Greatest Royal Rumble Reax

Read on for my thoughts on yesterday's WWE Network special event.

-- Kickoff:
- Miz promo:
A thing of beauty.

- Jinder interview:
Man. I hope he can get back on track.

- Bar promo:
It would be really weird to have them take the title.

- AJ interview:
Ehhhhhhh. He's been so bland lately.

- Heyman on the panel:
Ahhhh. Good times.

-- GRR:
- Anthems opening:
Wow. That's pretty cool.

- HHH vs. Cena:
These two have always had great chemistry.

I like this so far.

Nice story going on.

Basic, but effective.

These two have each other pretty well scouted. Two veterans showing how it's done.

OH MY GOD Triple H doing the shuffle.

I'm watching this and ROH's show at roughly the same time (taking a break from one to watch the other after a certain number of matches), and this is much better than a lot of the ROH stuff.

This is pretty badass.

Heck of a match.

- Cena promo:
It's so eerie to see Cena put over such a harsh regime, but MAYBE this will lead to acceptance of Western culture and reforms.

- Cedric vs. Kalisto:
Good work early.

Nice story here.

I like this having some physicality instead of just flashiness.

I liked the counters there at the ending.

- Bar vs. Warriors:
Already seeing doubleteams from both sides!

I love The Bar.

SUCH great teamwork from the Europeans.

Everyone's fired up here.

Kickass! Glad to see Matt and Bray getting this chance.

- Jeff vs. Jinder:
Back-to-back Hardy title matches!

I like Mahal taking advantage early. He's got potential to make it up the card at some point.

VINTAGE Jeff Hardy.

Pretty straightforward work.

Good GOD what a botched Whisper in the Wind. That was embarrassing.

Jinder winning on that cradle would have been infuriating, but I guess that would have been the goal?

Not bad to show what Jeff does.

- Y2J interview:
Good to see Chris again. He's smart to pace out his appearances.

- Bryan interview:
I hope he can catch on with an interesting character again. This was white bread.

- B. Bros vs. Usos:
I love the dynamic here.

I'm BEGGING to see Harper and Rowan face The Bar.

It's still hilarious to see that noogie move sold seriously.

I like the Usos working like this without being their stale face characters.

The Usos are so underrated.

Good work!

- Seth vs. Finn vs. Joe vs. Miz:
This has three of the best workers on the planet. They're lucky Miz is there to bring them out of the bingo halls.

Oh this is already intense.

This is absolutely balls-to-the-wall already.

Joe is ruthless. I love it.

Hahaha Miz bargaining with Joe.

Like Joe NEEDS a weapon to destroy people.

I'm loving this.

I would have marked out so hard for a Miz win there.

Miz is underrated. He's definitely not slacking here.

A LOT of ladder carnage in this one.

This is absolutely badass.

That was nice!!

- Trainees/Daivaris:
I'm curious if these four will be signed.

So, wait, are we supposed to cheer for Saudi Arabia over Iran? That's a scary choice. Nice to see the other Daivari, though.

That was pretty cool.

- AJ vs. Shinsuke:
The WWE Title match is below Taker vs. Rusev. Damn.

Nice story early.

I like aggressive Shinsuke.

There's a good story being told here.

Both men delivering here.

I liked the Kinshasa counter.

I'm really impressed here. They're getting time to put something together.

Good counter to the armbar.

These two are very evenly matched.

I'd pop for the low blow winning it.

This is good.

I'm fine with that ending to set up a final chapter at Backlash.

- Post-match:
Good work to keep AJ strong.

- Taker vs. Rusev:
Rusev looking to outlast Cena here.

I do feel sorry for Rusev for having to sell for Taker, but this will also be a big notch on his belt.

Basically Taker's greatest hits.

Aiden is BRAVE.

It's hard for me to buy Taker being able to dominate Rusev at his age.

This was basically a special moment for the live crowd. I hope they don't stretch Taker's career out too much longer.

- Brock vs. Roman:
Suplex City truly is worldwide.

I mean, damn, Roman. At some point it's time to accept you can't beat this guy.

I don't blame Roman for trying to win by escape.

Nice pwoerbomb spot.

I liked Heyman's involvement there.

This is basically finisher spam.

Roman's going to need more than a chair, I think.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA GODDAMN WWE WAY TO SHOOT YOURSELVES IN THE FOOT AGAIN. This has been a mess.

- GRR match:
- No. 1/2: 
Oh, boy.... it makes sense to use these two as soldiers. Both men can go a long time.

- No. 3:
It's dangerous to go to the ropes in a Rumble match.

This is a good showing for SC.

- No. 4/5:
I do miss Henry hossing it up. It was time to move on, though.

Nice spot to eliminate Curtis.

- No. 6:
HAHAHAHAHAHAH welcome back, Mike!

- No. 7:
Well this is unexpected. That's why I love the Rumble.

Oh... well... so much for that.

And so much for Mark.

- No. 8:
Interesting elimination.

Bryan vs. Ziggler is going to be a big thing, I see.

- No. 9:
Hopefully he's not dropped quickly.

- No. 10:
So there's the confirmation the cruisers are part of this. Fine with me. Nese has been great.

- No. 11:
The Revival have been ridiculously underutilized.

- No. 12:
Wow! He's still really loved, I see.

This is wild.

Well, so much for that. I hope we're in for more wackiness, though.

