Rusev joins the long list of guys who have been sacrificed in order to make Reigns look strong and get him over.
Unfortunately, Reigns still isn't over and all these guys have been buried in the process. It's been a disaster.

This is true.

I took Brock in the prediction game but I really think HHH's winning this....or Roman is. I can't help but think Vince is doing the one thing that will make me not give a flying **** about Brock at WM.

Will there be a replacement trombone in the future? I can't help but think that the only reason New Day was given a chance to get over was because they were booking for Vince and appealing to his secret fetish for black 'boners.

Every time Bray Wyatt says "follow the buzzards", I imagine him also saying ".....on Twitter and like them on Facebook".

This.

I have always loved the Rumble more than anything else throughout the year, when it mattered and had credibility at least. With Reigns it is clear as day how it will go down. Enters as #1 defies all the odds and ultimately gets screwed in the end somehow.

For that whole angle to work the audience generally has to give a **** about the wrestler. Its the very basic nature of story-telling.

The whole angle could work if they let Reigns give Stephanie a superman punch.

That would definitely be one way to set him up as the next Steve Austin.

Really?

Thought you were serious at first lol.

Ha, no, definitely not serious.

I think there is a larger field of possibles this year than there have been in recent years.

HHH, Bork, Reigns, Owens, Ambrose, Styles, Bryan, Rollins, all have to be sitting at >1%.

Balor might be around 1% too, and even Sheamus and Bray are probably at .5% or so.

Definitely seems more open than other recent years where there has been a pretty obvious lock winner.

Gonna go ahead and say Rollins is not > 1%

Worst part about reigns winning is that Orlando crowd might cheer him

So tru!

Honestly, none of those guys are ever going to have a title match at WM as champion aside from Rollins unless they get significant makeovers.

I'd book the Rumble as:

Reigns rolls through the first dozen or so guys. The rings fills up a bit. The League of Nations is in and does a 4-on-1 beat down on Reigns. Ambrose is in to even things up a bit. Stephanie comes down and taunts Reigns. She takes a bump. HHH comes out and sledgehammers Reigns, who gets stretchered out but is not eliminated. Brock comes out and destroys the League of Nations. We get a bit of Brock vs Kevin Owens. A bunch of Wyatts come in and destroy Brock but don't toss him. Reigns limps out. Reigns and Lesnar take on the Wyatts and start to eliminate them. Lesnar picks up Braun Stroman to F5 him, staggers towards the ropes, and Reigns does a double-elimination to win. HHH comes out to attack Reigns again.

Reigns-HHH for the title at Mania. Lesnar doing something Wyatt-related. Heath Slater to win the 3rd annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Taker allowed to wrestle whoever he damn wants to. A Divas title match. A tag title match. An IC title match. A US title match.

Post-Mania, HHH forms a stable of former NXT champions to attack Reigns on the Raw after Wrestlemania.

Kevin Owens after he gets a face turn and is pushed as a Quebecois Dusty Rhodes. Polka dots optional.

Reigns rolls through the first dozen or so guys.



Honestly that rumble booking is worse than anything I had previously imagined possible. I guess you're joking, but its still impressive.

I think it's alright. It's also probable (the first dozen part). Reigns is going to go through the first 5 or so guys with barely breaking a sweat. The Big Show will come out and be a problem even though he's a face because ???

I'm serious. Given the stipulation, I think Reigns should win the Rumble. If the plan is for him to main event Wrestlemania, he should go in as champ.

OK, I'm booking it:

Reigns at #1, plows through most of the field, stands alone after quickly eliminating #28

#29 is Lesnar, they brawl and take each other over the ropes in 45 seconds

#30, (insert music that will make audience pop here -- Bryan, Rollins, whatever)

nobody comes out

HHH strolls into ring and claims Rumble title

Not sure why Rollins' name keeps getting dropped for the Rumble. He's going to be out until after WM.

sure seems like they're going lesnar/bray route for wrestlemania.... and I cant see them having reigns win this year again... Doesn't seem to leave many options other then HHH winning it, not that I think that would be a bad thing.

This would be sorta funny, some sort of scenario like this, Don't think they've ever had the ring empty when number 30 came out???

Well if he could be ready for WM him crutching out there and celebrating would have been the nuts

I really can't stand the thought of 50-60 minutes of Reigns. It's really making me not want to watch it at all.

I'd say it was a safe bet that Roman will be napping in the corner much of the time, but we have already had chants of "Roman's sleeping" so they might make him work harder.

He doesn't actually need crutches. When he accepted the Slammy, he was on crutches. But Xavier Woods' UpUpDownDown youtube channel featured the Madden tournament finals that was filmed the same day. You could see him walking around holding the trophy in the air after he won.

Looks like WWE wants you to think he's more injured than he actually is.