Road to WrestleMania 32
So the Royal Rumble just happened tonight. We are officially on the road to
WrestleMania 32 now. What happened tonight? Triple H is now a 14 time WWE
champion, Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens in an awesome last man standing
match, Kalisto rose above Alberto Del Rio capturing the United States championship,
The New Day retained their tag team championships against the Usos, Charlotte also
retained her Divas Championship against Becky Lynch, and probably the most
important thing that happened is…. AJ STYLES DEBUTING NUMBER 3 IN THE ROYAL
RUMBLE!!! Lets be honest I completely marked out when I heard a new theme music,
Reigns face confused, nothing but silence, and then THE PHENOMENAL ONE!
First off I want to say that I give the Royal Rumble a “B”. This PPV set up some pretty
clear directions for fans to guess how the road to WrestleMania will go. Here are my
thoughts on everything, how I feel, and what not. You could agree, disagree, half agree.
Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match was AWESOME. The
thought process of these guess tearing down the house was just awesome but when
they put everything on the line for the Intercontinental Championship, it lived up to the
hypeness. I was super excited to see Owens double stack the tables, something we
haven’t seen in a while and I’ve been wanting to see it happen. I was torn between
whom I wanted to win but I was happy Ambrose came out on top but it was unfortunate
that Owens went through his own setup. Both later on would go on to have even more
exciting fun in the Rumble.
Kalisto vs. ADR for the US Title. All I can say is I’m happy for Kalisto winning the US
Title for a second time. It’s well deserved.
New Day vs. Usos for the Tag Team Championship was very entertaining and a good
match. New Day entertained like always, Xavier Woods stole the outside show like
always as well.
Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch for the Divas Championship was not bad. Can we change the
title back to WOMENS since the division has changed now? I was rooting for Becky to
come out on top but wasn’t terrible to have Charlotte retain. I was hoping for Bayley to
make her debut at the Rumble saving Becky from the attack but I was equally as happy
to see Sasha Banks return after a few weeks not appearing on TV. Looks like a great
NXT feud will now make WWE history.
And now for the One vs. All match, the Royal Rumble match for the WWE World
Heavyweight Championship. Roman Reigns, Rusev, AJ Styles, Tyler Breeze, Curtis Axel,
Chris Jericho, Kane, Goldust, Ryback, Kofi Kingston, Titus O’Neil, R-Truth, Luke Harper,
Stardust, Big Show, Neville, Braun Strowman, Kevin Owens, Dean Ambrose, Sami
Zayn, Erick Rowan, Mark Henry, Brock Lesnar, Jack Swagger, The Miz, Bray Wyatt,
Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, Triple H. This match was pretty good, there were some
wasted spots that could have been better filled, and just the right people were in it. This
match usually does and definitely did this year, well in setting up for feuds leading to
WrestleMania matches. First of what I want to say is AJ Styles debuting in the Royal
Rumble was the best part of the night. Entering in at number 3 and surviving well
throughout the match. It was such a sight to see Styles enter the Rumble. I wish I could
have been in that arena to hear the pop. WWE did very well teasing Reigns vs. Styles
but we never really got it. Kevin Owens probably had the second best part of the
match. Styles and Owens going at it was another explosive moment, then Owens and
Ambrose wanting to tear the house down again, another huge pop, and then the
SECOND surprise of the night is when another one of Owens enemies, Sami Zayn made
his second debut in WWE and first debut in the Royal Rumble which was awesome as
Owens and Zayn pounded away at each other. Styles was eliminated by Owens, which
sets up for a dream match at WrestleMania for any fan. Reigns’ being attacked by the
League of Nations was okay, it wasn’t needed but it was also sort of smart to TRY to
make the fans forget about Reigns before he came back. Brock Lesnar being eliminated
by the Wyatt Family was surprising to me, however it is smart to set them up together
for Mania. Now for the WWE fans that knew that HHH was going to return tonight after
being off TV for a while now saw him coming from a mile away. You could say that
Triple H entering the Rumble at number 30 was a surprise but for most it was not. So
back to the actual match it was good and bad to see only 2 surprise entrants but it was
also good because it focused more on the roster we have and Styles debuting was so
much handle and Sami coming back was very exciting as well. The final 3 was pretty
awesome. Reigns, Ambrose and Triple H, how crazy could that have gotten? There
were so many different endings that could have happened but I’m going to say it, Triple
H won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the 14th time, now I’ll speak to
that in a minute. The right scenario would have been for Ambrose to have the night of
his life and for him to finally capture the WWE Championship, that would have been
smart booking. Triple H eliminating Reigns was smart but Ambrose should have
definitely gotten rid of Ambrose and won the whole thing.
