This past Sunday, the WWE hosted its 26th annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view. As outlined in last week’s column, the Royal Rumble is one of WWE’s most anticipated events of the year, a storied tradition, and simply a special night in professional wrestling.
The Royal Rumble match begins with two men in the ring. Every 90 seconds, another man enters the ring until all 30 men have entered. The only way to win the match is to be the last man standing; however, if one is thrown over the top rope, and both feet touch the floor, he will be eliminated. The winner of the Royal Rumble earns a guaranteed opportunity to challenge the World Heavyweight Champion in the main event of WrestleMania 30. For this column, I will be reviewing the Royal Rumble PPV and the subsequent Raw, commenting on what happened and what this means for the future with the WWE’s next PPV event, Elimination Chamber, only four weeks away.
Of course, if you haven’t seen the event, spoilers are ahead; stop reading and go watch it!
Also, for reference, my rating system is out of four stars (****). The “(c)” listed next to a superstar or tag team denotes that they are the champion(s), specified within the match’s review.
THE NEW AGE OUTLAWS def. CODY RHODES and GOLDUST (c) –– Featured on the “kick-off,” this contest was solid. The New Age Outlaws (The Road Dogg & Billy Gunn) were a tag team that was prominent in the “Attitude Era” of the early 2000s. Since their return, they have been nothing short of impressive in the ring, in excellent shape and putting on exciting tag team bouts. Slightly furthering the storyline of “The Authority’s” control of the WWE, as Triple H (the Chief Operating Officer of the WWE) and The New Age Outlaws were closely aligned as members of Degeneration X back in the Attitude Era, the match’s outcome was not too shocking for anyone who has seen enough wrestling to have some foresight into the future for how a storyline will progress. These two teams put on a great tag team match, but The New Age Outlaws emerged victorious after Billy Gunn hit the “Fame-asser” on Cody Rhodes to earn himself and his partner Road Dogg their first WWE Tag Team Championship in 14 years! This was The New Age Outlaws’ sixth time as “Tag Team Champions of the World!” ***
DANIEL BRYAN def. BRAY WYATT –– This match, contextually, should have been disappointing. Its inclusion on the match card meant that neither Daniel Bryan nor Bray Wyatt would be in the Royal Rumble main event, meaning that, at least in directly earning a title opportunity in the Royal Rumble, neither man would win. On paper, this match was definitely intriguing, but not one that I would have expected to steal the show. But it did. In a gasp-inducing performance, Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt put on a match that easily was the match of the night and, despite how early it is, the potential match of the year. Bray Wyatt has not been in the ring too many times since his debut, but that cause of concern was squashed immediately. From start to finish, this match was nothing short of exciting. The contest ended with Wyatt hitting “Sister Abigail” on Bryan. ****
BROCK LESNAR def. BIG SHOW –– Fueled by a rivalry of pure one-upmanship, the culmination of this brooding feud began with Brock Lesnar assaulting Big Show with a steel chair before the match began. After the brutal assault, Big Show got to his feet and the match began. Countering Lesnar, Big Show delivered his signature “Knock Out Punch,” only to be hit with the “F-5” by Lesnar shortly thereafter, losing the match. Such a short match had such a long aftermath though, as Lesnar repeatedly hit a downed Big Show with multiple steel chairs, even breaking one. While the match may not have been long, Brock Lesnar was established as a man not to be messed with, period. Overall, this was excellent story development, and even the short match was entertaining in its own right. ***1/2
RANDY ORTON (c) def. JOHN CENA –– In a very standard title bout between the defending WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton and John Cena – at first – the crowd’s focus was clear: not this match. All throughout the majority of the match, chants such as “We want Divas!” or “Daniel Bryan!” populated the soundscape of the arena. This was excellent for the heel Randy Orton, who actively and consistently expressed his disdain for the crowd’s ignorance of his match by taunting and mocking them. Towards the middle-end of the match, a shocking exchange occurred wherein Randy Orton stole both of John Cena’s finishers, hitting him with an “Attitude Adjustment” and an “STF!” After kicking out of both of those attempts, the frustrated Orton was caught off guard when Cena stole his finisher, the “RKO.” In Cena’s attempt to hit Orton with the Attitude Adjustment, the referee was knocked out momentarily. With that, the lights in the arena went black and the screen filled with a man in a sheep mask. When they turned back on, the Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Luke Harper) assaulted John Cena, escaping before the referee got to his feet. Cena tried to fight back against Orton, but Orton hit him with the World Heavyweight Championship. Not seeing the interference, the referee finally got up and counted to three, Orton still the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. ***
