I was watching the big show tonight with Wrestling Merchandise and Memories contributors Stu Stone and The Big Rybowski, thus the delay in writing this up.
Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns was a hell of an opener. I loved the troll job by Rollins and even though it wasn't 100 percent clear who the heel was meant to be, we got our answer by the match's conclusion. I didn't love the finish, but I didn't hate it, either.
The Womens Royal Rumble was a bit slow and predictable for my tastes. We noticed the constant repetition of apron spots being used for eliminations. In terms of Melina, Michelle McCool, Molly Holly, etc., I feel as though they've outlived their usefulness for these type of appearances; why couldn't we have had Mandy Rose or Raquel Gonzales, for example? I did like the "new" legends entering this, such as Mickie James and Lita. But the Ronda Rousey return was a bit telegraphed and lowered the enjoyment of this one for me a bit.
Becky Lynch vs. Doudrop was just kind of there. Not a super-exciting match and looked overly stiff at times.
I was really enjoying the Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar match until the screwy finish. Don't get me wrong; I get why it happened and I'm all for Roman Reigns vs. Lesnar at Mania... but it did make Lashley look like kind of a chump the way he won this supposed dream match. Again, it lowered my enjoyment level by a notch.
The Mens Royal Rumble was definitely not one of my favorites in recent years. Even Johnny Knoxville's involvement, which was an entertainment spot, could have been made more fun by having, say, Omos drop him through a stack of tables or something crazy like that. Kofi Kingston's apparent botch was unfortunate, but Big E's sudden elimination was just wrong (he should have at least lasted until the end). The surprise entrants, e.g. Bad Bunny and Shane McMahon, just didn't live up to the hype in a year where Jon Moxley and Cody Rhodes were being rumored as participants. By the time Brock Lesnar entered, it was a nice semi-surprise but realistically he was the only guy who could have won by that point. Again, I don't mind Lesnar winning here, it just felt anticlimactic.
Definitely not my favorite Rumble event... though it was a nice way to spend time with good friends.