Both Rumble matches were great. The correct person - or one of a few possible correct people won both which, frankly, shocked me. They so rarely get the winner of one of those right, and they got both right.
The men's match had the better pure wrestling, because the women - being the first, and having the smaller roster - had a bunch of returning divas in the match. And that worked to pop the crowd. Emotionally, though, the women's match was kinda perfect.
Sasha was, as predicted, the iron woman. Nearly an hour. About as much as Finn on the men's side. Plus, I think she may have turned heel? Which I thought was needed but difficult to do in the Rumble.
The SD tag match was great. The Raw tag match was not.
AJ, KO, and Sami did the best they could with what they got. Braun did the best HE could with what he got. I would probably be less down on the two title matches if they didn't come one night after NXT Takeover.
And then came Ronda Rousey to ruin everyone's fun. And... I know why they did it. It's gonna get them press everywhere. But I wish it didn't come at the expense of Asuka's moment. Still, I'm gonna call this the lesser evil. She could have have been number 30 and won the match.
Image: WWE.com
There was a time when I was a huge fan of Rousey's. I even got
@techslut to become a fan as well. But her transmisogyny and some other statements she has made have really turned me off her, not to mention that she was not great at taking a loss. Which, well, is kinda important in pro wrestling. I'm worried she'll become another Lesnar, booked as being so dominant she hurts the credibility of everyone else. Asuka wins all the time, yes, but it's always a struggle. She sells beautifully. Even Shayna, who doesn't sell that much, has had a couple of years in the indies with terrific teachers. Ronda hasn't, and she's probably going to fight for one of the women's titles at Mania. And I kinda hate that.