411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: Did The Rumble Royally Reek?

Welcome back to the latest edition of 411 Fact or Fiction, Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I pick through the interesting/not so interesting tidbits and then make 411 staff members discuss them for your pleasure. Battling this week: First up is Mike Hammerlock! He battles Dino Zee! These men battled to a tie the last time, this time there MUST be a winner!

Questions were sent out Monday.

Participants were told to expect wrestling-related content, as well as possible statements on quantum physics, homemade pharmaceuticals, the Turtle Total Trip Theorem and hydroponics.

1. Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble was the right choice.

Mike Hammerlock: FICTION – For me, the money moment at the Royal Rumble was when Bray Wyatt got tossed. That was when the “Crap, Reigns really is going to win” realization took hold with the crowd. Technically Ambrose still was in there, and Rusev was lying in wait outside the ring, but the match was effectively over once Wyatt and Dolph Ziggler got dumped in two blinks of an eye. And that’s when Philly went from restless to hostile. Reigns was the wrong choice for myriad reasons, main one being that he came off the boil when he got injured and he’s been progressively losing steam since his return. You could even see it in his deer-in-the-headlights expression after the Rumble. Philly booed him like he was Santa Claus and you could almost see him thinking, “I’m not ready for this.” Mouthing the platitude that fans can react however they want is such a cop out. We were supposed to swoon over Reigns’ big win. He beat the Authority’s megabruisers and a Russian baddie and had the Rock there to celebrate with him, and the crowd hated it. I’m ready, willing and able to get harsh on Philadelphia (land of my birth and upbringing), but it’s the best wrestling town on the planet. Philly gobbles up pro wrestling of every stripe. ROH, Chikara and CZW all operate out of eastern PA. It’s a smart crowd and a passionate crowd. It’s not that Reigns is a terrible guy, but thrusting him into this limelight is disrespecting the fans. Fans have gotten behind other wrestlers and the WWE ignores them/us. Philly sent the message that Reigns is a symptom of a larger problem. It’s just not his year, no matter how much Vince McMahon forces the issue.

Dino Zee: FICTION – Tough question to start off, because it’s pretty loaded. First things first, I wanted Daniel Bryan to win the Rumble, and I said as much. Of course, I’ll root for him in every single match he’s in, so it’s not like I put a ton of stock into my call; I just wanted my favorite to win. Pretty simple. With that out of the way, it would be easy to call this a “Fact” in the sense that, according to WWE’s booking and assumed plans, this is what they wanted to do, and so it makes sense to follow through with it. It’s somewhat similar to when people tell me Michael Cole does his job well because it’s what WWE wants him to do. In that sense, sure, Reigns was the right choice, because he was what they were building to. However, I’m ultimately going to Fiction on this, and for basically the usual reasons, I guess. I just can’t imagine it being “right” when your babyface Royal Rumble winner is booed, even with The friggin Rock of all people trying the “Come on, guys, he’s cool!” routine afterwards. Sure, we can blame shitty booking handicapping Reigns, or shitty promos, or anything else, but the fact is, when the Rumble ended, there weren’t many people who considered that the “right” thing, and I’d wager that many of those voices were the same people who’ve spent the greater part of the last year-plus saying things like “I don’t get the popularity of Daniel Bryan.” If the booking had been better, this might have worked out. I still think that if they had kept Bryan in until the end, and THEN had him get eliminated, it would have killed the 20 minutes of pissed off anger that the Rumble ended on, and would’ve maybe made things better. But the entire execution was horribly done, and we got a crowd that was not too excited, and when your business depends on entertaining people so they’ll come back, you’ve probably not made the right decision.

