Royal Rumble 2021 LD

[BaconBits]

I’m very okay with Edge getting the win.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

Good show

[Storm Trooper]

2 good Rumbles this year. 2 good winners. Edge/Roman or Edge/Drew at Mania?

And he's the 1st person to win the Royal Rumble from the 1 spot since Shawn Michaels in 1995 (there's rumors of it happening in 2004 but there's no evidence of it).

He's the 4th person to go bell-to-bell (5th if you include the rumors from 04) behind HBK, Mr. McMahon, and Rey Mysterio.

[Stone Cold Tea]

Where's The Fiend at? Maybe that fire really did fuck him up

[Storm Trooper]

Where's The Fiend at? Maybe that fire really did fuck him up

I'm actually glad he's been off TV for a while. He was burned alive. Give him a couple months off television. It'll actually help the character to be away for a little while. And it really is helping Alexa shine.

[Storm Trooper]

Daniel Bryan, Edge, and Christian were all retired 3 years ago. They were in the final 6 of the 2021 Royal Rumble.

This is unbelievable. I'm most stoked for Christian, as he can go out on his own terms.

[klunderbunker]

Royal Rumble 2021
Date: January 31, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe, Tom Phillips

It’s officially the Road To Wrestlemania and that should only be a good thing. The other major positive this year is how wide open both Rumbles could be, which means we could be in for a lot of drama. Other than that though, it is going to be a bit sad to watch the Rumble with no crowd. Let’s get to it.

Click on the link below for the full review.

Nothing Else Matters

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Women's Tag Team Championship: Charlotte Flair & Asuka vs. Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax - **1/4
WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Goldberg - NA
WWE SmackDown Women's Championship: Sasha Banks vs. Carmella - ***1/4
Women's Royal Rumble Match - ****
WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens - ****1/4
Men's Royal Rumble Match - ****

The Women's Tag Team Championship match could've been saved for TV but since it wasn't, moving it to the kickoff show was the right decision. It felt like filler mostly and it's not particularly interesting. I mean, just about anything involving Nia Jax just sucks the energy out of the room for me.

Drew McIntyre vs. Goldberg was exactly as it should be and the best we could have hoped. What mattered here wasn't the match itself because Goldberg isn't capable of wrestling anything approaching a real match. What mattered was the outcome and this had the right outcome. Given Goldberg's skill set and his poor cardio condition, a 3 minute match in which he hits his signature moves is all you can get out of him before he blows up. Drew took his best shots, came back, hit a second Claymore Kick and retained. Drew is moving on and Goldberg didn't embarrass himself or the wrestling world. Win-Win

Sasha Banks vs. Carmella was good, not nearly as good as their bout at TLC, but it was what it needed to be. Carmella has genuinely and dramatically improved inside the ring and she's a lot more interesting as a character now than she's ever been.

The Women's Royal Rumble match was ultimately the way I prefer watching battle royals in that it felt like it could be, within reason of course, anybody's match. You didn't have a single wrestler eliminate 10 or so people, for instance, and there just wasn't any emphasis really put on one or two of the competitors, which usually gives the impression the rest of the wrestlers are just bodies for the match. While there are always some who're there as bodies, it's not overt. I could've done without all the stuff with the 24/7 Championship but that's pretty minor. I'm thrilled that Bianca Belair came out on top as it's been a long while since we've seen someone win a Rumble match in which winning said match felt like a genuine milestone in their career. Her emotional response was great and I think she cemented herself as a top player in WWE.

Reigns vs. Owens was another killer brawl featuring excellent storytelling and character work. Reigns has been absolute gold since returning and going heel and this feud reminded a lot of people of just how good Kevin Owens is. The spots were a lot of fun and weren't too over the top, I absolutely loved Reigns running Owens over with a golf cart and Owens sold it perfectly. There was a moment during the match in which Owens is beating up on Reigns and talking Smack, I think Reigns' mouth was cut a little, and Owens said "This is Tribal Blood" and I thought it was just perfect. The only hitch in the match was the debacle with the handcuffs. I know it may have bothered some people but I had so much fun with this match that I gave them a pass here. It wasn't Owens' fault, wasn't Reigns' fault, wasn't even Vince's fault as it wasn't a dumb creative choice. Paul Heyman simply couldn't unlock a pair of handcuffs. Going forward, maybe they could consider using bolt cutters for the next handcuff spot they use.

The men's Royal Rumble, like the women's, also had something of an "it's anybody's match" feel for the most part. You had some big ol' dominant powerhouses but they didn't decimate the others and, personally, I like that. Vince tends to go overboard sometimes with his love of the whole alpha male thing, such as with last year's men's Rumble match. I'm perfectly fine with Edge winning because, quite frankly, the "main roster" hasn't really positioned a lot of fresh faces and younger talent all that well to be suitable challengers at this point. Speaking of which, where the hell was Keith Lee last night? They couldn't have put him in reather than Elias? It was a fun match but, as I alluded to, I think the match highlighted a lack of strongly pushed young talent on the "main roster" as far as main event challengers go.