2020 Pro Wrestling Thread

Throws a curveball into the rest of this match, though. It sets up Lesnar-McIntyre, so the winner could be a Smackdown guy.

 

HOLY SHIT YEAH!

 

HIDE YOUR WIVES!!!

 

Oh my goodness. This is unexpected.

 

RATED R SUPERSTAR!!!!

 

So, who's going to have bragging rights in the Copeland family tonight?

 

Three more: Joe, Rollins and ... ?

 

Well, that was kinda anticlimactic, though I like Black.

 

Once we got past the Brock BS, that was a good time. Crowd went apoplectic for Brock's elimination and Edge's return.

 

Ahem.

 

McIntyre is getting the belt at ‘Mania. Waste of a storyline if they don’t do it.

 

The more I'm thinking about it, that might have been one of the better Rumble matches in a while, for several reasons:

1) They got rid of Brock at exactly the right time. The crowd was just starting to turn on the match and buy into the idea that he might actually go 29-for-29 on eliminations. Considering how they protect Brock, that wasn't out of the realm of possibility.
They let Ricochet get his payback, and shot McIntyre to the moon by having him be the one to eliminate Lesnar. The pop McIntyre got was incredible, instantly cements him as one of Raw's top babyfaces, and sets up a reason why Lesnar would take him seriously as a contender going into Wrestlemania. I initially thought maybe they let him dominate two or three spots too long, but that actually was perfectly executed.

2) Brock's dominance. I hate that they fed half the roster to him, including Kofi, but in the grand scheme of things it worked exactly like it was supposed to for the reasons I mentioned above.
There was some logic behind it, too, that I really appreciated. Brock went into the match in a 1 vs. 29 situation, so it would make sense that his strategy was to keep the odds down. Get rid of opponents as fast as possible. Don't let troublesome situations bubble up like when he was in the 3-on-1 spot with Mysterio and New Day (his jumping off Big E's back in that sequence was cool as hell, BTW). Take advantage of the 30-60 second breaks between entrants to rest. Get a little lucky when dumbass Braun Strowman decides to fight Keith Lee instead of working with him to eliminate the biggest threat that will ever exist in this match.
Then, after tearing through everyone for 20-25 minutes (probably about his limit in the ring even with those limited bursts), he got overconfident and cocky. He turned his back on Ricochet and got his comeuppance. Saying someone told a story in a match sounds pretentious, but he really did tell a story with that match -- and set up another one in the process. It was actually a tremendous performance by Lesnar, the more I think about it.

3) Freaking Edge. Great nostalgia pop for a totally unexpected return.
What I really loved, though, was the way he and Orton played off each other and then worked together throughout the match. It was the exact opposite of the boneheaded logic they used with Strowman and Keith Lee, and even with Owens and Joe. Two cagey veterans with a shared past, who know how to win this match, actually worked together to get rid of some of the more elite competition. It made sense. There's no point in turning on your partners when 10 guys still have to come down the ramp. You do it when there are only a couple left. Even Orton's reaction after being eliminated was perfect. He wasn't pissed. It was more of, "Dammit, you got me. I should have seen that coming. It's all part of the game."
I'm curious where they go from here with him. He looked a little old and out of shape. Is he back for a run through Mania? Will he work regularly until then? Is he going to team with Orton against Styles, join that feud (he did eliminate both of them), or do something else? Putting him in the Mania spot against Triple H might be fun.

4) A small thing that came out of a dumb moment -- Aleister Black joining the fray with Joe and Owens against AOP and Buddy Murphy.
It's just stupid that AOP and Murphy were allowed to linger at ringside and interfere. There are a half-dozen referees out there. Order them to the back immediately, especially after they help cause an elimination or two. It's always one of my pet peeves with the Rumble, that people who aren't in the match or who have been eliminated can eliminate those still in it.
So it's totally understandable that Black would be pissed that they cost him a solid opportunity to win the Rumble. That he joined Joe and Owens in that fight makes perfect sense. I also like that he's like them, a loner at heart who can see the value of a strong ally against a common enemy. He fits in this odd coalition they've built.
I just wonder how many people they're going to suck into this feud by the time Wrestlemania comes. They've already got five on the face side (Joe, Owens, Black and the Viking Raiders) and four on the heel side (AOP, Murphy, Rollins). By March they might have enough to use the Andre Battle Royal to blow off the feud.

5) Elias entitling his entrance song "Sacrificial Lamb." He knew what his role was and you could tell he wasn't thrilled about it.

6) McIntyre gets a well-deserved opportunity. He was the fifth pick in the draft and then they didn't do anything with him for almost two months. He's been doing great work on the mic lately, and is always competent in the ring. The pop he got when he won was incredible. For him to eliminate Lesnar, and then Reigns to win it, and get that kind of pop vaults him from perennial mid-carder to main eventer in one night. They did such a phenomenal job bringing the crowd back from Lesnar's half of the match, that there might have been a riot if Reigns (and everything he represents) had won.
Here's hoping McIntyre can handle the Saturn V rocket that just got strapped to his ass.