Jim Ross has written thoughts about the Royal Rumble from last night, here are some highlights:
on Daniel Bryan
I don’t think that I have received as much impassioned feedback on a WWE PPV event in recent memory as I have over the past several hours after the Royal Rumble ended. Many fans were downright pissed and shared their venom with yours truly.
Firstly, the vast majority of fans wanted Daniel Bryan to win the Royal Rumble so that he would be in line for a WWE World Title match at WM30. That did not happen.
Yet.
Obviously, Daniel Bryan has made an amazing connection with the WWE fans and I’d venture to say that today, 24 hours after the Royal Rumble, that Daniel Bryan has NEVER been more popular in his entire career.
At this point, Daniel Bryan becoming WWE World Champion would be great but it certainly isn’t definitively necessary for DB to be ‘over.’ Daniel Bryan is ‘over’ and his fans are seemingly rallying behind him in a verbal show of solidarity and support. If Bryan embraces this support, then a happier ending is more likely to occur.
on Roman Reigns
Huge night in Pittsburgh for Roman Reigns who set a record with 12 eliminations of which I guessed might happen. Of course, some think that I received inside info on that matter but if they only knew how little I communicate with anyone in WWE they would change their tune. It was a creative calculation that made sense to me. Today, it still makes sense.
Reigns is a future star and if he had won the Royal Rumble that would have been just fine with me. However, Reigns, as a fan favorite, chasing either villains Orton or Batista would be money matches. Reigns era is rapidly approaching. The foundation is being laid.
on the Rumble’s value, his grade of the event
I’d give the PPV a B- or C+ grade and I paid retail for it just like most fans and I am not clamoring for a ‘refund.’ In hindsight, could things have been executed differently? Absolutely. But isn’t that the case with any show biz entity or even most sporting events?
Check out his full thoughts at JRs BBQ
