Batista won the Royal Rumble Match which puts the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton in his sights. Will Raw bring the first face-off between Batista & Orton?
Sheamus returned with a vengeance in the Royal Rumble Match, eliminating Big E Langston & effectively serving notice to the WWE locker room. With no rivalries claiming his attention of yet, the playing field is wide open for The Celtic Warrior heading into WrestleMania season. Odds are the rowdy Irishman will seize the moment as he only can.
It would appear that The Shield’s unity is in question for the first time in their collective history after what transpired in the Royal Rumble Match. Can The Hounds of Justice keep from mauling one another before WrestleMania?
The New Age Outlaws defeated Cody Rhodes & Goldust for the WWE Tag Team Championships. Can Cody & Goldust pull themselves together & keep their fell-good story running? Or is it up to another tandem to take out the New Age Outlaws in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania?
Yes, Batista won the Royal Rumble Match, but the Royal Rumble pay-per-view was undoubtedly Bray Wyatt’s night. He got to make a vicious example of Daniel Bryan, he cost John Cena the WWE World Heavyweight Championship & saw his Family throw down in the Royal Rumble Match itself, eliminating a “Wrestling God” & a little bull before all was said & done. Last night Bray Wyatt truly made good on his famous warning. He’s here. What he does next, particularly where Cena is concerned, will be must-see.
Kickoff Match: WWE Tag Team championship: The New Age Outlaws def. Cody Rhodes & Goldust to become WWE Tag Team Champions for the 6th time.
Bray Wyatt def. Daniel Bryan:
Brock Lesnar def. Big Show:
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton def. John Cena: The Wyatt Family distracted Cena costing him the title. After the match, Bray Wyatt proclaimed his clan “the creators of the new world” before putting Cena to sleep with Sister Abigail.
Batista won the Royal Rumble Match: There was some surprise entrants in the match. There was Sheamus, Kevin Nash, Kane, JBL, Alexander Rusev & El Torito. CM Punk, Batista, Sheamus & Roman Reigns was the final 4 in the match. Kane came back out & pulled Punk out & chokeslammed him through the Spanish announce table. Reigns eliminated Sheamus. Reigns eliminated 12 Superstars & broke Kane’s 13-year-old record for the most competitors eliminated in a single Royal Rumble Match. Batista eliminated Reigns to win the Royal Rumble Match.
The fans were upset that Daniel Bryan wasn’t in the Royal Rumble Match & that Batista won it. Batista wasn’t happy that the fans booed him & he mocked Daniel Bryan & flipped off the fans. The fans also booed for most of the Orton/Cena match too. Mick Foley had some bad things to say about the pay-per-view as well.
Without a doubt, The Royal Rumble is my favorite match each year.
As I put together the information in this post, I did one thing very intentional, and that was not look at any of the so called experts and their predictions.
This is a DTRT exclusive article with most of the factual information coming from WWE.com.
Beginning in 1988, on national TV and not PPV, the brainchild of WWE Hall of Famer Pat Patterson had it’s debut.
Since then, 753 entrants have taken part in what this year will be the 27th annual event. An amazing 455,107 fans have attended the previous Rumbles.
I can’t speak for the other 455,106, but I had an awesome time watching Sheamus win the 2012 version live in St. Louis.
A couple of other interesting bits of Rumble history: HBK has a record 39 eliminations. That is followed closely by Kane with 37 eliminations in his 14 different Rumble matches, and an amazing 11 in 2001 match alone.
For the CM Punk fans who might be depressed by his #1 slot, Rey Mysterio lasted an astonishing 62 minutes and 12 seconds and HBK won the 1995 Rumble from the #1 position.
So, print your scorecard now , look at the following list, check out the predictions of the DTRT staff at the end, and
Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!
As of the Jan. 20 edition of Raw, the following Superstars have been announced as official entrants in this year’s 30-Superstar Royal Rumble Match:
Batista
CM Punk (Director of Operations Kane declared Punk will enter the match at No. 1)
Alberto Del Rio
Big E Langston
The Miz
R-Truth
Xavier Woods
Kofi Kingston
Cody Rhodes
Goldust
Rey Mysterio
Fandango
Roman Reigns
Seth Rollins
Dean Ambrose
Erick Rowan
Luke Harper
Damien Sandow
Jimmy Uso
Jey Uso
Exclusive DTRT staff predictions:
John – Batista
Vanessa – CM Punk
I really hope Daniel Bryan pulls double duty cuz if so I’ll pull for him. If not I pick punk..
