LIVE Royal Rumble thoughts - January 24, 2016

11:01 - Definitely one of the better Rumbles we've seen, compared to the last few years.  There were some nice surprises, a few different people looked good, and some of the actions and eliminations gave us an indication of what might happen at WrestleMania.  I don't even mind Triple H winning -- it was a better option than Roman Reigns.  And I was thrilled they went with Dean Ambrose as the runner up instead of Reigns (although his elimination was a bit weak).  Overall, a pretty good show.

10:54 - Exciting few sequences there.

10:52 - Oh yeah, new gear for Triple H.  By the way, there are like six guys still in there and we only have 7 minuets left.

10:49 - I think the fans will only resent the fact that Reigns spent 20 minutes or whatever outside the ring.  They'll already resent the "All vs. One" storyline...this doesn't help.

10:47 - New gear for Ziggler as well.

10:44 - The Wyatt Family immediately showing that they're smarter than the League of Nations...

10:42 - Del Rio is 26.  We have Wyatt, Sheamus, presumably Triple H.....and who else?

10:35 - Big points to Mark Henry for rocking two different attires for his two matches.  Okay, he's number 22, right?  That leaves 8 more -- of which we know Bray Wyatt, Brock Lesnar, Jack Swagger, and presumably Triple H.  Am I missing any other confirmed names?  Are Xavier and Big E confirmed or just assumed?

10:32 - Kinda funny how, since Owens entered, it's pretty much all been about him.

10:28 - Here's hoping that leads to Owens vs. Styles at WrestleMania?  More likely -- we'll see them wrestle at Fast Lane and then they'll be in some mutli person schmoz at Mania.

10:25 - And after all that, they missed Kofi's elimination?!?!

10:24 - Some new red gear for Neville.  And I can already feel the annoyance of Reigns disappearing for the remainder of the match and returning at the end to win.

10:21 - What good is all of this if you let him just sleep outside?  You're just giving him time to relax.  Slide him in the ring and let somebody throw him out.

10:20 - Stardust debuting some new purple gear.

10:18 - I also like the heelish spin on Kofi's near elimination.  Instead of some amazing athletic prowess, he's just sitting on Big E's shoulders and chilling on the outside.

And is this their way of taking Roman out of the match and allowing him to sneak back in at the end?

10:16 - Alright, I'll admit it....I got a kick out of that.

10:14 - Okay, Titus, Ryback, Kane, or Goldust need to go.

10:09 - Considering that he didn't even bother zipping his jacket or wearing his hood, why did he even bother putting the jacket on?

10:05 - I wish Jericho would go back to the long tights.  The trunks at this juncture of his career make him look short and fat.

10:00 - Very poor camera work there.  The fans reacted but Roman hadn't yet, and the camera still hadn't shown who had entered.  It really took away from the moment.  Lackluster entrance as a result.

Plus that theme song wasn't my cup of tea.

9:59 - Or not.

9:57 - Not the perfect choice, but I do enjoy Rumbles where the final two people the prior year are the first two people the current year.  I expect both of these guys will last a while.

9:55 - New gear for Reigns as he now has a gold logo on his chest.

9:54 - Okay, we know Reigns is #1......who's #2?  I would think it needs to either be a big star, a big surprise, or somebody close to Reigns.

9:44 - Pretty awesome that the Divas match actually got a pretty big post-match angle build.  And it was handled pretty great, too, allowing Sasha to have a bit of an edge (by beating on Becky) instead of a lovable and plucky babyface.  And they didn't prolong Sasha's attack on Charlotte too long, either.  They didn't have them pretend to be friends for weeks and then turn on her.  It happened pretty much immediately, as it should have.  My only complaint is that Sasha's music didn't seem to play loud enough when she initially came out, which may have diluted the impact a bit.  Although the fans certainly reacted.  Good stuff.

So far, solid show with pretty much all the right winners.  Now, the toughest part....a smartly booked Rumble.

9:26 - I really feel like Charlotte SHOULD win this, since she's beginning to find herself as a heel champion, but part of me wonders if they might have Becky win so that there's at least one new champion tonight.  The question is, if Charlotte wins, who challenges her at WrestleMania?  Sasha Banks?  Is she healthy?

9:20 - Now officially anxiously awaiting February 21st.  And not for Fast Lane.

9:12 - So far this was my least favorite match of the night.  I'm happy that Kalisto got a big win here, but I have to wonder why they bothered giving him the title in the first place just to immediately take it away (and then give it back to him).  Why not just hold off the title shot until the Royal Rumble, where he could get his win and keep the title?

9:11 - A lot of these moves don't seem to be hitting correctly.

