Watry Q&A: Sheamus/Bryan, WWE Royal Rumble Fallout, More

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such classic columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan in Less Than a Minute” and October 2015’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Once a month, I reply to the comment section. This is from my January 2017 columns here on 411. No cussing/insulting words allowed.

Miscellaneous Watry Year End Awards Column

WINBACK: I put everything Jericho did over Enzo & Cass.

When you write your column, you do that. This was mine. Didn’t care for “The List” very much and still have an uneasy feeling about Chris Jericho defeating AJ Styles at WrestleMania 32. He should have known better. That whole card had questionable results, with many of them reversed the next night anyways!

ReadySaltedCrisps: Is there a best writer on 411 for 2016 award? You should win! Unexpected match outcome of the year goes to Eddie Edwards beating Lashley for me!

Thanks. I saw very little of TNA Impact Wrestling all year and couldn’t even tell you when that happened…or why.

2017 Wrestling Wishlist Column

prowriter: Hey Watry, I want to thank you for titled your articles so we can avoid them.

Well, if you were a ‘pro writer,’ you’d know that they don’t actually title them. As stated a million times. Oh, and good job avoiding them.

Jeremiah Ashcroft: Can everyone just stop with the Raw is too long stuff? It won’t go back to being two hours. It just won’t. I thought JBL was fairly straightforward when he spoke about this recently and the amount of revenue gained from the extra hour. Watch the trimmed down version they post on Hulu if you want it shorter. Or just watch Smackdown and send a message by not watching the flagship show.

1. RAW is too long. Everybody, including Triple H, has explained this already.

2. Yes, JBL was/is correct. I follow the WWE financials and am well aware of the money television makes for the company.

3. I do watch the Hulu version, since I don’t have cable. Wrote about this many, many, many times (on another website).

4. There is no message to be sent by watching Smackdown unless you have a Nielsen box or DVR to count. Like Raw though, I watch via Hulu the next day.

Francois Langevin: I’m only here to read comments…

Me too. Keep em’ coming!

UK Championship Tournament Column

MoMoney1985: Any links to this Sheamus is going to beat Daniel Bryan in less than a minute column?

Sure, right here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1117964-wwe-wrestlemania-28-sheamus-should-defeat-daniel-bryan-in-less-than-a-minute

It was posted more than a week before WrestleMania 28. The best part is that the original statement was “Less Than 30 Seconds.” However, I played it safe by assuming Bryan would stall for awhile and THEN get kicked in the face? Thus, I gave it a full minute. Seems I OVER estimated their time. Should have went with my gut instinct. Basically, as the column states, he was the little weasel heel champ who had escaped with the gold for months on end about to come face to face with a red hot Sheamus. That is the only way the bout could have ended. Might be seeing the same with Kevin Owens and Bill Goldberg if they face each other at Fastlane…

As for the UK Championship tournament, it has been a few weeks since the ending. Still unsure of the long-term goals or how it will work. I think the best way to ease us into this Untitled UK Company is doing showcase matches on NXT. We kinda saw it this past week on Wednesday night. See how the crowds react and plan accordingly. I do not need to remind everybody of the Cruiserweight Classic versus the division on Raw. Or 205 Live. Ugh.

WWE Royal Rumble Match Preview Column

William Moulton: Finn Balor wins, I’ve been saying it for a while now

We were wrong. Not cleared to return yet.

World’s Schlongest Man: Maybe this orton wyatt rumor will be the end result.

Yeah, I read it and simply didn’t believe a word. No way did I imagine that. Didn’t even spend five seconds discussing the possibility. Like my next column said, I compare it to the 2010 Road to WrestleMania 26 with Edge and Chris Jericho. Fits here perfectly with Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton.

Kung Fu Panda: 1. Balor
2. UT
3. Brock

Dang.

1degenerate: Rollins isn’t even in The Rumble.He lost his shot when Sami beat him on Raw.

As Ken Wood pointed out, my column was written before RAW and Smackdown Live. Wrote it right at the top of the page. Reading can help sometimes.

WWE Royal Rumble 2017 Review Column

AG Awesome: You want people to feel shame for enjoying a silly looking jobber getting a bit push for harmless fun during the lull months of the year? Nobody wanted the chinless wonder as some new face of the company. They just wanted a comedy act to laugh at for a bit, which is what they got. I don’t get why you’d come at people like that. Thought you were better than that…

Except it wasn’t just a silly mid-card comedy act. That would have been harmless fun; I’d have no issue. The clown was beating AJ Styles (with help of course) and involved in the main event story line for months on end. Even dragging down Dean Ambrose to depths that will take awhile to recover from. Yet, people were okay with this all and laughed the entire way as if this was joke was actually GOOD for the company. Then somebody in WWE finally came to their senses after the ridiculous conclusion to TLC, killed off the entire thing in a 10 second beatdown…and now he is with Carmella. Colin Delaney Part 2.

