Royal Rumble 2016

Stereomaniac

Triple H

I hope Steve Blackman wins the Royal Rumble and makes Roman Reigns tap out at WrestleMania.

Pentecost

Balor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZE0TYKYfEo

Always think of that scene/quote when I see Blackman on old shows!

demanufactured

Tatanka to win.

Dazzmondo

Ambrose

I don't think Lesnar will win the Rumble honestly, mainly because I think the Authority will force Reigns to defend the title against him at the Rumble (don't think Lesnar will be heel, he'll just accept). Triple H will return to cost Reigns the title at the Rumble, setting up their match at Mania, and leaving Lesnar champion going into Mania.

Cena will get an early number imo. Undertaker will be number 30/29/28 and eliminate like 5/6 guys immediately before Cena eliminates him. Taker will then come back into the match and eliminate Cena (or beat him up so badly that he's easily eliminated by someone like New Day). They will probably main event Wrestlemania in Taker's last match.

As for the winner, I think it will be a surprise this year, and I'm picking Kevin Owens, though I think Ambrose has an outside chance. I'd like to give Wyatt a chance but his character is still set in limbo right now. I see one of three options for Wyatt: 1. A face turn, Bray wins US/IC Title at Mania and Harper & Strowman win the tag titles off New Day (my prediction), 2. A face turn and a feud with Triple H and the Authority (if Triple H ends his feud with Reigns at Rumble), 3. Remain heel and challenge for IC/US Title at Mania. The third option will offer him the least progression.

Owens's new mean streak seems to be setting him up perfectly for a feud with Lesnar imo. What some see as bad booking with his quick defeat to Neville can be effectively transformed into a positive if he maintains this attitude, goes on a winning streak, fails to retain his IC title at RR in a fatal-4-way without taking the pin, and gives a great performance before winning the Rumble. I don't think he will beat Lesnar for the title (I expect Reigns will probably do that once he has finished with the Authority, which will allow Rollins to re-enter the title picture) but he can be elevated through a good performance against the Beast.

I also think there's a decent chance Bryan will return at the Rumble. I don't think he'll win, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was the last man eliminated by Owens. This is where having a heel like Owens win is a benefit, as he can take advantage of any possible heat he gets, and it would likely set up a match between the two at Fastlane . I'd give Owens the win here and set up an IC Title match between Ambrose and Bryan at Mania, which I'd also have Bryan lose (sorry Daniel). However, after Mania I think Bryan and Cesaro would make a great addition to the growing tag-team division, along with Enzo and Cass... I might be going a bit too far ahead now... I'll return to the Rumble.

Honestly, if Lesnar is in the Rumble match, I think he probably will win, but I don't understand why so many assume he will be. I said to a few friends 2 weeks ago that Sheamus would get his rematch on the first Raw of the new year but they thought, like most, that it would be at the Rumble. Now, I think most would agree that Sheamus is much more likely to be in the Rumble match itself. Therefore, if you're going to have Lesnar winning the Rumble and facing Reigns at Mania (which I think is a bad idea tbh as I can't see Reigns getting cheered in that scenario), Triple H fighting Reigns at the Rumble is pretty much the only option. If you do that, what is Triple H doing for Mania? Fight the Rock? I doubt Rock will be fighting at Mania personally and why would he have any trouble beating Triple H if Reigns already could? It makes a lot more sense in my mind if The Rock comes out to help Reigns against the Authority when they inevitably team up on him.

The only other option I could see for the Rumble, admittedly an intriguing one, involves putting the title on the line in the Rumble match itself ala 1992, which would certainly make sense given the Authority's disdain for Reigns. In that case, the only possible winners would be Reigns or Lesnar imo. Right now I think this is the likely card though:

IC Title: Dean Ambrose (c) vs Kevin Owens vs Dolph Ziggler vs Neville
Tag Titles: New Day (c) vs Usos
Diva's Title: Charlotte (c) vs Becky Lynch
WWE Title: Roman Reigns (c) vs Brock Lesnar
Royal Rumble Match

Bounty Hunter

Owens

I could see that happening and I now also hope it happens Dazz as it'd be the perfect restart for the WWE leaving the current garbage in the past as we begin thevroad to wrestlemania. All except Bryan being brought back to lose lose lose the fans would not like that although if fit it is believable and who you suggest him losing to would soften the blow while supplying great matches.

A super strong rumble winning Owens vs face title holding Lesnar would be awesome

HHH vs Reigns has to happen at Mania if not the Rumble

And Cena vs Taker is the other big money match on the card for sure.

