner of the match was somebody who wasn’t even below WWE contract days earlier. It simply reveals how unhealthy the depth within the ladies’s division is correct now. A bunch of names have been launched, certain, however there are additionally three ladies out of motion both with accidents or on maternity depart. This wouldn’t be such a obvious drawback if the ladies that had been introduced again for the Rumble ended up being a much bigger a part of the match. Melina was eradicated in lower than a minute and didn’t get rid of anybody herself. Kelly Kelly didn’t get rid of anybody, and he or she barely lasted a minute within the match. Cameron? Zero eliminations and was within the match for below a minute. Ivory? Zero eliminations and was within the match for lower than 30 seconds. Summer season Rae? Zero eliminations and was within the match for lower than one minute. Sarah Logan? Zero eliminations and was within the match for below a minute. Mighty Molly? Zero eliminations and lasted lower than 30 seconds within the match. What was the purpose?
Sasha Banks Ought to’ve Been In The Rumble Longer: When she got here out as the primary entrant within the match, you figured her probabilities of successful went down lots, however you additionally figured she can be one of many “iron ladies” when all was mentioned and finished. You realize the deal… final 45-50 minutes, however ultimately get thrown out in direction of the tip of the match. As a substitute, she didn’t even final ten minutes, and was thrown out by Queen Zelina. Huh? It was clear that Sasha’s early elimination took the air out of the dome, and I’m certain the identical will be mentioned concerning the followers watching at residence. Sasha’s return from a minor damage was seen as an enormous deal, as there was a query if she’d be capable to make it again in time for the Rumble. Are you able to think about the depth of this match if there was no Sasha Banks? It’s simply bizarre that she got here again, and as one of many clear minimize greatest stars within the match, was solely on the market for a short period of time and acquired eradicated by somebody like Zelina as an alternative of one other “high” star.
The Iron Girls Didn’t Really Do A lot: The 2 ladies who lasted the longest within the match had been Bianca Belair (47:30) and Liv Morgan (37:20). Mixed, they eradicated a complete of 1 individual, and that was Bianca tossing Natalya out comparatively late within the match. That’s loads of time spent within the Royal Rumble with out truly doing a lot of something. Sure, this can be a little bit of a minor gripe, however it’s a gripe nonetheless.
Bobby Lashley Didn’t Get Helped A Ton, Even In Successful The WWE Title: Lastly getting the Brock Lesnar vs Bobby Lashley match we’ve needed for years was an enormous deal. Primarily based on who was within the match, you knew it wasn’t going to be a 30-minute warfare, and it wasn’t. The story popping out of the match is that Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman screwed Brock Lesnar out of the WWE Title, and that is sensible, however what concerning the match itself? Lashley acquired his offense in, nevertheless it was nonetheless largely dominated by Brock, who hit Lashley with roughly 527 German Suplexeseseses. So, Lashley will get tossed round like a baby for many of the match, however he will get to make a canopy to win the match after Roman Reigns laid Lesnar out? How does that profit Bobby Lashley? It could be one factor if the winner of this match was some chickenshit heel who often sneaks by, however that is Bobby Fucking Lashley we’re speaking about right here. Even when he’s an absolute monster heel (extra on that in somewhat bit), that’s not how he wins his matches, nor ought to it’s.
Faces Being Heels, Heels Being Faces & The Issue Telling Them Aside: Bobby Lashley is a heel. He had a match towards Brock Lesnar, who has been clearly positioned as a face. Lashley slapped fingers with a bunch of followers on the best way to the ring, after which once more after the match. You realize, the match that he lucked into successful after interference by a heel. The aforementioned Reigns is somebody {that a} share of followers have nearly felt was turning face on this present feud with Seth Rollins, based mostly on Rollins being The Joker and attempting to get into Roman’s head at each flip. Then, Reigns pulls a significant heel transfer by purposely getting himself disqualified to maintain his Common Title, then mollywhops Rollins with a metal chair repeatedly, after which interferes within the WWE Title match to take the belt off of a face that he’s feuding with. Rollins, as I mentioned, was seen as a strong heel, solely to be booked to get a ton of face pops together with his throwback entrance and the best way he wrestled in his match, adopted by that post-match mollywhopping I talked about. Extra weirdness got here from Ronda Rousey, who will get an enormous pop for her return, then does the smiley bit for some time and goes on to win the Rumble, by eliminating Charlotte Aptitude, who’s essentially the most hated heel within the ladies’s division. Then, Rousey cuts a post-show backstage promo the place she mentions the response she acquired for returning, and the way she wouldn’t “fall for it this time.” That certain seems like a heel. For those who go up and down the WWE roster proper now, it’s nearly like there’s solely two or three folks which can be clearly outlined of their heel/face standing. Hyperbole? Solely barely. The fixed shifting round indicators, at the least to me, that WWE is sort of making shit up as they go alongside. Am I purported to cheer for this individual? Do I boo that individual? It’s onerous to inform, particularly when faces do heel issues and face issues in the identical match or promo, and vice versa.
