BWOTW: 30/1/17 - 4/2/17

Hello and welcome to this newest edition of 'Noah's Best Wrestling of the Week' AKA 'Okay Then'

Sure

Let us now, as is the norm, look at the past week in news form;

1. Randy Orton is the 2017 Royal Rumble winner. He was the betting favourite, which I have no idea where that came from with him having not shown any real interest in the Rumble the past few weeks, but okay then. At the minute we're slated for Orton versus Cena at 'Mania (uugghhh), but we have Elimination Chamber coming up so things might change
2. Championship changes galore! Bobby Roode is the new NXT Champion, The Authors of Pain are the new NXT Tag Team Champions, Neville is the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Gallows and Anderson are new RAW Tag Team Champions, and finally, John Cena is the new WWE World Champion. Shake up fever over here in the WWE.
3. Samoa Joe debuted in the Royal Rumble and won like everyone wanted on Monday Night RAW, attacking Seth Rollins in what appears to be some sort of allegiance with Triple H. That brings us to our next story...
4. Seth Rollins has re-injured his knee being assaulted by Samoa Joe. It sounds like the injury occurred when he went down for the Coquina Clutch, with it going anything but smoothly. Reports say it will be around 8 weeks to recover, which means he could be missing a second WrestleMania in a row. Get well soon, Seth.
5. Like I said, we've got Elimination Chamber coming up, and the participants in the marquee match have been announced. John Cena will defend his newly won championship in the Chamber against AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Baron Corbin, The Miz and Dean Ambrose. They've also got a big tag match slated for the event, and I'm hoping this gets added into the Chamber as well.
6. Corey Graves will no longer be commentating for NXT. However, he will be succeeded by WWE's newest announce team addition, Nigel McGuinness! 
7. Chikara's King of Trios is coming to Brummy-Brum; Birmingham, England! I might just have to look into going.
8. Akira Tozawa has debuted on 205 Live, and it appears he will be feuding with Brian Kendrick. I forgot how cool his theme is;

And now for the intersect in this Venn diagram of a wrestling blog, it's the matches!

NXT TakeOver: San Antonio

Best Match on TakeOver: San Antonio: Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bobby Roode - NXT Championship Match
Honourable Mention(s): Andrade 'Cien' Almas vs Roderick Strong

Kicking off Rumble weekend for us here on BWOTW, its NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, with Shinsuke Nakamura taking on Bobby Roode with the NXT Championship on the line. 

I think this is hands down Roode's best match in NXT so far, and it was certainly a breath of fresh air on Nakamura's part following his number of clashes against Samoa Joe over the past half-year or so. What made this a lot different from those matches was that we have Roode being dastardly in his tactics, as well as having his own over the top personality. There were instances where the two would exchange taunts, it made all the difference to having just one person being like that.

Roode did a great job of countering Nakmura's offence and working out how to take advantage of things. My favourite moment of Bobby's ingenuity is this instance of playing possum;

We had an injury angle that I thought worked in some aspects, and in others not so much. Nakamura hurts his knee dropping a knee to Roode on the apron, he then continued to sell it really well, and made it very believable. He hit the Kinshasa, then immediately clutched it in pain and dropped to the floor, again I thought that was great. However, he was down for ages and being attended to by doctors and even had Matt Bloom come out to check on him. I get that it gave Roode time to recover, and in effect protecting the move, but it did drag a tad. 

Roode picks up the injured Shinsuke and gives him 2 Glorious DDT's to finally put the man down long enough for the pin. And there you have it, Bobby Roode is new NXT Champion! I haven't looked at the tapings spoilers, so I have no idea who he'll be facing at Orlando; Kassius Ohno? Will they have Nakamura heal in time? Not too sure.

WWE Royal Rumble

Best Match on RR: AJ Styles vs John Cena - WWE World Championship Match
Honourable Mention(s): Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns - WWE Universal Championship Match

It's Royal-Rumble o'clock now and we have this match up I was majorly excited for; AJ Styles versus John Cena for the WWE World Championship. 