All 3 would guarantee a great build for mania too especially when you throw in Heyman/Owens on the mic, the Rock in his cousins corner vs HHH and Cena bring default heel in Texas.

Dazzmondo

Ambrose

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

I could see that happening and I now also hope it happens Dazz as it'd be the perfect restart for the WWE leaving the current garbage in the past as we begin thevroad to wrestlemania. All except Bryan being brought back to lose lose lose the fans would not like that although if fit it is believable and who you suggest him losing to would soften the blow while supplying great matches.

A super strong rumble winning Owens vs face title holding Lesnar would be awesome

HHH vs Reigns has to happen at Mania if not the Rumble

And Cena vs Taker is the other big money match on the card for sure.

All 3 would guarantee a great build for mania too especially when you throw in Heyman/Owens on the mic, the Rock in his cousins corner vs HHH and Cena bring default heel in Texas.

Yeah, one of my friends has the same problem with my booking of Bryan. It looks very bad when you consider just the PPVs but he would be winning most of his matches on Raw. I'm sure there would be many unhappy with Bryan losing so many high-profile matches but personally I'd rather have him back in WWE in the upper mid-card than not having him back at all and I think Bryan would agree. He would definitely win at the next PPV (Extreme Rules?). There are so many great potential matches he could have... and I really want a Cesaro/Bryan tag team. The matches would be SO good

Bounty Hunter

Owens

Dazzmondo wrote: »

Yeah, one of my friends has the same problem with my booking of Bryan. It looks very bad when you consider just the PPVs but he would be winning most of his matches on Raw. I'm sure there would be many unhappy with Bryan losing so many high-profile matches but personally I'd rather have him back in WWE in the upper mid-card than not having him back at all and I think Bryan would agree. He would definitely win at the next PPV (Extreme Rules?). There are so many great potential matches he could have... and I really want a Cesaro/Bryan tag team. The matches would be SO good

As good as that team and their matches would be post injuries you'd have to think it'd be singles wrestling or tagging with Tyson Kidd for Cesaro.

Talking about giving Owens a big push I was always surprised that they never played up him power bombing machine gun Kelly off the stage and through a table more. Maybe he's not the biggest celeb but wrestler doing that kindnofvthing with a celeb almost never happens these days.

1 worry with your booking...An Owens rumble win, a Brock title win, a taker rumble appearance and Bryan making his return.... Seems almost too good to be true given the Feds recent output.

Deadlie

Brock

Has there ever been a 'surpise winner' in the Rumble? Rey was pretty over when he won, I imagine?

Dazzmondo

Ambrose

Deadlie wrote: »

Has there ever been a 'surpise winner' in the Rumble? Rey was pretty over when he won, I imagine?

Stone Cold 1997, Vince McMahon 1999, John Cena 2008, Edge 2010, and Sheamus 2012 were all clear underdogs/unexpected winners going in. There were also a few years where the winners weren't a surprise but there were still other likely winners, such as Kurt Angle in 2004, John Cena in 2005, and Shawn Michaels in 2007.

Rey in 2006 was one of the most predictable ever I'd say. The story was pretty clear that Mysterio was doing this for Eddie Guerrero, who had died recently, and they were playing up the underdog role for the whole month leading up to the Rumble. You could say Orton had an outside chance but there was never any doubt in my mind that Rey would win.

Agent Coulson

Samoa Joe to shock the Universe.

Blue_Dabadee

In terms of NXT superstar spot in the Rumble, it will probably go to Sami Zayn since there is not much for him to do on NXT anymore and he could eliminate Kevin Owens to continue where they left off on NXT.

Stereomaniac

Triple H

Wouldn't it be great if this year was the year where they have an NXT wrestler make his debut in he Royal Rumble and win the thing? Surely that's an option they'll have to use someday.

demanufactured

Stereomaniac wrote: »

Wouldn't it be great if this year was the year where they have an NXT wrestler make his debut in he Royal Rumble and win the thing? Surely that's an option they'll have to use someday.

Yep...but they would hype it up so much that you'd know it's going to happen...WWE doesn't know how to do suprise.

Stereomaniac

Triple H

It will be some surprise when word leaks out Vince has died, 8 months after he's actually passed.

Agent Coulson

Curtis Axel the second wrestler named to be in the Rumble.

Scavenger XIII

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Curtis Axel the second wrestler named to be in the Rumble.

Axel should have 2 lives since he's still in from last year.

