Not since the days of the Monday Night Wars has there been such a buzz in the world of wrestling, we kicked off the year with Roman Reigns as WWE Champion, Chris Jericho returned and four of NJPW’s biggest stars packed their bags ready to sign for WWE. January really has been the month to be a wrestling fan again.
January started with the Roman Reigns project finally complete, he was WWE Champion and he was receiving the desired reaction from the fans. Since Roman inflicted a severe beat down on Triple H in the aftermath of the TLC PPV, he has been thrusted into a very personal feud with the McMahon family. Vince & Stephanie have gone out of their way to make Reigns life a misery, from one sided world title matches to handicap matches, Roman has faced the full wrath of the McMahon’s. Has it been entertaining? Yes. Has it been repetitive? Yes. Have the fans now got sick of the constant push of Roman? Yes. But somehow WWE just don’t seem to get it, following TLC they had it solved, then in the course of four weeks they undid everything by ‘trying’ to make Roman seem the victim, the sympathetic good guy, problem is, he isn’t any of those.
The Royal Rumble was once more the unravelling of the Roman Reigns character, even though he was the first entrant in the Rumble he was viciously booed. The perceived sympathetic face was not who the fans wanted, they craved once more for a fresh face, someone who was deserving, who earnt it. Roman is what the machine want, he is who they want you to cheer for, I truly believe Roman would have already achieved greatness if only WWE had allowed it to grow organically. The Rumble was a bad night for Roman both professionally and personally, when the evening ended he was also no longer WWE Champion, Triple H the man he left for dead at TLC had returned for revenge. So the rumours turned out to be true, the number 30 entrant in the Rumble was the current CEO of WWE, the ‘Game’ Triple H, at 46 years of age he had returned to gain revenge on Reigns and in the process capture the WWE title for a 14th time.
The events of TLC & Royal Rumble all point towards a feud 18 months in the making. Triple H vs Roman Reigns is a match I believe we all want to see, Wrestlemania is the only place it can happen, yet does it needs the WWE title involved? With the industries top prize around the waist of the ‘Game’ the feud loses the intrigue it would have naturally had, the result becomes meaningless. Prepare for April 3rd to be Roman’s night all over again.
The biggest news story of the month was the potential signing of AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Shinsuke Nakamura from NJPW. Social media was buzzing following the rumoured resignations of all four men before, after and during the Wrestle Kingdom 10 event. At the Royal Rumble the rumours surrounding AJ finally settled as the phenomenal one walked to the ring as the 3rd entrant in the Rumble match. Styles clashed with all the top performers during the match, his performance in the Rumble was met warmly by critics and fans, it was finally the moment Styles arrived in WWE. Throughout the contest his name was being chanted, even after he was eliminated by Kevin Owens, who many believe could potentially clash with Styles at WM32.
The following night on Raw, Styles made his debut on WWE’s flagship show, he finally, for the first time ever, clashed with veteran Chris Jericho. The match was a slow burner, with WWE and Jericho allowing Styles to exhibit exactly why WWE signed him, following some near falls Styles got the victory with a roll up. The match and Styles were well received, it was nice to finally see AJ in a WWE ring. It was quite a sight seeing AJ Styles walk out at the Royal Rumble, it was one of those moments in wrestling that you just won’t forget. I’m expecting big things for AJ Styles in WWE.
The rumours surrounding the other members of the Bullet Club has been relatively quiet, it is believed that Doc & Anderson will be honouring their scheduled dates before debuting in WWE. Shinsuke Nakamura however, has now signed with WWE, the news flooded social media on Wednesday 28th and he is set to face Sami Zayn at TakeOver Dallas, great news for all fans of the strong style.
Uncharacteristically Paul Heyman & Brock Lesnar returned rather quietly to our screens in January in preparation for the Royal Rumble. At first Heyman did not see why Brock had to enter the Rumble, especially after not being pinned to originally lose the title. Brock entered the Rumble and proceeded to destroy the Wyatt family singlehandedly, he
then eliminated them one by one. When the time came for him to face Bray though, the tables turned on the ‘Beast Incarnate’, the family re-entered the Rumble and attacked Lesnar, leading to his eventual elimination at the hands of Bray. Rumours before and after the Rumble seemed to suggest that Bray could be a potential opponent for Lesnar come April 3rd , events on Raw and at the Rumble seem to suggest it to be true. I for one am a fan of both and a feud and match excites me, yet is the result even in question? Much more is needed to be done with Bray if WWE choose this path heading towards Wrestlemania.
In January Dean Ambrose & Kevin Owens both performed exceptionally in their feud, with blistering promos, exciting segments and a great Last Man Standing match at the Rumble. Both men showed their worth to WWE, I think it’s only fitting for these two to be booked in career enhancing matches at Wrestlemania. Chris Jericho also returned to the company to take part in the ‘Road to Wrestlemania’ he’s had entertaining exchanges with the New Day, Paul Heyman and AJ Styles, his match with AJ on Raw this past week went down exceptionally well. He had a great showing in the Rumble and surely a wonderful WM match awaits him, possibly with Styles? Only time will tell.
The Royal Rumble event was a very good show, the only downgrade in my opinion was the Triple H win. It achieves nothing, all it does is give further proof of who WWE want as their John Cena replacement. The Rumble also reiterated my argument about promoting NXT talent sooner rather than later, the event on Sunday was filled with throwaway talent like Curtis Axel, R-Truth, Kane, Goldust, Big Show, Braun Strowman, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger and Miz, a long list I know. The Rumble could have been filled with exceptional talent like Samoa Joe, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, Tye Dillinger, plus why couldn’t have Austin Aries debut at the Rumble also? Aries deserves a promotion straight to Raw or Smackdown, just think how much of a boost Aries could give the mid-card, US and or IC title picture.
On Raw this past week it was announced that at Fastlane, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose will take part in a triple threat match to determine the number one contender. The victor will get the opportunity to face Triple H in the main event of Wrestlemania 32, is the outcome of the triple threat and Mania main event even in question? I believe the Wyatt’s will cost Lesnar the match and Roman will pin Dean to walk forward to face HHH. Does anyone else remember the main events where the result would be in question? Unfortunately except the odd occasion the results are there for all to see, and for me it’s killing the special feeling we as wrestling fans once had.
@Ciaran_1986
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