2014 Royal Rumble Match
I don't give these things ratings. What's the point? It's more arbitrary than giving normal matches ratings.
Man, this year's Rumble match did so many things correctly before it all came crashing down in a blaze of glory, exploding miniature pieces of Batista all over the live crowd. Oh and before I forget again, Kevin Nash was in the match.
–Roman Reigns breaks the all-time record. It doesn't matter who won that match, Reigns was the real long-term winner here. He broke the record, and more importantly with the absence of Daniel Bryan, everyone loved him for the first time. It will be interesting to see what WWE does with him. The seeds were planted for the end of The Shield. Will it come before WrestleMania, or will they continue the slow burn into SummerSlam? Either way I still think these guys are money, and they haven't had a single bad match since debuting.
–Batista won. I know, you're all really pissed about it. But putting aside Bryan's popularity for a second, Batista is pretty awesome. I was excited to see him back, as were all of you, and we all knew in the pits of our hearts that he was going to win anyways. Given how the Rumble ended of course I'm disappointed. But Batista and Orton actually could put on a compelling story. I'm sure they've faced off before in matches I can't remember, but they were also former Evolution members that never really got a major get-together after they broke off and became major stars. Orton was on Raw, Batista was on Smackdown, and rarely did they cross paths. There's certainly more here than another Orton-Cena match. Don't hate Batista. It's not his fault.
–The stage was set for Kane and CM Punk at Elimination Chamber, or on Monday Night Raw. They won't face off at WrestleMania. It's not nearly big enough. That will be Triple H's role. So that began here, in a pretty forgettable moment, mostly because by that point everyone was pissed off beyond all measure.
–Rey Mysterio was a heel for the first time ever. It wasn't his fault, and people don't actually hate him, but it was hilarious see Rey Rey get heat.
–Alexander Rusev gave NXT a showing for the second year in a row. Good on WWE for keeping NXT in people's minds going into the WWE Network launch. Rusev had a good showing in the Rumble, and I'm excited to see more from him. Bo Dallas didn't last too long on the main roster after last year's Rumble PPV. But tha'ts not really a bad thing, is it?
–Goldust eliminated Cody Rhodes. So…there's that. I guess the Brotherhood really will be going at it at WrestleMania? Technically he did it on accident, so it's very possible that WWE just wants to test the waters with the fans to see if people will buy a feud between the two. But if Goldust's deal with the company is only a part-time thing, and he won't be around after Mania, the natural thing would be to put over Cody in a big way after their amazing time together in the past six months.
–Zeb Colter's signs were amazing.
–Kofi Kingston man… I know he's really fun to watch, but I swear, he could be a great asset to the roster if they gave him the chance to do more than jump around and look pretty.
–Sheamus is back. I'm a big Sheamus fan. Not just because I'm a big red-headed Irish dude, but because he's honestly a very good wrestler. He can talk, he can work, he's got a memorable look. I have no clue why so many people on the internet dislike him. Happy he's back, and I can't wait to see what he does on Raw tonight.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Objectively, this PPV was very solid. It had two great matches, a solid Rumble that told a lot of different stories, and put Brock Lesnar over as a monster. It clicked in every possible way, save for Daniel Bryan not winning a match he wasn't advertised for. Unfortunately, that's what people are going to remember. Everyone will say "oh, what a terrible PPV" when in reality WWE did a lot of things right. A LOT of things right.
As Nick Paglino said, the three guys who looked like stars at the Rumble were Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan. Go back and watch the show. It's actually a bit frustrating how much the fans hated on a good product. Batista is going to WrestleMania. People were so excited for his return just a week ago. You KNEW he was winning this match. Take a step back from last night's crazy backlash, and try to look at this thing with some objectivity. The 2014 Royal Rumble PPV was good. I'm really not into giving out letter grades, but if I had to, I'd give it a solid B.
