The triple threat match was godly.

But, yeah, the Rumble match itself was as bad as you've been hearing. Philly rightfully shat all over it. Like, it was the least entertaining Rumble match that I can remember...and I'm not taking into account the finish when I say that. It was dull & note for note expected nearly the whole way through.

Watch NJPW and Lucha Underground and NXT and that's it.

They were outright expecting it to happen, and yet they STILL went through with it. It's not even a matter of being unaware anymore, they're fully aware and just don't give a shit. ****ing stupid of them to pull that in Philadelphia, of all places. Reigns winning didn't even piss me off, but Show and Kane eliminating Ambrose, Wyatt, and Ziggler like they were jobbers may be one of the worst booking decisions I have ever seen in my life. Not to mention the Bryan debacle. They seriously should have just played his injury up to keep him out until Fast Lane if they weren't having him win.

It didn't work at all either...the crowd popped for The Rock briefly and then went back to completely shitting all over it.

Completely pathetic that they tried to use Rock to stem the venom they knew Reigns would get....and it still didn't work.

But they do give a shit, just not what the fans want. They keep trying to trick the fans or pull different stunts hoping that they'll come around. Thing is, this isn't the 1980's or even the 90's anymore, the fans are a lot smarter nowadays and know what they want.

Last year they knew fans would be disappointed with Bryan not being in the Rumble, so they put Mysterio in at 30 and thought "There's no way they'll boo Mysterio. He's never been booed." Well, they were completely caught off guard when they booed the **** out of him and shit all over the whole match. It eventually took them putting Bryan in at the main event of Wrestlemania to salvage it.

This year, no matter what they were having Reigns go over in Philly. I think they thought that if they eliminated Bryan early, fans would forget about it considering guys like Ambrose, Ziggler, Cesaro, Mizdow, and others would still come out and placate the crowd. Well, it kind of worked(briefly, the match was still a deadzone after Bryan got eliminated) until they were eliminated and then they were left with 2 guys who are pushing 50 and are stale and Roman who has no chemistry in the ring, no talent, like 4 moves and zero charisma on the mic. The fans know he's being shoved down their throats and they resent it.

Even the Rock couldn't save it by coming out and beating up on Kane and Big Show. Sure, they popped for the Rock Bottom and People's Elbow but went right back to booing the **** out of Reigns right after. If they did the shit they're doing to Bryan and others right now to Stone Cold and The Rock back in 97-98, the WWE might not even be around today.

They've been handed the storyline and the main event of Wrestlemania for 2 years now and they've royally ****ed it up both times. It takes commitment to be this incompetent.

TL;DR = http://i.imgur.com/T5ZdBgn.jpg

^ Even The Rock knows it's not working.

The way the entire Rumble was booked it was like one big **** you troll from Vince to the fans...

Vince buying out the WCW was the worst thing that happened to the WWE. Once that happened they stopped giving a **** and the product got stale.

The 2nd worst thing to happen is/was letting HHH and Stephanie run things backstage.

HHH runs NXT which is an awesome product right now...Vince and Kevin Dunn still oversee the main product and you can absolutely see it with the stupid ass backwards booking decisions they make.

The tone of the crowd completely changed when Bryan was eliminated. If Bryan would have been one of the last 3 that would have worked immensely.

That would have made it 10x worse with booing.

If Bryan wasn't going to win, he shouldn't have even been in the Rumble.

I mean, what the hell was the point?

Bryan wasn't in the Rumble last year and the crowd went apeshit on the event, it wasn't as bad as last night but it was enough for them to change their WM plans. Maybe they thought having him just be there would be enough. I dunno, they're dumb.

In other news, according to Meltzer(wrestling historian with a few contacts within WWE) on his audio show, Vince doesn't want to do a three-way at Mania because he feels like it'd be a repeat of last year. They expected the backlash but not to this degree. And Rock is NOT HAPPY.

Apparently they are also trying to paint this as a Philadelphia issue. Blaming the city and the crowd and such. Basically they think it wouldn't have been this bad if they were somewhere else.

#CancelWWENetwork was the #1 trending topic on Twitter for quite a while last night...JESUS, what a mess this is.

