Just in case it's against the rules... possible spoiler.

legacyme3 : I already posted about a bunch of the guys that just recently were rumored to be signed and could possibly be coming in. There was a japanese guy that is also likely to be in the Rumble that they just signed. Not a secret to me. I already posted about it

geeogree :

I don't read every post in this thread. Who do you think I am?

I will say I will be watching the main event of the Royal Rumble, and that I'll use the free trial of the Network I've been sitting on.

legacyme3 : no worries. I don't either when I'm jumping into a thread that has been around for a while. I appreciate the possible spoiler tags but I already spoiled that one. Although I didn't spoil the Royal Rumble part of it, just the fact that WWE signed these guys. I'm not surprised that Styles might be in the Rumble though. He's experienced enough that making him go to NXT would be cruel.

geeogree :

No kidding. I'm surprised they did that with Samoa Joe.

If Styles and Joe are both on the main roster, they NEED to be involved in a feud.

I used to like TNA before it became Totally uNwatchable wrAsslin'.

As such, I used to watch them feud back and forth, and it was just incredible.

Now if they could just get the Hardyz back, that would be all I need to start watching for sure.

Raw Jan 18th

1 week out from Royal Rumble I'm interested to see what they let leak as encouragement for people to get the PPV and what they hold back as a surprise for the Rumble itself. I'm torn about whether I really like surprise entrants. It is nice to have a surprise and knowing how often they do it I look forward to it but I also wonder if knowing a handful more of these surprise entrants it would encourage more people to watch the PPV.

Well, tonight I guess we're starting with Reigns. And it sounds like he is calling out Brock Lesnar. Lesnar won't come out obviously because they won't let that happen on a Monday Night Raw but instead Jericho comes out. Jericho is going to interview Lesnar later tonight so this isn't a surprise at all. Sounds like Reigns is going to come out during the Highlight Reel with Jericho to be on at the same time with Lesnar.

Interesting, the League of Nations just came out. Not a surprise. And they are going on and on about how they are going to take the title. Wait a second, why does Del Rio have the US title. I thought he lost it last week.... he must have won it back on Smackdown. That's pretty stupid. HAHAHAHA, Rusev's promo was terrible! Oh no, they're bringing up the fact that he won last year. That's stupid . Rusev called him a stupid American and then called him a stupid Canadian. Figure it out guys! Okay, so Jericho is making matches now.... he made himself the Ref and the announcers didn't try and explain that at all. I guess that explains why Jericho didn't wear a shirt to the ring though.

Rusev vs Reigns - the match itself hasn't been all that great. The most entertaining part was Jericho tossing the League of Nations away from ring side. The rest of the match was predictable. And of course Reigns wins the match going into the Royal Rumble just to make people think he might actually win. Too bad that the guy in the ring (Jericho) along with Rusev and the rest of the League of Nations are all going to be gunning for Reigns.

Oh good, Jericho got told he didn't have the authority to making matches. Not that it really matters or anything but I'm glad they brought that up. Too bad the announcers didn't have the brain power to bring that up.

Brie Bella vs Natalya - Yay Natalya! She's from Calgary! And she's bringing Paige out with her! Not sad to see her out there either . I like both of them. Well, this wasn't much of a match but I'm not sad that Natalya won! And with the Sharpshooter no less. Bret Hart's move who is also from Calgary Go Calgary!

Uh oh, here comes the Wyatts! Looks like it is Wyatts vs Dudleyz + Ryback. I really like the Wyatts but I'm not sure if I like them versus the Dudleyz and Ryback. It just feels like the Wyatts are being wasted in this. I'm not sure who I would really want them to fight but I don't like this. They were fantastic against the Shield but since the Shield ended there hasn't been a lot of stuff worth watching with the Wyatts. I'm really hoping something comes after the Rumble that is more enjoyable. And the Wyatts won which makes sense. I can't imagine them losing to too many teams.

Big Show vs Heath Slater - 6 months ago I wouldn't even consider Slater as a possible winner. However, with the 4 guys from the Social Outcasts together there is actually a chance. Still, not very likely even with 4 of them. I expect him to get squashed to make Big Show look tough going into the Rumble. Yup. Squashed. And here come the rest of them. And Big Show is destroying them. And this is basically how it would go if Big Show fought those 4 guys.

Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon are coming out to announce who will start the Rumble at #1. This is going to be interesting. I wonder who they are going to "screw over". Who could it be..... Of course it is Roman Reigns. I wonder if every single ball had his name on it . Obviously it was his name every single time. This is so cheesy it hurts to watch. It couldn't be any more obvious that this was intentional. So stupid. Why even try and pretend it wasn't intentional. Cause it's WWE I guess.

Charlotte and Ric Flair are coming out. I do like this song. I like how they changed it up but kept it with Ric's old theme in there as well. I guess she's watching the match.

Becky vs Tamina - so far this match has been respectable. I haven't seen much from Tamina that I really like but at least Becky can wrestle fairly well. I'm fairly impressed. Becky got the submission win. That was pretty good. Haha, Becky just talked Ric Flair into giving Becky a title match against Charlotte at the Rumble. I wasn't aware that a father could sign matches for his daughter

Ambrose + Kalisto vs Del Rio + Sheamus - another respectable match. Nothing so far that is really blowing me away but I am liking the rivalry between Kalisto and Del Rio. Kalisto is really surprising me. With him being teamed with Sin Cara I didn't think much of him but on his own he has been great. Wow, distraction from Kevin Owens resulted in Del Rio kicking Ambrose in the face. That was pretty sweet. And Sheamus got the win after that over Kalisto.

Uso's vs New Day - oh, it's a 1 on 1 match. Whatever. [sigh]. Do these guys not realize that a change in control in a match from face to heel shouldn't go on a legitimate move but on a cheating move. That's how you get HEAT. Obviously it helps to have the tag partner to get heat for you but you should be getting heat as the opponent as well. To be fair this match has been quite a bit better than I'm saying it has. Just a critique of an obvious thing you should be doing in a match when you are the clear heel in the match. I'm not really surprised that the New Day won though. They've been winning quite a few matches lately. Still, I hope Jay isn't hurt that the Uso's can put on a proper match at the Rumble for the tag titles.

8-man Tag Match – I don’t even want to name every one in the match because I doubt I would get through them all before the match ended. This is just a way to get these 8 guys on TV without having to really do a lot for them or have any real good reason for the match. Still, some of these guys need more time in the ring it seems. I didn’t really care about this match at all. Just filler. Thankfully it is over now.

Jericho’s Highlight Reel is on now. And it looks like Lesnar isn’t coming out because Heyman came out alone. That’s kind of lame. Haha, Jericho thinks if Jericho and Lesnar are the last 2 that he somehow stands a chance. That’s a joke. Not even 10 years ago when he was in his prime. There isn’t a chance that could happen. And here comes Lesnar! I’m glad they didn’t advertise him and then not have him show up. And now Reigns is coming out. No one saw that coming. Reigns is in the ring and Lesnar is wandering around the ring. He’s not going to go in there. He’ll make it seem like he is but he won’t. He’ll walk away. Wow, he actually got in the ring! And Reigns speared him (and that spear was actually pretty impressive). League of Nations just showed up to attack Reigns. Lesnar just attacked them! That’s awesome. Lesnar is awesome. And another spear to Lesnar. Now the Wyatts! This is what I was hoping for. The pre-Rumble carnage. I want to see Lesnar toss these guys around. He’s about the only one that I would believe could do it realistically. Come on Lesnar, go get them! Wow, Harper just kicked Lesnar over. I’m actually a bit surprised that Lesnar is getting beaten down this much. I’m actually quite impressed. This is the sort of thing that the Wyatt’s need in order to look really dangerous. Taking out Lesnar is probably the most impressive thing they could do. I really do want to watch Lesnar throw them around though. Maybe he will in the Rumble but tonight I guess it’s all about Bray Wyatt. I’d be okay if Bray won honestly.

As a show that is supposed to build up the next PPV it did alright. The end got me pretty hyped honestly. I really enjoy the Royal Rumble and how unpredictable it can be. I’m looking forward to next Sunday and watching the match.

I'm really looking forward to the Royal Rumble. The match I'm really excited about its, Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens. I'm really wanted to see Dean's hand raise. I really don't know what they are doing with Roman, but I'm hoping it will be good.

Royal Rumble 2016!!!!

I'm pretty pumped about this one. It's been a while since I've been this excited about a PPV.

Ambrose vs Owens - starting the night with a last man standing match. This match is going to be brutal. Well, if it isn't brutal then I'm going to be disappointed. Wow, a running bulldog. It has been a while since I've seen that. Nice, Kendo stick. Not that it does a lot of damage but it keeps his opponent on the run. Nice! The cannonball thing through the barricade. Didn't end the match with that move though.

