I think with a lot of the things like Doudrop, Vince is kind of testing people. He doesn't like to push people to levels like Roman Reigns until he's sure they're going to be lifers like Cena or Reigns. So, I think that's what happens a lot with guys like Keith Lee, or Karrion Cross, where they debut, are given some things to weigh them down, and they see if they're going to take it and do their best or complain and leave. I'm not saying that I agree with the practice, but I think that's the method in the madness.

I think most of the show actually played off of long term storytelling. Rollins vs Reigns definitely. Lashley vs Lesnar was about how they've sort of parallelled eachother. The women's rumble had tons of moments. Sonya attacking Cameron, Molly and Nikki (sort of), Bellas getting eliminating Rousey, Summer going directly after Natalya, and even Michelle McCool and Mickie James getting into it. A lot of nostalgia really. The men's had not quite as much but it was there. Finishing with Drew and Lesnar after Drew eliminating him last year for instance. And the Edge Maryse feud had a pretty good feud. So, having an actual narrative definitely isn't the problem to me. I think they've been doing good in that regard lately. The problem is that the payoff doesn't always live up to the story. See: Reigns vs Rollins.

I have evolved. I watched all of the Roman/Seth match and....yeah that was an interesting take on the end. I don't LIKE screwey finishes but this is one bit of shenanigans I think serves the narrative well enough. Could be very interesting to see if there's a follow-up. Commentators still suck so remarkably badly though.

As for the women's Rumble? I actually liked it. I don't like that Sasha got booted early (she's way too good to always be losing or failing or getting ejected too soon), but the rest of the rumble was shockingly full of great moments. I also don't like that Rhea didn't win, as I'm still riding that high of her basically winning survivor Series and WarGames on her own in the same weekend. I have no idea how they didn't capitalize on that momentum, but here we are. That said, she's 25 and she WILL win a rumble or two in her time. Like I said, she already dominated a Survivor Series elimination match and a WarGames Match basically without teammates, so it's only a matter of time. Rousey didn't need the win but it makes sense and like I said I love watching that woman work, she is pretty great,,,

,,,but you know who isn't great? Whoever the switcher is behind the scenes. The guy who flips between cameras. I have NEVER seen wrestling camera work so jittery and bad. Like, at one point, in the middle of a move someone was doing, instead of lingering just a second longer to see the move, they cut away to a closeup of someone's ass, then cut to another camera after the move was over. One mistake is one mistake, but the whole damn show was full of snappy cuts that kept cutting away from the action. It's so bad. Like, in a tightly cut and edited movie you can get away with that many cuts. in a live setting it's jarring and far too unpredictable to work. It looked bad, it ruined the effect and whoever was in charge of that (I think Kevin Dunn? I gotta google that) needs to be fired immediately.

I literally did a better job on switcher in college in 2009 when we hosted an awards show. and that was me filling in for some other guy on the team last minute when I was working in a different department for the entire duration of the semester's build. I had one week to learn the switcher and get chemistry with the director, and I still did a better job than this guy who is operating a multimillion dollar production. Hire me, WWE, I'll do a better job.

Also, stop cutting to the crowd for a split second in between cuts. Nobody cares. Especially not when the proper choice is to get a look at the wrestler coming out. I only think they managed to get a single entrance beyond the original two. It's just bad direction. And it's not even the worst WWE does. The camera movements and zooms are almost always overblown to give that dynamic look, which does less to engage the viewer and more to make it painfully clear that this is scripted and...it's the sort of thing that Barney the Dinosaur would do as a joke to keep the attention of toddlers, not something you'd expect to see on a show about people beating each other up to wear fancy belts.

just watched the Lesnar/Lashley match and...oh look, it's the same as every other lesnar match! 10 moves total between them!

German Suplex, german suplex, German Suplex x3, punches and kicks, tackle through the barricade, Spear, Spear, attempted F5 for the win....only to shenanigans one's way out of a satisfying conclusion. 12 moves if you count Reigns spearing and hitting him with a belt.

Every. Fucking. Lesnar. Match.

How does anyone like this? I get that wrestlers have their signatures, I get that they have their style, and some moron out there's like 'but Dolph Ziggler just does a million super kicks per match and Kenny Omega just does V-triggers all the damn time" as if that negated the rest of the matches they're in. Like, a V-trigger is just a move, Kenny Omega has a huge arsenal. Kenny Omega can keep you invested for an hour or more. People bag on John Cena for the 5 moves of doom, but at least he could make a match interesting with mixing it up. Brock's matches are so short because he only does like 5 moves, but for real. German suplex, Shoulder tackle, Kimura Clutch, and the F5. 4 moves. 5 if you could strikes/punches/kicks.

