And so it is time… One of the biggest parts of this series, my chance to finally book one of my favourite shows in wrestling. The build to this show I made very heavily about the Rumble matches, so it may not be the strongest, but the show itself was absolutely WILD! I’m going to have a big long think after this blog, to make some serious plans for my Road to WrestleMania. I want to make my WrestleMania the biggest show it can possibly be, and that all starts NOW… So let me get right into it, and here is my build from Raw and SmackDown to my Royal Rumble PPV!
Raw (January Week 1)
HBK in-ring promo, promotes RR… Seth Rollins (with Murphy) comes out, they go back and forth on the mic… then KEITH LEE comes out…
Keith Lee defeated ‘The Monday Night Messiah’ Seth Rollins (with Murphy)
Becky Lynch in-ring promo (PASSIONATE… ‘I will get what I want, and I don’t care who or what I gotta do to get it! … THE MAN is about to come back around!’)
Omos (with MVP) defeated Titus O’Neil
Tegan Nox backstage promo
Tegan Nox defeated Shotzi
The Viking Raiders – RK-Bro backstage
Walter defeated Ricochet
Rhea Ripley backstage, runs into Liv Morgan
Tommaso Ciampa defeated Dominik Mysterio (with Rey Mysterio)
Edge in-ring promo … AJ Styles comes out…
RK-Bro (Riddle & Randy Orton) (C) defeated The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
SmackDown (January Week 1)
The Hurt Business (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander) defeated Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar & Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza)
Bianca Belair in-ring promo, on Sasha Banks… Rumble… Mania… SmackDown Women’s title… Bayley then comes out, promo back and forth…
The New Day backstage segment
Sheamus defeated Shinsuke Nakamura
Kay Lee Ray defeated Billie Kay (with Peyton Royce) – Kay Lee Ray in-ring interview after, talks about the Royal Rumble PPV and Charlotte Flair… ‘I WILL be a champion again!’…
Sheamus backstage interview, Cesaro comes in and eventually Security have to separate them
‘Street Profits’ defeated Humberto Carrillo & Angel Garza
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn backstage interview
Raquel Gonzalez defeated Sonya Deville – Dakota Kai appears after the match looking on from the top of the ramp
The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) (C) (with Big E) defeated Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship
Brock Lesnar comes out for an in-ring promo, ‘I’m not going ANYWHERE…’ … BOBBY LASHLEY comes out! Lashley cuts a fiery promo on Brock, and after a promo back and forth, eventually the rest of the The Hurt Business come out after a brawl between Lashley and Lesnar breaks out, and the show closes with The Hurt Business standing tall
Raw (January Week 2)
AJ Styles defeated Austin Theory – Edge on commentary
Becky Lynch backstage interview
Damian Priest defeated Tommaso Ciampa in a Backstage Brawl
Walter (and Imperium) video package
Tegan Nox defeated Io Shirai (with Asuka)
Ronda Rousey backstage, Shayna Baszler approaches…
Damian Priest backstage promo…
Keith Lee defeated Robert Roode
RK-Bro come out for an in-ring promo, eventually Seth Rollins and Murphy interrupt…
RK-Bro defeated Seth Rollins & Murphy – by count out
Ronda Rousey defeated Shayna Baszler & Ember Moon & Becky Lynch & Asuka in a Fatal 5 Way match to become the number 1 contender for the Raw Women’s Championship
SmackDown (January Week 2)
Bianca Belair defeated Bayley
Street Profits backstage … Owens & Zayn backstage…
Santos Escobar (with Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza) defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott – Santos in-ring promo after the match on the Royal Rumble