Although I think I prefer their match at SummerSlam last year to this one, it was still a barn burner. There were a few things that were quite similar to their prior encounter, but its not like it was disappointing or detracted from the quality at all. These guys going at it in any capacity has always been a great watch, though I'm confident I could watch AJ Styles daily and not complain. Styles did pull out some new counters that were just the coolest; Cena got him up for his slam after the shoulder tackles, and AJ flopped out like a salmon and huricanrana'd Cena away. Slick. And no matter how many times you see a Phenomenal Forearm, its always amazing;

I had some curiosity as to how Cena would wrestle in this match, with a more cocky heel-like side to him being put across on TV, and I feel there were some noticeable changes in his work. There were a couple instances where he just straight up clocked AJ on the schnoz with a big overhand right. Plus, he nailed AJ with a couple consecutive clattering lariats, flip-turned his world upside down. He stood there pumping every hunk of meat that would flex on his body like a damn bull about to charge, absolutely terrifying. Remind me to never piss of John Cena, or face him in a championship match. 

They had a whole sequence trading submissions and wriggling their way out, throwing in a figure-four leglock and a cross armbar in there alongside their usual repertoires. Cena also performed what is most likely his most fluid Code Red yet, hopping straight up and getting a full rotation in a split second, props to both men for that piece of magic.

Whilst I wasn't ecstatic to see Cena leave with the gold, I have to admit that the ending sequence was brilliant. Cena's Okada-like roll into the AA was awesome and got an audible reaction from me.


Now comparison there have been a fair amount of comparison between this match and Okada/Omega, and I can see why with both of them being great bouts, and also they were both in January. To me, you can't really compare them, they both serve different purposes and are made for different audiences with different wants and needs. I think I might prefer just a smidge more, but I do have my irks with the heavyweight style matches in New Japan. 

Nevertheless, whichever way you look at, I'd say you should definitely give this a look-see.

Monday Night RAW

Best Match on RAW (30/1/17): Kevin Owens vs Braun Strowman - WWE Universal Championship Match

Bit of a surprise of how much I enjoyed this, Monday Night RAW gave us the Universal Championship match between Kevin Owens and the challenging Braun Strowman. This wasn't a huge match, and it didn't even finish properly, but it had me more intrigued than the majority of RAW this week. 

Before the bell, Braun chokeslammed Chris Jericho through the announce table, so immediately we have Owens going through this match with a hopeless 'oh shit how do I win this' attitude, something we don't tend to get with heels. Speaking of which, Owens felt very much like a babyface in this match, taking the brunt of an exhaustive assault from Strowman, and having flurries and comebacks that received some big cheers. 

It was interesting to see this contrast in Owens's presentation, and it made me optimistic that one day we might see a good face run from him, akin to that of his final days in Ring of Honour, where he's still a nasty bastard, he just is to the bad guys. 

Nice bit of variety here on RAW, I wouldn't say it's a must-see, but if you feel like something a little different from KO, its worth a watch.

SmackDown! LIVE

Best Match on SD! (31/1/17): AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose

This week on SmackDown! LIVE, how many people can we fit around the announce table?

We're on SmackDown! LIVE now, and we've got 'The Phenomenal One', AJ Styles taking on Dean Ambrose ahead of the two of them competing in the Elimination Chamber on the 12th. Whilst I can't remember a whole lot about this match, it was definitely good. I'm by far not his biggest fan, but there just seems to be something about watching Ambrose that makes me shut off or just totally forget. Who knows? 

I mean, he's sound and I understand the appeal, but his usual stuff just doesn't do it for me. I know I say this pretty much every time he appears on this blog, and I apologise if you guys have heard this before, but I can't get over it. His clotheslines, his scrapping punches, his elbow drop and his fucking rebound lariat, none of it really appeals to me. I appreciate it when he varies it up, with this being a pretty cool example;

However, he did through something else new into the mix and managed to piss me off; he only went and did Neville's bloody submission move. Mate, we've spent the past month and a half making this move look like a killer, and you just slap it on half-assed with no real effect. Fuck off. Neville, use a double underhook DDT that gets kicked out of at 1.9, show him who's boss.

