GDT: WWE Royal Rumble 2023

[GKJ]

I could see them booking Roman on 2 nights, once vs Cody and once vs Sami. I know people have alluded to this for months, him wrestling both nights. People were thinking Rock one night, and someone else night 2. To me that was stupid - if Rock is around, he's Roman's sole focus since he's such a huge name.

But without The Rock, the idea of Roman wrestling twice could work...do Roman vs Cody night 1 for WWE title, and Roman vs Sami night 2 for Universal Title, or vice versa.

You can also add Sami to the main event and make it a triple threat. The idea of Cody taking on the whole bloodline by himself is unrealistic, Sami too (even with KO's help). With a triple threat, it creates more drama/possibilities. Maybe book a big angle in Montreal where Sami earns his title shot to make it a triple threat

If you’re fantasy booking, yeah you could do anything. They’ve bailed themselves out multiple times turning Wrestlemania main events into triple threats just because they couldn’t come to terms with doing what was plainly obvious to them to begin with.

I think the better idea perhaps is to turn it, and Sami works both nights and wins the tag titles (at least), and set up a scenario where he takes all the belts from the bloodline.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Was an average Rumble. The Reigns Owens match felt pretty short , had some good spots but nothing really too crazy. The ending of the show was great tho. I thought the Women's Royal Rumble was better than the Men's. If Rhodes come back was so hyped up why not have him come out earlier in the match instead of 30th ? Also the men's match literally had only 2 suprise entrants with Booker T and Logan Paul. Everyone knew Edge would be back soon. The Bray Wyatt match wasn't bad and the spot with Howdy was cool. If Howdy is trying to possess Bliss than why wouldn't they just have him come out and lure her backstage or actually be in the ring with her ? The onscreen promo was literally a repeat of last week. It was really an average at best Rumble , I was thinking it would be better to be honest. Elimination Chamber will be a fun one tho being Montreal with Zayn & Owens being major parts of the show.

 

[GKJ]

The end of the match did feel a bit flat, but the end justified the means. The post match was the climax and main event.

Absolutely amazing thing though that the biggest star on a Royal rumble show, was not in a match much less a rumble, and on a basis of events that did not take place during a match or even a promoted talking segment.

 

[Transplanted Caper]

The thing about Sami is, they've *built* this. They built Sami up, teased the turn, and have had the crowd eat it up. It's hard to fathom HHH thinks he can do all that and blow it off with something other than Sami/Reigns. With Bryan, the crowd forced their hand. They tried to do something different, and failed. Here, they meticulously built to THIS, Cody has been a secondary part of this, even since his return given they put the Men's Rumble on first and again, knowing how hot the crowd was for Sami, let THAT close the main event. I dunno, maybe Sami wins at home, and then some shenanigans with "one title has to stay on RAW" and Cody wins THAT? It's pretty convoluted and sloppy to get the belts split so quickly, but everything they've done the last several months points to the blowoff being Sami/Roman even if I'm still skeptical that's what actually happens,

 

[Apex Predator]

Watch all this end up with Sami and KO winning the tag team belts.

 

[hockey20000]

Watch all this end up with Sami and KO winning the tag team belts.

possibly yes

 

[Sheppy]

I’m still irritated they geeked out Chelsea Green in seconds

 

[CDJ]

Ppl talking about this Bloodline like it’s the best angle in history as if Owens/Zayn haven’t been in a 16 year storyline

 

[Megahab]

Ppl talking about this Bloodline like it’s the best angle in history as if Owens/Zayn haven’t been in a 16 year storyline

What do you mean? A big part of the appeal of this storyline is Zayn and Owens' history together, which WWE has not hidden.

 

[Megahab]

I’m still irritated they geeked out Chelsea Green in seconds

I didn't know who she was but she looked familiar. And then I could have sworn she was in another Rumble where she was eliminated almost right away. Looked it up and in 2020, she last 12 seconds. Last night was 5 seconds. I wonder if anyone else has had multiple Rumble eliminations that quickly.

 

[Jussi]

They’re not going to have Kevin turn on Sami, at least this soon and quite frankly I don’t think I would ever want to see it. I’ve seen them do a bunch of matches against each other. I’d quite frankly would be more interested in seeing Sami fully earning earning Kevin’s trust back and have that culminate in Montreal.

I wonder if there is a chance of repeating the Eddie/Benoit moment from 2004 but with Sami and Kevin?