Feuding With The Miz Does Nothing For Anyone: WWE hasn’t finished something for The Miz to make him appear to be something greater than a goofy comedy character in an extended, very long time. That’s definitely not his fault, except he’s the one pitching it backstage, however it’s what it’s. Whether or not you want him or not, he’s a two-time WWE Champion, and that’s purported to imply lots. Feuding with, and defeating, a former WWE Champion? Yeah, that must be an enormous deal. Miz has been feuding over water weapons and actually coping with zombies in latest historical past. You don’t acquire a lot while you beat somebody like that. WWE has finished such a poor job of letting Miz keep related, and loads of it has to do with how severe his character is. Keep in mind when he was on Speaking Smack and minimize that promo on Daniel Bryan? That was as severe as he has ever been. It was a few of the greatest work he’s ever finished, after which… not a lot. When he feuded with Otis over the Cash In The Financial institution briefcase, he wasn’t taken significantly. After beating Otis to win possession of the briefcase, he wasn’t taken significantly. When he cashed it in and have become WWE Champion for a second time, he wasn’t taken significantly. As soon as Bobby Lashley made him appear to be a whole and utter bitch, he definitely wasn’t taken significantly. It isn’t a secret that I’m not precisely the largest Miz fan on the earth, however I’m being as unbiased as I will be right here. I don’t assume I’m flawed for saying what I’ve mentioned right here. What did Edge acquire on this feud? He acquired to staff together with his spouse and have a match along with her. That’s cool and all, however would you say Edge is in a greater place now than he was earlier than working with The Miz? No. If something, Edge misplaced a bit by transferring down the cardboard for some time.
Kofi Kingston’s Missed Spot Took The Wind Out Of Folks’s Sails: I’m undecided that there have been a complete lot of individuals predicting a Royal Rumble victory for Kofi, however what I’m certain of is that everybody was anticipating one other wild spot that may see Kofi keep away from being eradicated in a miraculous method. What did we get? Kofi within the Rumble for a grand whole of 21 seconds. He will get chucked out by Kevin Owens, and is meant to make one other miracle save by being like Spider-Man and sticking to the ringside barricade, nevertheless it doesn’t go effectively and he slips till his ft contact the ground. It appeared like they may attempt to play it off prefer it was purported to occur that method, however when watching it, you may see the Referee within the background make a face as if he was saying “oh shit” after which he was wanting round and attempting to determine what to do. If Kofi was purported to be eradicated there, you, as a Referee, would merely say he was eradicated, and that may be it. It was a bum deal for Kofi, who at the least had a superb humorousness about it on Twitter after it occurred.
Extra Of The Standing Quo: Even if you happen to’re an enormous Brock Lesnar fan, and I freely admit to being in that class, are you able to truthfully sit there and say he wanted to win the Rumble? I can’t. Look, I get it… he wants revenge on Roman Reigns for what Reigns did to him earlier within the evening. There are different methods of creating it occur, although. He’s Brock Fucking Lesnar. Anarchy and chaos comply with him in every single place he goes. An offended Brock Lesnar… who isn’t tied all the way down to Uncooked or Smackdown, by the best way… on the rampage as he does every thing he can presumably consider to make the lives of any Samoan dwelling on the planet depressing? That’s good tv. It turns into much more intriguing tv when you’ve got an offended Seth Rollins locked and loaded to get revenge on Reigns, too. It’s extra of the identical outdated stuff that we’ve been seeing for years, with Brock successful every thing, even when he doesn’t have to. As I mentioned, although, that is Brock Fucking Lesnar. I’m not saying he must be on the market shedding matches to Angel Garza and Bobby Roode on random episodes of tv. It’s only a signal that WWE has did not create something new and thrilling, they usually constantly need to depend on folks like Brock to assist them out. Numerous the identical issues will be mentioned about Ronda Rousey right here. When she’s round, she’s the largest star within the division by a rustic mile, able to getting all kinds of press that girls like Becky Lynch, Charlotte Aptitude, Bianca Belair, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and so forth can’t get. That’s the reality, whether or not you admit it or not. Ronda nonetheless doesn’t want one thing like this, although. Not when you’ve got the chance to make one thing new and recent. Relying on what supply you’re , Ronda is rumored to be going through both Becky or Charlotte at WrestleMania, which is fairly apparent contemplating what she simply gained and signifies that loads of “consultants” don’t know what the plans actually are. I’ve even seen rumors that say Ronda faces Charlotte at WrestleMania this 12 months, and is penciled in to face Becky at WrestleMania subsequent 12 months. That’s solely considerably recent, as we’ve by no means seen Ronda and Becky have a one-on-one match earlier than, and we’ve solely seen Ronda and Charlotte go one-on-one as soon as (Survivor Sequence 2018), however these ladies had their wild and memorable feud in 2019, main as much as their Triple Risk in the principle occasion of WrestleMania 35. Lord is aware of we’ve seen Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar lots. 5 singles matches (one among which grew to become a Triple Risk for a second when Seth Rollins cashed in his Cash In The Financial institution shot at WrestleMania 31), one other Triple Risk, and a Deadly 4-Means, to be actual. It stays irritating to see the fixed have to maintain going again to the effectively time and time once more. That isn’t even counting bringing again names like Goldberg, The Undertaker, and so forth. throughout this time of 12 months.