- No. 13:
Man, everyone's getting a payday in this one.

Nese is good.

- No. 14:
Cool. Cool.

Pretty funny spot with the New Day duo.

Hahahaha this is nuts.

I'm DYING.

That elimination was gold.

- No. 15:
It's just not the same without him in the Miztourage.

- No. 16:
He's still got it!

I love seeing someone coming in and going on a tear.

Angle vs. Ziggler could be good.

- No. 17:
I mean, they wanted to win the Andre battle royal as a team. Maybe dreams come true on this show.

- No. 18:
It's still great seeing Goldust deliver.

- No. 19:
They're kind of filling things up now, presumably for someone to wreck a dozen entrants.

- No. 20:
Ahhhhh good times.

Elias is very strategic.

- No. 21:
Angle vs. Bryan would be LIT. Someone book that shit.

Damn you, Elias!!!

- No. 22/23:
YESSSSSS Gulak has been great on 205 Live.

Bryan vs. Gulak would be AMAZING.

I'm loving Gulak here.

- No. 24:
That's a surprise, for sure.

Oh well. So much for Gulak. I'm curious what the plan is for half of Steaks and Weights.

- No. 25:
I hope Roode goes far.

Roode and Goldust have cross paths in Impact and WWE now. Pretty cool.

Bobby looks good here.

- No. 26:
I'm liking all these teased eliminations.

- No. 27:
I'm glad Gable and Bryan are getting to fight. That would also be great.

- No. 28:
Rey definitely looks like a big deal here.

I wonder when we'll see him next?

- No. 29:
Mojo's still kind of struggling to stand out.

- No. 30:
Breezango sticking together. I love it.

Funny stuff.

- No. 31:
This is silly, but that's fine.

Not bad. Tucker had a nice showing.

- No. 32:
Bryan has taken a LOT of offense, and he keeps on going. I'm impressed.

- No. 33/34:
YEESSSSSSSS I'm all for this.

I hope Roderick can really excel going forward.

Rhyno lasted longer than I expected.

- No. 35:
I think he's got a good chance to win.

I love Orton.

- No. 36:
I'd pop for Heath winning.

I'm liking all the action here.

Man, Bryan has lasted an insane amount of time.

- No. 37:
I was wondering when we'd see this guy! It seems like he's been in NXT forever.

This is cool as hell.

- No. 38:
Remember when Baron Corbin was a thing?

Baron vs. Rey would be pretty tight.

Corbin eliminating two of my favorites. For shame!

- No. 39:
OH MY FUCKING GOD HAHAHAAHAHAHHAAHAH

You know he's going to get ribbed for this. He'll never live this down.

- No. 40:
Another guy we haven't seen in a while.

- No. 41:
OOOOHHHHHHH MMAAAANNNNN talk about two big dudes facing off.

Strowman just became the biggest threat currently in the match.

- No. 42:
Yeah, no way is he going to turn the tide against Braun.

It's got to be tough being a Tye mark.

Cool use of Randy and Rey.

Elias is doing quite well here.

I mean, WOW. Bryan just won't go out!!

- No. 43:
HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH great stuff.

That was genius. 0-192 by Curt's count.

Elias might just do it!

- No. 44:
I'd be for Bobby winning. He's a beast.

Wait, can Lashley beat Brock for the title since Roman apparently isn't going to?

That was pretty good. Elias earned his spot in this one.

I REALLY wanted to see Lashley vs. Braun. They're back to putting Bryan over as a superhero again. He's definitely something to have made it this far.

- No. 45:
Future WWE Hall of Famer right here.

Khali eliminating Bryan would have been hysterical. I'm shocked Bryan has lasted this long.

Well, that was fun while it lasted.

- No. 46:
This is a hell of a battle between Braun and Lashley.

Heck, I'd be fine with Owens winning! Just don't shove Bryan down our throats again.

I'm very glad Super-Bryan didn't eliminate Kevin.

- No. 47:
Another surprise. Shane really gives it his all.

Cool moments between Shane and Bryan. I think I'd actually prefer Shane winning to Super-Bryan.

This is insane.

- No. 48:
Shelton has been underutilized. Maybe he'll do well here.

This is pretty cool.

I love Owens' strategy, but maybe toss the guy who's lasted more than an hour?

- No. 49:
SAVE US CASS!!!!!!

OH PLEASE DO IT CASS!!

Shane is crazy for all he puts himself through.

Cass vs. Lashley could be fun. Drop Bryan first, though.

- No. 50: 
I'm a little surprised Y2J is last. He usually goes pretty long.

Owens vs. Jericho is always great.

Jericho is on a roll!

Cass looking legit here.

Bryan still being in this is too much. They're trying way too hard with him, as they had done when he became champion at WM30. It is very impressive that he has lasted so long, though. The man is in incredible shape.

OH MY GOD that Shane elimination. This has really been a spectacle.

I really want to see Braun vs. Lashley now.

Braun looks like a star here, but he's probably going to be eclipsed by Super-Bryan. I hope the Cena and Reigns detractors are as upset with his mega-push here.

THANK YOU CASS!!!!!! Babyface of the century.

Cass does look pretty good now, but ultimately he eliminated someone who had gone 76 minutes.

That was a pretty good ending. Congrats, Braun!

- Post-match:
Wow. Just goes to show how massive this event is.

More wrestling coming up.