There we go. Steel chairs! Something that can actually hurt someone enough to keep them from standing up after a 10 count. [sigh] I hate that move that Ambrose does. Falling into the ropes and bouncing out the way he does it doesn't actually look like he would hit harder than if he bounced off the top rope and did the same thing. Back body drop through the chairs. Not a bad move. Still not as crazy as I was hoping for. Even a match like this is still pretty tame. Haha, the commentary from the fans is funny. "I feel like you're wasting your time." Suplex through the table would be intense! Oh, I guess not. That's too bad. Hopefully it'll come up again. Dirty deeds a 2nd time into the chair. I hope this isn't it. I want to see the tables get used! Nice! He rolled out of the ring on to his feet at a count of 9. Really clever. Elbow drop through the table! Pretty awesome. Still not enough though. This match is definitely improving. YES! I was hoping for him to counter that! Ambrose takes the modified power bomb through the table. I guess it was a kind of suplex but still. Ambrose gets back to his feet. Pop-up power bomb on Ambrose. And Ambrose gets to his feet again. There it is!!!!! Owens was going to go for a moonsault and Amborse pushed Owens through the 2 tables that were still set up. This is the match! They've had this set up for a while and it would be a sweet end to the match. And it is! Ambrose wins and keeps his title. Not a bad match at all. I legitimately forgot about those tables when Owens was setting up Ambrose on the chairs. Great match.

New Day vs. Uso's - these matches are always good but I'm so rarely excited about them anymore. Again, the match was respectable but I had a hard time being interested in it. New Day won (again!).

Kalisto vs Del Rio - another match that I didn't really care about going into the PPV. They traded title match wins previously which made this win not feel as impressive. Del Rio should have cheated to win on Raw and then cheated to lose on Smackdown so that at the Royal Rumble Kalisto could win and it would be more impressive. Oh well. Still a good match.

Becky vs Charlotte - that song never gets old to me. It is iconic. And a cheat to win the match. Not a surprise. Still a pretty solid match again. Nice! Sasha Banks is back! Wow, she just attacked Becky. I guess they've never gotten along but that seemed out of place. Still, glad she attacked Charlotte. That was more entertaining than the match was.

Royal Rumble time!!!!!!

