? will win the Rumble, according to PWTorch

[Guest Metallica]

Erm..none of this was in this week's Torch Newsletter (737) so...

[Guest Aero]

I honestly don't think Brock will be champion anytime soon. He didn't do much of note in his first reign, all it really accomplished was making him into a heel, and Heyman was getting all the heat.

The thing about that is that when Brock was champion the first time, he was basically a heel with a few pops here and there. When he was just finally getting crazy over with the fans as a face, they took the belt off him to put it on Big Show and then to Angle. Maybe his second reign will be better now that he's completely a face.

 

Brock-Angle HAS to be the official main event of WM. They're giving it too much build by starting it now, which is a good thing. Afterall, it worked for Summerslam. By the time March rolls around, most people will be anticipating the match a helluva lot more.

 

Unless Vince wants to continue with these plot holes, Brock has to win the Rumble. Heyman has all his magic contract clauses that state Brock gets no rematch for the title. So, the only other way to get the title shot is for him to win the Rumble. Sounds alot like Lex Luger's little dilemma from back in 1993-1994, huh? I'm willing to bet WWE goes with the same exact thing. The only difference is that Brock won't get drunk at a bar the night before WM.

[Guest Brian]

Besides, Brock is the only thing close to a ratings draw SmackDown has right now.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

It wasn't? Maybe the original poster is making it up and this whole debate is for nothing......please let him be making it up.

[Guest Choken One]

Nah, it wasn't for nothing...Nice concise debate about something we're all passionate about.

[Guest subliminal_animal]

Torch has proven to be less and less reliable in recent weeks. They also reported all those layoffs that didn't happen.

 

Rumble is getting stupid, though. 2001, 2002 Rumbles were way too easy to predict, and 2003 is starting to sound like the same. I still don't understand why people have a hernia when I suggest scrapping the event for one year in order to build more feuds.

What layoffs?

 

Like some already said, the Rumble should be for the Mania main event, too, so they're not only fighting for a title shot, but the pride of their brand. But this has downsides as well as upsides. Brock is the favorite, and Angle versus Lesnar is right now more appropriate a choice for the WM main event than any Raw match could be, both in terms of possible quality and storyline. But that would be obvious to have him win. If the RAW side took it, it would be a tossup as to who takes it, which would add intrigue to the match, plus it would be a boost for the show, as was said. And then we have Angle not willing to give Brock a shot, but Stephanie could rectify that. Or they could have Brock question how good Angle is since Kurt would keep ducknig him. Angle's pride would have him grant Brock a shot to try and prove Lesnar wrong.

 

So, basically, I'm pulling for a RAW win, but Brock winning wouldn't be horrible either.

[Guest Brian]

Having Steph involve herself in that feud makes everyone look worse.

 

As for Angle giving Lesnar a shot, that's counter productive for his character. His character is based on the fact that he's pissed at Brock, through a little of Paul and a lot of his own experience right now. Brock has to earn that title shot if he's going to get it. That's why he has to win the rumble. There has to be a general feeling among fans that Brock had to overcome eveerything Heyman did to keep him away from Angle, and when they get to that point, it's Angle vs. Lesnar. So Lesnar has to push and try and work his way back up to the top: with no one to gain from like he did his initial run.

[Guest converge241]

was this in the newsletter? i dont remember seeing this

[Guest Slapnuts00]

Just want to confirm this is FAKE. I just got the newsletter it's not in there. Furthermore, someone called in last night to Wrestling Observer Live asking about this rumor he heard was in the Torch about Jericho winning the rumble only to job to Michaels to set up another HHH/HBK match and Meltzer hadn't heard anything about it saying it wasn't in the Torch and it definitely wasn't in the Observer. So there you go.

[Guest nikowwf]

Thats interesting. Pissed off over nothing. Now we can go back to being pissed at HHH for real reasons!

 

niko

[Guest GameCop]

Ok, I admit I made up this entire story about Jericho winning the Rumble. But, as one previous poster mentioned, if someone did call in to WrestlingObserverLive to ask Meltzer about this "proposed" scenario, then my mission has been accomplished. WWE personnel do listen to Meltzer's show, just like any other ardent wrestling fan. Perhaps WWE personnel can come to the realization that they need to make their product slightly less predictable. A Jericho or RVD win would be an unpredictable occurence, without eradicating the eventual Angle/Lesnar showdown at Wrestlemania.

 

Now, I realize that I'm at fault for posting erroneous information; however, I was curious to see how fast the members on this board assume every tidbit of information to be valid.

 

Please don't ban me; I wanted to evoke a discussion about how someone other than Brock Lesnar can surmount 29 other competitors, en route to becoming the Royal Rumble victor. Let's be honest here -- Raw has been floundering in recent months, and the only way to rectify its mediocrity is to allow a RAW superstar to emerge victorious in the Royal Rumble match.