2. The WWE Royal Rumble was the worst WWE PPV in the last 12 months.

Mike Hammerlock: FICTION – Starting with Money in the Bank and then going through Battleground, Night of Champions, Hell in a Cell, Survivor Series and TLC, the WWE has been on a terrible streak, particularly in the failed main event department. SummerSlam was kind of meh too. I can’t sort out which one was the worst. My pick would be Survivor Series, which was hot garbage prior to a main event that led to nothing more than a pleasant holiday break for the McMahon-Helmsleys. This year’s Rumble at least featured the best single match out of all of them. Lesnar-Rollins-Cena is serious MOTY material. However, the accumulation of terrible PPVs is taking its toll. Every month it’s a new slap in the face. It wears you down. This shit isn’t worth $9.99. So what I’ll say is that, while the Rumble wasn’t the absolute worst PPV has given us in the past 12 months, people’s patience has worn thin. How much more are we supposed to take?

Dino Zee: FICTION – The big caveat to my “fiction” answer here is that I did not see each and every pay per view of the last 12 months. However, all that said, I was really enjoying the Rumble pay per view until Bryan got eliminated, but I’m not a big enough crybaby to say an entire pay per view event sucked because I didn’t like how the main event ended. I enjoyed the tag title match for what it was. The Divas tag came and went quick enough to not matter. They didn’t job out The Ascension to The Outlaws. I freaking LOVED the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. Yeah, I’m not going to dig through each and every pay per view, but I’m pretty sure there were worse overall shows than Rumble in the last 12. Maybe the ending didn’t make some of us as angry as that of the Rumble, but on an overall rating, I’d say the Rumble was just fine.

3. You’d like to see Bubba Ray Dudley make a full time return to the WWE.

Mike Hammerlock: FACT – I’m not a Bubba/Bully Ray fan. I recognize his talents, but his go-to promo material is running down the ladies. Still, if he comes back with D-Von to spice up the WWE’s tag division, I’m cool with that. A short return to feud with the Ascension would make a ton of sense. Yet the Dudleys still can go in the ring and it would be fantastic to see them clashing with the Usos, the Dust Brothers, New Day and Cesaro/Kidd (man, that team needs a name). Bubba and D-Von have done so many turns in their history that they can seamlessly work as tweeners. If it’s Bubba Ray as a solo entity, I’m less interested. He could put over a younger guy or two, keep a champ busy while another contender builds steam. You know, RVD style. Serves a purpose, but way less exciting than a full Dudleys return.

Dino Zee: FACT – Yeah, of course, why not? It was a wonderful treat to see him in the Rumble, and I thought he looked great. Sure, he probably won’t get put up to Bully Ray level in WWE, but he couldn’t be a serviceable as fuck top of the midcard type act? He couldn’t have some fun brawls with some of the younger guys? I think he’s got plenty left in the tank, and if he wants to keep going, it’d be nice to see WWE give him the opportunity.

SWITCH!

4. The booking of the Royal Rumble PPV shows that Vince McMahon is completely out o touch with what the fans want.

Dino Zee: FACT – This is an easy Fact. No, he’s not out of touch because Daniel Bryan lost. He’s not out of touch because Roman Reigns won. He’s out of touch because Daniel Bryan (the huge crowd favorite) was out of there in like 15-20 minutes, and unceremoniously tossed. He’s out of touch because the last like 10 guys in the ring were “Dean Ambrose and a shitload of hosses.” He’s out of touch because he thinks top level, badass faces-in-progress should act like middle school kids who spit weak game at older chicks and say things like “suffering succotash.” He’s out of touch because Kane and Big Show, in the year 2015, are the two big enforcer heels on the roster. He’s out of touch because he doesn’t understand why any of the above might not set the world on fire for his fanbase. I love Vince McMahon. He’s given me a lifetime of wrestling action that I’ve loved for the most part. But he’s really, really starting to show his age, and just how out of touch he is with us. But then again, anyone who remembers Paul Burchill knows that this isn’t really news.