ROFL at the complaints by you people who watch that fake crap and complain about they way they present itROFL

It is somewhat of a Philly issue, but not entirely. There would have been nearly as much booing in NYC/NJ, LA, Chicago, etc. The big tentpole WWE cities aren't a bunch of typical WWE Universe sheep. A big test to this theory will be how Boston reacts during RAW tonight (that is if the show can even get there through the weather).

People critique movies and TV shows all the time.

And yes, pro wrestling is ****ing dumb and it's a ****ing dumb hobby to follow. But it's my ****ing dumb hobby to follow and I'll critique it all I like. Although I only follow the big events these days. :harumph:

King_Chief_Fan: never saw a movie he didn't like!

fair enough...to each his own.

Always remember to think of wrestling as a TV series and NOT a sporting event. It's a fantasy show with athletic actors.

The only way they can save the show now is if Rollins cashes in. He proved to me last night that he is ready for the title. Reigns has only competed in 1 singles pay per view event but yet he wins the Rumble. Vince is so out of touch.

NJPW has a streaming service for about $8 a month. It only works in browsers at the moment but they are working on apps. Everything is in Japanese but the in-ring product is a billion times better. Wrestle Kingdom 9 was incredible. Like 6 4-star or better matches on the card.

Lucha Underground is a giant spot fest and I love it. Also the camera editing is different and is a fresh take on wrestling.

http://i.imgur.com/hw16UGT.gif

Look at what is on the Tron after Bryan's elimination...

Like I said, this entire Rumble was one big **** you troll from Vince.

Haven't watched in years. Had to look up who Bryan was.
Is there a drought for real superstars, or what?

I haven't watched a second of wrestling since football season started. Roman Reigns was not a good wrestler when I stopped, I'm guessing people are already tired of his generic, lack of charisma style? He has zero mic skills, and no honest charisma, and isn't a good wrestler. yet he's supposed to suddenly be the face of the company?

What have I missed, in summary?

When I last watched in early August it was a mess. It's like WWE forgot how to make a character, and sell him to the fans.

The stuff they did with the dude with dark hair, where he went around being a different person every week was horrible. I felt bad for the guy.

Raw, in the arena, was cancelled due to the storm. They're running a 3 hour studio show. I may tune in just for the train wreck of it.

Does this mean their "longest running weekly tv show" streak is over or does the studio show count towards that

I got the impression it'll still be a live show.

This is usually one of their higher rated shows of the year, even after horrendous rumble matches.

Oh wow. I may have to watch for the first time in over a year myself.

It was painfully obvious what they tried to do. If you are going to try that strategy why not just have the Rock come in at 30 to help Reigns and have it play out that way.

Everyone here has basically nailed it about what happened and what is happening. The only positive was the triple threat, and how great Rollins was in it. I was a little on the fence about how I felt about him, but he won me over with that match.

I didn't watch but what I read about last night sounded like a double turn, or the start of one. Brock's getting cheered at mania against anybody on the roster regardless of what they do, so they might as well build as much heat as they can for Reigns. Putting Bryan out early, then having has-beens close out the match with Reigns does that in spades.

Personally I'd have held Bryan out and built him up in February. But they can do what they did last year to get him in a main event. Or have Sheamus squash him again. Which is probably what Vince will do.

They want Reigns to be the next Cena. They may actually have Lesnar vs Bryan at Fast Lane just for Lesnar to destroy him and garner mega heat.

The last PPV I watched was TLC shortly after The Shield broke up. Rollins and Ambrose freaking killed their match along with some nice moves from Kofi Kingston. Rollins and Ambrose are unbelievably talented. Lots of fun to watch.

I assume they've decided to push Reigns because he has the size and typical body type that Vince has always considered super star caliber. What a piss poor decision, though. He was always the weaker star of the three in The Shield.

I quit watching after that night because Cena won the belts, and I had Cenanuff of Cena. Looks like it was a wise decision because the WWE doesnt seem to get it.

was amazingly impressed with Rollins yesterday

good God

That the next ppv? What a lame name.