Overall, a good match here, whilst I have my grievances with Ambrose, Styles was tip-top in this match, so if you enjoy watching AJ, I should think you'll like this match, same with if you're an Ambrose fan.

205 Live

Best Match on 205 Live (31/1/17): Cedric Alexander & Jack Gallagher vs Neville & Noam Dar

Just like half of the crowd, we're sticking around for 205 Live after SmackDown! now, and the best match that we were offered this week was the tag team contest between the team of Cedric Alexander and Jack Gallagher, and Noam Dar teaming with the new Crusierweight Champion, Neville.

Again, a match I can't remember a whole lot about. However, I do recall Neville being very shouty and berating everyone, including Dar. Plus, he did a lot of shit-kicking. He knocked Gallagher around, he knocked Alexander around, and he wanted to knock Dar around. 

I honestly can't really think of much. I know the end saw Neville abandon Dar in the ring, allowing Cedric to hit literally all his moves on him for the victory. I guess you can describe it as something we've become accustomed to on 205 Live; has some nice moments but by and large pretty forgettable. 

NXT

Best Match on NXT (1/2/17): Tyler Bate vs Oney Lorcan

It's Tyler bloody Bate! His first in-ring appearance on WWE since the United Kingdom Championship Finals, and he's facing up against Oney Lorcan on this episode of NXT. We started off good and proper with a nice lock up, and then we started off our rough and tumble match with a bang;

From then on we had a pretty heavy, stiff striking match-up, with Lorcan unloading an ungodly amount of European uppercuts to Bate, as well as a barrage of chops to his progressively more red chest. Bate got his licks in though, utilising a similar arsenal on the strike front. 

We got to see all the things that made the universe fall in love with young Tyler, his roll kick, the airplane spin, the Tyler Driver '97, and of course, his waves. It was great to see Bate again, been wondering when he'd pop up next and didn't you just love his surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble and praise be that it was sooner rather than later. I can't wait for some proper UK division programming, but I will gladly settle for popping up on NXT for a bit. 

I really enjoyed this match, and I'd definitely recommend adding it to the watch list, especially to those who enjoyed the UK Championship Tournament.

Also, this was Corey Graves' final time calling NXT, and they put together this lovely video package;

Ring of Honour

Best Match on ROH TV (Episode 280): Marty Scurll vs Juice Robinson - ROH World Television Championship Match

Tilting our gaze now to Ring of Honour, we had a belter of an episode this week; there was a great three way tag team match, a Decade of Excellence tournament match of Jay Lethal against Jay Briscoe, but the best of all was Marty Scurll defending his TV Title against Juice Robinson. In case you didn't know, Juice Robinson is CJ Parker from NXT (that one Owens debuted against), now in New Japan.

Very good match here. Consistent action and well paced wrestling made for a highly entertaining contest. I have to admit, Robinson was much better than I was anticipating him to be, in actual wrestling capabilities and his moveset. He did a big, cool powerbomb at one point with Marty properly bouncing off the mat hard. 

Scurll's villainous antics forever play a key role in his matches, with him just being an arrogant prick at points, as well as being the rules along with Robinson's fingers. I can't get enough Scurll, this signing with ROH has made me a very happy boy indeed, and his champion status has elevated that feeling higher.

I would certainly recommend getting round to watching this, as well as the episode as a whole, 3 great matches in one go. As always, you can watch ROH TV for FREE at both www.rohwrestling.com/tv/current or on the Fite TV app.

EVOLVE 76

Best Match on EVOVLE 76: Chris Hero vs Keith Lee

Taking us back to San Antonio now, it's Chris Hero's final EVOLVE weekend before becoming a full-time NXT competitor. Here he is in this one facing off a debut for the company, and a man we've seen before in Ring of Honour, it's Keith Lee.

We've got big lad versus big lad, so I went in thinking it wasn't going to be the paciest of matches. That was true in some moments, taking things a bit slow, but there were times when these guys cranked it some and started bouncing off them ropes like nobody's business. In fact, I felt that this match was probably a bit faster than most of the card. As I watched I did feel that a lot of the show was plodding along a bit, encouraging me to skip through, but this managed to maintain my attention.