CastorTroy

I'm hoping something similar happens again and he never officially gets eliminated. Just make it a long running joke. Like Big Show.

riffmongous

Stereomaniac wrote: »

Wouldn't it be great if this year was the year where they have an NXT wrestler make his debut in he Royal Rumble and win the thing? Surely that's an option they'll have to use someday.

Unless it was Joe or Devitt I wouldn't know who they were though

Furious-Red

Would be great to see Balor turn up. Would be cool if the lights go out where most people think its Taker but ends up being Balor.

Stereomaniac

Triple H

riffmongous wrote: »

Unless it was Joe or Devitt I wouldn't know who they were though

It would be even better in that case if most people had the same lack of familiarity.

PTH2009

Brock

I think wwe should of let Batista return in the 2014 rumble match not the raw before it. Imagine the pop if he came out then.

Angle returning would be cool for me and a wm match with Daniel Bryan or the rock would be cool

CastorTroy

So Carlito and/or Shelton Benjamin being rumoured again this year? Actually tempted to stay away from this thread to avoid any potential surprises

ricero

Brock

Love angle to come back and eliminate a few of the league of nation members. Then at mania have a new team angle made of himself swagger and chad and gable from nxt take on the league of nations

Agent Coulson

Uhaa Nation/Crews maybe to be the NXT guy to get a spot.

Dazzmondo

Ambrose

Well, with that announcement, the Rumble match has become very predictable imo. Bank on Taker getting eliminated from the match before coming back in to eliminate Cena, Triple H costing Reigns the Rumble (without being an entrant in the match), and Lesnar winning the title. Taker vs Cena and Triple H vs Reigns at WM is already set imo. Not sure who Lesnar will face though. Possibly a tournament at Fastlane?

Kinda disappointed tbh. A lot seem excited about the idea but the winner of the last 3 rumbles has been so obvious. I was hoping to see an outsider like Kevin Owens or Bray Wyatt get the win. Now, it's just as obvious as Reigns winning last year imo. Hopefully the match is good at least.

Pinkman

This is very bad booking on their part leading into Mania. It would have made much more sense for HHH to have returned last night on Raw and beat the crap out of Reigns with a sledge hammer and announce he is face him at the Rumble for the title. In the match have all sorts of ****ery with the McMahons and League Of Nation all interfering only for The Rock to return and help Reigns win the match. Have Lesnar win the Rumble and then you have your two main events. HHH vs The Rock and Reigns vs Lesnar. Obviously Cena vs Taker can happen either way.

The only way I am happy with HHH vs Reigns happening at Mania is if it means we get Rock vs Lesnar (as that is by far the biggest match they can have) but that is unlikely to happen.

How likely is it HHH enters at no.30 and becomes the WWE Champion for the 14th time?

brianregan09

Owens

Wouldn't it be great if Finn entered the Rumble and was down to the final four with HHH, Reigns and Lesnar and the Bullet Club flooded the ring and eliminated all of them leaving Finn as the new champion

Lithium93_

Brock

After last night's Raw, the road to Wrestlemania is off to a rocky start..

johnnysmack

johnnysmack wrote: »

My prediction for the rumble is roman reigns enters at number 1 and single handedly eliminates ever one else winning the rumble and goes on to face himself in the main event of WrestleMania. It'll be roman vs reigns, bit like superman 3. Believe that!

I was only joking when I said this. Now it's an actual possibility of him winning the rumble.

Lithium93_

Brock

johnnysmack wrote: »

I was only joking when I said this. Now it's an actual possibility of him winning the rumble.

Behold the great mystic Johnnysmack and his crystal ball :pac:

Stereomaniac

Triple H

I'm gettin excited for this, really. It's less obvious than last year's result I feel and seems interesting.

Bret Hart

Triple H

Bret too make a surprise return at number 10,still a travesty how he got screwed at the 94 rumble,story of his WWE career.

beakerjoe

Ive a sneeky feeling its Brock v Bray at Wrestlemania...sigh

Loughc

Owens

beakerjoe wrote: »

Ive a sneeky feeling its Brock v Bray at Wrestlemania...sigh

If that happens I will cancel my Network subscription on the spot. Bray isn't a threat to any full timer, let alone to Lesnar. It'd be the most obvious outcome since Taker-Bray.

beakerjoe

Loughc wrote: »

If that happens I will cancel my Network subscription on the spot. Bray isn't a threat to any full timer, let alone to Lesnar. It'd be the most obvious outcome since Taker-Bray.

I dont think Ill ever cancel my sub, too much great past content and NXT, even if the main roster is ****e its still great value.

