WWE ROYAL RUMBLE

 St. Louis

SETH ROLLINS vs. ROMAN REIGNS (14:25): Good card, packed Dome. Sadly, the show was kind of lackluster. Both Rumble matches were mostly boring. None of the singles matches were great, and both men's title matches had lame finishes. First off: the Dome. When the WWE announced they were having this show in a Dome in St. Louis, I was baffled. Dome? What the fuck do they have a Dome for? Well apparently it's just the old football stadium that they haven't torn down yet. They got a huge crowd for this show which definitely helped...albeit for long stretches of both Rumble matches the Dome was quiet. This first match, for Roman Reigns' Universal title, had the worst ending to a PPV title match I've ever seen. Seriously, what is up with the WWE always doing DQ finishes because they don't want to beat someone? Reigns was choking Rollins and wouldn't let go so the ref rang the bell and Reigns got DQ'd but kept the title. Ugh. Really? You can't, just, like...beat Seth Rollins? This is a major PPV show. You're really going to do a DQ finish in a title match on a major PPV show? Unbelievable. **

WOMEN'S ROYAL RUMBLE (RONDA ROUSEY) (59:10): I'm being totally honest here...but Ronda Rousey got the same reaction as a lot of the "special" entrants...like Lita and, later, Shane McMahon. Does that mean that Rousey isn't that big of a deal? Maybe people forget her. Eh. Who knows? Her "surprise" was all over the internet all weekend, which kind of ruined the surprise factor. They had a ton of old wrestlers in this Rumble for one reason or another. They even had Mickie James, who's the Impact champion, and they even acknowledged that she was the Impact champion. That was shocking. Lita was popular. Rousey ended up eliminating Charlotte Flair to win which will lead to their Night 1 main event at Wrestlemania. I say this every year, but having two hour long Rumbles on a show does not work. Maybe cut the number of participants to 20 instead of 30...or put the women's Rumble on Smackdown or something. Both of the Rumbles on this show were pretty forgettable except for the winners. *1/2

BECKY LYNCH vs. DOUDROP (13:00): This only went 13 minutes but it felt like it went a half hour. Nobody thought Doudrop would win the title, that was the big problem. Doudrop is a fat woman, which is rare in the WWE. I wonder who the fuck she knows to be anathema to Vince's "hot chicks" parade while getting a title shot. And I'm still baffled why they let Becky Lynch, who, three years ago was the WWE's #1 star, be a heel. *

BOBBY LASHLEY vs. BROCK LESNAR (10:15): So what was the point, exactly, to have Brock Lesnar win the title 28 days ago? Roman Reigns had Covid, so he was off Day 1...so they did the Paul Heyman heel turn on this show instead. One of the Uso's came in when the ref was down to beat up Lesnar. Then Paul Heyman handed Roman Reigns the title and Reigns hit Lesnar with the title and the ref woke up and Bobby Lashley pinned Lesnar and won the title. This all probably would have been okay if Lesnar didn't unexpectedly show up at #30 in the Rumble and win it. Because Lesnar won the Rumble, you kind of don't feel sorry for him getting screwed in this match, which negates the revenge/anger issue a bit. I also feel bad for Big E. Now we're back to the Lashley reign, a reign that lasted 195 days last year (from March to September). Wasn't that enough? This match was more back and forth than Lesnar's usual dominant victories are. That was a breath of fresh air. Lashley did a brutal suplex that almost put Lesnar right on his head. Lesnar than did the same thing right away. Jesus Christ. This was maybe half as good as that awesome 5 way on Day 1. **1/2

EDGE & BETH PHOENIX vs. THE MIZ & MARYSE (12:30): This was totally forgettable. I remember when Edge was on RAW right after his Seth Rollins feud ended and the speculation was who would be feuding with him now. The Miz was the one name that nobody said for obvious reasons. Who the fuck wants to see that? And why would they waste Edge, who's pretty much a part timer these days, on a feud with The Miz? Well the feud happened, it sucked, and hopefully it's over forever. 1/2*

MEN'S ROYAL RUMBLE (BROCK LESNAR): The crowd didn't seem that happy when Lesnar won the Rumble. They didn't boo or anything, but it wasn't a gigantic roar like it probably would have been if Matt Riddle or Big E. had won. Why was Lesnar even in the Rumble? He didn't need it. Give the win to a young, fresh fish that needs the boost. A lot of this match was fairly dull. Unlike the women's Rumble, there weren't any old WWE stars as surprise entrants. Johnny Knoxville from Jackass was in it, but that had already been announced. Bad Bunny, the singer, was a surprise. Shane O'Mac was the other surprise. They couldn't get any old WWE wrestlers? Weird. Brock coming out as a surprise at #30 kind of ruined this match. Really? Brock? The WWE doesn't have any other ideas anymore? The other embarrassing thing happened when Kofi tried to jump from the top rope to the ringside wall and fell when he was obviously supposed to hang on. They also had a whole segment where Olmos was throwing everyone out and the crowd fucking hated it. Lesnar won by tossing Drew Mcintyre out. Kind of a stale show to be honest. **