2015 Royal Rumble aftermath *results inside*

Gerry Rio

https://twitter.com/WrestlinManager/status/559557712829116416

irs

I was kind of funny seeing Wyatt, Ambrose & Ziggler, three of the leading talents to emerge in recent years finish the Rumble completely squashed and just dropped over the ropes like a bunch of jobbers. The fact that it was the Big Show and Kane eliminating them made it even more crazy to watch. It would be like a young Cena and Orton being crushed by King Kong Bundy and the One Man Gang.

rovert

EdmondShiels3 wrote: »

I am now going to watch TNA Impact Wrestling which is doing a better job with not even half the money wwe has. Why do people think that the wwe is the best company try and watch TNA some time and give it a chance.

Give over mate on the TNA talk. Last place I would endorse.

NXT, Lucha Underground, New Japan on and half the time ROH are way better shows and are actual alternatives.

Looper007

They seriously need to be smart from now on in with the way they book Bryan on the road to Wrestlemania.

Ridley

Beefy78 wrote: »

When WWE changed last year's main event they made a rod for their own back and the ridiculously predictable backlash tonight is the end result.

I'm not sure the crowd reaction was against Reigns as much as it was rejecting the manipulation to make him the only viable option in the match.

Rasslin's such a wacky beast.

Zemuppet

The WWE Facebook page asked asked people if they enjoyed the match. Was overwhelmingly negative with 14k voting no and 4.9k voting yes.

BohsJohnny

EdmondShiels3 wrote: »

Why do people think that the wwe is the best company try and watch TNA some time and give it a chance. You will find it cant be any worse than this ppv.

Nobody thinks that WWE are the best and god TNA are worse this is a better overview of proper alternatives.

PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING (779): 4,064
Ring of Honor (16): 1,038
Dragon Gate (36): 884
Ultimate Fighting Championships (23): 835
CMLL (8): 504
World Wrestling Entertainment (4): 392
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (8): 348
AAA (3): 279
Bellator MMA (3): 238
DDT (1): 91

Gerry Rio

Lots and lots and lots and lots of people have unsubscribed from the Network based on what Im reading elsewhere.

Lots!

I wonder if WWE can see in real time the numbers and see how many dropped off by tomorrow afternoon.

bur

"The authority is not a storyline, it's their mentality."

Just read that elsewhere online, pretty spot on i reckon.

Gerry Rio

From Reddit

I was watching this from the UK at 3:45am and my other half just came downstairs because "the booing woke her up"!

Strongbow10

Beefy78 wrote: »

When WWE changed last year's main event they made a rod for their own back and the ridiculously predictable backlash tonight is the end result. There's a real sense of entitlement around the fanbase at the mment and I don't see how it ends well for anyone. Either the product loses any sense of unpredictability or they take good shows away from potentially hostile crowds.

I wanted Bryan or Ziggler to win tonight. I wanted Kurt Angle to win in 2002 and anyone other than Cena to win in 2008. It happens.

Rubbish. The business was always about giving the crowd what they wanted.

WWE have actively de-moted guys who have gotten over on their own sweat. Likewise former Indie guys who had a respectable rep before joining the company will ALWAYS have a lower ceiling for development when Vince is involved. It's there petty attempt to retain credit for being responsible for someone being a star.

Cena was made in house. Reigns was made in house. Vince wants to be god when It comes to creating stars but it doesn't wash with the fans who see more talent and charisma in guys with a background in the business before WWE got their hands on them.

No doubt tonight will be spun as a few hardcore fans who are p*ssed off Bryan didn't shine but it goes deeper than that. there's a disconnect with the fans whose voices no longer seem to be listened to. Ziggler, Bryan, Cesaro, Sandow and Ambrose will always be after thoughts despite fan acclaim.

WWE just don't want guys getting hot unless it was the Companies express intention

Mr.Nice Guy

Raw will be very interesting to see how they respond to the criticism. Unfortunately they won't be in Philly for it as I just checked and they'll be in Hartford, Connecticut; so the hostility might not be as bad as it was tonight...

Gerry Rio

It would have been awesome if Raw was in Philly tomorrow night.

The Strawman Argument

Strongbow10 wrote: »

there's a disconnect with the fans whose voices no longer seem to be listened to.

Very much this and it really has been a long time coming. Due to Cena's continued success in spite of how he was received with the core audience, they've gotten the idea that they can just completely ignore that part of the audience and lose nothing from it, effectively completely segregating the new viewers they're trying to court away from the established audience.