HockeyFan91: Would be better if 411 didnt spoil the winner with the betting favorite headline.

I only provide the content. Everything else is out of my hands. Sorry, that shouldn’t have happened if it did…

Gutter Punk: First time I’ve ever said something positive about something Watry has written – I like the comparison of Edge/Jericho to the current Orton/Wyatt situation

Appreciate that. We still have Elimination Chamber coming up. Seems to be headed that way though.

Brokenosmoke: Great column. Excellent work.

Thanks. Excellent may be a stretch, but I’ll take it.

TwentyTimes: Nice of Watry to say Meltzer is irrelevant. Would make a good Mania match.

I didn’t say that. I said star ratings are irrelevant, and they are. Never understood why fans/wrestlers care about that junk.

Jason S (Brooklyn): *Checks if Watry brags about predicting Dillinger at #10 or Orton winning the Rumble*

*Notes that he doesn’t*

*Leaves column*

I had Tye Dillinger at #10 for months but not the Randy Orton victory. Now you can leave the column.

victor malar: It has been done before where the losers of championship matches come back to enter the Rumble:

2011: Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton lost their WHC and WWE Title matches earlier in the night, and came back later for the Rumble

2012: Big Show and Dolph Zggler lost their WHC and WWE Title matches earlier in the night and came back later for the Rumble.

Now logic would dictate that if a champion loses his title in a match at the PPV, there’s no need for him to enter the Rumble, because he has a rematch coming anyway.

Ziggler (X2), Show and Orton were all challengers going in to the Rumble PPV, lost their matches, and HAD to enter the Rumble to get back in the mix – which is the exact situation Reigns found himself in.

AJ lost the title, but has a rematch due him anyway, so he didn’t have to enter the Rumble.

Pretty much. Well said man. Two thumbs up on the comment!

Let’s end it with this comment…

Ken Wood: Good column.

“I viewed this live with a casual wrestling fan (who will be with me in Orlando for WM), and the responses were amazing.”

I am interested, and, for the record, I do want to know what your friend said about the Ellsworth situation.

Loved the stare down between Reigns and Taker, with Reigns sceaming, “this in my yard now.” That’s about the coolest Reigns has been in years, to me.

The end was a big surprise, to me. Didn’t see that coming at all. I actually enjoyed the part you felt was a lull. True, I was waiting for surprises, and disappointed there were none, but I felt the stories they were telling in the ring were all fun.

Good show.

I will tackle these backwards. Not sure a ‘lull’ is ever enjoyable in any situation. I get what WWE was doing, but it did take this year’s Royal Rumble down a peg for me. I’ve already watched the match three times – both times during the week I fast forwarded those 15 minutes though.

The Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker feud got off to a hot start on Sunday. I think a lot of fans will need to be sold on this outside of just “The Big Dog Battles The Deadman!” We all knew Reigns would get a major spot on the WM card, so if the Universal Title is out of the picture, this fits the bill. Also, my guess is some folks (guilty as charged here) are simply disappointed we are not going to get the long awaited John Cena vs. The Undertaker clash. Why that STILL hasn’t happened is beyond me. It’s Wrestle FREAKIN’ Mania! That is where we get the Lesnars, Goldbergs, Triple Hs, Rocks, and other legends facing each other. Oh well…

As for my buddy who watched with me, here is a taste of his reactions during a show:

Fan celebrates @Goldberg beating @BrockLesnar by ripping his shirt! @nodqdotcom @HeymanHustle #WWE #SurvivorSeries pic.twitter.com/iNcEYSXcUO

— Justin Watry (@JustinWatry) November 22, 2016

A VERY casual wrestling fan. Loves Bill Goldberg from WCW and is all in on his return. No clue on backstage stories, betting odds, television ratings, future story line ideas, who is married to who, injuries, etc. Just watches on occasion and picks up on the big headlines. That is IT!

Didn’t care for Big Cass and Enzo starting. Thinks they are dumb, calls Big Cass “Little Cass.” Wondered why Chris Jericho was still wrestling – said the same last year. Calls Kalisto “Coleco” likes ColecoVision, whatever that means. Dislike Mojo Rawley as much as I do. We counted down the seconds until his elimination. Good for him personally on making the Rumble and all that, but there is zero interest in anything he does. No idea who Jack Gallagher is. No real reaction to his antics. Mark Henry was a shock – that he was still going. He did know it is just part-time and that his wrestling days are numbered.

