Batson's Blog

Surprise entrants in the Royal Rumble are always one of the highlights of that event. Sometimes, WWE management lets the fans down by failing miserably at the booking. 2020, in particular, was an awful year for the men's Royal Rumble. Edge was the big surprise return, and that was definitely awesome, but no other surprises (big or small) happened in that match. I'm not entirely sure what will happen at this year's Royal Rumble. It's the first Rumble under Triple H's management (assuming that Vince McMahon doesn't regain creative control before then). Really, anything could happen. I'm assuming Shane McMahon won't be an entrant or involved in any of the planning, but Bad Bunny, Logan Paul, The Rock, or John Cena could all show up. I'm assuming Cody Rhodes returns, but that's more of an expected surprise. I would honestly not mind if he didn't take part in the Rumble and showed up the following night on Raw, or a few days later on Smackdown, t...

So, what did everyone think of this year's Rumble? I was curious to see a few things: how the pay-per-view would feel with two Royal Rumble matches on the same night, if Ronda Rousey would show up, who the women's Rumble surprise entrants would be, if they would put the Universal Title on Strowman and if they'd give Roman Reigns another Royal Rumble victory. Pre-show match: Bobby Roode vs. Mojo Rawley I came in halfway on this match, so I didn't see much of it.  Seemed like a throw away match to get Roode on the card (surprised he wasn't in the Rumble, itself).  Mojo is as good an initial opponent as any I guess. Handicap match for the WWE Heavyweight Title: A.J. Styles (champion) vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens What can you say?  It was a good match.  Styles always delivers.  Sami and Kevin are both good workers themselves.  Great match.  Great athletic showing -- if not a bit of a spot fest.  Good match though. 2 out of 3 falls match...

Beth Phoenix vs. Kharma Not only did they miss out on this potential match during Wrestlemania 27, but they missed out on it at Wrestlemania 28 as well. Kharma was already under contract in April 2011, when Wrestlemania 27 occurred. Beth Phoenix had returned from an injury at the previous Survivor Series. WWE didn't debut Kharma until Backlash, though -- one month after Wrestlemania. Then, as we all know, Kharma got pregnant and unfortunately lost her baby. Despite her terrible loss, Kharma returned at the 2012 Royal Rumble. Rather than using her and building towards a match with an injury-free Beth Phoenix at Wrestlemania 28, WWE didn't use Kharma and ultimately released her later on in the spring of 2012. WWE missed the boat on revitalizing a women's division and providing some serious female wrestling. Odds of it happening: slim-to-none since WWE released Kharma last year and Beth retired. With recent reports of WWE wanting to hire back some former Divas...