 

[ChuckNorris4Cup]

The whole Rumble was kind of meh imo, I found myself bored too much, just not enough excitement, and only having 29 men not 30 compete in the Rumble just started a bad vibe imo. Obviously come next week they'll probably show some back room footage of Dominik and Judgment day jumping Ray blah blah blah, but 29 instead of 30 just looks weak. I would of liked to see Lesnar, Lashley, Strowman and Omos in the ring at the same time, that would of helped a bit imo.

It was kind of obvious the whole KO/Roman match that Zayn was up to something his reactions all match hinted at something, and even Cole made a comment regarding it early to make another hint. Personally I thought Zayn was going to hit Roman during the match when the ref was possibility distracted at some point, but obviously they waited until after. The one thing that kind of bugged though was watching KO get the back of his head slammed on the ring steps that was ugly, then to do it again was a little much, and then the repeated kicks to the head tied at the ropes was overkill, especially after he already had his head slammed on the edge of the stairs.

 

[Habsrule]

WWE could have made a huge moment last night and they missed the chance.

Rey Mysterio never got into the match. He never came out because he was attacked by Dominik in the back beforehand. Dominik comes out next tipping Rey’s mask. A bit later they should have had Rey come stumbling out after a few minutes while Dom is in the ring. Rey is covering his face with his hands and is feeling embarrassed to not have a mask on. He gets to the ring and needs to take his hands off his face, he does and then starts hitting his moves in the ring. The crowd would pop so loud to see him fighting without a mask.

 

[dahrougem2]

WWE could have made a huge moment last night and they missed the chance.

Rey Mysterio never got into the match. He never came out because he was attacked by Dominik in the back beforehand. Dominik comes out next tipping Rey’s mask. A bit later they should have had Rey come stumbling out after a few minutes while Dom is in the ring. Rey is covering his face with his hands and is feeling embarrassed to not have a mask on. He gets to the ring and needs to take his hands off his face, he does and then starts hitting his moves in the ring. The crowd would pop so loud to see him fighting without a mask.

This would never happen lol

 

[Megahab]

WWE could have made a huge moment last night and they missed the chance.

Rey Mysterio never got into the match. He never came out because he was attacked by Dominik in the back beforehand. Dominik comes out next tipping Rey’s mask. A bit later they should have had Rey come stumbling out after a few minutes while Dom is in the ring. Rey is covering his face with his hands and is feeling embarrassed to not have a mask on. He gets to the ring and needs to take his hands off his face, he does and then starts hitting his moves in the ring. The crowd would pop so loud to see him fighting without a mask.

Have you seen Mysterio without his mask? He looks 10 years old.

 

[CDJ]

What do you mean? A big part of the appeal of this storyline is Zayn and Owens' history together, which WWE has not hidden.

I’m saying the Zayn/Owens 16 yr storyline supersedes this Bloodline storyline when talking about best storylines ever.

The Bloodline angle on its own is phenomenal. It’s only a mere chapter in a storyline that’s basically been going forever though. IMO Zayn/Generico-Owens/Steen may be the single greatest saga in wrestling history

 

[BruinDust]

I ended up purchasing the rumble last night. I just had to see the outcome of Sami Zayn's "final test". Outside of Steve Austin's return last year, I can't recall the last time a storyline or angle sold me on a laying down money to buy a PPV.

A bit disappointed to see the men's rumble on first. Because you knew right then and there it would be a "paint-by-the-numbers" rumble. I didn't expect Sami or the Bloodline involved anyways, but you knew just based on it's placement on the card that a surprise, like The Rock, wasn't happening. Cody winning was super predictable and not at all interesting. Was also disappointed how short Brock's time in the match was, if only because I enjoy watching Brock Lesnar do his thing in the ring.

The best part of the rumble may be the hint of a Rollins vs. Logan Paul match at WM, which has the potential to be something special. Whether one likes or hates Logan Paul's brand and persona, the guy is one of the most naturally talented athletes I've ever seen. To be doing what he's doing with so little experience and making each move look so good is impressive. Then to pair him up with arguably the best overall in-ring worker in the business in Rollins. This could be massive.

I still don't know what to think of this Bray Wyatt stuff. I liked the visual of him under the glow lights with the make-up, very creepy look. But what is the shelf life of this gimmick? Are all of his matches going to be gimmicky matches under strange lighting? They keep hinting that each segment is just one small piece of a larger story but where is this going long-term? Will Bray only be doing PPV events and special matches?

