Bumpy road to Mania
As of last Saturday, with the Royal Rumble, WWE is now on the “Road to WrestleMania.”
And while some may say things are a bit stagnant with the company because of dealing with Covid issues, it is fair to say the road could be very bumpy.
But before we look at Mania, let’s start with this past Saturday’s Rumble show.
Rumble winner spoiled
During WWE’s preshow, the panelists made predictions on who each thought would win the men’s and women’s Rumble matches.
When it came time for his choice for the men’s winner, Booker T chose Brock Lesnar.
The same Brock Lesnar who was scheduled to defend the WWE championship against Bobby Lashley on the show.
The same Brock Lesnar who had not been publicly announced for the Rumble.
Match and Rumble?
Many times over the years, wrestlers have had matches on the Rumble card and then partook in the Rumble match itself.
And speaking of, if Lesnar was allowed to enter the Rumble after losing his title to Lashley, why wasn’t Seth Rollins, Edge or The Miz in it?
Why did Lesnar get the spot?
Rollins defeated Universal champion Roman Reigns by DQ while Edge and The Miz squared off in an intergender match that included their respective wives.
The Rumble lacked star power, and there were several times when I was wondering why certain performers were in the match.
Adding Rollins, Edge and The Miz would have helped.
Other appearances spoiled
Lesnar entering the Rumble wasn’t the only surprise ruined.
For one, a WWE Shop commercial ran just before Lesnar’s match featuring the Head of the Table shirt with Reigns, The Uso’s and Heyman.
Heyman was no longer with The Bloodline, and he accompanied Lesnar to the ring but turned on him and sided with Reigns.
Maybe the ad should have been held off until after Heyman’s turn?
Also, WWE released a Bad Bunny Royal Rumble t-shirt at merchandise stands during the show as well as a Ronda Rousey shirt.
Speaking of Rousey, word had broken early in the week that she would be appearing.
Her ovation at the show was impressive, but can you imagine how loud it would have been had no one known she was going to appear?
Disappointing Rumble matches
There was plenty of noise the few days after the show about how off both the men’s and women’s Rumble matches appeared to be.
Several sites stated that there was up to 20 changes to the matches over the days and hours leading up to the show leaving performers having to put their brains in overload trying to remember their roles, having to forgot what they were told and remember updated changes.
Word is that Riddle had been penciled in to win the Rumble at one point.
Whereas in past years when Triple H would help lay out the men’s Rumble and TJ Wilson (known as Tyson Kidd) would help with the women’s Rumble, neither were at the show.
Both matches were underwhelming, and maybe not having the duo at the show putting things together played a big part.
The men’s Rumble, for example, had two part-time performers (Bunny and Shane McMahon) in the closing moments of the match, and Bunny eliminated two former world champions during his brief time in it.
But with the winner receiving a world title match at Mania, it looks bad when two performers who should not be near the end of the match are in it down the stretch.
And whose idea was it for Lesnar to throw out Randy Orton?
Lesnar is your top “good guy” and you have him throw out the hometown hero in Orton?
Makes no sense.
Mania match(es) set
Monday on Raw, Lesnar announced he will challenge Reigns at WrestleMania for the Universal championship.
For those who have not had enough of these two facing off will be excited to see the match again.
It will be the eighth time the pair have squared off on a PPV.
Also on Monday, Rousey announced she would tell everyone Friday on Smackdown whether she would face Raw champion Becky Lynch or Smackdown champ Charlotte Flair.
Deadline for this column was before Smackdown aired on Friday, but the belief is Rousey will face Flair at Mania.
The bigger money match is Rousey and Lynch, but we will look further into this next time.
Could a triple-threat rematch between the three from their Mania 35 main event be in the works?
Elimination Chamber thoughts
Since Lesnar won the WWE championship at Day One from Big E in an elimination match, there had been talk of a Reigns v. Lesnar title for title unification bout.
Could that still happen?
Lesnar is one of five competitors who will challenge Lashley for the WWE crown at Elimination Chamber on February 19.
Whatever WWE does moving forward to Mania, it needs to do something as ticket sales have been abysmal, and this comes off the Rumble where WWE was publicly looking for seat fillers to attend the Rumble.
Word is almost half of the fans at the show were given free tickets.
WWE’s record business
During a conference call Thursday, WWE announced that revenue increased 12 percent in 2021 to $1.095 billion, the highest in company history.
We will look at this in more detail next time, but when you factor in how much money WWE saved by getting rid of over 100 talents in 2021, the bottom line looks healthy.
However, WWE won’t be able to release another large number of performers in 2022, so where will WWE make up that revenue?
Punk drops first AEW bout
CM Punk lost his first AEW match recently when he was pinned by MJF after Wardlow interfered.
Could the win help elevate MJF? Absolutely and it was big that the match took place in Punk’s hometown of Chicago.
Look for this outcome to play into the storylines heading into AEW’s next PPV, Revolution on March 6.
This Day in History
In 1988, WWF (WWE) ran a matinee show at the Boston Gardens and an evening show in Philadelphia.
Ted DiBiase would make his only two appearances as WWF champion at the events.
He was awarded the belt the night before after Andre the Giant defeated Hulk Hogan to win it.
Andre then gifted it to DiBiase, but WWF President Jack Tunney stripped him of it a couple of days later leaving Feb. 6, 1988, as the only day DiBiase was ever introduced as WWF champion.
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