Braun Strowman is when we got back into the action. Loves the big dude. Sami Zayn coming out brought up politics, which was quickly squashed. Staying away from that discussion. Big Show – he predicted it was coming for the Braun showdown. Didn’t grasp why Tye Dillinger came out, when he was ‘supposed to be in NXT.’ I had to explain the #10 thing. Yes folks, casual wrestling fans are the majority and 100% real. Did NOT care for the James Ellsworth joke. Seriously, the expletives and insults ran rampant for the next 30 seconds or so. When I told him he was legitimately signed to a deal, he lost it. Normally, I would defend WWE and spell out their reasoning and blah, blah, blah…not here. I let him unleash on poor Ellsworth. We both laughed at the Dean Ambrose trick but did show compassion when Ellsworth went splat, and I quote from my buddy: “Well, he’s done.”

Baron Corbin is an interesting case. I have it pointed out to me every week that he is balding, yet my buddy HATES him! Like a good heel should be, you know. It is classic wrestling. He always says he only hates two guys – Baron Corbin and Brock Lesnar. That is good, right? Both of us were stunned he got the honor of eliminating Braun Strowman. Yes, I said honored because that was a main selling point of this year’s Rumble. Kofi Kingston comes out, and we discuss if he is a WWE Hall of Famer. We praise him for making a career out of the mid-card for a decade but am unsure of his legacy. Just wait for his wacky stunt.

The Miz and Sheamus are next. Eh. Not much there. Big E is called Big Earl for the next five minutes. Rusev gets no response. My buddy is not a fan of Cesaro. Never know why; he just says it every week…something about his swing move.

Xavier Woods and Bray Wyatt next. Obviously, we talked about the groups dominating the Rumble, how it would be wise to work together for awhile. The New Day and The Wyatt Family did that. Apollo Crews was praised – he had talent but was apparently ‘boring.’ Can’t argue that point. I had (and still do) high hopes for him after the WWE Draft. Randy Orton is out next. He immediately says he will turn on The Wyatt Family. Notice Mr. RKO entered to his own music! I noticed right away. Dolph Ziggler, meh. Luke Harper, we await the implosion of The Wyatt Family. During this time period, every time the clock would tick down, we’d announce Brock Lesnar was next. We knew he was coming out first of the big three…

Sure enough, Brock Lesnar finally made his entrance at number twenty six. Big intrigue in this because that meant Bill Goldberg was not far behind. The Enzo bait and switch was great. My buddy was livid it wasn’t Goldberg. Made up for the disappointment was the pleasure in knowing Brock would smash Enzo like a bug. He did. Looked bad.

Goldberg entering at #28 got the biggest reaction of the night. As noted above, he’s a huge fan. Like Survivor Series, we couldn’t believe how easily he manhandled Lesnar. My jaw was on the floor in shock; he was just clapping and cheering in joy. Again, he HATES Brock Lesnar! This was all cut short when The Undertaker entered and took care of Goldberg. Big reaction to The Deadman already in the squared circle. Cuaght me off guard as well. A few more swear words were sprinkled in there as he ranted about Goldberg being out so fast. Of course, I (and all of us reading this) knew he would be a late entrant and not last long. It’s Goldberg – what did you expect?

No clue who would be at #30. Finn Balor? Samoa Joe? Kurt Angle? My buddy said earlier in the day he was told by a friend The Hardyz would be there; I had to break it to him they had a contract with TNA Impact Wrestling and have been there for years, which prompted the usual “What channel is that on?” reply.

Roman Reigns coming out was a surprise but not a big one. The real surprise was dumping Taker out of the ring and their staredown. WrestleMania 33 perhaps? At this point, I pointed out the obvious. No more entrants, somebody in the ring was going to win the Rumble. My buddy didn’t like that Brock, Goldberg, and Taker were gone. Had no clue who would win. At this point, it FINALLY hit me that the Orton rumors were true. He was winning. I kept my mouth shut like always (ha!) but played along in wondering which star would be victorious. The end result was treated more as “okay, cool” rather than “yes, awesome.”

There. Kinda long winded rundown admittedly, but that was from the perspective of a casual wrestling fan. Zero insight on the Orton stuff, the planned Goldberg vs. Lesnar rematch, any sense behind Tye being number ten, or why The Hardyz were not showing up.

Fun stuff.

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