Road to Royal Rumble 2017 - Part 2

Four matches set up in Part 1

WWF Title: Cage: AJ Styles v. Luke Harper

Bullet Club (Anderson/Gallows) v. Bray Wyatt/John Cena 

IC: Rusev (w/GHB and Lana) vs. Brock Lesnar (w/Heyman)

IC Number One Contender: Nick Nemeth v. Chris Jericho v. Roman Reigns-Uso

Five left, here are the two remaining title matches.

Tag Titles: Trash (Claudio/Neville) v. Kevin Steen/El Generico

Women’s Title: 2 of 3 Falls: Charlotte Flair v. Sasha Banks

WWF is a workrate centric promotion and this tag title match is why you buy PPVs. Former stablemates meeting for the WWF tag titles.  It’s largely a continuation of the Survivor Series program, Neville swerved the babyfaces, claiming an injury that took him out of that match but then appearing to determine the finish. Gargano and Ciampa continue to be involved as the GDI squad from Dark Ride, but now they pick sides – Gargano aligns with Trash, feeling as if he has been treated badly by the sport, hasn’t gotten his due, his bitterness seeps through – whereas Ciampa sticks with Steenerico; we see those 6 guys in multiple combinations in the build for the match.  The other element that gets a lot of time in the programming is Trash is the 99^th WWF Tag Team Champions, meaning, if Steen and Generico take the belts – they will be 100. 

Lots of historical looks at each of the 99 championship reigns, each title change airs on the WWF Network, the talking head shows debate who the greatest team from each decade is with the focus being on an all time top 10 which then gets rolled out in advance of the Rumble.  There is pretty heated debate among everyone about the composition of the list – and there’s anger from Trash that there’s even any talk about the 100^th tag team champions when they are the 99^th and not planning on losing them any time soon.

10-Tie Division One (Nick Nemeth/Jack Swagger) – the most recent tag team champions in the great amateur lineage of Steiners and Haas/Benjamin, D1 was the 87^th WWF Tag Team Champ, taking from Dead Men Walking at Summer Slam ’09 and losing to Young Money at Wrestlemania 26 the following year.

10. Tie Charlie Haas/Shelton Benjamin – two time champs (69^th and 71^st) who won their initial belts from two legends, Chris Benoit and Eddy Guerrero.    

9. Wild Samoans (Afa/Sika) – the best WWF Tag Champions from the pre-Mania era, Afa/Sika held the belt 3 times (21^st, 23^rd, 31^st) for a total of nearly a year and a half.  They first took the belts from Tito Santana and Ivan Putski in April of 1980 and their final reign ended in November of ’83 when they dropped the belts to Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson. 

8. Road Warriors (Hawk/Animal) – the Roadies squashed the Orient Express at Survivor Series ’90 to become the 44^th WWF Tag Team Champs and kept those belts for over a year, at the time, the second longest reign in WWF tag history (they lost to Money Inc at Rumble ’92).  They added a second reign later in the decade (56^th) taking the belts from Davey Boy and Owen at Summer Slam ’97 and losing to Rock and DLo at Survivor Series.  Rock and DLo, like Hunter and Shawn, and Young Money, are two time champs who controversially did not make the list.  Mr. Fuji and Professor Tanaka are 3 time champions who were left out. 

7. Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray/D-Von) – competed in some of the best remembered tag team matches in WWF history, held the tag belts twice, first taking from the Hardys at Survivor Series ’99 (62^nd) and then from Raven/Taz (66^th) at Wrestlemania 17 in 2001, combined, they held the belts for a year. 

6. Edge/Christian – another two time tag champion who competed in many of those same matches with the Dudleys, they were the 64^th tag champs, like the Dudleys, they also took the titles from the Hardys.  That was in 2000 – their second reign was 9 years later with a masked Christian joining Edge at Rumble 2009 (85^th)  

5. Brainbusters (Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard) – this half of the Heenan Family only held the WWF tag titles once (39^th) but it was for 9 memorable months in 1989 that provided some of the greatest tag team title matches ever against their greatest WWF Rival, the Rockers. 

4. Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) – another one time only belt holder, but they held the tag titles for over a year (46^th) keeping them for all of 1993, like the Brainbusters, bringing a high level of match quality. 