Shelton Benjamin – Brock Lesnar backstage…
Brock Lesnar defeated Shelton Benjamin in a Backstage Brawl
Cesaro backstage interview
Dakota Kai defeated NIkki Cross (with Alexa Bliss) – Dakota cuts a promo calling out Raquel Gonzalez, Raquel comes out… Dakota flees…
Kevin Owens (with Sami Zayn) defeated Angelo Dawkins (with Montez Ford)
Bobby Lashley in-ring promo, he’s MAD… calls out Lesnar… but Drew McIntyre comes out instead, they have a back and forth promo (sets up match for next week)
Sheamus (C) defeated Cesaro to retain the Intercontinental Championship
Charlotte Flair in-ring promo, calls out Kay Lee Ray, she then comes out… and eventually ‘punks out’ Charlotte…
Raw (January Week 3)
Becky Lynch in-ring promo, Candice LeRae (with Indi Hartwell) eventually come out after…
Becky Lynch defeated Candice LeRae (with Indi Hartwell)
Seth Rollins and Murphy backstage interview
Keith Lee defeated Omos (with MVP)
Rhea Ripley in-ring promo… Ronda Rousey comes out after
Asuka & Io Shirai defeated Toni Storm & Tegan Nox
RK-Bro backstage promo
Damian Priest defeated Austin Theory – by DQ after Ciampa attacked Priest
Shayna Baszler defeated Carmella – Shayna cuts in-ring promo after on Rumble match
RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) (C) defeated Seth Rollins & Murphy to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship in a match where RK-Bro could lose the titles by a DQ or count out
Edge in-ring promo, AJ Styles comes out after, promo back and forth, develops into a big brawl…
SmackDown (January Week 3)
Brock Lesnar comes out, in-ring promo , Cedric Alexander comes out, promo back and forth, Bobby Lashley eventually makes the save
Montez Ford (with Angelo Dawkins) defeated Sami Zayn (with Kevin Owens)
Kay Lee Ray backstage with Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross…
Finn Balor defeated Tyler Breeze (with Fandango)
Raquel Gonzalez backstage confrontation with Dakota Kai
Bianca Belair defeated Natalya
The New Day in-ring promo , Sheamus eventually comes out …
Sheamus defeated Kofi Kingston (with Xavier Woods & Big E) – Finn Balor attacks E and Woods during the match to distract Kingston
Charlotte Flair backstage interview
Kay Lee Ray & Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated Charlotte Flair & Natalya & Mandy Rose
Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre – by DQ after Brock Lesnar ran in, standing tall to end the show
Raw (January Week 4)
AJ Styles defeated Edge in a Backstage Brawl
AJ Styles in-ring promo on Edge
‘Heel’ women’s team (in main event) backstage
Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) defeated Akira Tozawa
‘Imperium’ (Walter) video package
Keith Lee defeated Ricochet – Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) comes out after and takes down both men
‘Babyface’ women’s team (in main event) backstage
Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell defeated Carmella & Toni Storm – Candice promo after on royal rumble match
Samoa Joe video package
Damian Priest (C) defeated Tommaso Ciampa to retain the United States Championship – by count out
John Cena in-ring promo, Robert Roode interrupts, eventually gets an AA over the top rope to the outside
Becky Lynch & Rhea Ripley & Ember Moon & Tegan Nox defeated Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler & Asuka & Io Shirai
SmackDown (January Week 4)
John Cena in-ring promo, ‘Legado deal Fantasma’ interrupt
John Cena defeated Santos Escobar (with Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza)
The New Day backstage interview
Kay Lee Ray defeated Natalya – Charlotte Flair on commentary. After match she gets in the ring after Kay Lee Ray cuts a promo on her … Flair slaps Ray, and a proper brawl ensues!