The worst part? I know he knows how to wrestle. His ongoing feud with Kurt angle in 2003 remains one of the best feuds I think I've ever seen. Technically sound, amazingly well booked, engaging, and they even had an ironman match! So why the hell is Brock boring as fuck now? Oh, right, because he CAN be. HE went off, legitimately became one of the baddest of the most badass motherfuckers on the planet, and since he knows he doesn't have to try anymore, he just doesn't. He has potential, he just genuinely doesn't care. and if he does, then this is a really shitty meta-character. Either way, booooooo to Brock. I stop watching any time he's on.

Remember when he came in to squash Kofi in like 2 minutes after Kofi scratched and clawed his way to the top and beat Daniel Bryan? Remember when he squashed Finn Balor in like 8 minutes? Remember when he won Money in the Bank by....not announcing himself for the match and just showing up at the end after everyone else did all the work to win in like a minute? Yeah, if this was reality this would be engaging. a dude skirting his duties to cheat the system. In a scripted story, this is like playing a videogame, doing all the work, levelling up all your characters, and having an engaging rivalry only to have some other dude come in at the last minute and completely turn things around.

You know how in Final Fantasy IX, you spend the whole game fighting Kuja, then literally ot of nowhere once you beat the game Necron shows up to...."it was me all along" despite you having no interest in him, no beef with him, and no history with him? Brock Lesnar is the Necron of WWE. he doesn't do ANY of the work but gets ALL of the credit. He's not fun to watch, his storylines are bland and generic, he's not interested in building up others, he has no weaknesses, he's just a generic 'he's big and strong' guy. that sort of shit is fine when it's real, but if people wanted real they'd watch UFC. People watch Pro Wrestling BECAUSE it's scripted. and in scripted shows you gotta pay off the build up more often. Or, at the very least, make the journey more engaging instead of the same old repetitive nonsense with the same matches done over and over again.

I confess I didn't watch most of the Edge and Beth Phoenix vs Miz and Maryse match. Watched the intros, Maryse ditched, Beth Phoenix chased....and I gave up at that point. Just more stupid-assed shenanigans throughout. Same bullshit nonsense crap you get in a throwaway match on Raw. Big old no thanks from me, boss.

the ending with the double spear and double glam slam was pretty cool, though. I do love Edge and Beth, they are both pretty damn awesome overall. Love seeing them back. Hopefully they can move onto something worthwhile.

But now that all I have left is the men's rumble itself...like, there was 20 something minutes of Ads in between the last two matches. Like, if people PAY for this, why are they doing video packages and marketing for MORE than half the show? I get like 'sponsored by Snickers' in the corner during a replay and I do get the packages showing the storyline up to this point, but like...it's WAY too much. Lemme check something here.

The matches on their own totaled 160 minutes. The entire event was 240 minutes. That means literally one third of the entire runtime of the show was nothing but ads and video packages. And keep in mind, Royal Rumble has one of the best match to total ratios due to the sheer length of the Rumble matches themselves. Other shows are closer to 50/50.

I KINDA get that...but then isn't that what the kickoff is for? I saw all these promo packages already. 

As for the men's rumble...it's not TERRIBLE. I'm about halfway through and I don't think it's bad or anything. the action is pretty good, lots of action and character beats, Omos is terrible but at least he's got personality to make up for it. A lot of the same issues that plagued the woman's rumble are present here, though. Still a lot of cutting away JUST as a move is about to happen. Like, when Boogs goes to toss Gable over, it's clearly building up to it, we know it's happening, I assume the producers in the truck know it, too...yet like, a second before it happens they cut to some random beatdown camera happening elsewhere in the rumble. cutting immediately back once the elimination concluded. 

At some point I think they're doing it on purpose. No way a professional would allow this shit to happen. 

AS for the rest of the match. Yeah, I've ranted about how much I hate Brock and how much he ruined the rumble, but pretty much everything up to that point was fine. Not terrible. That Kofi spot looked painful as hell, though. and I Really don't like how little respect Big E and Kevin Owens got.

Oh, and Bad Bunny...whoever the fuck that is...is knocking it outta the park! Seriously! He and Johnny Knoxville get it. They made for some fun spots, seriously. I just wish they didn't have to go ruining it with Brock. Oh, and Shane McMahon has no place here. He looks terrible, and has for the last 5-7 years. He needs to let go. 

Shane McMahon had one fucking good match with one of the best workers of all time, and 20 years later at 50 years old, they're trying to portray him as a credible competitor. -_-

All I gotta say about Shane McMahon is....if those punches of his are hitting then Muhammad Ali (Wow, I spelled it right on first attempt without googling it!) is guilty of assault on every crowd member that ever attended his bouts. 

Yeah, I got the sense that the Sarah Logan would be back for the one moment. She was only in the match for about 20-30 seconds. I was a big fan of Liv Morgan, I'd watch the show. I'm paying attention at least.

 
Lita vs Charlotte I guess is happening. Lita's in great ring shape, so it should be a good match.

Yeah, way faster and more alert. I’m thinking she was suffering from injuries for most of her career. It’s just a guess, I don’t actually know the situation.