Now, probably the most notable detail about this match was that not only did the top rope break from Hero rebounding off it, but so did the second one after an attempted moonsault of all things from Lee. Only one rope remained by the end, managing to stay out of theses two's way for long enough, the real sole survivor this Royal Rumble weekend. 

Good match here in what felt like one of the lesser EVOLVE shows I've watched, but hey, you take some of the good and some of the bad, and there you have it. 

EVOLVE 77

Best Match on EVOLVE 77: Chris Hero vs Zack Sabre Jr.

It's the next day and it's EVOLVE 77! When I say the next 'day' I really mean it, with this match bathed in the sunlight of the Texan afternoon. You could see the dust in the air floating along. First time seeing something like that I must say. Not quite first half of WrestleMania 31 blinding, but bright enough that you could annoy someone by reflecting it off your watch.

The match itself took to the outside a fair bit, right by the fans, and Hero even tossed Zack into a guy at one point, landing on the litter of the concessions stand. Sabre was fighting from the backfoot for the majority of this match. Whenever he managed to wrap up Hero in a submission hold, Hero would hulk up and power out or find some technical way out of it. 

Zack did exchange strikes with the big man, but mostly ended up landing the many, but not the big. He'd throw a bunch of forearms, and then get floored by a straight jab. Not too sure what he was expecting going into a fight with a man named 'The Knockout Artist'. 

I've seen Hero pull out the Tombstone Piledriver before, but he hit one in this with more tenacity than ever. He spun him round and without delay dropped to his knees and flattened the top of Sabre's head. Vicious. 

The end was tense as all fuck, with Hero's Death Blow not managing to get a 3, and then the following Gotch-style piledriver attempt countered into Sabre contorting Hero's arms and a leg to force a submission. Nasty stuff.

Great match this, and a nice send off to Hero as he travels to Orlando in the hopes of doing better than the first time around, which I am confident will happen, mainly because Chris Hero ain't nothin' to fuck with.

The Verdict

Best Match of the Week: AJ Styles vs John Cena - WWE World Championship Match - Royal Rumble

Yes, this week's best was the Royal Rumble's match of Cena vs Styles. It was fantastic in my eyes, and was just a pleasure to watch. Shout outs to Hero/Sabre and Nakamura/Roode also, with both being great matches too and very much worth a watch.

And with that one done, here's what the leaderboard bares a striking resemblance to. Now, for a segment I'm running short on, it's 'The Best Wrestling Quote of the Week';

'HYAAH' - Akira Tozawa

That's all from me for this week folks, thank you for joining me on this journey everyone. I hope you enjoyed, and feel free to chat with me on the past week in wrestling, or anything about pro wrestling whatsoever. Art is best discussed. I do hope that the next few days are great for you guys, and I hope to see you again soon!

The Fuck's Going On?: Royal Rumble 2017

Hi there readers, and welcome to this new idea I've had called 'The Fuck's Going On?', where I give you a run down on the upcoming big shows. I imagine these will probably be reserved for 'The Big Four' (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series) seeing as these get more casual eyes and generate some wider audiences. So, without further ado, what the fuck's going on with the Royal Rumble 2017?

The Pre-Show

1) Cesaro & Sheamus (c) vs The Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) - RAW Tag Team Championship Match

Why is this on the pre-show? 

This feud has really been picking up steam with the series of singles matches between these four, plus last week's RAW had Gallows and Anderson only miss out on winning the belts because of a false finish. Sounds like this competitive rivalry coming to a conclusive end for a championship should be on the main show, yes? At least that's how I see it. 

This does have the weird stipulation of having two referees because of the screwy finish to the title match on RAW, but whatever the weather, I feel like this will be a good match. Everyone in here knows how to have a Pay-Per-View quality match and has the capabilities to do so. I can quite honestly see Cesaro and Sheamus losing the titles despite them having only won them at the last PPV. They've been building Gallows and Anderson up as of late, so who knows which way this swings?

2) Sasha Banks vs Nia Jax

Here's a match. Nia injured Sasha's leg and over the past few weeks, and has just repeatedly attacked her, for reasons I'm not too sure on. I'm really not at all jazzed for this one, it will most probably be okay-ish, my money's on Jax winning. Next...