Roman Reigns out first obviously. We knew that was happening. #2 is Rusev. This is a good person to start with. Reigns won't be able to eliminate Rusev quickly. Reigns went through the middle rope and not over the top so he's not out.... and Rusev is out. That is actually a bit of a surprise. #3 is AJ STYLES!!!!!!! YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES! I got some MASSIVE chills when I saw him show up. This is so awesome. AJ AJ AJ AJ AJ!!!!! Awww, I was hoping for the Styles Clash! Still, glad he wasn't eliminated right away. AJ sells so well! That was awesome. Come on, AJ versus Breeze. Let AJ show off some of the stuff he can do. AJ got the elimination! #5 is Curtis Axel. AJ takes out Axel. I'm loving that they are giving AJ a real shot in the Rumble. Not wasting an amazing talent like his. JERICHO!!!!!! #6 is Jericho! I'm loving AJ in WWE!!!! Styles Clash! Awwww. They are teasing that move way too much! #7 is.... Kane! NOOOOO! Hold on AJ! Yes! He stayed in! #8 is.... Goldust. That one sort of disappoints. Not that I dislike Goldust but he isn't a surprise anymore. He shows up a lot in the Royal Rumble. #9 is Ryback! Whoa whoa whoa.... Ryback just used CM Punks running knee in the corner.... what a douche. He's a big guy and he should clothesline not use a knee. #10 is..... Kofi Kingston. Kofi is always interesting in the Rumble. Ryback back body dropped Styles in a HUGE way! Styles is so good at selling! Styles held on! That was close! #11 is.... Titus O'Neil. People need to start getting eliminated! Goldust is out! That's not a surprise. #12 is..... R-Truth! He and Styles have history. I've love to see them work together! What is R-Truth doing..... He is setting up a ladder in the ring. HAHAHAHA! Awwww. R-truth is out already. That stinks. Kofi landed on Big-E! That's funny. I kind of want Big-E to trip #13 is..... Luke Harper! The Wyatts are starting to come out! The fact that they are coming out almost halfway through is going to be interesting. Whoa! The League of Nations just attacked Reigns. And Vince is out here directing it all. This is a convenient way to keep him in the match long term. He lays out on the side of the ring for the next 20-30 minutes while the match continues. #14 is..... Stardust. Rusev did a big splash through the table on Roman Reigns. Like I said, he is nicely on the outside for a while now to sit out the match without having to work. He'll come back near the end and have a real chance of winning. Oh, they are going to stretcher him out. #15 is..... Big Show! I never have liked Big Show in the Rumble. He should be tossing people out of the ring left and right. Titus is out! Ryback is out. There we go. Get them Big Show! Jericho stayed in! #16 is..... Neville! Neville is so good! I'd love to see him and Styles wrestle! They would be awesome. Kofi is also out of the match apparently. #17 is..... Braun Strowman! I see this as the moment where everyone gets eliminated. Although, Kane and Big show are still in there.... except now Kane is out. I didn't see that coming at all. Get him Big Show! Or not.... Strowman eliminated Kane AND Big Show 1 after the other. #18 is.... Kevin Owens! I shouldn't be surprised but he is limping out there to compete. Come on! No Styles Clash. And AJ is out. Kevin Owens eliminated AJ Styles. #19 is.... Ambrose! I kind of hope they eliminate each other and then go fight outside the ring. #20 is....Sami Zayn! YES YES YES! Owens vs Zayn! Take him out Zayn! YES! Ownes is eliminated by Zayn! That was pretty awesome. #21 is..... Erick Rowan! 3 Wyatts are in the match together. Now it REALLY is time to start emptying the ring. Neville is out. Stardust is out. #22 is.... Mark Henry! Wow. Strowman just slammed Henry like he was nothing. And they are tossing him out. Throw the rest of them out now. Zayn is out. #23 is..... BROCK LESNAR! I love watching him come to the ring for a match. He is always so intense. Suplex City! These 3 Wyatts are a big challenege though. Rowan is out! Wow that was a big clothesline. #24 is..... Jack Swagger. F5 on Swagger! Sucks to be Swagger. What a brutal time in the Rumble. I'd hate to be one of the guys who gets tossed out that fast. #25 is.... The Miz. I love how the Miz didn't go right into the ring. That's smart. Seriously. I wouldn't go into the match with a lot of those guys in there if I were the Miz. Harper is out! #26 is..... Del Rio! Strowman is out by Lesnar! Very nice. Not going to be 4 Wyatts wiping people out. #27 is.... Bray Wyatt! He got in there just a teeny bit late. The Wyatts never left ringside. Now it is 4 on 1 against Lesnar. Lesnar tossed everyone else out and now it is Lesnar against Bray. And all 4 Wyatts are back in again. And Lesnar is out! That was a bit of a surprise. #28 is..... Ziggler! And now Miz is back into the match. #29 is.... Sheamus. Reigns is back! Miz is out! Del Rio is out! Sheamus took a super man punch in the walkway to the ring. #30 is.... Triple H!!!! WHAT!!!! You've got to be kidding me!!!!! I honestly did not see this one coming! There is too much going on to type any of it! Ziggler is out! Bray Wyatt is out! Ambrose eliminates Jericho. Sheamus is out. Reigns is out!!!!!!!! YES YES YES YES YES! Triple H took him out! Ambrose or Triple H! Triple H just won!

Honestly I'm not surprised. Not sure who else is going to main event Wrestlemania this year. HHH is sort of the only option right now. His being in the Rumble was a surprise but once I saw him I suspected he would win. Still, overall a pretty good PPV.

geeogree :

All I watched was the actual Royal Rumble match, and I'm so glad I did.

AJ f***ING STYLES.

That man needs to be on RAW, it's the only positive thing they have going from what little I've seen (outside of the New Day). He injects life into everything he does, and he shouldn't need training to adjust to the WWE style. Hopefully he skips NXT.

Him lasting like 25 minutes in his debut speaks a lot to me, of how highly they value him, and how they plan to utilize him going forward. I think he could logically start a feud with Kevin Owens (which would only elevate both of them), and that would be a great way for him to show just how good he can be against a brutal guy like Owens (he spent much of his career facing Samoa Joe, who is rather similar).

But as much as I f***ing popped for AJ Styles, I popped even harder for my favorite WWE Superstar, Sami Zayn.

I knew he was on his way back, and I knew he was always a possibility for the Rumble, but that doesn't mean I expected him to come out, look like he never left, and then eliminate Kevin Owens (who I really wanted to see out, because he took out AJ Styles).

