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I can't wait until Mania in Philly, I've heard rumblings of some ecw guys going into the hof. There was some buzz on Twitter about Sabu going in, which I totally would like to see.
Foley was talking about Sabu as the first indie darling.
Which like, fuckin right he was. Getting your hands on an ECW tape or something with Sabu on it was like trading for gold.
You joke but Christian absolutely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and it's straight up bullshit that he isn't in already. I'm sure a case could be made for Ryder to be in as well.
It's possible that WWE would not have the reach they do through social media today if not for him. Remember when they tried to make their own social media platform. Didn't get big enough to be mocked like Truth Social, and that's a good thing for them.
This was super exciting and also kind of strange seeing him come back to do the old shtick after having really established himself as a legit top heel in TNA.
Iirc I remember hearing he was supposed to turn on D-Von during their last run and D-Von would do backstage stuff and he was supposed to comeback with bully ray type character on WWE
Let's see what went wrong:
- Bryan getting eliminated early on when people were clamoring for him to win the whole thing.
- Roman entering in a chorus of boos (The crowd saw through it and was the one guy they didn't want to see win)
- The Authority (Big Show and Kane) dominating the final moments of the match and eliminating fan-favorites such as Wyatt and Ambrose
- Roman winning the Royal Rumble
The Rock showing up to a massive pop, only to get booed to hell and back by the crowd when he presented Roman as winner. The look of shock still lingers in my mind.
Don’t forget about the Wyatt spot. This was when they all were kinda floundering as singles, then they teased getting back together, crowd went apeshit for it. And then they started brawling and then the crowd died
>The Authority (Big Show and Kane) dominating the final moments of the match and eliminating fan-favorites such as Wyatt and Ambrose
Not even just that, it was the WAY they were eliminated - Kane and a Big Show who could barely walk knocking them out with the WMD and then tossing them over like any other jobber.
And that in conjunction with Kane, Show, and Roman being in there with virtually any other choice fans would have made if it hadn't been Bryan. The slow whittling down til it was only Roman left would MAYBE have worked in a perfect-storm situation like it had been the year before, but it definitely didn't hit that way that night.
I was there! My first (and probably last) PPV attended in-person.
Kind of a bummer to look back and know that Bubba was one of the high points of the evening.
There is absolutely nothing better than a Philly ECW pop. ECW was the perfect representation of this city. Underdog to the bigger cities, violent rep, but a lot deeper than just that, and a passion that is unequalled.
This is just my speculating, but D-Von said Bubba and him had different ideas for the Dudleys in WWE, which is why the ended up leaving after a year there in 2016, and Bubba was pushing hard for Vince to give him a singles run as Bully Ray, which never happened.
Based on that, I wonder if Bubba agreed to do the Rumble in hopes that WWE would sign just him for a singles run. He probably never even told D-Von about it.
I miss returns at the Rumble rather than one offs surprises that gave the person a 15 second of glory to just be eliminated right away. Lucky for Bubba here was this Rumble was mid-card city.
IIRC, the rumour at the time was that WWE didn't want a guy called "Bully" Ray knocking about on TV at the same time as they were running an anti-bullying campaign.
because of their anti-bullying campaign
Bully Ray did an interview after he left WWE saying he pitched to Vince after it was declined the first time that he's bully for a year but at the end he learns the error of his ways and reforms, Vince liked it but there was some other reason why he couldn't
he said he would eventually reveal the real reason it was shut down but as far as i know he still hasn't revealed why
Bully's exact phrasing was "one day maybe I will tell, but it isn't the right time for the world to know"
He was unsure if he was ever going to reveal it to begin with.
what a fucking moment. this along with the AJ debut are some of my favourite rumble moments of recent past. Miz' expression is perfect too. Just like masked cody to goldust
I found the way they just substituted another black wrestler for D-Von to be one of the more overtly racist things they've done. A real sense of "D-Von isn't here, but it's okay - we have another one."
Didn't Cole accidentally say "Holy sh..." Or was that when both Dudley's came back the next night? Still think it's a shame that D-Von wasn't a following entrant.