Trevor – Batista*
I say Batista only because of his current WWE deal puts him in a position to be in the spotlight. Do I think he deserves it? No, he came in last week and now most likely to main event Wrestlemania. This is one time I really hope my prediction is wrong.
Ed – Roman Reigns
All indications point to Batista, so I’m hoping that the creative minds go with someone who has earned the shot to headline Wrestlemania 30.
Word going around TNA is that Vince Russo is once again working with the company. TNA recently reached out to some creative people for some consulting on their TV product and Russo was reportedly one of those people.
A handful of people in the company believe 100% that Russo is once again involved in TNA creative. Russo was at least copied on some recent e-mails between members of the TNA creative team. The official response from a company spokesman is no, Russo is not working with the company.
Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com interviewed CM Punk. Punk said that his contract expires in July & that he doesn’t know if he will stick around after it expires. Punk said that “everything is up in the air.’
Punk also said that he threw his name in the hat to induct The Ultimate Warrior at the Hall of Fame. Punk said Hulk Hogan appears to be the favorite to do the induction but noted that they hate each other.
This weekend, both Sheamus & Chris Jericho will be in Pittsburg, PA, which is the host city for Sunday’s Royal Rumble. They are appearing at the World of Wheels Auto Show. Sheamus will be there tonight from 6pm-8pm & Jerich will be there on Saturday from 12pm-3pm.
Will they be entering the Royal Rumble Match? I guess we will find out Sunday.
Dixie Carter, her Lawyer, Rockstar Spud & Magnus in the back. They tell Magnus about an impromptu meeting with the Board of Directors. The Lawyer said the unknown investor is trying a hostile takeover of the company.They told Magnus that tonight he had to play ball & play fair. Dixie says Sting gets to have someone in his corner tonight. Magnus suggested the match be a No DQ & No Count Out. Magnus said this has Sting written all over it. Dixie told Magnus to go out there & win.
Magnus came to the ring along with Ethan Carter III & Rockstar Spud. Magnus said Sting has been politicking with the new investor to get somebody in his corner for the World Title match. Magnus said he thought Sting was a man. Sting came down & said to Magnus, so now your ready to honor a deal. Sting brought up Magnus’s match with AJ Styles. Magnus asked Sting how much he paid the investor. Sting said he isn’t going to sale out like Magnus did & that he doesn’t know about the investor, he was just told he could have whoever he wants in his corner. Magnus said Sting has to beat him 1,2,3 or make him submit & Sting can’t do it. Magnus said he proved it at Bound For Glory. Sting said he got back up on his feet & got his head straight & watched the tape of the match & now he knows what Magnus is going to do before he does it. Sting said that’s what separates real champions from paper champions. Sting said Magnus didn’t earn anything, he traded honor for greed. Fans chanted paper champion. Sting said Magnus lost the respect of everybody. Magnus slapped Sting across the face. Sting stood there for a few second before hitting Magnus. Sting backed Magnus in the corner with a few punches & kicks. Spud & EC3 jump on Sting & beat him down. Magnus rolled out of the ring. Samoa Joe came down, Spud bailed out of the ring. Joe took EC3 down & kicked him out of the ring. Sting said Joe will be in his corner tonight.
Rockstar Spud & Dixie in the back, Dixie said they are going to have to make sure Samoa Joe is physically incapable of inserting himself in Sting’s match. Spud suggested putting Joe in a match. Dixie put Spud in the match against Joe. Dixie wants Spud to wow the people & show why she picked him to stand by her side. She told Spud that he can do it. Spud left & Dixie said please don’t get killed.
World Title Shot Briefcase On A Pole Match: Gunner VS “Cowboy” James Storm: Storm on the tope rope with his hands on the case, Gunner brought Storm down with an electric chair, Storm brought the case down with him but dropped it. Gunner got control of the case. Gunner got the win.
Kurt Angle in the back talking about his match with Bobby Roode. Angle said if he can’t beat Roode one time then he doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
Video Velvet Sky form earlier in the week. She got a package from her boyfriend Chris Sabin. She read the note, it said to bring the gifts with her to Impact this week & she will know what to do. She opened the package, there was a gift bag,teddy bear & a lead pipe.
