Royal Rumble 2014

Royal Rumble 2014 Review


Ok so I have been struggling to decide which shows to review since every PPV ever is on the Network and it is just so hard to decide! So I've come up with a plan: since I'm a big fan of Scott Keith's reviews I thought I'd just type in 'smark rant' on Google and just review the first thing that comes up. That is unless you guys send me a request and I'll definitely do those as soon as possible if I receive them.



So this was the first one that popped up and I know that it's quite recent but it is one that I had planned on re-doing at some point now that some time has passed and some decisions were changed inside the company.

I got a few comments on this one featuring people calling me crazy and having low standards for actually liking most of the content. Well I'm here to see if I still like it and I may like it even more now that many months have passed.

So without further ado, here is the 2014 Royal Rumble, AKA; The Night the Crowd Fought Back.




Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt
If there was any reason to love this show it would be this freaking match. It's now even better in hindsight since it's one of Bray's only dominant victories and he's not really had one since unless you count the Shield. As usual the crowd is freaking nuts for Bryan. They have no idea how disappointed they'll be later on. Bryan was on top of his game here as he took out all of his anger on Bray. Bray was terrific here too and at his psychotic best. Bryan definitely brought out the best in Bray. That Sister Abigail into the crowd barricade was a brutal spot and resulted in a deserved 'holy shit' chant. An incredible match with a red hot crowd. Match of the Night for sure. The crowd was deflated with Wyatt's victory and it may have started off their own revolution. ****1/4



Brock Lesnar vs The Big Show
What a waste of Lesnar. I was actually looking forward to this match before the show as I knew that these guys could have a good match, but they didn't even try to have a match. The entire segment was basically Lesnar destroying Show with a chair and the actual match was only two minutes long
. This was the wrong way to build him up for Taker as he should have just destroyed Show with his bare hands instead of looking like someone who was out of his depth. The F5 did look very impressive though, so for that I'll give it  1/2*. Still a disappointing match and moment.



After the match Lesnar continues to attack Show with even more chair shots and it just goes on way too long.



John Cena vs Randy Orton
The WWE World Title is on the line. These guys must hold a record for the most matches against each other on PPV. I was actually looking forward to this one as I enjoyed it more than most others when it first aired and I'll admit that after another viewing I still think it's an underrated match. The crowd shat all over it sure, but these guys managed to overcome that obstacle. Seeing them use the other's finishing moves was awesome and felt fresh. Hopefully these guys don't have another PPV match together as this would be a great way to end their LONG rivalry. A great match that definitely deserves another look if you didn't enjoy it the first time as the last ten minutes or so were just awesome. An underrated gem for sure. ****


I'm sure that rating will open up a huge can of worms.



The Royal Rumble Match
The most controversial Rumble match ever? Probably. I think the actual match was fun and pretty damn good, but the fact that Batista won and Bryan didn't makes people sick. I've certainly gotten over it now. This is also Punk's final match (ever?). Reigns was definitely the MVP of the match and broke Kane's outstanding 2001 record as he eliminated an amazing 12 participants including Ambrose and Rollins. Hell we even saw a small beginning to the Swagger/Rusev feud. They really held back on the legends this year as Kevin Nash was the only one that made an appearance. Sheamus's return was good and he got a nice pop from the crowd, even if they ended up booing him later on. The crowd reaction is so fascinating after Rey Mysterio's entrance as they just completely turn on the match. They do come back a bit when it comes down to Batista and Reigns, as they were entirely behind Reigns at that point. A good Rumble as Drax the Destroyer comes out as the two time winner. ***1/2



Before I rate the overall show, I just wanted to say something. I think that Batista winning the Rumble was the best result. Now before you all come over to my house with pitchforks and torches, let me explain myself. This is all meant in hindsight. I was just as disappointed and angry as all of you at the time and thought that Daniel Bryan was definitely short-changed. But if Bryan had won, would he have gotten the huge reaction that he received in the lead up to Wrestlemania? Sure he still would have been cheered, but the fact that he was our pick and not the company's made us love him even more. I mean we all fought to see him in the Mania main event and it felt like our hard work had paid off and made the moment at Mania even sweeter. Plus we can look forward to him winning his first Rumble in the future if he does return.




8/10. This was a great show without a doubt and a great start to the PPVs of 2014. The Bryan/Wyatt match stole the show and delivered to expectations, Cena and Orton delivered what I would call the most surprisingly great match of the year and the Rumble was great. It may have disappointed at the time but it lead to an amazing Wrestlemania main event which definitely makes up for the disappointment. I know there are people that will really disagree with the rating and praise, but I think the show deserves it. A show worth checking out again.