 

I don't want to see Brock Lesnar win the Rumble. It's too damn obvious, and it undermines the intrigue of the Royal Rumble. The Rumble is supposed to be unpredictable. Remember the former WWF's catchphrase? "Anything can happen in the WWF." Well, for the past three years, I've been able to predict every occurance, save for one thing -- the reformation of ECW.

I apologize for getting anyone's hopes up about Jericho winning the Rumble. Conversely, I apologize to anyone whom I've offended with my fabricated scenario.

 

I just want the WWE to salvage the Royal Rumble -- an event (my favorite) that has become too predictable in recent years.

[Guest Metallica]

Makes you wonder how many other people on here make up news and "credit" other people for it...

[Guest converge241]

good i thought i was going crazy cause i read it on Saturday and filed it away but was pretty sure there was nothing in there

 

and its a stupid idea, hence why i didnt comment except to question the validity

 

and Jericho is one of my favorites..fans would be extremely disapointed if Jericho won

 

because

a) hes been de-regulated from being close to the top tier. The rumble would be ajoke to have a non-top player guy winning in the general fan's eyes. ou can only have one ending like that ever and they did it - Vince winning before WMXV

b) you cant use the Rumble to elevate , or re-elevate a guy into the top tier

c) Its not smart business to be "non-predictable" and throw a swerve in there to rehab business to better levels. What's wrong with watching Brock struggle against all odds to get a title shot? its a great payoff. If you had a face champ than you have the heel overcome those same odds by cheating. Aside from triple H bias, i think most people like the booking of last years' rumble. trips comes back from injury and overcomes everyone else to move towards the title. And they still had the "swerve" by having Austin in there to cause some doubt.

 

im basing this on title/title shot rumbles too not the first few where you just won it for nothing.

 

next time just start a Brock shouldnt win the Rumble thread

[Guest nikowwf]

Surprises are good IF they take the product in an interesting direction that we did not expect.

 

Jericho winning the Rumble and setting up a crappy scenario would be a surprise, but who cares? The happy surprise lasts 10 seconds, the bad booking lasts much longer.

 

That's always been my issue with Russo, he would surprise you by taking the product in a stupid direction.

 

Brock/Rock at Summerslam was quite predictable, yet it was one of the best executed angles they had this year.

 

If Brock wins the Rumble and sets up a heated and great Wrestlemania match with Angle, ill be ok with it.

 

niko

[Guest Choken One]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I am perfectly fine with Brock Lesnar winning the rumble...This is speaking from a paying customer (which is a lie, I never pay anymore, I just go to the bar and Spend 30 on Wings and Beer), Brock winning is too predicatble and I am not asking for Rey Mysterio or Bubba Dudley to win just for the sake of *SHOCK* but Jericho isn't a Lowcarder. He still as much as the Smarks refuse to see it is a Credible Top Tier guy...You all look through the shades of Jade.

 

It might be an insult to the fans for Having such a predicatable winner (ala H3 win last year) when we already know Brock will find a way to get Angle.

 

Besides wouldn't it add to the Chase if Brock is screwed at the Rumble?

 

However, Anyone see them doing the Lex Luger thing on him? Have Team Angle attack before the Rumble and the announcers create suspicions of if Brock can even make the match and he comes out with a delay at #20 and the crowd goes crazy and Brocksaunters out with a Limp...He goes crazy throwing out dead weight until he faces down with TBS AND they GO! Brock F5's him and throws him over to MASSIVE pops...Then he fights the rumble with tenacity and it comes down to Brock and Eddy and they go 8 minutes and Brock chucks Eddy for the win.

[Guest converge241]

i wouldnt say jericho is a lowcarder

just not seen as a top tier guy in presentation

 

theres glimmers of it , like when he had the verbal confrontation with Michaels

 

i think with all his losses and being put into tag teams hes losing it in the general fans eyes.. i just think casual fans would feel cheated if he were to win

 

response i saw when he "surprisingly" won title at Vengeance was that people hated him and wanted to see him lose..i e they cared about the character and he had momentum

 

If he won the rumble those same people would be like "why did he win?" and not care anymore

 

jericho's one of my favs, and i think im presenting an objective view of how hes seen by fans/pushed

[Guest Slapnuts00]

Well, shame on you for posting and crediting false information, you should have proposed it as a "what if" scenario rather than as fact. Anyway, I too am fine with Lesnar winning. I like when WWE books ahead and has a plan. In 99 Vince won the Rumble as a "shock" and then just ended up losing to Austin anyway making the Rumble pointless. All this would do would bury Jericho more, and I don't think they'd go with a straight HHH/HBK match AGAIN.

Also Brock HAS to win the Rumble. We need to support WWE when they have storylines that MAKE SENSE. Angle (and to a degree Paul Heyman) are in charge of the WWE title, it's up to them who gets the shot, and they've promised Lesnar would NEVER get another shot at the title. But what if Brock won the Royal Rumble, a match that stipulates that the winner must get a title shot? It's a perfect storyline. We don't need anymore "BIG SHOCKS" Russo has already damaged wrestling long term enough, WWE needs a stable period with simple storylines like this that make sense.