3. Hardy Boys  (Matt and Jeff)- the final third of the trio of late 90s/early 2000s tag teams that revolutionized the division, the Hardys are two time tag champs (61^st and 63^rd) who pushed the boundaries on extreme tag team wrestling.

2. Hart Foundation (Bret/Davey Boy/Anvil) – the 37^th WWF Tag Team Champions held the belts for a more than a year and a half, from Wrestlemania 2 all the way to Survivor Series ’87.  Bret and the Anvil would go on to win the titles without the Bulldog 7 years later, at Survivor Series ’94 – and Davey Boy grabbed Bret’s brother Owen and won them at Rumble ’97. 

1. The Shield (Tyler Black/Dean Ambrose/Langston) – The longest title reign for any champion in any division in the Wrestlemania era, the Shield took the belts at Mania 29 in 2013 and held them for nearly 2 and a half years, until Summer Slam 2015. 

Trash (99^th) takes on Kevin Steen and El Generico (100????) at Rumble 2017.

The women’s title is positioned as the blow off to the Sasha/Charlotte program and maybe the culmination of the 4-Ground breakup – the launch of the women’s title was really on the backs of 4-Ground (Charlotte, Sasha, Becky, Paige) with the aid of her dad, Charlotte swerved the group, took the title from Charlotte – then lost it and regained it from Sasha.  Now we’re doing a 2 of 3 falls title match between Banks and Flair – once and for all to see who is the better woman. 

Three matches to go:

Dean Ambrose v. Langston

Mike Mizanin v. Braun Strowman

Kalisto/Apollo Crews v. Rich Swann/Jack Gallagher

The breakup of the Shield storyline continues; Langston turned on Ambrose and Black to end the greatest tag team in WWF – further, it cost Black over a year of his career with the injuries suffered in the turn.  Ambrose didn’t seek revenge, pursuing his singles career instead, that caused a fissure between he and Black.  Black and Ambrose met in the quarterfinals of the Survivor Series – but Langston injured Black again and here we are.

Ambrose and Langston do a face to face on an episode of Heyman’s Hustle.  Ambrose, as mentioned in Part I, turned down an opportunity to compete for the IC in order to get this match – Heyman questions about it – Ambrose says he made that choice once and it cost him his brother – now, he’s coming at Langston with all he has.  Langston asks when does this end – is Jannetty still out chasing HBK?  Langston says Black’s the one who got in his face at Survivor Series – and Langston put him down again and will put him down again and again if Black can’t just let it die.  And if Ambrose can’t let it die, he can get a hospital room next to Tyler.

Chickenshit heel Miz became creepy heel The Cuck and is now babyface Mike Mizanin.  He’s up against it here – Strowman’s got a hard on for Miz, taunting him about being the Cuck, about letting his wife fuck other men – about how he fucked her and maybe will do it again.  Miz is brave and true, stands up to it, and now he’s got to face the wrecking ball. 

No real storyline for the opening tag – Kalisto and Crews tagged together in developmental and Regal’s putting them back together again. 

That’s the show – here’s your update on Dark Ride, Nakamura spends the entire build there, he just avoids the rest of the Bullet Club entirely. He successfully defends the Dark Ride title multiple times – against Roode, against Strong, against Tozawa, against Dorada ---- Nakamura says he’s fighting champion, defending Dark Ride Title against all comers.

The last comer is Samoa Joe – and Joe beats him to regain the title. 

The other thing on Dark Ride is the breakup of BFFs Aries and Ranallo.  A candid picture makes the social media rounds with Ranallo and the Bullet Club (including a couple of members not with the promotion) all making the finger guns.  Regal and Nigel both needle Ranallo about it, but Aries, whose career was ended by Bullet Club attack, is heated.  Ranallo says the picture was taken months and months ago, but Aries won't have it.  He ends their popular podcast - they continue to do the Dark Ride broadcasts, but Corey Graves returns to that booth essentially to serve as a buffer between the men as Aries refuses to talk to Ranallo.

Here’s your show.