Scenarios that should’ve, could’ve happened:
1) Ambrose wins by throwing HHH over the top
2) Ambrose wins by Reigns eliminating HHH after he was gone
3) Reigns and Ambrose get rid of HHH to let the match end in an awesome battle
between 2 brothers.
4) Reigns and Ambrose rid HHH and Ambrose turns on Reigns, and Ambrose wins
5) HHH should have been gone right when he entered by Wyatt, Ambrose, Ziggler,
and Reigns.
Back to HHH entering the Rumble, he can do that. He is the COO, he is probably at his
prime, and he is doing a fantastic job running NXT and growing it. To me it had to
happen for him to enter the Royal Rumble. Did I want him to win? Only if Reigns beat
29 other superstars and Vince and HHH said no way, and Triple H became the 31 st
entrant into the Rumble and won. Revenge drove all this but did Triple H have to be
what I see as somewhat greedy and destroy all top wrestlers as the IWC calls him “the
burier” with his shovels. Ziggler being the first one to attack and make a move on HHH
was of course cool because we all love Ziggler and he does awesome for every move,
but the true fans saw it as an “oh no” moment. TBH Ziggler could’ve had the night of his
life and won the whole freakin thing and Orlando would have been ecstatic. However
The Authority says that they always win, HHH beat Reigns (technically) for the WWE
Championship because Reigns flattened him back when Reigns first won the title and
before. Triple H the self proclaimed ‘King of Kings’ became just that as he in now the
WWE Champion, COO, Leader of NXT, and the CEO/Owner of WWE son in law. The
question now is, did HHH steal the spotlight from the up and coming superstars? Maybe
he did, maybe he didn’t and here’s why.
It would’ve been somewhat bogus if Reigns really defeated 29 other wrestlers to still be
champ but it would’ve given him so much credibility. But once introducing Styles to the
mix, and once he got eliminated the crowd quickly turned into the Philly crowd for
Reigns. It would have done no good for WWE to build Roman like they have just for him
to get the same reaction as last year. Triple H winning the championship has so many
people furious, it stole from the younger guys getting the opportunity to shine and
become a star and win the gold. The world, IWC, and every wrestling fan would have
imploded if Styles won the WWE championship the night of his debut. Triple H being
the new champion shows some greed, some power leverage, shows who is in charge
and runs things which is what he does on and off TV but the bad perspective comes
from OFF TV. I’m not against HHH being champion again but I’m willing to see where it
goes and how I want this to go down.
Roman Reigns vs. Triple H has been one of the rumored top matches for WM 32, but it’s
been hard to tell since we didn’t have the Rumble yet. Tonight set up exactly for that
match. This now all goes back to what I wanted to see happened last year at
WrestleMania, maybe even before that when D-Bryan won the WWE World
Heavyweight Championship, Authority no more. Vince McMahon has been aligned with
Triple H and Stephanie ever since the Authority arrived on scene, its created some
great matches, great storylines but its been about 2.5-3 years now that the Authority
has controlled WWE and its entire roster. It happened at WrestleMania D-Bryan put
somewhat of a stop to the Authority but they came back. My vision was for McMahon
to turn on his son in law and daughter, and for Triple H and someone good enough and
hand picked by McMahon to defeat Triple H and once and for all end The Authority.
Many people now are ready for the Authority to be gone and for the WWE to have a
non-bad boss man, and be free again. Vince McMahon vs. Triple H in a power hungry
match, if the Triple H loses the Authority really must be gone and if McMahon and his
guy lose then Triple H & The Authority run the whole WWE for good I don’t know. This
could all still happen as we saw Vince support HHH win after the Rumble match went
off the air. In the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, McMahon could turn on his sister
and son in law and support Reigns and we have Triple H vs. Reigns at WM 32 for the
championship, and Reigns wins at WM and having the Authority out of power and
Triple H gone from all storylines and running everything backstage and running NXT.