BATISTA won ROYAL RUMBLE –– As per The Authority’s doing, CM Punk entered the Royal Rumble first, followed by Seth Rollins. As more superstars continued to enter and fill the ring, some being eliminated along the way, Alexander Rusev, a developmental superstar in WWE NXT, made a dominant surprise entrance, mowing down several superstars before being eliminated. Also, Kevin Nash returned to the ‘Rumble, which was not exactly a big surprise as he has been in it in recent years. Other surprises included El Torito, Los Matadores’ (a tag team) friend, who secured an elimination on Fandango, and JBL (a former wrestler, now-commentator) who was spending so much time trying to give his coat to his partners on the broadcast team that he was eliminated by Roman Reigns, a member of The Shield. Speaking of Roman Reigns, Reigns broke a record for most eliminations in the Royal Rumble, formerly held by Kane in 2001 (11) with 12 eliminations! This is certainly a testament to the WWE’s desire to push him and established him as a star for the future. After almost 50 minutes, CM Punk was eliminated by another unmentioned surprise entrant in Kane, furthering The Authority versus CM Punk storyline. As you can tell, The Authority (Triple H and Stephanie McMahon) is involved in several different ways currently. In the end, however, it was the man who returned from a four-year absence, entering the ‘Rumble as entrant number 28, who won the trip to WrestleMania by finally eliminating Roman Reigns. Batista was met with a very negative reaction by the fans, who didn’t even see Daniel Bryan make a surprise appearance, and the night ended in such a bizarre state, for Batista is a returning superstar who was very popular and was expected to be greeted with nothing but positivity. ***
Overall, the 2014 Royal Rumble was a great PPV, well worth my $45.00.
Looking forward, only recounting some of the key events on Raw, the events of the Royal Rumble make sense from a logical point of view.
Bray Wyatt defeating the most popular superstar in the WWE and professional wrestling, Daniel Bryan, allows Wyatt to remain established as a dominant competitor while ending his chapter with Bryan. Now, as Raw indicated, Bryan revisited his tensions with The Authority, only to win a spot, along with John Cena and Sheamus (and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton), at the 6-man Elimination Chamber match at the PPV of the same name, the winner becoming the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. A neat wrap-up to that storyline. Daniel Bryan should win the Elimination Chamber, becoming champion. If not, then he may be involved in the match at WrestleMania 30 for the title along with Batista in a triple threat match. I want to avoid too much speculation, so let’s wait until the PPV.
Brock Lesnar’s assault on Cody Rhodes and Goldust, interrupting their rematch with The New Age Outlaws for the WWE Tag Team Championship shows how Lesnar wants to be recognized by The Authority and be given an opportunity at Randy Orton. In fact, this could even be a fatal four-way contest, Daniel Bryan as champion, him defying the odds by defeating Batista, Brock Lesnar, and Randy Orton; that would be something special, indeed.
For John Cena, his feud with Bray Wyatt seems to be beginning slowly, as the Wyatt Family interfered in his, Sheamus’, and Daniel Bryans’ match against The Shield (for three spots in the Elimination Chamber match), but I certainly am hoping and expecting a feud in the interim between the Wyatt Family and The Shield, culminating at Elimination Chamber, too. Perhaps the Wyatt Family can even cost Cena his chance at the title at Elimination Chamber, furthering that storyline while still finishing a feud with The Shield.
To be honest, there is a lot going on in the world of professional wrestling and the WWE. On February 24, the WWE Network debuts. Six days later, Elimination Chamber is happening on February 31. Then, on April 6, about a month later, WrestleMania 30 is here. Having attended WrestleMania 29 live at Metlife Stadium, I was disappointed with the final outcome of the product, and that particular event had a good build-up leading to its occurrence. This year, there seems to be great parts in place, but they have yet to come together. With only two months left, I don’t doubt that WWE will put them together, for they do every year. I do hope that it is executed well.
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