We'll see what they set up tonight. And then they'll change their mind 37000 times times by mania.

A 3 hour studio show? What exactly does that mean?

Ive never really seen a Rollins performance where he didnt impress me at all. He's got a butt load of talent.

And Ambrose, when I was watching, he just had this "it" factor. Like a Pillman/Austin mixture. Very fun to watch.

He's amazing in the ring and has really found his stride talking....he's more than ready to be the next top heel after Brock departs.

Last night just cemented that...I hope he cashes in at Mania and wins no matter what happens.

This :clap:

I've always really liked Ambrose. Glad I'm not the only one.

Rollins solidified last night that he needs to be the next champion. He has mad skills in ring and he's getting better on the mic. Reigns is garbage. He does three moves and that's it. He has no charisma and he's not even close to be ready

Sandow, he's been with the WWE for like 10 years too, spent most of his time in developmental. Like right after the Attitude era ended. He is walking proof they waste talent. Spent all those resources training him for years and years and that is the best they can do.

All of the praise for Rollins as a main event heel is deserved...and says nothing about how good Rollins is at working babyface. Dude is the closest thing to Shawn Michaels since Shawn Michaels.

Ziggler is the best guy on their roster and they are too stupid to realize it.

And Ryback at 23 and Ziggler at 30 made no sense with the whole The Authority is trying to keep them down storyline.

Lol already!

I'll enjoy watching the triple threat match again.

Turn your TV to USA now if you want to watch the full triple threat match. It's glorious.

They'll also show the full Royal Rumble match tonight, if you want to see why everyone is shitting on it.

I hated the Rumble but the triple threat match was worth my $9.99. That and NXT every week.

I can't wait to see what they do with the sound for the rumble match.

I also had that thought. They didn't bleep out the 'holy shits' from the audience in the triple threat.

That flying elbow tho...

JFC.

I love Rollins.

I think Rollins made his statement months ago, but his performance in that match solidified his spot as a main eventer for the next several years. We could have had Rollins/Bryan for the title at Mania (actually, it wouldn't surprise me to see Rollins/Bryan at Mania). Imagine that match.

I'll be right back. I gotta clean up, I just marked out big time.

The crowd energy just completely died when Bryan went out, and then Dolph Zigler being eliminated completely ruined the show.

Wow that was beyond awful

The #BluePants sign and the Cabana head crack me up each time I see them.

This interview is not helping.

Pretty much a nothing show after the triple threat.

Thought the interviews were all terrible aside from Bryan and Heyman in the last ten minutes. Everything is so over scripted, poorly overacted. They need to get rid of the soap opera writers and let the talent speak for themselves.

If Reigns were always the Reigns of the last segment (a quiet, confident, "I know I'm going to beat you" affect) then he'd be much more palatable than his El Hijo de Hustle Loyalty Respect character.

So wwe announced today that they finally reached a million subs. (They say 'fastest growing subscription service! I say finally because that's what they originally projected...)

I wonder how many they lost this week if the stories about the cancellation part of the website crashing after the rumble are true, and what the sub numbers will look like at this time next week.

I'm sure them trolling actually got them more, to be honest

shit, I didn't watch a single thing after last WrestleMania until this Rumble ... and suddenly, due to the epic troll, I'm interested again

I am too. But it's still not enough interest to get me to sub. Just enough to tune in to raw. And I doubt it lasts.

Interesting that you stopped after Wrestlemania. I thought Wretlemania last year was a great show. Did it have anything to do with Bryan finally.getting the belts? Was there nothing ledt to root for story wise for you after that?

Actually. You're right. I quit watching when Bryan got injured. I found myself fast forwarding for 2:45 minutes out of every RAW and just stopped caring + no cable.

After the Rumble, I read a shit ton of articles because I loved the trolling they pulled off. Everyone was so mad. That's kinda funny. Place would've rioted if Dolph didn't come out at 30. Come to think of it, I wish he wouldn't have. Bautista at 30 would've been amazing.