8:58 - As noted during the preshow, some new gear for Del Rio.  I'm a bit surprised the didn't put this in the "main event" spot before the Rumble, but I guess it makes sense.  Might as well give the male competitors who are doing double duty some time to rest during the Divas match.

8:51 - Really awesome finishing sequence there with Big E catching Jey Uso in the middle of the Big Splash into the Big Ending.  Great timing and nice looking all around.  As long as the New Day continues being entertaining and featured in a prominent role, why not keep the titles on them?

8:35 - I give Kofi half points here.  The New Day IS wearing new attire, but it's merely the inverse of their prior attire.  I miss the days when Kofi used to whip out some sort of comic-book inspired attire for the Royal Rumble.

8:33 - Why are they playing the Raw music right now?

8:30 - Fun match with the right winner that left both guys looking good.  It was smart to end the match on the high impact move.  WWE sometimes has the tendency to not end the match after something high impact, instead forcing the match to end on a signature move.  This was the smart ending.

8:09 - I know Ambrose isn't the biggest guy, but there's something about a black wifebeater that makes him look especially scrawny.  For whatever reason, even the white wifebeater makes him look more impressive.  I wish he would go back to the Ambrose shirts with the sleeves cut off.  Maybe for the Rumble itself?

8:06 - I've said it before and I'll say it again:  I absolutely love the statue promotional artwork for the Rumble.  Top notch stuff.

8:03 - That was a really odd way to begin the show.  It really didn't add any value to anything at all.  Nor did it give any hints about what's to come.

7:48 - I'm surprised (but happy) that they didn't alter the crowd reactions for the Batista and Reigns wins.

7:45 - 3MB AND Rybaxel references!  This is surprisingly entertaining.

7:42 - Wow, Jack Swagger and Mark Henry was the team I thought was least likely to lose.  They're the least over of the face teams on there and neither of them have a chance of winning, so what was the logic?

7:37 - I would legitimately watch all of those shows.

7:35 - It's a testament to Sandow's overnness that the fans still react this way to him.  It's truly unfortunate that WWE never capitalized on ihs popularity following the whole Mizdow thing.

7:30 - Wow, they're not even attempting to be impartial.  The announcing team is just the Raw announce team.

By the way, I'm guessing the Dudleys win this.  Also, how sad is this turn of events for Damien Sandow.  And why isn't Darren Young teaming with Titus, storyline wise?

7:17 - I find it odd that Alberto Del Rio has consistently worn long tights at live events but continues to wear trunks on television.  What's the motivation there?  But, at the very least, he is sporting some new attire.  Good job, Alberto.

7:16 - Okay, the Network is now working.  Has Jerry Lawler been demoted to the preshow panel now?  Wow.

Anyway, here are some predictions:

I think each champion should retain their championship in the non-Rumble matches.  However, my gut tells me one person will lose their title.  I'm guessing that will either be Ambrose or the New Day, depending on what the WrestleMania plans are for each person involved.  I'll go out on a limb and say New Day loses their tag titles, and the rest retain.

Okay, now the Rumble itself.  We will obviously see a Kofi fake out elimination, but due to his new heel status, I suspect he will get eliminated immediately afterwards.

As noted in my earlier posts, the Royal Rumble gives us the opportunity to "make" several people -- not just the winner.  There SHOULD be somebody who eliminates a bunch of people.  I suspect that could be Braun Strowman, but I also think it could be Brock Lesnar or Bray Wyatt as well.

There should also be somebody who lasts a long time.  By default, that will likely be Roman Reigns.  But I'd love to see somebody like Dean Ambrose get that honor.

How about surprise entrants.  The strong pick is AJ Styles.  If AJ appears, I suspect we will also see Finn Balor (but not the rest of the Bullet Club, who likely won't be as recognized by casual fans).  I think there's a chance we may see Samoa Joe as well.

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll see Cena, Bryan, Cesaro, Orton, or Rollins.  Well, Orton isn't too unfortunate.

Who do I see winning?  The three popular choices are Reigns, Triple H, and Brock Lesnar.  I think WWE will play it safe and will have one of them win (gut tells me Triple H).  If Roman isn't winning, I would do something shocking and have his elimination relatively early -- in the 20's.  Making the fans realize that there will definitely be a new WWE Champion will really ignite interest.  I'd LOVE to see something shocking and new, but I don't think we will.

7:03 - Okay, so the past two PPV events had issues with the WWE Network.  Right now the kickoff show hasn't started on my screen yet (FBI warning played, but now it's just a black screen).  After, what, two years or so, you'd think WWE would have mastered the higher capacity of viewers for their PPV events.