Mike Hammerlock: FICTION – Don’t get me wrong, Vince McMahon is completely out of touch with what fans want, but we knew that. That is not news and the Rumble shouldn’t be treated like it was some revelatory moment that proves Vince is shooting creative blanks. Pick any point during the 2010s and you can see the madness of King Vincent at work. What the Royal Rumble PPV shows is that Vince McMahon has become completely petulant. He doesn’t give a damn about the feedback he gets from his audiences or via social media (where WWE Facebook fans panned Reigns’ Rumble win by a 3-to-1 margin). We’re all in the Kiss My Ass Club. The notion that the WWE offers an interactive experience where the fans are not just part of the show, but play an essential role in determining where the story goes is what’s just about dead in the wake of the Rumble. Go back in time 10, 15, 20 years and Vince at least would have given himself the option of calling an audible if a shaky proposition like Reigns got buried by the audience. Not now. No more listening and adjusting.

5. The Rock endorsing Roman Reigns to close the Royal Rumble did more damage then good.

Dino Zee: FACT – I already mentioned this above, but yeah, I don’t think this helped Roman Reigns at all. He needed help to eliminate a heel. After that, The Rock then takes out Kane and Big Show by himself. Sure, he’s fresh, the other two aren’t, but… give me a break. Roman Reigns came out looking ineffective when the crowd was already primed to give him a ton of shit. Having Rock bail him out and then hug him long enough to make even the dumbest kid say “Oh hey, Rock likes him!” isn’t tricking anyone. It reeked of desperation. Why be desperate when you’re making the right decisions?

Mike Hammerlock: FACT – I was on the verge of picking fiction for this one, because Rock’s appearance had no effect on the crowd, but he did harm to the notion that we’re on the verge of a Roman Empire. While Brock Lesnar took everything Seth Rollins and John Cena could dish out and then conquered, Reigns needed cousin Rock to bail him out against Big Show and Kane. That’s the guy who’s going to beat Brock Lesnar? Reigns should have been one-upping Lesnar’s accomplishments earlier in the night, treating 30 guys like a collection of rag dolls. Instead we got “Help me Rocky!” The crowd reaction was unavoidable. The WWE should have known that. Keeping Reigns isolated from other fan favorites, only having him eliminate unambiguous heels, and the Rock rub never were going to make a difference. Reigns got forced into an impossible position in front of a crowd with keen bullshit detection skills. Would have worked better if Rock had entered the Rumble and Reigns had tossed him. Badass was the only viable route for Reigns. Rock’s walk-in made him look like a kid who needed help.

6. Monday’s Raw being cancelled was a blessing in disguise for the WWE.

Dino Zee: FACT – I didn’t watch what aired in place of the live Raw, but I actually heard some favorable responses for that show, so that’s a good start. On top of that, they were able to avoid any type of “still angry crowd” like we’ve seen before. Having no Raw on Monday gives them a bit to talk things out, maybe plan out a new course with Roman Reigns, and shake off the stink of the ending of the Rumble. I mean, sure, I don’t believe they’ll actually do anything I just listed, but at least the opportunity was there without having to do a new episode of Raw as well.

Mike Hammerlock: FICTION – I covered above just how bad recent WWE PPVS have been, how petulant Vince McMahon has become and how ridiculous it was to push Roman Reigns at this juncture. This list of what’s wrong with the WWE at this moment extends farther than the eye can see. All it has left is the spectacle of arenas in rebellion against the product. The good people of Hartford, Connecticut would have made sure Philly didn’t have all the fun this week and I’m assuming they’ll be in full voice tonight for Smackdown live. Raw would have been must-see TV. Roman Reigns is going to get buried from sea to shining sea regardless of Monday’s Raw getting preempted by a blizzard. Nothing to do but embrace it. Vince may not be listening to WWE fans, but he’s damn sure going to hear them. Are we going to get “Die, Roman, Die!”? We might and if we do the WWE at least will be more socially relevant. Wrestling fans in revolt will garner some notice. I’d love to give them credit for the possibility that maybe this is intentional and designed to end in the fans “forcing” a sea change in how the WWE operates. We’ve seen too many supposed changes that led to no change for me to believe the WWE is capable of thinking at that level, let alone executing on it. But people love rubbernecking at a car wreck and Monday’s Raw would have been a chance to let an extra couple of million people view the wreckage.