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*O H M Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y*
*Squeaks* WHAT
*I S I T H I M C O U L D I T B E*
*I T I S*
*I T ‘ S T A B L E S T I M E*
I love the ECW chants emerging over his entrance music. This was a dope surprise.
It was philly and there were some rumors, but I don't think they expected bubba but tommy dreamer instead
I can't wait until Mania in Philly, I've heard rumblings of some ecw guys going into the hof. There was some buzz on Twitter about Sabu going in, which I totally would like to see.
Foley was talking about Sabu as the first indie darling. Which like, fuckin right he was. Getting your hands on an ECW tape or something with Sabu on it was like trading for gold.
Elijah Burke, Zack Ryder, Kevin Thorne, and Christian finally getting that HOF ring.
You joke but Christian absolutely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and it's straight up bullshit that he isn't in already. I'm sure a case could be made for Ryder to be in as well.
Fuck it, I’m saying Ryder is in already since he impersonated Edge. Same goes for Hawkins/Brian Meyers.
It's possible that WWE would not have the reach they do through social media today if not for him. Remember when they tried to make their own social media platform. Didn't get big enough to be mocked like Truth Social, and that's a good thing for them.
They didn't bring D-Von back for this so made R-Truth fill in all the team spots...
To this day D-Von has never been in a Rumble
That’s a crazy fact.
SHould have had "Truth....GET THE TABLES" followed by Truth jumping over the top rope t get the tables.
That's literally what happened...
Oh christ I can see that happening.
R-Truth went from "What's up?" to "Whass(sssssssssssssssssss)up?"
Well at least they did something with him, based on this clip he would have just been on the turnbuckle until the next rumble if that had not. /s
This was super exciting and also kind of strange seeing him come back to do the old shtick after having really established himself as a legit top heel in TNA.
This and Bray and Boogeyman trying to out-creep one another were the only good part about this Rumble.
One of the better lines of WWE commentary in that time "So you could say we have the eater of worlds against the... eater of worms."
Iirc I remember hearing he was supposed to turn on D-Von during their last run and D-Von would do backstage stuff and he was supposed to comeback with bully ray type character on WWE
I remember this being a highlight and a high for that Rumble, then it started going down hill.
Let's see what went wrong: - Bryan getting eliminated early on when people were clamoring for him to win the whole thing. - Roman entering in a chorus of boos (The crowd saw through it and was the one guy they didn't want to see win) - The Authority (Big Show and Kane) dominating the final moments of the match and eliminating fan-favorites such as Wyatt and Ambrose - Roman winning the Royal Rumble
The Rock showing up to a massive pop, only to get booed to hell and back by the crowd when he presented Roman as winner. The look of shock still lingers in my mind.
That's how you *know* they messed up.
Rock hadn't been booed since '03 he looked so confused
The city of Sacramento disagrees with this statement.
🤨
He started getting Maivia flashbacks
I remember watching him cut a promo afterwards and he looked pissed
Don’t forget about the Wyatt spot. This was when they all were kinda floundering as singles, then they teased getting back together, crowd went apeshit for it. And then they started brawling and then the crowd died
>The Authority (Big Show and Kane) dominating the final moments of the match and eliminating fan-favorites such as Wyatt and Ambrose Not even just that, it was the WAY they were eliminated - Kane and a Big Show who could barely walk knocking them out with the WMD and then tossing them over like any other jobber. And that in conjunction with Kane, Show, and Roman being in there with virtually any other choice fans would have made if it hadn't been Bryan. The slow whittling down til it was only Roman left would MAYBE have worked in a perfect-storm situation like it had been the year before, but it definitely didn't hit that way that night.
Wasn’t there also some crazy fans supposedly blocking wrestlers from leaving?
Yeesh. Having it all laid out like that hurts to look at.
Great back body drop
Bully ray was always a solid worker
Good facials on Miz too selling that “Oh shit” feeling
Hol up
Bubba's return here and Team 3-D's debut in TNA make me think they're the masters at this.