Problem here is that for someone to get over to the level of a Cena, they need to have the crowd supporting them initially for a while and, through seriously pushing it with the Daniel Bryan stuff last year, it's finally really started to bite them as they've found a way to hit back.




As Meltzer's saying here now on the LAW, why on earth did they bring Bryan back for the Rumble?

seandotcomm

Really enjoyed the payperview but so many time I just kept asking myself... "but why?"

why was bubba dudley brought back just only to be eliminated early on...
Why were amobrose, wyatt and loads of other eliminated like pure jobbers...
wht didnt Rock come out as a legit entrant to the rumble.. to eliminate Rusev and set up a WM feud.
Why did he have to come out at the end purely to help Roman get the win. ( making him look weak ).
Where was Orton? Where Was Sheamus? Why was there no NXT Entrant? I was waiting to mark out like mental
for Devitt... OR ANY NXT GUY!>!! ?!?!?

So confused by that booking.
the main event was great thought...
I need to sleep

Looper007

The Strawman Argument wrote: »

As Meltzer's saying here now on the LAW, why on earth did they bring Bryan back for the Rumble?

That's what I said from the first time they mentioned he was coming back, unless he was winning they should have left him until after the Rumble. Reign's was going to get booed but now they seriously screwed hi over. They need to be smart with what they do with Bryan from now on in.

rovert

Beefy78

Ridley wrote: »

I'm not sure the crowd reaction was against Reigns as much as it was rejecting the manipulation to make him the only viable option in the match.

Rasslin's such a wacky beast.

I agree but I suspect that the young lad has now next to no chance of staying over.

Reigns to beat Lesnar. Rollins to cash in straight away. Reigns vs Rollins is your feud into the summer. There's a solid booking logic there. It isn't what most of us would have written but most of us wouldn't have written Han Solo being encased in carbonite either. It is starting to make me feel uncomfortable that we won't let anything play out.

Gerry Rio

From elsewhere

The match wasn’t good. The booking was disjointed, guys that should have been treated like stars got eliminated like goofs, the eliminations were poorly constructed as they really killed the crowd and Rock coming to make the save and “endorse” Reigns felt like putting icing on a pile of sh*t.

Gerry Rio

And more

Roman Reigns is the Nickelback of wrestling.

ShaneU

Justice for Curtis Axel

Gerry Rio

Another great one (the internet is on fire right now)

Stocks were around $20 a share last year and have since tanked to $12. Average yearly ratings since 2000 are less than half and continue to trend downward.

Network is still not at 1million subs and still may not even get that high with the UK release. Vince's lying to investors and shareholders has caused networks like NBC Universal to renew ties with WWE for much less than previous years and now as of last fiscal year some are even calling for Vince to step down.

Attendances sure as hell aren't what they used to be.Remember folks, UFC which is worth about 3.4 billion and the NFL have individual teams worth more than Vince is in total.

TimRiggins

#CancelWWENetwork is the number one worldwide trending.

rovert

TimRiggins wrote: »

#CancelWWENetwork is the number one worldwide trending.

Yeah not even tailored trends rubbish legit top trend.

Gerry Rio

https://twitter.com/NickJacksonYB/status/559575040585256960



In addition, the "cancel subsciption" page on the Network has not only crashed, the live support staff apparently has no one that can actually do manual cancellations on site and are asking people to call back tomorrow.

I think we may have seen a real historic event gentlemen. One that will be looked back on years from now as a pivotal moment in the WWE timeline.

Gerry Rio

rovert wrote: »

Yeah not even tailored trends rubbish legit top trend.

Oh the irony of how much they push hashtags down our throats during Raw is almost tasteable

Gerry Rio

These images are all over Twitter

rovert

https://twitter.com/steveaustinBSR/status/559580489980182530

https://twitter.com/steveaustinBSR/status/559589375915601921

Gerry Rio

How many Twitter users have to "#" something to get it to trend number one worldwide after midnight (for most people who did it)? Im guessing it has to be in the low hundreds of thousands.

Gerry Rio

rovert

Rock Lesnar

Why did i fork out €25 for that when i knew what was gonna happen, but at least i saw Bubba Dudley and Lesnar at the end of his match was awesome.

Lets remaining clutched straw fall....to.... the.... ground.

FutureGuy

Life is about good decisions and bad decisions.

For Vince and co, it was a night I bad decisions. Did they not learn anything from last year?