I see why giving Triple H the title is somewhat needed for a bigger moment for The
Authority to lose on the biggest stage of them all, giving Reigns the torch and building
him like McMahon has been wanting to do. Triple H also being the champion also
shows that in a weird way change is coming, if the WWE really were to make this
awesome they could have the WHOLE NXT crew debut along HHH and do an invasion
type angle where they want to takeover WWE, and show that NXT is better than RAW
and SmackDown. They would all give Triple H the credit for properly using them and
giving them all a chance at greatness. I think ultimately the goal is to end the Authority,
and free the roster up of a heel boss running rough shot over the roster.
Does any of that make sense?
Now on the exciting thing, AJ FREAKIN STYLES. AJ STYLES. WOW. AJ STYLES. YES.
YES. YES. AJ Styles signing with WWE, and debuting at the Royal Rumble creates
awesomeness and excitement for the company and every fan watching. It was seriously
the best watching AJ makes his entrance, I marked out 110%, I fell to my knees with my
jaw on the ground. WHAT A MOMENT. This definitely changes the landscape of the
WWE and creates so many opened doors for anything to happen. Sami Zayn, Kevin
Owens, Finn Balor, Hideo Itami, and Neville signing with WWE changed the game but
now that we have Styles in the WWE and not just NXT, we have to change and we have
to change big time. Here and there WWE has gotten right and signed a big
international star, but made them theirs, however with Triple H and NXT changing so
much in about 2 years, they have signed so many top names. With all these amazing
wrestlers on the roster in NXT and WWE, they have to change their own landscape to fit
them. To me these guys can’t fit themselves in the WWE box anymore. The wrestling
fanatics don’t want to see what we have for the past 10 years in WWE, we want new
and fresh, the product has to change because all these signees are TOP TIER talent who
need to showcase EVERYTHING on the BIGGEST stage of them all, and have no limits.
Those 5 guys signing to NXT and now WWE was huge because that opened many doors
for awesome matches and we have seen those matches; Owens vs Neville, Owens vs
Zayn, Owens vs Balor, Zayn vs Neville. And Zayn, Owens, and Neville have killed it
making awesome matches up on the main roster with Rollins, Cena, and Ambrose,
Ziggler, and Cesaro. New talent like Samoa Joe, James Storm (briefly), Apollo Crews,
Gargano, Ciampa, Austin Aries, and now Styles opens up many doors for awesome
matches, not just the NXT guys making the awesome matches but all those guys on the
main roster would kill it, every PPV would be incredible and exciting to watch. No
discredit to the current WWE Roster because they can tear the house down to its just
that they are molded into the WWE box and that box IS being broken by these top guys
getting signed. Even the self made NXT guys like Enzo Amore, Colin Cassidy, Baron
Corbin, Chad Gable, Jason Jordan, Tyler Breeze, Ty Dillinger can TEAR down the house.
WWE HAS TO CHANGE BECAUSE THE LOCKER ROOM IS CHANGING. NO MORE
WWE BOX, FREEDOM HAS TO COME.
Styles vs Jericho
Styles vs Balor
Styles vs Zayn
Styles vs Itami
Styles vs Owens
Styles vs Ziggler
Styles vs Reigns
Styles vs Cesaro
Styles vs Rollins
Styles vs Ambrose
Styles vs Neville
Styles vs Breeze
Styles vs D-Bryan
Styles vs Joe
Styles vs Aries
Styles vs Cena
Styles vs Tyson Kidd
Styles vs _______ would be awesome.
Styles is such an amazing talent, phenomenal wrestler, this creates so many
opportunities its unreal. And the WWE looks unreal now to every mark, wrestling fan.
WrestleMania 32 looks clear now, still up in the air but some matches could be guessedReigns vs Triple H
Lesnar vs Wyatt,
Owens vs Styles
We still have to see what else could be in store for Undertaker; I still want to stick with
the dream match of Undertaker vs Sting before they both have to hang up the boots.
The Rock will be used in some capacity; Steve Austin is going to be used in some
capacity. Tag Team titles defended? US title defended? IC title defended? Andre the
Giant Memorial Battle Royal?
Side note: Daniel Bryan should have returned at the Rumble tonight.
Also would it be a bad idea for the WWE to make a Royal Rumble match for the Divas
championship?
J Pepper here spilling my thoughts about tonight.