Sami Zayn probably needs a little more time in NXT just to get back in the swing of things, but he should be up to the Main Roster after WM season. He's good enough, he connects with the crowd, and he's inZayn.

Unfortunately, despite the first 25 or so entries to the rumble being perfect, it was always obvious one of two things was going to happen.

Either...
1. Roman Reigns comes back and wins the title, pissing everyone off
2. Roman Reigns comes back, loses to HHH, pissing off slightly less people off.

It was written in the stars that Reigns/HHH would headline WM, but I was hoping for the third possible outcome, that looking back, was never actually possible.

This outcome would be that someone, anyone, would screw over both Reigns and HHH (maybe an Ambrose turn?) and Reigns/HHH would still have their feud, with no title implication.

Now the WWE title is invested in a feud we already know the result of.

It has to be a given that Reigns wins the title back at WM, or at the very least, leaves WM with the belt (not eliminating the possibility he wins it back before WM, only for HHH to invoke his rematch clause).

For me, for this feud to be worth watching, Reigns can't go over HHH, and if he does, it has to be because he got help. Reigns going over clean over HHH to end WM, something literally everyone saw happening a year ago today, would be the most predictable thing ever, and predictability is why I stopped watching the product entirely.

I'll be paying loose attention on the road to Wrestlemania.

If they want my undivided attention on Monday nights and PPVs again, they are going to have to show they aren't afraid of swerving us.

WWE isn't helped by Cena/Rollins/etc being out, they were shoe horned into this main event.

But this is the perfect chance to create a star, and WWE should have learned a lesson tonight.

That lesson is, stars create themselves, without intervention from WWE.

Sami Zayn is himself, and the fans love him.

AJ Styles was just AJ Styles, and guess what, he was the most heavily chanted name of the night.

The guys the public seems to hate, like Reigns? Those guys are disingenuous and fake. And yet crammed down our throat like yesterday's garbage.

WWE needs to stop meddling with talents and arbitrarily deciding who should get a push.

I don't want to sound entitled, but the fans really do make this business. They pay to see certain guys. They vote with their dollar.

TNA is failing for example, and they are failing because they stopped being original years ago, and started forcing roles on everyone.

Roles should be free-flowing, characters should be dynamic and evolving. Not simple, one-dimensional cariacatures.... unless they are a freak of nature like Brock Lesnar.

legacyme3 : yeah, he was on Raw. He faces Chris Jericho in his first match and beat him. And as far as I can tell he isn't having any trouble adjusting to WWE.

I agree about him going against Owens. They would work great together. Styles can sell his ass off against a bigger guy. He's been doing it his whole career. His matches with Abyss in TNA were pretty awesome.

Sami Zayn being in there was awesome too. His pop wasn't quite as good as AJ's (no ones was but Lesnar I think) but I was thrilled to see him in there. I agree that he should be on Raw going forward.

I agree about the Wrestlemania thing with HHH and Reigns. It is not going to be a great Wrestlemania. Maybe they can pull together some secondary matches that will be better but I don't see it being likely. I honestly don't know if we're going to ever get Sting vs Undertaker since Sting got hurt against Rollins.

Still, I'm actually more excited about post-wrestlemania when people return from injury. Hopefully with the NXT talent getting better and people coming back things will improve.

I always like to watch the Royal Rumble to see what Kofi would do next to save his hide.

Azul Fria : yeah, this time around he didn't really do anything great. He rode on Big-E's shoulders for a while before being kicked off. Kind of a waste.


In other news - Austin Aries signed with NXT. I'm a big fan of his though I don't know if he'll ever make it to the WWE roster. Still glad to see him come over.

Well, I will say for starters, I'm glad to see Aj in the WWE. As far as the main story is going, I'm not really sure where there are going with it. I'm going to be honest I would much rather see Dean with the belt, rather than Roman or Brock. I really want to see a Owens Styles feud. There is so many good things that can come with that. Also, I want to see the Team of R-Truth and Golddust.

Raw - Feb 8th

Based on the start of Raw it looks like the announcement is real. Daniel Bryan is done wrestling. Unless this is an enormous swerve of course but I don't know if they'll do that.