WWF Title: Cage: AJ Styles v. Luke Harper

Tag Titles: Trash (Claudio/Neville) v. Kevin Steen/El Generico

IC: Rusev (w/GHB and Lana) vs. Brock Lesnar (w/Heyman)

IC Number One Contender: Nick Nemeth v. Chris Jericho v. Roman Reigns-Uso

Dean Ambrose v. Langston

Mike Mizanin v. Braun Strowman

Bullet Club (Anderson/Gallows) v. Bray Wyatt/John Cena 

Women’s Title: 2 of 3 Falls: Charlotte Flair v. Sasha Banks

Kalisto/Apollo Crews v. Rich Swann/Jack Gallagher

Add in the one year anniversary of the arrival of the Bullet Club – and their promise to have a special celebration – add in the appearance of the President and Vice President of the United States – Linda and Vince McMahon, and you’ve got a pretty darn good Royal Rumble 2017, only on PPV in January

Road to Royal Rumble 2017 - Part 1

Survivor Series was here.

It’s the 12 year anniversary of the Counterfactual; whether you’ve been with me for years or this is your first post, thanks for reading.  I’ve got hoped for Mania main events lined up through 2021, so if you feel like popping in during President Kirsten Gillibrand’s first term, feel free.

 

Rumble 2017 is next month from San Antonio.  

It’s a 9 match card. We'll cover 4 of them today. 

WWF Title: Cage: AJ Styles v. Luke Harper

Bullet Club (Anderson/Gallows) v. Bray Wyatt/John Cena 

The RAW after Survivor Series begins with WWF Commissioner Bryan Danielson headed to the ring with a giant trophy – to be presented to the winner of the Survivor Series AJ Styles.

Styles comes next – and he comes alone, a rarity that he’s seen without his Bullet Club stablemates, which Danielson notes.

AJ says he’s alone because he won the Survivor Series alone, he outlasted the entire roster, won a 64 man tournament.  He beat Kota Freaking Ibushi.  He didn’t need any help.  He’s the WWF Champion and won the Survivor Series and he wants his trophy. That trophy becomes part of the act, Anderson and Gallows already carry the Bullet Club flag wherever they go - and now they also tote around the Survivor Series trophy.  

Danielson said he’s right.  Well, almost.  Luke Harper had to wrestle one more match than AJ did, so that was some help.  And the Bullet Club attacked Luke Harper before the match, so that was a lot of help. If AJ didn’t have that help – maybe Luke Harper would be standing here with the trophy.

AJ says he’s the best wrestler in the world and he can beat Luke Harper by himself any day of the week.

Danielson makes the Rumble match – this time for the WWF Title, this time in a steel cage.

He also makes a main event for that night – Anderson/Gallows taking on Harper/Cena.  Cena and Harper were once both members of the Wyatt Family, they both turned face and went their separate ways – Cena attempted to aid Harper last night in that pre-match beatdown.

Harper/Cena go over, Harper gets the fall – AJ hits the ring immediately postmatch for the beatdown (Nakamura is not there and won’t be there during this program, we’ll talk about him later). 

It’s 3 on 2 and the Bullet Club has the advantage – when to the ring comes Bray Wyatt – who cleans house and he and his former mentees, Harper and Cena, stand together in the middle of the ring. 

It’s not an unmotivated turn, Bray and Harper blew of their feud almost a year ago, the RAW after the Rumble, and then were both killed dead by the Bullet Club who had invaded the night before.  That old hard feelings might have been put aside when given mutual hatred of common enemies is not unprecedented.  But to see the reconstituted Wyatt Family, now back together as babyfaces, should be a reasonably noteworthy moment. 

That moment continues throughout the build – as these 6 guys wrestle in multiple combinations.  Since Harper and AJ have already met, there’s nothing gained by keeping them from being physical, so they can take part in 6 man tags. 

The other element of this Bullet Club build is the Rumble is the one year anniversary of their taking over the WWF and they promise something special to commemorate it. 

Harper pins AJ in a 6 man in the go home Fight Night to get some momentum headed to the Rumble – it’s your main event, AJ Styles against Luke Harper in a Steel Cage for the World Wrestling Championship. 

IC: Rusev (w/GHB and Lana) vs. Brock Lesnar (w/Heyman)

IC Number One Contender: Nick Nemeth v. Chris Jericho v. Roman Reigns-Uso

The main story, not just in the WWF but in the entire country, is the election of Linda McMahon to be the 45^th President of the United States.  The inauguration is a few days before the Rumble – and both the President and Vice President, who asks that you just call him Vince, will be making their triumphant return to their company that night.