X-Division Championship Match with Velvet Sky in a Cage at ringside: Austin Aries VS X-Division Champion Chris Sabin: Velvet had the gift bag with her. Toward the end of the match Sabin got the gift bag from Velvet, but all that was in it was the teddy bear. Aries got the win to become the new X-Division Champion.
Video message from The Wolves to Dixie Carter. They said next week the investor will be revealed.
Steel Cage Match: Bobby Roode VS Kurt Angle: If Angle loses he can never be in the Hall of Fame: At one point in the match Angle was atop the cage & could have escaped to win but instead went for a moonsault from off the top, Roode rolled out of the way & Angle crashed on the mat. Later Angle climbed down the cage & Roode tried to escape through the door. Angle made it out first. Angle got the win.
Rockstar Spud in the back, EC3 came in & gave Spud a pep talk.
The BroMans & DJ Zema Ion in the ring. The BroMans said they are running things here in 2014 & DJ Zema will cash in his briefcase & become X-Division Champion. DJ Zema called The BroMans the greatest Tag Team Champs ever. DJ Zema said Eric Young & Joseph Park are going down. EY came down & went after them. They beat EY down with a 3 on 1 advantage. The Monster Abyss came down & took The BroMans & Zema out. Abyss then grabbed EY by the throat but eventually let him go.
Samoa Joe in the back, he said his knee is fine. Joe called Magnus a sale out & a scumbag but he isn’t surprised by what Magnus has done. Joe said tonight he will send a message & the purist communicator is pain. Joe said tonight Spud will bare his message & his path of destruction starts with Spud.
Kurt Angle in the back talking about Sting’s match with Magnus. Angle said he thinks Sting is making a mistake. Angle said he loves Sting & wishes him the best.
Rockstar Spud VS Samoa Joe: Joe won by submission.
TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match: No DQ & No Count Out: Sting’s Contract VS Title: Sting VS TNA World Heavyweight Champion Magnus: Samoa Joe in Sting’s Corner: Dixie sent Ethan Carter III out, Joe confronted EC3 & EC3 went back up the ramp. Bad Influence came out & attacked Joe, EC3 came back out & got in the ring. Bad Influence & Joe end up in the ring. Sting hit the Scorpion Death Drop on Magnus & went for pin cover. DZ Zema came out & pulled the ref out of the ring. Joe attacked Zema & The BroMans jumped on Joe. Bad Influence, BroMans & Zema all attacked Sting in the ring. Kurt Angle came down & cleared the ring. Sting had a pin cover on Magnus after hitting a superplex off the top rope but there was no ref, a ref finally came in to count but Sting could only get a 2 count. Sting went for a Stinger Splash but Magnus moved & pulled the ref in front of the splash taking the ref out. Sting had Magnus in the Scorpion Death Lock, Magnus tapped but there was no ref. Bobby Roode came down & clobbered Sting from behind. Magnus hit Sting with a driver. Dixie dragged ref Earl Hebner down to the ring by his shirt & forced him to make the 3 count. Magnus got the win. After the match, Dixie handed Magnus Sting’s contact & Magnus ripped it up. Magnus, Dixie & EC3 celebrated as Sting laid on the mat in front of them.
Is a babyface turn in the works for TNA commentator, Taz?
During the Kurt Angle/Bobby Roode match, Taz made the following comments,
“I gotta say, going into this thing I wanted to see Bobby Roode win this match. I’ve gotta tell you I’ve turned, I want to see Kurt Angle win it – he deserves it.”
After Angle got the win, Taz said, “he turned me during this match”.
The remainder of the night, Taz called the matches down the middle and he was even pleasant to his partner Mike Tenay.
Wrestling Inc.com had the following story about Jillian Hall:
Former WWE Diva Jillian Hall says she is retiring from in-ring wrestling. She tweeted on Monday night:
“Sooooo…I’m thinking I’m pretty much retired from in ring wrestling. If I did 1 more, it’d be to face either @RealMelina or @MickieJames”
Jerry Wilson, promoter at Hoosier Pro Wrestling in Indiana, where Jillian broke in to the wrestling business, had this to say about Jillian’s tweet,
I hope that she is not done and was looking for her to be back at HPW a couple more times. She is a great talent that I am proud to call a friend and wish her nothing but the best if she does retire.