I got the network this weekend to watch some old shit since there was no football. I decided to watch the rumble for the **** of it Sunday Night. I haven't watched since shortly after I saw CM Punk win the tile in OKC I'm thinking about 2007 or so. I really didn't watch much from 2002-2007 either. I really enjoyed the 3 way match. I had no idea who Rollins was going in and was impressed. I was liking the rumble at first. I thought Bray Wyatt was entertaining while he was in. I could tell what was going on by the crowd reaction without knowing who any of these news guys were. I think the last time Vince truly listened to the fans was the rise of Stone Cold. What fans like has changed and Vince has refused to change with it. He still wants to push the huge guys who aren't as talented. It works with Lesnar because he's good, but most of those guys are stiffs. I didn't know Reigns was related to The Rock so that makes even more sense. I will say there seems to be a lot of talent on the roster right now if they book it right. The Bryan/Lesnar match seems like a no - brainer for the David vs Goliath thing. I've also always loved Brock tossing around the small guys.

Anyway had a blast watching some old ECW and WWE stuff. I hope they get it together and make it fun to watch again. I do miss it when it's good.

I'll have to check out NXT this month. Sounds like my kind of thing. Not sure there will be much to keep me hanging in but I might give it a ride thru Mania.

LMAO That would have been ****ing hilarious.

I don't know if it's trolling or they somehow found a way to book almost every segment of the Rumble match completely wrong. The only thing they did right was make Bray Wyatt look really strong.

They buried Ambrose, Bryan and Ziggler completely. The final three was Kane, Big Show and Rock's cousin. If that didn't have Vince's fingerprints, nothing does.

They also did the hilarious "sub a random black guy for Devon" gimmick. I marked out seeing Bubba but was really let down that Devon wasn't on the show. They had the perfect setup to have a little Dudley Boys / Wyatt Family showdown.

Also, the plan was to have Titus O'Neil go out in one second like Santino a few years back but the idiots completely botched the clothesline spot.

Wrestlemania could be a trainwreck if they don't make changes. Here is the card, if I were to guess:

Lesnar vs Reigns - yawn. Although i could see whoever wins the match then losing to Rollins with his cash-in

Bray Wyatt vs Taker - don't even know if Taker can do it anymore

Sting vs HHH - awesome 15 years ago

Cena vs Rusev - yuck

Rollins vs Orton - could be great but kinda meaningless

Usos vs who gives a shit

Golddust vs Stardust - not bad

Miz vs Mizdow - could be fun

Ziggler vs Barrett - solid undercard match

Random divas trainwreck

I have no clue what they would do with Bryan. Overall a solid undercard and the main events look god-awful.

Sting and HHH at WM31 LMAO

You know they're going to do that....HHH has to always been in the spotlight...and everyone will be really pissed off.

I see DB and Sheamus for Mania brought up quite a bit. I hope they give Cesaro and Kidd a shot at the Usos.

Daniels injury is what led to Cena winning the belts at the TLC pay per view, so thats about when I quit as well.

I watched last years Mania knowing it would be a win/win. I would either get to see Bryan get the belts, or Id get to see the major meltdown of.fans everywhere if they trolled the wwe universe that night and made Bryan lose. That would have been epic.

I did get to see a ton of grown men whine and cry about The Undertaker losing though, so that was cool.

Did The Rock join The Corporation yet?

no, they teased a Rock feud with the authority though!

It wouldn't surprise me if Vince panics and throws obscene money at Rock to do a match at Wrestlemania.

It has zero to do with that. Sting wants the match with HHH. HHH doesn't want to wrestle any more. He doesn't even want to do TV. He needs to continue focusing on NXT and developing the next wave. Orton is just about done, Cena is almost 40, they really need to develop the roster around Reigns, Ambrose, Rollins. But see, that's the problem. The talent after them is really lacking.

Bullshit. Tons of talent. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, and lots more are full of talent. The problem is they never bothered developing half of those guys. They used them as jobbers and door mats to continue pushing the Cenas, Ortons, and HHH's. Piss poor planning by the WWE.

Cena should have been putting over Wyatt in their feud. Instead, they made Wyatt look weak and let Cena clown the whole family by himself at every PPV.

Then Wyatt went on to basically squash Ambrose in their feud and made him look like hot garbage.