On the other hand, I made a good decision about 10 mins ago. Was going to sign up to the network and watch the rumble before work. Instead, I remembered why I haven't watched anything bar an odd WM in the last 10 years. My lack of faith in anything the company does.

So I read the spoilers instead. Best decision ever because I would be pretty annoyed if I had to sit through what, by all accounts, was a train wreck.

SlickRic

The hilarious thing is, if you'd had Bryan stay in, him and Reigns go 10 minutes full pelt at the end (like Taker/HBK when Taker won the Rumble), and Reigns had won, many people may have got behind him.

However, that Rumble booking was beyond insulting.

The next few weeks are going to be fascinating.

Angron

I couldn't watch most of the rumble due to my computer acting up. In a way, I'm glad. Staying up till 4am to see that would have just angered me. That gif of Ziggler, Ambrose, and Wyatt all casually being chucked out like they are no big deal was idiotic (and I don't even particularly like Wyatt). I dearly wish Raw was in Philly or Chicago tonight, just so it could be shat on so very heavily.


Given where Raw is going to be though, I think WWE know how angry they were going to get the fans.

Rock Lesnar

FutureGuy wrote: »

Life is about good decisions and bad decisions.

For Vince and co, it was a night I bad decisions. Did they not learn anything from last year?

On the other hand, I made a good decision about 10 mins ago. Was going to sign up to the network and watch the rumble before work. Instead, I remembered why I haven't watched anything bar an odd WM in the last 10 years. My lack of faith in anything the company does.

So I read the spoilers instead. Best decision ever because I would be pretty annoyed if I had to sit through what, by all accounts, was a train wreck.

I had the same thoughts but ordered it anyway at 12.55am just because it was the rumble and probably my favourite ppv as it starts the road to wrestlemania, unless things drastically change, this mania could be the 1st i dont watch live in over 25 years

Loughc

The more worrying thing than Reigns winning the rumble is they're going to put him over Lesnar.

Lesnar has been built as a legitimate beast the past year and it just feels like it's been for nothing. Like where's the big pay off for Brock's booking? Getting beaten by someone who couldn't get over in a brothel with a wallet full of fifties.

It's just all surreal just how bad it is. They've really booked themselves into a corner now.

ERG89

I'm confused as I went to bed and didn't order the Rumble (€25 or another unneeded subscription, no thanks).
Are people surprised Reigns won or just annoyed that they didn't make the best use out of others. Both have been pretty obvious to me & I only watch on/off.
Honestly the fans staying out side the arena protesting is sad particularly for a predetermined sport

Angron

ERG89 wrote: »

I'm confused as I went to bed and didn't order the Rumble (€25 or another unneeded subscription, no thanks).
Are people surprised Reigns won or just annoyed that they didn't make the best use out of others. Both have been pretty obvious to me & I only watch on/off.
Honestly the fans staying out side the arena protesting is sad particularly for a predetermined sport

The casual disregard for what people want?
Bringing back Bryan, only to have him eliminated after 10 minutes in the ring?
Ziggler, Ambrose, Wyatt, all being chucked out like they don't matter in the slightest?
Pulling all this crap after the sh*tstorm that came from last year's Rumble?

People don't like it, they have a right to show that.

Rock Lesnar

Angron wrote: »

The casual disregard for what people want?
Bringing back Bryan, only to have him eliminated after 10 minutes in the ring?
Ziggler, Ambrose, Wyatt, all being chucked out like they don't matter in the slightest?
Pulling all this crap after the sh*tstorm that came from last year's Rumble?

People don't like it, they have a right to show that.

yeah they knew what was coming cos they brought Rock in, they heard the reaction he got live, and still went ahead with it, makes vinces claim on Austins show that they listen to the audience laugable....although we knew that already to

SlickRic

the mad thing is though, i like Reigns. in fact, ultimately, i think he's a better "the guy" than Bryan.

this is not a backlash against him as a performer, it's a backlash against WWE simply telling its audience what they should like, and when they should like it. it's a backlash against the act of insulting the audience.

as MNG has already said, WWE find themselves in a similar corner now as they did last year, and it's simply because of this arrogant mentality from Vince that he can simply decide who the most popular guy he is. he's stuck in a mindset of 30 years ago. and i don't mean that in the sense that he pushes guys who are "big" and "good looking"...i mean that he books as if people don't know that the product is pre-determined.

