Okay, let’s get this thing started.
Dean Ambrose (C) def. Kevin Owens – Intercontinental Championship (Last Man Standing)
Well, this match certainly woke me up. A wise choice making this the first match on the card, as it gets the crowd warmed up for the evening’s festivities. I said before that Ambrose and Owens have yet to fail one on one up to this point, and this match reinforced that ideal. I’m sorry, but this match was everything it needed to be. No wrestling holds, no submissions, no wasted headlocks. This was a straight up fight. And Michael Cole got buried. Literally. I can pinpoint Owens driving Ambrose through the table or Ambrose’s desperation shove on Owens that won the match, but as a whole, this was absolutely great. I think this is where their feud will end, but if they can produce more matches like this, I can tune in for another couple of months. Standing ovation for both men here. Awesome stuff here, watch this on replay if you can. Some may say that this was too much of a spotfest, but if done right, it can be incredible, and boy did they make great work here. I’d venture to say that was the best Last Man Standing Match that I’ve seen since John Cena and Umaga at the Rumble 9 years ago. ****1/4
Kofi Kingston (C) and Big E (C) def. Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso – WWE Tag Team Championship
Boos for the Usos? Unless, The Usos disrespected the Orlando Magic, it looks like we got a smark crowd on our hands. Man, Reigns is gonna get it in the main event tonight. I kinda felt bad that this was the match to come after the first match. Unless they put up something resembling their performance at TLC, I wouldn’t expect the crowd to be into it that much. Despite that, I gotta say, these two teams did make great use of their time. It started out average, but it ended with some pretty great reversals and false finishes. And by the way, Big E is going to kill someone with that suicide spear one day. I also loved the ending sequence as Big E caught Jimmy or Jey (I can’t tell who is who at this point) for the Big Ending. I was afraid this was going to be a typical RAW snoozefest, but I liked the energy in this one. Solid for what it was. ***1/4
Last year’s Rumble was a triple threat match, like 10 tag team matches and the overly predictable Rumble match. So this year is already better.
Kallisto def. Alberto Del Rio (C) – United States Championship
I must say, I am shocked. I believed that if WWE wanted Kallisto to be United States Champion, they wouldn’t have even bothered having Del Rio take it back from Kallisto. Well, the betting odds had Del Rio as an overwhelming favorite, so it looks like some people lost some money. Anyways, I dozed off and on during the match. It was too one sided to begin, the comebacks were kind of uninspiring and there was an obvious botch that Kallisto tried to cover up with a roll-up. You’d think that it was Sin Cara in that mask. Match really wasn’t all that good to me, but hey, at least Kallisto’s Shredder attire looked good on him, so at least he has that going for him. Glad that Kallisto is champion, who is far more exciting than Del Boro. It wasn’t horrible per say, but it was kind of lacking that extra something. I guess seeing them wrestle three times in one on one matches within a 2 week span kind of lessens the potential of the match. Now no more of these two and no more rematches. Agreed? **1/2
Charlotte (C) def. Becky Lynch – Divas Championship
I think Flair was drunk during this match. That’s just my opinion. But Becky should get tested immediately after that move by Ric. You can never be too careful these days. Considering the garbage that’s been the Divas division the past couple of months, this match was actually heading somewhere good. Nice reversals, great submissions, and some good chemistry. But just as they were going to end this match on a high note, we get a cheap finish and a horrible interference at that. I mean a jacket to the face? And the ref didn’t even bother to eject Flair? It has to be said, but Flair has done more harm to Charlotte than good. We need to find a reason to care about Charlotte herself, but Flair being by her side only reinforces the idea that she’s only special because she is the daughter of a legend. But hey, at least it looks like we’re getting Sasha/Charlotte at WrestleMania. Maybe a triple threat if they add Becky. I’m all for it, but as for this match, it started decent, but fell flat. But hey, Sasha comes out and it looks like we have our next feud. **1/2
Triple H Wins The Royal Rumble
Okay, so much to digest from that match, so little time. I wanted WWE to build towards feuds at WrestleMania in this match, and I got just that. But first, we need to address something. AJ Styles in WWE is a thing now. Something we thought would never happen. Try not to soil yourself too much. I would have preferred Styles to be introduced towards the end, but hey, he got over half an hour and the crowd absolutely lost their collective minds over him. To top it off, he made history in his debut. He did something no other man could do for over a year, and that’s eliminate Curtis Axel in a Royal Rumble match. He really is phenomenal. Then there was the portion of the match when Reigns was jumped by The League of Nations, though they once again proved their stupidity by not eliminating him over the top rope when they could have. So he was out for a while, but we all knew he was coming back, it was just a matter of when. Then, you got Sami Zayn who made a surprise appearance and appears to be continuing a feud with Kevin Owens. Of course we couldn’t forget Brock Lesnar, who was eliminated much earlier than I thought courtesy of The Wyatt Family, but then again, I guess having Triple H, Lesnar and Reigns in the Rumble at the same time may be overdoing it, so I can understand that. Finally, the portion that we wanted when Reigns returned and started to eliminate everyone in what appeared to be a mirror image of last year’s rumble. Triple H was number 30, and by eliminating both Reigns and Ambrose, he became a 14 time champion and his first since 2009. I will miss having an active champion, but from a storyline point of view, this makes perfect sense. As for the actual rumble, it was very entertaining, especially when you compare it to the two that proceeded it. While there wasn’t any returns per say, there were great surprises and there was some storytelling going on. Hell, even Braun Strowman got some moments by eliminating Big Show and Kane, putting him over as a great monster to The Wyatt Family. I appreciated that as well. Overall, I could not complain at all and the only way this Rumble would have been a failure was if Roman Reigns retained the belt. Compared to the past two years, this Rumble leads a good start on the road to WrestleMania ***1/2
Conclusion:
Title changes, returns and debuts all made this one successful night for WWE. After tonight, at WrestleMania, I’m inclined to believe we will have Triple H and Roman Reigns over the WWE Championship, Charlotte and Sasha Banks over the Divas Championship (Maybe Becky in a triple threat if they decide to go that route), Ambrose and Jericho over the IC Championship, AJ Styles and Kevin Owens and Bray Wyatt and Brock Lesnar. All things considered, that’s one hell of a job by WWE right there. We had great undercard matches as well, as Ambrose/Owens set the crowd on fire and the tag team match wasn’t too shabby either. If you have some time to burn, I’d definitely suggest seeing the Rumble or the Ambrose/Owens match. This was a refreshing rumble compared to some stinkers in years gone by. The road to WrestleMania is off on the right foot. Now let’s see how WWE screws this up. Thumbs up.
