SquaredCircle @kbin.social TellumSiege @kbin.social 12 mo. ago

WWE ROYAL RUMBLE Discussion Thread 01/27/24

Tonight, WWE Royal Rumble is LIVE from Tampa Bay, FL! The card includes:

Men's Royal Rumble match: 30-man Royal Rumble match where the winner gets a shot at the Men's World Championship at Wrestlemania 40!
Women’s Royal Rumble match: 30-woman Royal Rumble match where the winner gets a shot at the Women's World Championship at Wrestlemania 40!
Fatal four-way match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: © Roman Reigns (with Paul Heyman) vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles vs. LA Knight
Singles match for the WWE United States Championship: © Logan Paul vs. Kevin Owens

And more!

Show starts LIVE at 8pm EST | 5pm PST on Peacock. Check your local listings for more information.

85 comments

Didn't wait long to bring im Naomi. As a TNA fan I'm gonna miss her though.
US and Universal Title matches are pretty easy to call, but both Rumble’s are intriguing. Becky/Bayley and Cody/Punk are the prohibitive favourites, but I smell the potential for a swerve. Very much looking forward to both matches.
- I'm looking forward to the Rumble's. I don't watch WWE regularly so I have no clue who the favourites are for the women's match...but, unless the Rock makes an appearance, I'd say Cody/Punk make a lot of sense for the men.
  
  I'm guessing Logan Paul is the favourite in the US match?
  
  Yep. Can’t see any reason for him to drop the belt here when Mania is just a couple of months away, but the match should be good.
  
  I kind of zone in and out on WWE these days, but the Rumble to Wrestlemania season is usually when my attention is at its highest. It helps that my son is a huge Cody fan and basically treats him as a superhero, so you know who we’re cheering for tonight!
  
  Feel like Punk is gonna win and guarantee his shot at Seth
  
  Cody can lose and overcome adversity at Elimination Chamber to face Roman again
The women's rumble was the highlight of the entire show for me. The men's started slow but got better, IMO.

Edit: I forgot to mention Chelsea Green was a fucking trooper, she was very entertaining, and the best thing that ever happened for her was Piper bullying her way to the tag championships with Green, they are gold together.

Logan Paul continues to be impressive, Kevin Owens may just bring out the best in him, wasn't a big fan of the finish but if they want to push it to a final match at Mania it was for the best.

Roman again proves he needs interference to win a match, I'm so tired of this, I hope Cody gets to "finish the story" and that Rock isn't involved.

Now to the press conference...

Cody handled the Vince question like a PR guy... On the other hand, Triple H should have kept his stupid mouth shut because it made him look stupid and like he doesn't take it seriously.

Mishandling the post-show doesn't make him guilty of anything... but, damn the guy had three days to come up with something other than no comment, and he still couldn't just say no comment. I'm still in the camp without an investigation or the court going to discovery and the names coming out I can't demand he be fired without evidence, but I can say that if it were me making the decisions going forward TKO should have a PR guy handle the post shows, hell make Cody EVP again to do it. His response soured my defending of him until more is known, but I'm not ready to toss in the towel yet, but yeah, it wasn't great.
- Have to agree with this. A lot of people gave Tony Khan shit for how he handled many of his press conferences in a PR manner, but ultimately it's the only way you can do in this instance and trying to deflect just isn't a good look. Cody handled it better than his boss.
  
  My only real criticism of the women's rumble is that it probably wasn't the best place to debut Jade Cargill. Unless she's improved significantly (which is entirely possible) she's still likely a bit green to be carrying a rumble.
Jade's in. Her and Grace were the only two spoilers I was aware of. Hoping there's a few more to surprises to come...
No other result than Roman here, but I’m sure we’ll get a good match nonetheless. Just hope everyone else gets a good showing in defeat.

WWE just totally leaning into the Slim Jim stuff here.🤣
- Sounds like the question isn't who wins but who eats the pin. My uninformed opinion is AJ.
  
  Good call, haha!
And out comes Grace. One of the main reasons I'm watching right now lol
- More of a TNA guy myself as well. Cheers!
  
  TNA's great! Might actually be my favourite wrestling show these days lol.
  
  And I know she won't win this but I really hope Grace does well here. So far so good I think.
- I saw it was spoiled, and I still was happy about it, she works hard and took a lot of flack for the voice change from the steroids, but she's an excellent performer, I hope WWE gives her a look after this when her contract is up, assuming she wants to move.
  
  I must have missed the voice change stuff (thankfully) but my impression was that she’s always gotten flack for being a mark for herself. However, the fact that she’s married to Gresham makes me wonder whether she’s just catching that by proxy. Great performer and definitely due a serious look from WWE when//if she wants to test the waters.
  
  She didn't look out of place at all in this match. But as a TNA guy I'd hate to see her leave...even though it's be better for her bank account lol.
This is my first time seeing Nia Jax and boy is she rough...
- I think they try to sell it as “part work part shoot” with her but it’s pretty obvious that she’s just not that good in the ring. On the other hand, having Jade debut by taking her out was a good call.
  
  Yeah, if there's one thing Nia does well it's get heat. The crowd hated her.
  
  And agree about Jade. Smart move to start her off strong.
Not to speculate too much, but the lack of Mercedes here could very well indicate that she’ll be appearing in AEW soon.
- Sounds like it's all but set in stone. If it is, TK should debut her ASAP.
  
