If a columnist is so bold as to make predictions on an upcoming PPV, they should be held
accountable for their predictions. Aside from highlighting the winners and
rating, I will compare them to my original predictions.
New Age Outlaws vs. The
Ascension
Predicted Winner – The
Ascension
Actual Winner – The Ascension
Predicted Rating: 2.5/5
Actual Rating: 2/5
This went as expected.
Outdated attitude era stars facing off against The Ascension. There were a few
fun nostalgia pops, but other than that, nothing special. Luckily, Konnor and
Viktor were not buried by the hands of these men.
Paige and Natalya vs. The
Bella Twins
Predicted Winner – Paige & Natalya
Actual Winner – The Bella Twins
Predicted Rating: 2/5
Actual Rating: 2.5/5
Slight better than expected,
but nothing spectacular. Natalya and Paige work well together, and the Bellas
tried their best. One would think Nikki would have used the “rack attack” to
solidify the power of that move as champion.
The Usos vs. The Miz and
Mizdow (Tag Titles)
Predicted Winner – The Usos
Actual Winner – The Usos
Predicted Rating: 2.5/5
Actual Rating: 3/5
Although we have seen this
almost every week, this (hopefully) blow off match was better than expected.
Mizdow had huge pops as usual, and the Usos hit some of their typical high
flying spots. It was a better filler match than we have seen in some previous
PPVs. The fact that the tag titles have been so frequently defended is also a
huge plus, as this was not the case for a while.
Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena
vs. Seth Rollins (WWE Title)
Predicted Winner – Brock Lesnar
Actual Winner – Brock Lesnar
Predicted Rating: 3.5/5
Actual Rating: 4.5/5
This will be the measuring
stick for “Match of the Year” for 2015. This match was paced perfectly, with
the perfect amount of action. All three men delivered in this match, even
though most of the spots were based on Rollins jumping off of something (which
still worked great). Rollins hitting the elbow drop on Lesnar reminded me of
HBK, which is exactly what he was going for. He is clearly ready for the strap
whenever they decide to put it on him. Props to Cena and Lesnar for essentially
putting him over in this match too (even though he did not win). Rarely would I
ever want a title match to go on after the rumble. This would have been one of
the rare moments.
Royal Rumble Match
Final Four (Predicted) – Reigns, Bryan, Ambrose, Wyatt
Final Four (Actual) – Reigns, Rusev, Big Show, Kane
Most Elminations (Predicted) – Rusev
Most Eliminations (Actual) – Wyatt/Rusev/Reigns tied
Iron Man Award (Predicted) – Ambrose
Iron Man Award (Actual) – Wyatt
Minute Man Award (Predicted) – The Bunny
Minute Man Award (Actual) – Titus O’Neal
Winner (Predicted) – Roman Reigns
Winner (Actual) – Roman Reigns
Predicted Rating: 4/5
Actual Rating: 1.5/5
Spitting in the face of the fans is an understatement
with this match. The Royal Rumble match had multiple flaws that spawned several
negative trending hashtags towards the WWE, specifically #CancelWWENetwork. The
Royal Rumble should be used to showcase current & future stars, provide fun returns, and
give a suspenseful moment with the final four (or two).
The surprise entrants of Bubba Ray, DDP, and The
Boogeyman were a bit of a mixed bag. Bubba Ray had a huge pop, and had some fun
spots with R-Truth and the Miz. Everything about that worked well. The
Boogeyman? Not so much. I’m curious as to why they wasted a spot on him instead
of an ECW original, or even a former WWE or WCW star. The ‘freak out’ portion
of the rumble just did not work. DDP is looking great for his age, thanks to
DDP Yoga (which I also do, and will vouch for how well it works). The one
surprise was there was no NXT star in the event. That was clearly a missed
opportunity.
Bray Wyatt was featured in a great manner, eliminating
multiple stars and looking strong. The way he was eliminated was somewhat of a
joke (Big Show & Kane throwing him over). This was the same case for
Ambrose, Ryback & Ziggler. Rusev had a strong showing as well, aside from
the end. His “hidden” moment was nothing like the Santino/Del Rio moment years
ago. He did get a Rusev chant once Ambrose was eliminated. The Miz/Mizdow spot
seemed a bit wasted, but it did splinter the relationship enough to start their
Wrestlemania feud. Daniel Bryan, arguably the top star right now, was thrown out
early in the match. It seemed as if they treated him like a midcarder. The crowd completely flatlined after this happened.
I was sitting next to my friend pre-Rumble, saying “Could
you imagine if the final four ended up being Reigns, Big Show, Kane, and Orton?”
in a joking fashion. To my dismay, three of the four actually happened (if you
don’t count the hidden Rusev). There is a difference between heel heat and
making the fan want to turn off the program. If throwing Bryan out early was
the knockout to this rumble, using Kane & Big Show the way they did was
just kicking it when it’s down. I did ask for Kane to take over HBK’s record of
most eliminations in the previous article, but not like this.
Creative (or Vince) likely had the idea that if there was
no one to cheer for in the end, people would cheer Reigns. They forget that
booing for 20 minutes straight is also an alternative. They even went to
lengths of doing a post-match attack and bringing the Rock out, which was the most
pathetic attempt of capturing an audience I have ever seen. When one the
greatest mic workers in the history of the WWE cannot save the ending of the
show, they should know they did something wrong. Are they insinuating that all
of the WWE fans have a low IQ and can’t see through their awful booking?
Reigns himself is not a bad wrestler. He is, however, going to take
the brunt of the damage from the fans because of some of the worst booking this
decade. He did not ask for an awful setup to the end of the show, this was all
done backstage. Regardless, this type of booking will hurt their fan base,
which is the driver of their business model.
*Bonus – I always like to end on a high point. There were
some fantastic signs at the Rumble. Which one did you enjoy the most? I am torn
between “2004 Never Forget” and the Colt Cabana face.
