Good evening! We are officially on the Road to WrestleMania, with the Royal Rumble finally upon us. We’ve got a ton of action, including not one but two Rumble matches. It’s a historic evening in a historic city, so let’s keep this short and crack open this Nutshell!
Best Match of the night:
Another night, another two choices. This time, it was all about the Rumbles. They delivered.
Worst match of the night:
The triple threat wasn’t all that good, not after the men’s Rumble. But…I’d say the US title match and SmackDown tag title matches were worse. Not like, terrible, at least not in the case of the tag match. Underwhelming is more appropriate.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
Rusev Day
ECW
Nakamura
Delete
John Cena Sucks
You both suck
You still got it
Star of the Night
Balor has to get a nod here, for such a long run in the Rumble. In at number two, surviving a tantrum from Corbin. Crowd was pissed that Cena eliminated him after 57 minutes and change.
Nakamura absolutely gets a star, because he went a long time…AND won.
And so too does Asuka.
Small nod to Rousey, in a brief cameo at the end.
Spot of the Night:
Doomsday Device-like move by Gable and Benjamin on the outside.
619s oh how we missed those.
Braun putting Brock through a table-after being taken to Suplex City.
Lesnar flipping the announce table onto Strowman.
An F5 for Kane onto the other announce table, which at first did not break.
Jobber of the Night:
It has to be Heath Slater, no? I mean, he took forever and a day to get into the ring because he was first attacked by Corbin, and then just about everyone who passed him on the way to the ring. But then Sheamus flung Slater in…and Slater put Sheamus right out. So, I guess they can share the honor.
Hurricane Helms wants the honor too.
Upset of the Night:
Not a match, but Rollins at Jordan. Jason recovered apparently enough to get to the tag position, but decided he couldn’t go and left Rollins high and dry, and The Bar reclaims the tag belts.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
The men’s Rumble, going off before the women, and early in the show (closer to the start of a normal PPV, though a few matches in on the Rumble due to the early start).
Corbin, after a really quick elimination of him by Balor, snaps and takes Balor and Rusev out of the ring and destroys them. Slater was next in, and he got destroyed by Corbin as he exited.
Nakamura wins. NAKAMURA WINS!! I think everyone figured, looking at that final four, that we were going to be disappointed….just…wow.
Botch of the night:
Roode’s second rope DDT which finished the match was ugly as sin.
I couldn’t decide to put this in botch or LOL, so I’ll put it here..but how about Vickie “hitting” Carmella with her briefcase? It was barely a shove, but all involved sold it like crazy.
Commentary of the night:
Nice to have Lawler back on commentary, even if only as a guest.
If it wasn’t Rusev Day, Rusev wouldn’t know what day it was.
You don’t have to sing a lullaby, everyone’s already asleep out here (funnier because it came from Lawler, after his sleeping issues at RAW).
He’s still not good…he’s just on SmackDown now (Graves, answering a question about Saxton)
LOL Moment of the night:
Big E had pancakes in his tights. And he fed them to the pummeled Heath Slater, trying to “revive” him.
The Philly crowd chanting “you both suck” at Reigns and Cena, and it clearly looked like it bothered both.
Carmella’s outfit….leggings that you could see above the bottom half of her outfit? And the outfit in general…though, I guess it was a slight improvement over her one piece deal.
Noteworthy Moment:
NXT Champ Andrade Cien Almas enters the men’s Rumble at spot seven. Surprising considering he’s the champ, and given that match last night.
Dillinger for the second year was due in at number 10, but was attacked by Zayn and Owens, and Zayn decided to swipe the ten spot.
Adam Cole entering the Rumble at 23.
Rey Mysterio is BACK! Entering the Rumble at 27, and he looks phenomenal.
Reigns actually eliminated Rollins, just after they teamed up to knock out The Miz
Ziggler, he who walked away from the US title, is entrant number 30.
The women’s Rumble felt so fresh because, outside of Vickie, all the entrants looked pretty good and believable.
And, Rousey comes out at the end.
Overall lowlights:
Having Zayn steal a spot. You have authority figures, but you allow someone to be assaulted and his spot stolen?
Hurricane…just…why? You can’t tell me there’s no one else actually on the current roster who would be better in the match?
The final four of the Rumble…not really Nakamura and Balor, but who they were battling. It was the state of WWE in a Nutshell (in the Nutshell). Two guys the fans love and feel deserve it. Two guys the fans hate (mostly) and don’t want at the top. At least they didn’t make the final two Reigns and Cena. WWE made the good call with the win, but if they had not…Philly would have booed that Reigns win something fierce.
Stephanie wasn’t terrible on announcing…better than I expected…but if Lita had not been in the match, I’d have preferred her.
Overall highlights:
As over as Rusev is becoming…how soon before they embrace that and turn him? Or do they?
Crowd was hot for the big surprises-Cien, Cole and Mysterio in the men’s Rumble.
Nakmura WON the men’s Rumble!
The women’s Rumble was a good one too.
After the final bell:
Pretty satisfying show. Both Rumbles delivered. Love both winners.
My only gripe is that, while we got Rousey (who by the entrance, clearly was signed), it was a bit of an odd ending. Asuka got interrupted just as we figured we’d find out who she wanted. Rousey was clearly excited, she couldn’t stop smiling. While logic would lead us to believe she was going to challenge Charlotte, it wasn’t exactly made clear as she sort of confronted all three women. She only extended her hand to Asuka (perhaps to congratulate her, or apologize for stealing her thunder). Looked like as she left, she told Charlotte she will see her there. My feelings? We should have had Asuka declare her intent to go after Bliss, and then start leaving and just as she got out of the ring, have Rousey’s music hit.
I dare say Rousey coming out rained on Asuka’s parade, which considering the gravity of the moment, was sort of surprising, regardless of who it was doing it. But, it can also set up an Asuka/Rousey match down the road, depending on how long Ronda sticks around for.