The Main Show

3) Naomi, Nikki Bella & Becky Lynch vs Alexa Bliss, Natalya & Mickie James

A few strings weaving together for this one; Becky and Alexa's feud as been ongoing with Mickie James aligning herself with Alexa a couple weeks ago on her return. Natalya and Nikki have been calling each other names and attacking each other, and Naomi.....Naomi is there because she had an interaction with Bliss and James this week. Compare this build to the RAW Tag Team Championship's, and you can see why I'm not best pleased with the structure of this card.

The match itself should be fine, it'll be nice to see Mickie in there again and mixing it up with Becky, Nikki and Naomi. Not my most anticipated match by any means, but its not like its off putting. 

4) Rich Swann (c) vs Neville - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match

Oooh doctor, Cruiserweight Championship match time. This is Swann's first programme since finishing up with Brian Kendrick, who he won the title off of. Neville is on the roll of a lifetime at the minute, becoming a massive badass, destroying anyone and everyone he gets in the ring with, including Tommy End at the United Kingdom Championship Tournament. Although I do love Swann, Neville is probably the best thing going in the Cruiserweight division.

I'm conflicted with who I want to come out on top. It feels like its Neville's time to be on top and be the proper monster heel the division needs. It will do a world of good to whoever Neville is matched up against after Swann, and a championship on the line would only enhance that. However, if Swann doesn't retain, then that's another reign of no real length and significance. Since its rebirth in September, we've had 3 different champions in just over 4 months. Swann is currently the longest reigning champion, with him reaching 60ish days by the time of the Rumble. It doesn't set a good standard for the belt, then again, Neville going on an absolute tear as champion could redeem that.

Nevertheless, this should be a real good match. I'm sure both of these guys are going to amp it up for the big stage. The division could really use with a top quality match to turn some heads, and gain 205 Live some much needed traction.

5) Charlotte (c) vs Bayley - RAW Women's Championship Match

We're in Charlotte's third reign as champion, and she's finally done with Sasha, for the time being at least which is a relief. The matches may have been good but lordy it wares on you. This is Bayley's first challenge for the belt, debuting on the main roster in August, having a series of matches with Dana Brooke, winning the Survivor Series match, and now this. Feels like this may be a bit quick, but there really are no other faces on RAW who can be considered a legitimate challenger beside Sasha.

Their matches on RAW have been pretty decent, but this is the big time now. If memory serves me right, these two did clash at a TakeOver in 2015, and both have progressed immensely since then. Given enough time and freedom, these two women should be putting on one hell of a match.

With Charlotte coming into this strong at 15-0 on Pay-Per-Views and I'd think Bayley's first title win would have a more drawn out journey, I see Charlotte taking the gold home, sorry Bayley fans.

6) Kevin Owens (c) vs Roman Reigns - WWE Universal Championship Match

Please, please be the end of this feud. 

Picking it up after Finn Balor vacated it due to injury after a day, Kevin Owens has been Universal Champion since August 29th, defeating Big Cass, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in an elimination match with the help of Triple H. Reigns has been gunning for the belt since just after Survivor Series, whilst he was still United States Champion. He unsuccessfully challenged at Roadblock last month, but here he is again. Owens has retained the belt through interference after interference from Chris Jericho, and it hasn't done him much good at all, looking incompetent as all hell, a far cry from his days as NXT Champion. This time, to stop Jericho's antics, he's going to be locked in a cage suspended above the ring, because wrestling. 

I'm not too fussed on this match, mainly because we've seen this match a good few times over the past few weeks on RAW, at Roadblock, and a several times before that too. Owens is like my joint-favourite, so it's a crying shame how I feel about this match, but when things get booked as such, stuff like this happens.

Whilst I want Owens to win the match, I have a feeling Reigns will pick up the belt and head into 'Mania with the red leather around his waist. It feels like its time to cut our losses with this Owens run and try again in the future.

7) AJ Styles (c) vs John Cena - WWE Championship Match

Here we go guys. its the show's Big Boy Match. 