30 years ago you could've probably booked Bryan into the ground, and he'd have been forgotten about, because the majority would've just assumed that he was shít. but thanks to the Internet, and thanks to Vince himself (ironically) exposing the business, the world knows Bryan is awesome, knows that they're choosing to not book the popular guy right now, and the people also know after last year, that they don't necessarily have to just take the shít they're served up.

what can ultimately end Vince's arrogance is hitting him in his pocket though. if people stop going to events, cancel their Network subscriptions and stop buying merchandise, he will have to change...or, shareholders will be forced to get him to step down.

also, HHH is not an idiot. we can see that with NXT. these booking decisions are the decisions of one madman who the entire company is scared to challenge.

Angron

It's also a minor thing, but I am a little disappointed there was no nXt lads in the match.

Omackeral

99.99% of people whinging here and cancelling subscriptions will be watching WrestleMania come Spring time. FACT! (Copyright Tyson Kidd)

SlickRic

Omackeral wrote: »

99.99% of people whinging here and cancelling subscriptions will be watching WrestleMania come Spring time. FACT! (Copyright Tyson Kidd)

i'd normally be the first to agree with this, but this year, i honestly don't know.

last year, i never thought i wouldn't watch Mania, mainly because it was so obvious they had to do something to get Bryan in the picture after the Rumble.

i just have this feeling that Vince is going to be stubborn on Reigns. i don't think the match will change. i think it'll be Reigns v Brock, and if it gets booed, it gets booed.

FutureGuy

Futureguys plan for a successful WM.

1. Give the fans the main event they want to see.
2. Build around it.

It's that easy. At least the WWE have a very solid indicator of fan reaction. The number of Network cancellations. I expect that number to be very high.

Don't force Reigns on the fans. The fans do not want him-maybe one day they will but not this year. Don't give them a main event that, instead of being able to build for 2 monts, you now have to figure out how to get out of the huge hole you dug.

Lesnar v Bryan wrote itself. Paul Heymans weekly promos wrote themselves. The outcome wrote itself.

I am certain that Reigns vs Lesnar is not going to be the main event because the fans will cheer ever Lesnar move and boo anything Reigns does.

Silly from wwe.

Rock Lesnar

Reigns Brock has Goldberg Brock all over it, except the outcome is even more certain due to Lesnar.

If it doesn't turn into a triple threat match i'll be amazed.

FutureGuy

Omackeral wrote: »

99.99% of people whinging here and cancelling subscriptions will be watching WrestleMania come Spring time. FACT! (Copyright Tyson Kidd)

I think you could say that about the WWE fan base as a whole tbf, but whether they do so via paid or non-paid means is the question.

DM_7

I don't mind Reigns either but popularity needs to grow slowly not be forced.

Throwing so many things at him to make him popular is just making it worse. Winning the Rumble and endorsed by the Rock is forced and so many people will just roll their eyes at it.

Horrible.

The Title match was really good and is the thing I will take away from that Network Special.

The Brock booking is peculiar, he is now firmly placed as a face with his dominant early performance, super hero come back, rarely seen so people won't get bored and is now going against another person so many people really don't want to see win.

Rollins needs to end Mania as champ now to save it.

mrkiscool2

SlickRic wrote: »

the mad thing is though, i like Reigns. in fact, ultimately, i think he's a better "the guy" than Bryan.
/QUOTE]
Sorry, I know you have a lot more to your post than this but jesus fcuking christ this is a terrible sentence. What WWE needs to understand (and it's something HHH has shown in NXT) is that "The Guy" in the company should be either your best wrestler or the wrestler your crowd gets most behind. Reigns was neither of those before the Rumble. Bryan should be the guy in the company at the moment

SlickRic

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

Sorry, I know you have a lot more to your post than this but jesus fcuking christ this is a terrible sentence. What WWE needs to understand (and it's something HHH has shown in NXT) is that "The Guy" in the company should be either your best wrestler or the wrestler your crowd gets most behind. Reigns was neither of those before the Rumble. Bryan should be the guy in the company at the moment

my point is that if booked properly, i think he has the most potential to make the most money for the company.

he looks good, is charismatic, athletic, and can work to a decent standard.

at the moment, Bryan should be the man. i agree. i never said otherwise.

mrkiscool2

SlickRic wrote: »

my point is that if booked properly, i think he has the most potential to make the most money for the company.

he looks good, is charismatic, athletic, and can work to a decent standard.

at the moment, Bryan should be the man. i agree. i never said otherwise.

He has no charisma at all. Don't know who you are watching. And no, he can't. Ambrose is currently making a sh1t-ton of cash for the company in merchandise. Reigns should never be the guy by the looks of things but because Vince is stubborn he will be