  From what I read, they're just waiting for her to finish up with some Hollywood commitments.
  
  I can’t believe he hasn’t tweeted about it yet, haha.
Saw clips of Jordynne. What a cool moment!
- She had a great showing. Didn't look out of place at all.
  
  The hug, right into the pounding, was perfect.
  
  Also, phrasing, boom.
The little “time elapsed by competitor” graphic is a nice touch.
Bayley wins! Was that the right move?
- I think so. One of her stablemates is the current champ on SD, so that story writes itself. I doubt she’ll challenge Rhea, but a swerve in that direction could be cool.
Surprised this match is happening before the US Championship match. Guess Roman is in a rush to go back on vacation lol.
- Part of me wonders whether it’s a way to tease some of the participants entering the Rumble later.
  
  I hope so. I'd love to see some interesting names show up...especially some more TNA talent.
Cody wins. That was the right call imo.
- A special thanks to you for making the night memorable. Hopefully I’ll catch you around here from time to time. Cheers!
  
  Likewise! I don't usually watch WWE but I'm usually here live for the AEW threads /TNA PPV's. But if people aren't here live they'll often show up after the fact. I know Geek likes to watch these shows early in the morning, and he'll usually respond to any comments you make. Same goes for others too. We're all still trying to grow this place, slowly, brick by brick. Good to have you here man!
Logan Paul really shouldn't be this good.
- I look at it this way. He’s not the first piece of shit human being that’s been good at pro wrestling but at least he hasn’t killed anyone…that we know of.
Jimmy for #2!!!
- There's no way both brothers drew 1 and 2. Something tells me this is rigged!
  
  The fix is in!!!
I woke up late this morning (Manila local time) so I only got to started watching live during the Logan Paul vs. Kevin Owens match. I was so relieved the wrong finalist didn’t win the men’s Rumble match.

Watching the PLE replay now, boy did my goosebumps raise with the surprise entrants to the women’s Rumble!
- I loved how they hit the surprises right from the get go. It kind of tempered my expectations for a big surprise later in the match, and in the meantime, the women worked so hard to keep the focus in ring. I’d have to rewatch, but in the now, I think the women’s match was slightly better than the men’s.
  
  I just saw on the women’s match the on-screen graphics for some of their time in the ring. Did they have that too for the men’s match? It didn’t show up on our Disney+ livestream
As a complete aside, the way cagematch formats the result for rumble matches always makes me chuckle

Men's rumble result

Cody Rhodes defeats Andrade and Austin Theory and Bobby Lashley and Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed and Carlito and Carmelo Hayes and CM Punk and Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio and Drew McIntyre and Finn Balor and Grayson Waller and Gunther and Ivar and JD McDonagh and Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso and Karrion Kross and Kofi Kingston and Ludwig Kaiser and Omos and Pat McAfee and R-Truth and Ricochet and Sami Zayn and Santos Escobar and Shinsuke Nakamura and The Miz

Women's rumble result

Bayley defeats Alba Fyre and Asuka and Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair and Candice LaRae and Chelsea Green and Indi Hartwell and Ivy Nile and Jade Cargill and Jordynne Grace and Kairi Sane and Katana Chance and Kayden Carter and Liv Morgan and Maxxine Dupri and Michin and Naomi and Natalya and Nia Jax and Piper Niven and Roxanne Perez and Shayna Baszler and Shotzi and Tegan Nox and Tiffany Stratton and Valhalla and Xia Li and Zelina Vega and Zoey Stark

I mean, it's not wrong, but it's also somewhat generous.
- Truth lmao
Sometimes good guy deserves to win. The fact that most of us booked ourselves into think Punk would get it over Cody makes it even more sweet.
This is the most I've been invested in since Hangman vs Omega. Time for Cody to finish the story.
So I went and watched the clip of Jordynne Grace in the Rumble. Honestly, I was shocked at how they put her over. Seems like they put a lot more respect on TNA with her appearance than they did with Mickie James in 2022; mentioning the TNA Knockouts championship by name, making a point of the fact that she beat Naomi for the belt, and not only letting her dominate the match for a bit, but commentary also selling her dominance. Loved the quote "TNA has an absolute weapon as champion!"
- Yeah, Jordynne looked like she belonged in there with everyone. They absolutely made her look great. Mickie showing up with the belt felt huge, but this feels bigger for the reasons you mention and that Mickie had a verbal agreement with TNA and a history with WWE while Jordynne has a contract with TNA and no history with WWE, as far as I'm aware.
This is a great final four. Anyone can logically win. Let’s go Gunther!!
Big pop for Cody at the end there. I really like that finish, and not just because my son marked out past his bedtime. It was well put together and fairly unique when compared to past Rumble’s.

Entertaining show and we’re well on the road to Mania now. Props to anyone who posted in here along with me, you folks are the coolest!
Just want to add that I love, love, love Michael Cole standing to call the match. Makes it seem so much more important.
- I noticed that too. It was a nice touch.
Omos is massive lol.
I do like being right, even if it’s obvious.🤣
- I mean I didn't see it coming lol
...well that commentary call from Michael Cole is going straight into Botchamania anyway. Accidentally naming someone not in the match yet... oof.
Still no Punk. Kinda surprised it's taking so long...

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