Quite a storied feud coming into this. Returning from injury in May, Cena was welcomed by Styles, who promptly attacked him alongside his now fully formed Club, Gallows and Anderson. Styles has two one-on-one victories, the first at Money in the Bank in June (but with Club interference) and again at SummerSlam in August, cleanly. After defeating Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship at Backlash in October, Styles retained in a triple threat against both Ambrose and Cena. Cena went away for a bit, came back last month and immediately said he was getting a title shot at the Rumble. 

It feels like Cena's been getting a bit of a heel-ish twang since coming back; giving himself opportunities 'because he's John Cena', started making excuses for his previous defeats at the hands of Styles (something he himself said he would never do), and he's been harkening back to his 'Dr. of Thuganomics' gimmick in his promos. It certainly feels like AJ has been portrayed as the face in the lead up to this, and its damn hard to think of why he should be booed. 

I am super excited for this match, with their clashes at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam both being amazing. The third match in this series has all the ingredients to be an instant classic, and I'd bet good money that it is. I am definitely going to be cheering on AJ Styles, though I can see Cena walking out with the title, and with everything that's gone on since returning in December, it will be very interesting to see how events turn out. Although the marquee match will most probably be the main talking point after the show, I'm sure there will be a lot of buzz around this.

8) The Royal Rumble Match

It's the Royal Rumble! For those unfamiliar, I have previously done a 'Wrestlintroduction' on the match, which you can find here. 

Lots of factors going into this. Coming off of his dismantling of Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series in November, Goldberg was the first announced participant, with Lesnar entering as a retort. It would be a waste not to have these two encounter each other in some part of the match, so I imagine that will be a big moment in the match. The other big name in the list of entrant is that of The Undertaker. Having not entered the match in several years, it definitely feels special to have Taker back in this, and with the rumblings that he could be facing Styles or Cena at WrestleMania 33, I'd say he's within a shout at winning.

Them three are the main focus of this Rumble, however there are some other things of interest to note. 

This will be the first Rumble in which all the members of The New Day will be entering, and they have promised that if one member becomes the winner, all the members are the winner. I would love to see all three guys hold a world championship in some weird fandangled way, but I can see why that might not be happening. 

As of today, two days prior to the event, only 22 of the 30 participants have been announced, leaving 8 unfilled spots. Now who's gonna be filling these? 

I can see one or two being given to legends like DDP and the like. I've just thought writing this, there has been a lot of talk of Shawn Michaels having 'one more match' in him, my lord above imagine if he's in the Rumble. And also, following the Hall of Fame announcement, there is speculation that Kurt Angle may have a spot, but I'm not getting my hopes up. 

It has been reported that WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne have been pulled from appearances around Royal Rumble time, so I can see these two popping up in this match, which would be great, if just to hear Tyler Bate's jazzy entrance theme again. Plus, I'd love to see Dunne batter some fuckers.

Many think its about time Tye Dillinger moves up to the main roster from NXT, and I agree, with the No.10 spot being a no-brainer really. Now what I can really see happening is the main roster debut of Samoa Joe. Hell, he's one of my picks to win the whole thing. There's whisperings of Joe having something big at 'Mania, and what's bigger than the main event? If I go to school Monday knowing I'm gonna see Joe/Styles or Joe/Cena, fuck it I'll take Joe/Reigns, at WrestleMania, I will be happy all month long. Be nice to me WWE, please, even just if I get to see this again;

That just about does it for me in this first ever 'The Fuck's Going On?', I hope it has clued you in on this year's Royal Rumble event, and goodness knows, maybe I've got you interested in it. That's the Royal Rumble, January 29th, 7e/4p and a nice midnight start for us in the UK. I plan on watching live and powering through the early hours to stay up for school, and I have a maths test that day, so wish me luck.

If you do feel like giving it a watch, you can start your free month of the WWE Network here, and get going.

Have a nice day people, I'll catch you later!

Wrestlintroduction: The Royal Rumble

Hello and welcome to this newest 'Wrestlintroduction', in which we will take a look at one of the highlights of the year, for me at least. 