Stephanie is starting Raw tonight. The night has peaked already Daniel Bryan chant going and Stephanie is letting it happen. I'm actually glad for that. She still managed to squash it in the end though. Stephanie announced the match for Fastlane and only Roman got booed. Here comes Dean Ambrose. Ambrose wants Lesnar out here and Steph got all huffy about it. And now Roman coming out interrupted Stephanie as well. Yes! Here comes Lesnar! It's going to take both of these guys to take him on and even then I don't know if it is possible. I always enjoy hearing Paul Heyman talk. He's so good on the mic. And the contract is signed and Stephanie is out of the ring. And now Heyman is out. Table flip incoming! Nice! Table into Roman Reigns. That was fast! Here comes HHH. I guess he's just going to stand there to sell the match a bit more.

Ziggler vs. Owens - hahahaha "Hey Cole, SHUT UP!". That is hilarious. Owens saying what most people want to say. I can't stand Michael Cole. Interesting - Ziggler cheated to win. Unless they are trying to turn him heel I don't understand why you would have win him cheat to win. That's makes no sense. Oh well.

Charlotte vs Alicia Fox - not really a surprise as to how this ended. You don't have the champ lose to anyone but the #1 contendor leading up to a PPV. Glad they are keeping her looking strong.

MizTV Segment - don't care.... don't care.... waiting for AJ to come out now. Stop talking and bring him out. Finally! I'm actually liking this little rivalry. Jericho is one of the only real veterans left in WWE that is a good size for AJ to start with. He is an established veteran, a multi-time champ and a great place for AJ to get a start. Jericho is clearly the heel of the situation so give it 3-6 months and I could see AJ holding some gold.

Ryback vs. Bray Wyatt - no matter how good this match is I already know how it will end. The entire Wyatt family will attack him at some point. Either because Bray is about to lose or because Bray has won and they want to send a message. Oh nice! I liked that ending! That was a bit of a surprise. Catching the clothesline and turning it into his finisher. Not bad at all. And there is the beat down.

Ambrose just came out to call out Lesnar. This can't end well for Ambrose. Not just can't end well but isn't going to end well. And here comes Roman Reigns. Ouch! Low blow from Ambrose. Again, unless Ambrose is going heel that doesn't make a lot of sense. We'll see where that goes from here.

I'm skipping out on a few of the other matches cause I don't care and just want to see the retirement of Daniel Bryan. That's all I really care about tonight now that AJ has been on the show. This is one of the best retirement speeches that I have ever heard. I absolutely love the message he is sending with this. "I am grateful".

I'm going to do a quick review of Fastlane rather than anything in depth because I didn't have the time.

First 4 (I think) matches - pretty good. Tag team divas was good enough. Owens vs Ziggler is almost always a good match even if I'm tired of seeing it. They are both good workers. "The Titans" vs Wyatts.... it was good enough. Not sure why the Wyatts lost though. Charlotte vs Brie - just glad Brie lost. She should not be going into Wrestlemania as the champ. Charlotte fits that roll better.

AJ vs Jericho - match of the night. That's not saying much because the PPV wasn't amazing but it still was the best match.

I was so disappointed with the final match. I'm still not sure why Reigns won. Him winning made no sense. So annoyed by this.

Overall (considering the PPV isn't a main one) it was alright but it was so predictable. No match was a surprise. No titles changed hands. 2 titles weren't even defended. Not really great going into Wrestlemania.

Raw - Feb 22nd

Recap of Fastlane.... booo! Brock beating up Dean Ambrose. That was pretty neat actually. They'll probably fight at Wrestlemania. And he goes to the "Hospital" for a while but will come back later in the night. That's fine I guess.

And here comes Vince McMahon to present this award they've been talking about for the last few weeks. WTF! Stephanie is winning the award. What a self-serving award. This is a joke. I really hope we don't have to listen to Vince talk about Stephanie for much longer. The people hate you Stephanie! HAHAHA. Oh no, not prepared remarks. Please don't let her do this. WHAT!!!!!! WHAT WHAT WHAT! SHANE MCMAHON!!!!! WHAT! I did NOT see this coming. I was hoping for an interruption but Shane wasn't even on my radar. This is a pretty unreal response to him coming out. This crowd is cheering him like crazy. I can't even pretend I wouldn't be doing the same thing. And the chants are still going! That's got to be nice for him. He hasn't been around for years and to get this kind of response coming back is pretty sweet. HA! No hug for Vince and no handshake either. This is going to be interesting. HAHA. Stephanie's face when Shane said she didn't deserve the award was priceless. Wow, Shane telling it like it is. Ouch, Stephanie getting serenaded out of the arena. Interesting! Shane wants Raw. I honestly hope he gets it. I honestly hope this means Vince is going to retire from being directly involved in absolutely everything. Let HHH and Shane have more control over the way things are run. Lockbox.... what is that about. Also, 1 more match! That'll be awesome. Whoa, Vince just got bleeped out a bunch. I wonder what he just said. So, Shane at Wrestlemania (obvious) vs.... The Undertaker! Wow. Very interesting. Not sure how Undertaker fits into this situation but that will be interesting. And Hell in a Cell! That's pretty crazy. Sound like Undertaker isn't retiring yet. I don't know how I feel about this match honestly. We'll have to wait and see. Also, didn't we do this 15 years ago....

