WWE Royal Rumble 2019 Discussion Thread - January 27, 2019 from Phoenix, AZ (#32)

[TPIB 62]

The 32nd annual WWE Royal Rumble will come to you, live on the WWE Network, on January 27 from Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ.

 

[Kam 243]

That was LONG!

 

I didn't watch the 2 hour pre-show, just caught some highlights but I ended up watching the main show in 2 parts as it seemed to go on forever. (More discussion on WWE overkill here!)

 

I thought Auska/Lynch was good but I think it would have been better having Lynch pass out rather than tap out ala Austin at WrestleMania 13.

 

Shane McMahon doing a shooting star press :eek:

 

I quite enjoyed Rousey/Banks, wouldn't mind seeing a proper feud between this two. I was a little surprised by the finish, seemed to come out of nowhere, I thought Sasha was going to kick out. The camera really lingered on Sasha after the match, I was expecting her to attack Rousey but nothing happened.

 

I thought the women's Royal Rumble was all over the place! They didn't seem to have the timings right as they seemed to miss quite a few big spots during entrances. There was quite a few botches too!

 

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I thought the whole Maria/Alicia moment/angle was pretty awful. The NXT ladies seemed to impress, especially Catanzaro who I hadn't seen before. Seeing Hornswoggle come out from under the ring was a nice little touch. After reading Matthew's Royal Rumble 2019 Preview, I was expecting Becky to come in so that wasn't a surprise, however, it was a great moment. Once you got to the final 5 the match picked up. For a moment I thought they might go with Charlotte but I'm glad they stuck with Becky.

 

I thought the Bryan/Styles match was OK, didn't really click for me. I would have preferred it if Rowan ran out after the referee was knocked out rather than standing outside the ring doing nothing. It was obvious who he was going to help.

 

I thought Balor/Lesnar was good, Finn got some good offense in but we all knew Lesnar would retain.

 

The men's Rumble was OK, great to see Jarrett! I thought all the NXT stars looked good, shame that was no more surprises though. I thought's Kofi's moment's was kinda meh this year, I suppose there's only so much innovation you can do. Was Jeff Hardy meant to get eliminated when he did? That bit seemed kinda off. I would have found it funnier if Hawkins brought a ref shirt down with him and put it on, rather than hiding under the ring - he could have just stayed outside with the refs. Seeing Nia Jax attack R-Truth and enter herself in the Rumble was pretty cool. It was one of those weird moments where I didn't quite know how to feel seeing the crowd wanting the guys to go after her. I thought WWE had stopped the interactions between the men and women in matches (as opposed to the Attitude Era), I guess that's changed now, or it could have been a one-off. In any case, she did alright. I knew Seth would win, no real surprise there either. I hope he beats Brock at WrestleMania, I'm kinda getting sick of seeing no one come close to Lesnar, they need to build up some viable challengers.

 

Overall, an OK show.