2017 Royal Rumble Weekend Experience
NXT TV Taping and TakeOver: San Antonio
Hello, once again, ladies and gentlemen. This time last week my brother and I were on our way to "NXT TakeOver: San Antonio," and I was as jacked as I ever had been for a show. The atmosphere in the Freeman Coliseum was incredible! My TakeOver experience was as fantastic as I hoped it would be. Even if you don't watch NXT regularly, you may want to give their TakeOvers a watch, if not attend them if they are in your town. For those whom need a reminder of the results, or are seeing them for the first time, they are right below, with pictures I took at the event following them.
WWE UK Championship Tournament participant, Wolfgang, defeated Aaron Solow in the opening dark match.
In the first match of the TV taping, Ember Moon took care of Aliyah.
WWE UK Champion, Tyler Bate, got the victory over Oney Lorcan. Bate is barely 19 years of age, but already pretty charismatic and definitely skilled.
In the final match for the TV Taping, No Way Jose beat Elias Samson by delivering his pop-up right hook.
"TakeOver: San Antonio" opened up with Tye Dillinger versus Eric Young, and the crowd was ecstatic to see Dillinger in the arena. Unfortunately, he came up short due to distractions from Young's Sanity stablemates, and lost his final NXT match.
The next match was between Andrade "Cien" Almas and Roderick Strong, and on any other night would have been considered a show stealer. I don't know if anyone else has that opinion of the match, but I sure do. I don't know if the two looked as stiff on a TV screen or monitor as they did in person and that is what's swaying my opinion of the match, but I think it was a damn good one.
The match that followed was the NXT Tag Team Championship match between the champs, D.I.Y., and the Authors of Pain. On this day, the Authors were too much, and they won the belts away from D.I.Y.
When that match was over, it was time for a mark out moment, and it came when Seth Rollins grabbed a mic and said that he was taking things over. The crowd obviously didn't expect a main roster wrestler to appear, so everyone went crazy when the lights came back on and "The Architect" was in the center of the ring. From there, Triple H walked out and had Rollins forced out of the building.
Once that situation was over, the Fatal 4-Way for the Women's Championship was next. Asuka was defending her belt against Nikki Cross, Billie Kay, and Peyton Royce. Cross got taken out on a table near the announcers, and that left Asuka outnumbered two to one. The defending champ didn't fret, however, and retained her belt.
The main event was up next, and NXT Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura, was defending his title against Bobby Roode. It was an exciting match that saw Roode win the belt after Nakamura had injured his knee.
2017 Royal Rumble
Saturday came and went, and it was now Sunday. After a bit of sightseeing, it was time to head out to the Alamodome. Like the night before, I was anxious for the event to start. It was my first Royal Rumble, and for the first time in a few years, the outcome of the Royal Rumble Match wasn't looking so predictable. Not only that, but I was actually going to see a wrestler from my childhood that I never got to see, Goldberg.
Of course, before the Royal Rumble Match, there were other things that had to be taken care of. Those results are noted below.
Charlotte Flair retained her RAW Women's Championship by defeating Bayley.
With help from Braun Strowman, Universal Champion Kevin Owens pinned Roman Reigns to keep his belt.
In a match that seemed to be purposely boring on orders of a certain higher-up, Adrian Neville won the Cruiserweight Championship from Rich Swann by submission.
From the practical farce that was the Cruiserweight Championship match, we moved on to what was an instant classic between World Heavyweight Champion, A.J. Styles, and John Cena. I think it is safe for me to say that it was the best Cena match I had seen in person. I might be able to say the same thing for Styles, whom I did see perform in TNA and WrestleMania 32. When it comes to this match, I'm going to assume that everyone knows that Cena tied Ric Flair with his 16th championship win. If not, you just found out.
We've now arrived to the Royal Rumble Match. I'm sure the majority of you reading this saw it, so you know who got the biggest pops and the loudest jeers. Of course, if you didn't see it, and actually haven't heard or read anything about it, Randy Orton won. That means that he is going on to WrestleMania to face the holder of the World Championship. And with SmackDown having the Elimination Chamber in February, who knows whom the titleholder will be going into WrestleMania 33.
SmackDown Live and 205 Live
With "TakeOver: San Antonio" and "Royal Rumble" in my rear view mirror, I now awaited Tuesday so that I could attend SmackDown and 205 Live. Obviously, I knew they weren't going to be the shows that the previous two were, but I couldn't miss a WWE show broadcasting from my hometown. Getting straight to it, here are the results for "SmackDown Live."
In the opening dark match, Mojo Rawley beat Curt Hawkins.
John Cena then opened up "SmackDown Live," and he was soon interrupted by Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. The two were about to attack Cena, when Luke Harper appeared out of the darkness. Commissioner Shane McMahon walked out next, and he made a tag team match; Cena and Harper vs The Wyatt Family. On this night, Cena was defeated after taking a RKO and being pinned.
In the second match, Carmella took on a local talent, and James Ellsworth got himself involved in the match. This led to an easy win for Carmella.
Ziggler beat Kalisto in match number three, but he tried to inflict further damage on him post-match. This prompted Apollo Crews to come out and fend off the "Showoff."
After that affair, Naomi and Becky Lynch teamed up to take on Mickie James and Alexa Bliss. Naomi got the win for her team by pinning Bliss.
Once that match ended, American Alpha issued an open challenge and hit the ring. As the defending Tag Team Champions stood in the ring, tag team after tag team's music hit, until the ring was filled with no less than five tag teams. Each one made it clear that they wanted a title shot. This led to a brawl, and that's where things ended.
For the main event of SmackDown, Dean Ambrose took on A.J. Styles. Before that got started, however, The Miz and Maryse walked to the announce table, and later in the match, Baron Corbin would join them. Returning to the match, Styles defeated Ambrose after some interference from The Miz. Wanting to inflict punishment on the way to Elimination Chamber, Corbin gave Miz and Ambrose the End of Days.
I know that many of you don't care for "205 Live," so I will make the results quick. Tony Nese beat Lince Dorado by pinfall. Akira Tozawa made his WWE debut and defeated Aaron Solow. In a tag team match, Adrian Neville and Noam Dar lost to Cedric Alexander and Jack Gallagher. As a bonus, the closing dark match was an Intercontinental Championship match between defending champ, Dean Ambrose, and The Miz. Ambrose retained his belt.