Neville + Lucha Dragons vs New Day - I'm getting tired of seeing Big E dancing around like he does. I guess it does what it is supposed to though. They are heels and I hate seeing it . That was actually a pretty good match. I don't think Sin Cara screwed up anything this time. New Day got the win (again).

Whoa! Brock Lesnar time! It's starting to look like they are building Brock vs Ambrose. And here comes Dean in an ambulance. They are really going for a "Stone Cold" style of booking for Dean. This is something Stone Cold used to do. And now Dean is laying on the floor in front of Brock and he is going to do what.... he got his head stepped on. Oh no. What a moron. Ho Holds Barred street fight at Wrestlemania. And Ambrose got an F5 on the floor. And it is on. The only reason why he stands a chance is because it is a street fight which means Dean can use weapons which will make things a bit more even. I still see Dean losing that though.

Uso's vs Ascension - Wow that was a short match. The Ascension are also such a joke. Terrible gimmick and booking.

Jericho is calling out AJ Styles. I kind of hope their rivalry is over so AJ can move on to someone else (for Wrestlemania no less). I like that. "You proved that you belong in the WWE". I hope so. I'd love to see him wrestle in the WWE for as long as possible. Social outcasts are coming out. I really hope this doesn't become the next feud.

"Y2AJ" vs Social Outcasts - this has been a pretty good match. Nothing amazing so far but worth watching for sure. Any chance to watch AJ I'll take. I liked the ending though. Diving forearm to take out Heath and then jumping on to all 3 of them outside the ring. I was entertained.

Stephanie is about to tell Roman that he is facing Sheamus (AGAIN... ugh).... that's it. Don't get hurt cause then you won't face HHH in the main event. Lame.

Wyatts vs "Titans" (again!) - I feel like I've said that a few times now. Can we get something new at some point please. Ryback just left - not sure what is up with that. They'll probably have Ryback vs Kane going forward I guess. At least the Wyatts won even though they can't seem to win at a PPv in recent memory.

Sahsa vs Naomi - interesting little change up in the groups. Becky and Sasha all of a few months ago were against each other and now they are on the same team. I love Diva logic. And here comes Charlotte. Becky versus Sasha for the number 1 contendorship for the Diva's Championship. I kind of hope that they end up in a 3 way.

Sheamus vs Reigns - these guys fighting again. I just don't care! Uh oh, Regins is hurt and now HHH is coming out! And he's not in a suit. Actually, this might be fun to watch. HHH is beating the crap out of him. This is a strange match honestly. HHH is going into it as the heel but he's actually the babyface and Reigns is the babyface but should be the heel. Maybe that's how it will end. Wow Reigns is bleeding a lot. He might actually have a broken nose based on how much blood there is. I might actually care about this match a bit more if it is going to be like this.

Honestly, the only things that I cared about tonight were Shane and AJ. Everything else was pretty meh. Hopefully because there are 5 more weeks until Wrestlemania that the build is just starting off slow. Don't want to do too much early on.

I was shocked to see Shane come back to the WWE! The crowd was as hyped as I was. Shane vs Taker would have been one of the great moments if it happened 10 years ago or more since Taker is in a bad condition right now. If Taker can barely handle his past Wrestlemania matches in the last couple of years in regular matches, I am scared of his condition turning worse in a hell in a cell match. Honestly I am not sure how Taker fits with the McMahon family situation right now as well as you.

It would be quite interesting if this can lead up to brands splitting with RAW vs Smackdown vs NXT or RAW/Smackdown vs NXT after Wrestlemania with Shane controlling RAW, Triple H controlling NXT, and Stephanie or Paul Heyman controlling Smackdown (like that would be a rare dream come true but I don't see it happening with the amount of people injured at the moment). 