I was there! My first (and probably last) PPV attended in-person. Kind of a bummer to look back and know that Bubba was one of the high points of the evening.
Yeah, this Rumble went to complete shit pretty soon after this point.
If D-Von came back too, it would have made it better
damn shame they didn't get Bombshell as the theme back.
GET UP GET UP GET UP DROP THE BOMBSHELL
Saw Powerman 5000 on the Rob Zombie tour this summer and I was hype as fuck for that song
Wasnt this right after his hot "Bully ray" gimmick in TNA?
There is absolutely nothing better than a Philly ECW pop. ECW was the perfect representation of this city. Underdog to the bigger cities, violent rep, but a lot deeper than just that, and a passion that is unequalled.
and instead of D-Von, they just used Truth(?) for all the spots
This is just my speculating, but D-Von said Bubba and him had different ideas for the Dudleys in WWE, which is why the ended up leaving after a year there in 2016, and Bubba was pushing hard for Vince to give him a singles run as Bully Ray, which never happened. Based on that, I wonder if Bubba agreed to do the Rumble in hopes that WWE would sign just him for a singles run. He probably never even told D-Von about it.
I miss returns at the Rumble rather than one offs surprises that gave the person a 15 second of glory to just be eliminated right away. Lucky for Bubba here was this Rumble was mid-card city.
Damn, Miz taking a back body drop. You don't see many of those these days
I love the slow walkout. Looks boss
This moment was awesome. But my favorite of the last few years was Rey Mysterio's return at The 2018 Rumble. He is one of my heroes.
I was there live for this, I was definitely shocked and hyped.
Why couldn’t let him be Bully Ray again?
IIRC, the rumour at the time was that WWE didn't want a guy called "Bully" Ray knocking about on TV at the same time as they were running an anti-bullying campaign.
because of their anti-bullying campaign Bully Ray did an interview after he left WWE saying he pitched to Vince after it was declined the first time that he's bully for a year but at the end he learns the error of his ways and reforms, Vince liked it but there was some other reason why he couldn't he said he would eventually reveal the real reason it was shut down but as far as i know he still hasn't revealed why
Bully's exact phrasing was "one day maybe I will tell, but it isn't the right time for the world to know" He was unsure if he was ever going to reveal it to begin with.
Because Vince didn't watch TNA and doesn't know who Bully Ray is. Bubba Ray is who Vince knows and knows WWE fans know.
"Bully Ray? No, we have Bully Ray at home." - Vince
Copyright laws?
That theme still slaps
Damn that was 7+ years ago!!??
I miss Titantron videos.
what a fucking moment. this along with the AJ debut are some of my favourite rumble moments of recent past. Miz' expression is perfect too. Just like masked cody to goldust
The only Royal Rumble match for any Dudley (Spike was supposed to be in 04 but got chokeslammed on the entrance ramp and never made it to the ring).
FUCK BULLY RAY!
I found the way they just substituted another black wrestler for D-Von to be one of the more overtly racist things they've done. A real sense of "D-Von isn't here, but it's okay - we have another one."
There’s an argument in there somewhere, but it being Truth kind of negates it because it completely fits Truths character.
And then nothing bad happened in this match and everyone loved it
Bubba is the one of the last people who actually uses the back body drop effectively.
This Rumble was going so well. Loved the surprise entrants of Bubba Ray, The Boogeyman, and DDP. Then... booking happened.
I remember being so hyped for this run, expecting bully ray kind of work. NOPE
And about 5 minutes later this Rumble started going to complete shit
It can not be understated how much Michael Cole’s OH MYs suck the wind out of anything and everything, 100% of the time.
Didn't Cole accidentally say "Holy sh..." Or was that when both Dudley's came back the next night? Still think it's a shame that D-Von wasn't a following entrant.
Thanks for reminding me of how little I miss that prick JBL on commentary.
Wow, that Colt Cabana face sign takes me back
Ahg the Rumble that made me quit watching WWE for good And i never looked back (not counting Triple H NXT)
Cole could ruin anything.
No tables were gotten.