Every January, WWE hosts the Royal Rumble event, one of what is considered The Big Four (WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series and The Royal Rumble) and it features a marquee match of the same name. This is a pivotal point on the 'Road to WrestleMania', with people beginning to look forward to The Show of Shows as we approach the Rumble. 

So what exactly is the Royal Rumble?

Well, dear reader, let me tell you.

The Royal Rumble is an elimination match that consists of 30 wrestlers, but once it was 40 in 2011. The match begins with 2 wrestlers in the ring and at regular intervals (supposedly) another one enters the match. Eliminations can only occur by throwing an opponent over the top rope and both their feet touching the floor. This process continues until just one man is left in the ring and is declared the winner. As a prize, the winner receives a world championship match at WrestleMania, more often that not, in the main event. 

It does sound kinda convoluted, but it is really fun once things get going. One element that I love about the Royal Rumble is the unknowing and surprise it can bring. Sometimes they'll reveal ahead of time who might be entrant #1, #2 or #30, but other than that, you never know who is coming out when. 

This leads to a lot more excitement, and when that countdown for the next entry pops up, and the whole crowd are counting down with it, its a very special moment. It could be a first appearance, it could be a return, it could be a fan favourite, it could be legend, all of them make the crowd electric.

I vividly remember being sat watching that live and me and my brother flipping shit at AJ Styles's debut. Magic is real, and wrestling can create it. 

With the high stakes of a world title match at WrestleMania, this match gives you the chance to cheer on your favourites as they look to achieve something they have yet had chance to. I always root hard for my guys who haven't been given much opportunity at world championship gold. Then as the numbers grow and grow, and they're still in the ring, fucking hell its a rush. There's no better relief than when a guy you're cheering to win just escapes elimination, and no greater drain than when they don't. 

It is possibly the most emotionally charged match in wrestling, taking you through a series of highs and lows in great succession. For example, here's an exert of my experience last year;

Kevin Owens enters [Excited]

Kevin Owens faces off with AJ Styles [Super Excited]

Kevin Owens eliminated AJ Styles [WHAT THE FUCK]

Countdown pops up [Still a bit pissed, getting more excited again]

Sami Zayn enters [FUCKIN' YES]

Zayn and Owens brawl [Awesome!]

Zayn eliminates Owens [FUCKIN' A, MATE]

Zayn is later eliminated [PISSING JESUS NO!]

Y'see? Lots of shit can go down in the matter of just a handful of minutes.

The Royal Rumble is also interesting in how it can make set up some awesome situations. Like I said above, you can get dream pairings pop up, like Owens/Styles and last year there was also a great Triple H/Wyatt face-off which got some big cheers. There can be nostalgic moments, with either old rivals or old teams interacting one more time. 

Another note on the significance of this event, in WWE when someone has their accomplishments listed, the list is comprised of 4 main things; championships, Money in the Bank wins (I'll get to them at another time), Hall of Fame entry and Royal Rumble wins. The Rumble is held in such high regard that it can define a career, making superstars. When you look at the illustrious list of winners, that fact becomes apparent; Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Triple H, John Cena, Edge, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and it goes on and on and on, creating history.


My one last point I wanna make about why I love the Royal Rumble is less about what it physically is or its significance, but the effect it has. My friends and family are well aware of my love for pro wrestling, and its always nice when they embrace this. The Royal Rumble has such a magnitude that it sticks with people, even former or non-fans. Around Rumble season or when it gets mentioned, I'm always met with 'Is that the one with everyone in the ring?' or similar questions. Whenever I say there's a big show coming up, my Dad will forever ask if its the Royal Rumble, and then ask if The Big Show still wrestles. This makes the whole event feel even more important to watch, an importance second only to WrestleMania. 

So, in summary, The Royal Rumble; 30 men, 1 winner, world championship match at WrestleMania, emotions run high, shit ton of tension, surprises, cool shit, face-offs, importance, one awesome night which I may or may not skip school on the Monday after for depending on my level of persuasion. 

That's about it for this edition of 'Wrestlintroduction', hope you enjoyed, hope you learnt something and I hope this makes my love for this wacky world of wrestling seem less fucking weird. Seeya next time (if I haven't pushed you away so far please love me its very lonely over here)