I really like the slow push of AJ Styles since his debut at the Royal Rumble. He needs to be one of the underdogs in WWE RAW/Smackdown right now. Also, I think I am sensing a Y2J heel turn soon..

ghostfishy : I think everyone who didn't know it was happening was shocked. I didn't think he was going to come back to WWE. I think that entire segment was real (except for the "lockbox" stuff). I honestly think Shane left in order to prove himself on his own. Now he sees that WWE is suffering and he's back to help and provide a bump in ratings if he can. People have almost universally liked Shane in his time at WWE. I know I did. I always got excited when his music came up.

The match though makes no sense to me. Vince could have picked just about anyone else and it would have been better. I'm not opposed to a face vs face match but it has to be done right or it will fall flat.

I'm also liking the slow build of AJ. He's not a champ yet which would seem phoney. I was assuming a Jericho heel turn as well but I think he's going to stay face after what happened on Raw. I don't know if having them fight anymore makes sense. Plus, he basically was heel during that little feud they had, though not a very strong one this time around (compared to say him versus Shawn Michaels).

I'd honestly love to see AJ and Ownes feud honestly. They have history before WWE, Owens tossed AJ out of the Royal Rumble and IC title! We'll see if that actually happens though. I don't think Owens has anything going for Wrestlemania yet.

Yeah it has to be done right or it will fall flat. I definitely agree with you there. There are other better choices. I fear for the Undertaker because this won't be a regular match but a hell in a cell match. He can barely fit the conditions of regular one on one matches from the past couple of years. Just thinking about the conditions and high risks of that hell in a cell match, makes me worried. I admire him for putting his body on the line despite of what I think and many others think who are on the same page as well. Desperate times call for desperate measures when many of your wrestlers are injured sadly.

It is good to have the slow build on AJ Styles especially when you have some people who know who he is and what he is capable of vs some people who have no idea who he is. I am one of the people who knows of him from TNA but I have not seen his wrestling potential and charisma before the Royal Rumble. He is slowly growing onto me with his persona and ability I like where he is heading right now. I really hope that he doesn't get used in the future.

Kevin Owens is also one of my favorites on the roster as well. He has so much potential and I think he is one of those rare bulky giants who can talk on the mic and show off his character well. Sadly I don't think he will be in Wrestlemania as much as we would both like for to happen.

The Wrestlemania card looks pretty good so far so good in my opinion. Hopefully the match card lineup doesn't screw up or whatever WWE decides to put for their "celebrity entertainment" aspect.

Mr. Zed : What do you think? 
 

ghostfishy : I think right now that they have a decent card line up. Taker v Shane is a pretty shaky one in my opinion but if there is one thing I know bout the WWE, it's that their match endings for big matches will suit more people than not. They may have a double KO or Taker willingly accepting a loss to better WWE. What I can't understand though is will Taker be a face here? I mean he is always a face at Mania duh, but now he is fighting for the biggest heel in WWE in Vince. Sounds like the Ministry to me. We've yet to hear his response to Shane for the Mania match (or I have yet to hear it) but I think the possibility of him being heel at Mania is very likely. Plus his last matches showed him using some heelish tactics *cough* Low Blow  *End Cough*.

And speaking of nut shots, I think Lesnar needs to wear a cup because he has gotten SO MANY. With a match vs Ambrose at Mania he better wear some protection because He'll need it. Ambrose is gonna be thrown around like a rag doll and then probably have a momentum shift (with a low blow)  where he starts beat Lesnar with a chair. Just like Punk back in 2013. I'd give the advantage to Lesnar though because Paul is always gonna be a factor. I just hope we see some wrestling moves in the match apart from Suplexes and Cross Bodies. I mean I love seeing Lesnar toss someone around as much as the next guy but I would like to see more variety in his move set. He has so much more potential than Suplexes. Likewise Ambrose. Chairs and kendo sticks shouldn't be the only things he uses against Lesnar ( TBH they are really the only things he can use). It'll be interesting to see if WWE book this as a "Lesnar beatdown, Ambrose Skirmish" fight or as a "Lesnar beatdown, Ambrose Never say die fight."

As for Styles, I think him vs Owens would be great at Mania for the IC title but I also think Ziggler already has that slot. Not sure. But for now I want to see WWE really set the foundation for Styles. Since he is a new guy that some folks won't know, he needs a bit more mic time. His matches are great but putting on a good match is only half the job. I know he's had segments with Miz (where he said nothing cuz Miz wasn't letting him talk) and Jericho but will he be a trash talker, a respect giver or what? I want to see more of his personality. Need something to distinguish him from an average wrestler from the TNA to a WWE Superstar and potential World Champion.