Linda’s chief protagonist on WWF TV has been GHB, right wing mouthpiece of longstanding; he ratchets up the vitriol following Trump’s general election defeat (which led to a lawsuit, and now rumors of a Justice Department investigation given his campaign’s numerous, pervasive, and deep connections with agents of the Russian government.  There’s even online speculation that at least one of the Trump sons may move to Russia permanently in an effort to escape prosecution).  GHB says the US had a chance to elect a true authoritarian and move further toward the plutocracy that men who pull the levers of power have long cultivated.  But failing that – it can happen in other ways.  GHB discusses the inroads Putin made in the American electoral system in this past election won’t be easily undone, that it’s just a matter of time before that work put in by Putin and the patriots connected with the Trump campaign bears fruit.  We will have our dream –a nation of millionaires, the billionaires who own those millionaires, and then there are all of you people, who will work for minimum wage and no benefits at Dollar General and be glad for every crumb that falls off the moustache of your master. 

“True freedom” Lana replies.

GHB then steps over the line. The President-elect has been limiting public appearances as she’s been under the weather, GHB says he hopes she doesn’t have the “Russian flu” a reference to Putin opponents who mysteriously turn up dead.  Rusev adds the kicker “if she dies, she dies”

That leads to the return of Skip McMahon – we’ve seen him in the background during Linda’s campaign, but he hasn’t been featured on the programming in years – he cuts a fiery promo and challenges Rusev to a fight.  We see a backstage meeting with Danielson and HHH-M (the two men appear not to know they are on camera, given the angle of the shot) Danielson says absolutely not – he will not sanction this, Skip McMahon is a middle aged man, putting him in the ring with anyone on his roster, much less a fighter like Rusev, is not sports – it’s a slaughter, it’s cockfighting, and he’d rather quit than see it.  HHH-M says that since Linda and Vince both divested themselves of their stock during the campaign, the majority shareholders are Stephanie and Skip – and if the owner of the company wants to get in the ring, there’s just nothing Danielson can do about it.  Danielson says the blood is on Hunter’s hands.

Rusev, of course, kills Skip, just brutalizes him, Skip is stretchered from the ring and, while he makes a full recovery, is unlikely to ever again step in a WWF ring. 

The next week Danielson calls Rusev and crew to the ring.  Danielson says there won’t be any recriminations for what happened the week before, Skip stepped into a ring with a real professional fighter and got what he got.  GHB says any McMahon they see – any McMahon – might meet the same fate. 

Danielson takes a deep breath.  Says that Rusev should probably focus on his challenger for the IC Title at the Rumble.

GHB says no one here has the guts to step into the ring with a real Russian man like Rusev.

Danielson says, “well, I found someone.  I called in a favor.”

Lesnar’s music hits – Heyman and Lesnar come to the ring – Lesnar and Rusev go nose to nose. Danielson, recall, gave Lesnar his match against Devitt at Summer Slam, and Heyman told Danielson he owed him one.  This is that one.  Heyman, ever the opportunist, will tell Danielson in an aside that now he owes him one (Heyman math).

We don’t see either primary for the remainder of the build, although GHB and Heyman have a couple of promo battles where they take shots at each other’s backgrounds and futures. 

The winner of that match goes to Mania as IC Champ where he will take on the winner of the number one contender’s match.

It starts with 6 men and they’re competing for 3 spots.

Jericho faces Kalisto

Nemeth faces Sheamus

Reigns faces Mike Mizanin

Mizanin’s spot was initially offered to Ambrose, he turned it down, we’ll cover that later.

Old Man Jericho’s been doing a last ride gimmick since just after Mania, he lost to Harper in the semis of the Survivor Series; once we get to January the documentary series that has been walking through Jericho’s entire career (there’s the Lizard King, there’s Jericho Dark, there’s the Champ…) gets to modern day, the last week shows how much preparation Jericho has to go through just to get out of bed.

But he survives against the quicker Kalisto to earn a spot at the Rumble.

Nemeth and Sheamus are longtime stablemates, making up the backbone of Underground since it moved from just being a developmental training ground to an alliance on the main roster.  Nemeth gets him to get a spot at the Rumble.

Reigns-Uso meets the Miz, who now is a pure white meat underdog babyface and uses his full name, he fights gamely but goes under.

It’s a three way dance – that means two falls, the last man standing will go to Wrestlemania 33. 

That’s a good stopping point.

Five matches to go, I’ll get them at mid month