WWE Royal Rumble 2016: Hits and Misses.

The Royal Rumble was broadcast on Sunday 24, January, 2016.

Royal Rumble Hits

HHH wins WWE Championship: ‘The Game’ was my pick and odds-on favourite to win the Royal Rumble and become 14-time champion. It was highly likely he would enter at number 30 to stack the deck even further against Roman Reigns. Predictable is not a bad adjective if the storytelling makes sense. HHH and Reigns will probably clash in the main event at Wrestlemania. If that doesn’t get Reigns over as a legitimate star, nothing will.

Last Man Standing: Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens kicked off the show in style and concluded their fierce feud. They used chairs, stairs and numerous tables before the brutal finish. Both looked tough as nails limping into the Rumble later on. Ambrose sold exhaustion believably and was a credible runner up. Owens being eliminated by Sami Zayn renews unfinished business from NXT. Excellent booking all round.

Charlotte vs Becky Lynch: Very enjoyable. They got a good amount of time and showed off smooth wrestling, created drama and Ric Flair cheated to generate extra heat. It would’ve been nice to see Becky get a short title run but she will eventually. As an added bonus, my partner predicted Sasha Banks shenanigans and she didn’t disappoint.

Wyatt Family eliminate Lesnar: Lesnar, Mark Henry, Kane and Big Show were all eliminated by the family. Braun Strowman looked green but still a welcome change from the anticlimactic Kane/Big Show section last year. Lesnar is in the #1 contenders match at Fast Lane so expect Wyatt’s interference to set up Lesnar/Wyatt or a handicap tag team match.

New Day retain tag titles: This was a fun contest with the right outcome. New Day are popular champions and their entrance promo with Francesca #2 antics had charisma to spare. New contenders need building up urgently, could we see fresh blood from NXT soon?

Royal Rumble Misses

Roman Reigns: Reigns was hounded by the crowd all night long. Other faces including Ryback, Titus and The Usos received similar treatment, not their usual reaction. However, if your major face gets booed after multiple hype videos, a League of Nations mugging and special Austin/Terry Funk-style return then you have a serious problem. Like John Cena over a decade ago, WWE will probably be stubborn and ride through the storm.

A.J. Styles debut: A.J. Styles in the ring with Reigns was surreal. He lasted over 25 minutes and the fans loved him. Unfortunately he was eliminated by Owens, who has enough going on already. If his rumble elimination had set up something more meaningful I’d have put it in the hits section.

Alberto Del Rio vs Kalisto: Decent action, my miss is for the muddled booking and hot potato title changes that devalue championships. Please, no more rematches!

Ric Flair kissing Becky Lynch: In 2016, we have a 66 year-old man forcibly kissing a 28-year old woman to give his daughter a competitive edge. Vile!

Things are heating up for Fastlane on February 21. See you then wrestling fans.

Philip.