WWE Royal Rumble 2015 Review: Up, Up and Away
By Nolan P. Smith
(Victor Valley)– The pay per view that kicks off every year has come and gone: that’s right, WWE’s Royal Rumble is in the history books already. The event had some amazing matches, some bland ones, and some drop dead perfect moments. I’ll touch mainly on the positive of the show for this review, but I will bring some attention to the negative.
SPOILERS- If you don’t want to see what happened at the Royal Rumble, then stop reading!
Ok, now that that’s out of the way, here we go!
What made the pay per view good? The pre-show for one: New Day vs Cesaro and The Kidd (I will keep calling them that to see if it catches on). This match was top notch, if mainly for Tyson Kidd and the most underutilized superstar on the WWE roster: Cesaro. Those two know how to carry a match, but also make it look easy. I’m noy saying Kofi and Big E were horrible- both are terrific performers. But this match? It was all Cesaro and the Kidd, looking like they are ready for a run at the tag team titles. Of course, the Swiss Superman’s team got the win.
Another highlight of the show, a major stand out and match of the night in my opinion, the main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Title: Brock vs Seth vs Cena. All three of these guys pulled out all of the stops and made for one of the most memorable triple threat matches in recent memory. Brock looked like a total beast in there, ready to destroy anything in this path. Cena showed once again that love him or hate him, the man knows what he’s doing. I say that, because that crowd was not behind Cena one bit. To see Brock take going through a table, multiple “Attitude Adjustments” and multiple shots to the head with the briefcase, it shows that this is a champion that deserves to carry the weight of the WWE Universe on his shoulders. Still, you’re reigning, defending, undisputed champion, Brock Lesnar. Hats off to you and Rollins/Cena. Heck of a match, guys, amazing way to head into the rumble match itself.
Now the actual Royal Rumble had some good, and some bad, as it does every year. This time, the surprise entrants were both great and bland. Great as in Bubba Ray Dudley, who looked like the old Dudley’s of the WWE’s past. I was blown away to see him come out, and I hope he’s back for one than just one night. The other surprise, DDP, didn’t do as well. DDP’s an awesome guy, it’s great that he gives current and past pro wrestler’s his DDPYoga for free, but he did not look right in that ring. He looked very out of place, and just kept hitting his same move over and over. Bray Wyatt’s performance in the rumble was amazing, as he was one of the four I had picked that would be our final four. We got some shocking moments, like Daniel Bryan’s sudden elimination, as well as Ambrose’s, and we got some boring moments, like Zach Ryder and Titus O’ Neil.
The divas match was ok, the tag title match was again, just alright, but didn’t compare to the Heavyweight title bout or the rumble. The Ascension’s match was boring, which is shocking because I’ve seen these guys fight in NXT, they can put on a hell of a match- just not today.Ending the show with The Rock and the rumble’s winner, Roman Reigns, was a great way to end it, despite the crowd’s booing. I give WWE’s Royal Rumble 2015 a @@@@ out of FIVE. Now let’s take the Fastlane on the Road to Wrestlemania.
PS- Does Curtis Axel get a title shot? He was never eliminated…