Bobby Lashley backstage interview
The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E with Xavier Woods) defeated Sheamus & Finn Balor – Cesaro stops the heels from cheating mid-match
Alexa Bliss-Nikki Cross-Bianca Belair… -‘The IIconics’ backstage… Dakota Kai looking on…
Dakota Kai defeated Raquel Gonzalez (Kai cheats to win)
Street Profits backstage segment
Kacy Catanzaro & Naomi defeated Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
Drew McIntyre in-ring promo, Kevin Owens interrupts
Drew McIntyre defeated Kevin Owens
Bobby Lashley – Brock Lesnar in-ring contract signing … eventually develops into a huge brawl with Lashley standing tall at the end
ROYAL RUMBLE (Sunday January Week 4, St Louis, Missouri)
I kicked things off with my WOMEN’S Royal Rumble match. Now the main way this differed from my Men’s Rumble is… I let it play out. And by that I mean I selected the participants to be in it, and then sat back and watched the match play out by the power of the computer, I didn’t actually ‘play’ any of this match myself… Which of course was a risk, but I thought it would be much more fun to let it play out, and then I’ll book off the back of how it goes, and of course adjust my WrestleMania plans to fit whoever wins… so… here it is…
We started in pretty blockbuster fashion, just as she did in the first ever Women’s Rumble it was SASHA BANKS who entered at Number 1…
She was followed by an equally talented woman, and one half of my current Women’s Tag Team Champions, IO SHIRAI at number 2!
After that the match was finally ready to get underway!
In what was somewhat of a shock (and a shock to me too), SONYA DEVILLE was the one who booked her spot in a title match at WrestleMania! I guess now it is up to me to book her in a way that sets her up for that properly, where as usually the Rumble winner gets a bit of a kick start BEFORE they get a one way ticket to Mania… But i have faith I can come up with some good stuff. I’ve enjoyed Sonya’s work in the past when they’ve let her really go for it, part of her feud with Mandy Rose for example I absolutely loved, and she does have an MMA background… but we shall see. One thing for sure is SONYA DEVILLE is going to WRESTLEMANIA!
To follow that, I had another women’s match with a newcomer to my main roster taking on a former Rumble winner herself…
So it was not to be for Kay Lee Ray, and Charlotte as the heel certainly stuck the boot in after the match as well… Still my SmackDown Women’s Champion, still an asshole heel too…
3rd match has potential to be unbelievable… After not being pinned in his previous shot at Edge’s WWE title, AJ Styles gets another shot here… this time in a match his opponent helped make famous…
Some match that! But just not AJ’s time to win or Edge’s time to lose… just yet…
Match 4 promised to be another ‘sloberknocker’… One that I could’ve easily had at WrestleMania…
A HUGE W for Rhea Ripley! One of the few I’ve had as champion all the way through my Universe Mode so far, and for good reasons too! As for Ronda, she might now have to take a very different route to the showcase of the immortals…
Match 5 was indeed one that I had (at one point) had planned for WrestleMania… but, you know… ‘plans change’…
Right then… let me explain why that finish… Firstly it was to protect Lashley, it was also to potentially give me the option to do this match again, and maybe even at WrestleMania as I had once planned… I also needed to turn Brock heel during the course of the match, so I thought having him become frustrated at not being able to put the relentless Lashley would do the trick. I can only imagine the heat if Lesnar ruined what is somewhat of a dream match like this with a belt shot to the ref and a DQ… What now? Well…
And now finally it’s time… for my Men’s Royal Rumble match…
There is A LOT to unpack here… it really is one where I recommend you just watch the footage and make your own conclusions… but I will explain the main goings on of the match… Beginning with my number one entrant… THE RETURNING TRIBAL CHIEF!!!
and to join him in beginning the match? Another former Royal Rumble winner!…
Ok so… Roman coming in at number 1 and getting 10 straight eliminations, is different yes, brave yes, but done so to put my top heel back to where he belongs… at the top. I didn’t want him to win, because as was the case with Lesnar in 2020, the longer term stories were better served and helped more people by giving the heel the big run in the match, but the win to a top babyface… And yes having Roman’s streak ended and then somewhat taken over by Goldberg (a record-SMASHING 15 straight eliminations) was also done for a reason… So stay tuned… Cena getting him out, and then Big E eliminating Cena, all designed to give each of them a big moment leading to stuff going forward. As for my choice of winner, my simple logic was ‘how can I make my WrestleMania as big as possible? How can I make the biggest match I can make?’… which led me to my winner, for the record breaking and extending FOURTH Rumble win of his career, and someone I am very much looking forward to having to book… STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN!
The Road to WrestleMania has begun! And it will now be WrestleMania 3:16!!!
Josh.
NobodyisReady.com 