WWE Actually Fucked Themselves At Day 1: When Roman Reigns examined constructive for COVID earlier than Day 1, WWE had a dilemma on their fingers. Reigns was purported to defend the Common Title towards Brock Lesnar in a heavily-hyped match, however what was the corporate purported to do with Reigns out of motion? Lesnar is an enormous field workplace attraction, so eradicating him from the cardboard altogether wouldn’t be an amazing thought, particularly on the final potential minute like that. When it was introduced that Lesnar would as an alternative be inserted into the WWE Title Deadly 4-Means, making it a Deadly 5-Means, it was typically accepted as an amazing different. He would add extra star energy to the match, and we’d lastly get to see him and Bobby Lashley sharing a hoop. The Deadly 5-Means was the right resolution to have Brock “lose” with out having to lose. Hooray! Then… Lesnar went on to win the match and turn into the WWE Champion. What? Why? The one factor folks may consider was that WWE was, for some unusual purpose, deciding to unify the WWE and Common Titles, and we had been going to get Reigns vs Lesnar on the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania in that unification bout. Not {that a} match between these two wanted added stakes to it, however that’s what WWE does. Oh, Reigns is defending towards Seth Rollins on the Rumble, whereas Lesnar defends towards Bobby Lashley? WrestleMania unification it’s then! No? That’s not what occurred? Nicely, what the fuck was the purpose of doing the title change at Day 1 then?!? You fully derailed Massive E’s momentum because the WWE Champion, simply to do what? Pad Brock Lesnar’s stats? The story allowed for Reigns and Heyman to double-cross Lesnar and trigger him to lose the WWE Title, however that was fully pointless. Their feud wasn’t ice chilly and in want of some form of warmth to construct issues up. One unhealthy determination set off a sequence response of unhealthy choices, and it was all for nothing.
Numerous you’re affected by being prisoners of the second with a few of your opinions on this 12 months’s Rumble. I’ve seen some folks say that the 2022 males’s Rumble match was the worst one ever. Whereas it wasn’t full of a ton of intrigue, cool spots, and enjoyable surprises, there’s no method I’d say it was worse than a few of the first few, or 2015, and so forth. It rattling certain wasn’t probably the greatest Rumble matches, however removed from the worst.
The place will we go from right here? We now have Elimination Chamber, coming to us from Saudi Arabia on February nineteenth. Mere minutes earlier than I typed this sentence, it was introduced that Bobby Lashley can be defending his newly-won WWE Title in a Chamber match. Will it’s the one one on the cardboard, or will there be one other one? WWE likes to bend the knee to what the choice makers in Saudi Arabia need, so don’t be stunned if we find yourself seeing Roman Reigns defend the Common Title contained in the Chamber, too, together with his opponents being Brock Lesnar, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, “Stone Chilly” Steve Austin, and Andre The Big. Hell, let’s simply borrow from TNA’s thought bin and make the Elimination Chamber occasion like Lockdown, the place each match on the present takes place contained in the Chamber. I’m excited to see Damian Priest defend america Title towards Lex Luger, Ric Aptitude, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, John Cena, and Blackjack Mulligan so we are able to see who the best United States Champion of all-time actually is.
I get loads of the frustrations popping out of this 12 months’s Rumble. Belief me, I do. As you’ve learn, I share loads of those self same frustrations. For those who’re a WWE fan, you end up in a tricky spot. WWE is aware of they don’t want to alter something they’re doing. The corporate is being profitable at a record-breaking tempo proper now. Do you assume they offer a shit if you happen to or I didn’t benefit from the Royal Rumble? They don’t care concerning the outrage over wrestler releases, accusations of racism, and the rest despatched their method as of late. They’ve acquired us by the balls, because the saying goes. What do you do?
What… do you… do?