I'm sorry but for well over half the women's roster, the whole Rumble match looks foolish. Just too short to make going over the top rope to look realistic at all. Finger of shame for bringing back Nia Jax. She's useless and dangerous.

Rhea was predictable yet the right choice. Women's wrestling could really benefit from a lower-weight division, a women's cruiserweight division if you will. It's just not realistic to think a small petite performer like a Bliss or Zelina Vega could even make a dent into a taller, broader performer like Rhea Ripley and others.

While it wasn't Sami turning on the Bloodline as the culmination of his year long plan to screw with them, having Sami turn on them and not the other way around was the right call and the crowd reaction proves it. He would of looked so weak had they turned on him first. The final segment was excellent and basically why I bought the PPV. Riveting stuff all around.

One complaint though.......the camera angle they used gave the turn away. It was so focused on Roman's back and you could not even see KO in the shot, so you knew the chair-shot was heading Roman's way. The camera angle telegraphed it a bit too much.

I don't know how they get there but it would be an absolute shame if Sami Zayn doesn't face Roman Reigns in some capacity in the main event of WM. Especially now that it appears Rock vs. Roman is completely off the table for this year.

 

[Jussi]

I wonder if they could somehow get a GÜNTHER vs Lashley vs Lesnar triple threat for the IC title at Mania?

 

[CDJ]

I bet they do Sami vs Roman at elimination chamber. Jey comes back to the bloodline and beats up Sami. Sami/Owens vs Uso’s at Mania.

I don’t think that’s what they should do. I don’t think they’ll get the reaction they want if Cody goes over at Mania

 

[hockey20000]

I bet they do Sami vs Roman at elimination chamber. Jey comes back to the bloodline and beats up Sami. Sami/Owens vs Uso’s at Mania.

I don’t think that’s what they should do. I don’t think they’ll get the reaction they want if Cody goes over at Mania

having sami get beat down in his hometown they betetr make sure they got extra security wouldnt suprise me if couple idiots jumped barrier lol.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Ppl talking about this Bloodline like it’s the best angle in history as if Owens/Zayn haven’t been in a 16 year storyline

It's never been done justice or done properly in WWE though. Always hastily built or just a throwaway feud. Battleground 2016 is the closet we got.

If we do get a Sami title win i feel like that basically as to be his one big program with it.

 

[Blitzkrug]

having sami get beat down in his hometown they betetr make sure they got extra security wouldnt suprise me if couple idiots jumped barrier lol.

Might be the first time in a while we'd see crap thrown at the ring like the old days lol. That would be a catastrophic decision on their end. The blowback would be so bad it likely results in a full scale fan revolt towards whatever they would have planned for Mania. Kinda like how Roman winning the rumble while having the guy they wanted tossed caused hatred for him to find another gear largely because of the super heavy smark crowd in Philly.

If they don't want Sami then they need to put the breaks on it before we get to Montreal. If we go into that PPV with an inkling Sami is still in the mix then they need to commit to it.

 

[hockey20000]

Might be the first time in a while we'd see crap thrown at the ring like the old days lol. That would be a catastrophic decision on their end. The blowback would be so bad it likely results in a full scale fan revolt towards whatever they would have planned for Mania. Kinda like how Roman winning the rumble while having the guy they wanted tossed caused hatred for him to find another gear largely because of the super heavy smark crowd in Philly.

If they don't want Sami then they need to put the breaks on it before we get to Montreal. If we go into that PPV with an inkling Sami is still in the mix then they need to commit to it.

yea they need to build sami up along the way though he is not a credible threat to roman at the moment. You need tp have him beat the uso's maybe be the first one to beat solo or something as of right now he just doesn't got the creditability to beat roman.

 

[dahrougem2]

yea they need to build sami up along the way though he is not a credible threat to roman at the moment. You need tp have him beat the uso's maybe be the first one to beat solo or something as of right now he just doesn't got the creditability to beat roman.

"Master manipulator." He'll play the mind games with Roman. Everyone knows he is overmatched physically.

 

[Megahab]

yea they need to build sami up along the way though he is not a credible threat to roman at the moment. You need tp have him beat the uso's maybe be the first one to beat solo or something as of right now he just doesn't got the creditability to beat roman.

I disagree. I don't think you need to give Zayn some big important wins to make him look credible. Fans are totally buying into him right now.