But yeah it be an awful state if Bray gets involved with Brock, a waste of his dates.

gimmick

About the only way to salvage what looks like a complete cluster is to have Reigns come in at 29 to a chorus of boos. He cleans house. Number 30 is Brock.

beakerjoe

gimmick wrote: »

About the only way to salvage what looks like a complete cluster is to have Reigns come in at 29 to a chorus of boos. He cleans house. Number 30 is Brock.

Then Reigns dumps out Brock and we are back to boo's

riffmongous

Just to be clear, what is the policy on spoilers in this thread? Particularly relating to any recently signed wrestlers? I'm already avoiding the NJPW thread just in case

Bounty Hunter

Owens

spoilers should be put in spoiler tags but that NJPW story is everywhere (across a good few threads from the news thread, Balor thread and it's own one so avoiding that might not be easy).

If the title states *spoilers* you can expect people won't be using the tags and atm this one doesn't so I hope people use them until it does

riffmongous

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

spoilers should be put in spoiler tags but that NJPW story is everywhere (across a good few threads from the news thread, Balor thread and it's own one so avoiding that might not be easy).

If the title states *spoilers* you can expect people won't be using the tags and atm this one doesn't so I hope people use them until it does

Yeah well I know the basics of the NJPW story, but I haven't found out yet if everyone is going straight to NXT or not, so I am avoiding a few of the threads alright

Bounty Hunter

Owens

there is also that grey area between people speculating and actual spoilers. Their speculation may be based off say what they have read in for example the NJPW thread but I would hope people try and keep surprise entrants to the surprise entrant thread and betting talk to the betting thread etc

Agent Coulson

Reigns to do what he did last year to come out in the high teens and sit in the corner with no one near him till it comes down to the last three or four and win it the same way as last year.

JP Liz V1

Sheamus

I'll say it I'd love to see Jericho get a final run as champ, give him his moment winning the title and rumble even if he holds it only until next ppv before WM

Dazzmondo

Ambrose

Wow! Well, with the news that Cena has a torn rotator cuff, Wrestlemania plans just went up in the air. Not sure who WWE will have face Taker now. If it were up to me, I'd have Bálor and his Bálor Club perform on both NXT and the main roster, and have him face Taker at Mania. WWE needs to take the chance to start pushing guys up the roster now. Owens, Ambrose, Wyatt (as well as Bálor) all need to be elevated to make up for Cena's absence (which will likely be between 6 and 9 months).

This also tells me that Cena's body might be starting to fail him, which means WWE needs to find their next top guy really soon. Whether it's Reigns, Rollins, or someone else, it's pretty much reached crisis point now. This has been coming for quite a while. Difficult to have much sympathy for WWE when they've repeatedly limited how far guys that have gotten over with the fans can move up the roster. They definitely need to change that approach now imo.

JP Liz V1

Sheamus

Alberto Del Rio Vs. Kalisto for US Title seems likely now Cena is out

Loughc

Owens

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Alberto Del Rio Vs. Kalisto for US Title seems likely now Cena is out

Has the makings of a great match and feud.

A Primal Nut

Brock

Just checked out the roster from last year's Royal Rumble on Wikipedia.

My God, what a bunch of jobbers. The first 2 entrants were Miz and R-Truth!!

1 The Miz 1 Dudley 04:01 0
2 R-Truth 2 04:13 0
3 Bubba Ray Dudley 3 Wyatt 05:22 2
4 Luke Harper 4 03:42 0
6 Curtis Axel - Attacked by Erick Rowan before entering the ring N/A 0
7 The Boogeyman 6 Wyatt 01:43 0
8 Sin Cara 7 00:50 0
9 Zack Ryder 8 00:47 0
11 Fandango 11 Rusev 07:50 0
12 Tyson Kidd 9 Bryan 02:41 0
13 Stardust 16 Reigns 12:49 0
16 Goldust 15 06:35 0
18 Adam Rose 13 01:01 0
21 Damien Mizdow 17 01:07 0
22 Jack Swagger 21 Big Show 13:06 0
26 Titus O'Neil 18 Reigns & Ambrose 00:04 0

The above is a list of the worst 16. Jobber city. I remember watching and waiting for the stars to come out and they never came.

Hopefully this year will have a bit more depth. Even if they have to bring a few guys in from NXT for a one-off appearance.

WinnyThePoo

Del Rio

To be fair. The Miz headlined Wrestlemania!. Push him again vince!

Stereomaniac

Triple H

The Miz should be getting put into main events on off months like February and May I think!

CastorTroy

A Primal Nut wrote: »

6 Curtis Axel - Attacked by Erick Rowan before entering the ring 353 Days

Just fixed one mistake for you.