Royal Rumble gets even bigger - now 40!!

http://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/matches/16630520/preview/

Thoughts?

Uh oh. I guess this throws a monkey wrench into Shand's contest.

I suggest that perhaps everyone just gets to go back into that thread and get one more pick for a 30-40 number.

Shit.

Right, I will redo the Rumble sweep and open for new picks. You WILL now get 5 picks, but you can pick ALL your numbers again. I'll do a full post confirming in the morning.

Ok, that works too.

Why have 10 more people when Triple H is coming back at #40 lol

Well, thoughts on this as Matt initially asked.

In one way, I don't think its a bad idea. It potentially allows for more of the roster to get a PPV pay-day and a chance on a big show. And if its well booked it could allow for a few mini-feud/mini-match moments that can set up stuff to come out of the PPV. What they haven't commented on is the timing this year. I'd be surprised if the intervals are two minutes, as (allowing for the run down eliminations after the final entrance) you are looking at one match lasting nearly two hours. Its not that I don't think you could make for an entertaining show that way, but it needs to be carefully booked and I am not sure they are that brave.

Then again, they have only announced two other matches for Rumble so far, so I guess its possible.

But more likely is a 90 second or even 60 second interval Rumble. That could be quite good at keeping it fresh, but the counter is that it allows less time for those mini feud/mini match moments I mentioned above.

The downside to the 40 man Rumble of course is that having all those extra "filler" talents mean there will be a lot more people in there with less chance of winning.

Quote :

The downside to the 40 man Rumble of course is that having all those extra "filler" talents mean there will be a lot more people in there with less chance of winning.

This may come as a shock David, but the match outcomes in professional wrestling are pre-determined.

On topic: sounds cool, but if it's PPV I'm afraid I won't be watching it. Even if it was on Sky Sports I wouldn't be watching it. Why? Because I don't have Sky Sports! However, if there was a way to watch it for free I would be interested. Any ideas?

I'm sure you could find an illegal stream.

What I meant by my comment on filler talents is that rather than watching a match with 30 people in where 6 people have a chance of having been booked to win it, you are now watching a 40 man match where there are still only about 6 people who are likely to have been booked to win it. I mean, no-one is goign watch Zack Ryder and Yoshi Tatsu come out and think "Well, there's a main eventer for Wrestlemania right there!"

Yeah I know what you mean, but it's the Rumble! You already got a fairly good idea of who's going win, regardless of who's in it.

I thought it was a bit of a cop out the year Benoit won it. We all knew he was going to win it as they wouldn't "fire" him.

Now we might actually see someone entering at number 30 and winning it

True. Depending on the story that goes up the previous week, they tend to telegraph the winners... or at least 5 of the most possible winners, a mile off.

However, I always looked at the RR as a spectacle rather than a finish. To see all the stuff that goes on.

Which is why my favorite rumbles have always been the ones where people go to the outside without being eliminated and crazy shenanigans outside. Particularly the Attitude era rumbles, when some competitors would go all over the venue and sometimes even come back to the match after making a full circle around the building, where everyone else already was.

I love that kinda stuff. I think ever since they confined the Royal Rumble to ringside, it got a lot less cool.

The Rumble is still my favourite of the WWE PPVs.

And doing the sweep for the past ten years just adds to it as well.

For the past two years, I've gone round a workmates to watch it. We put a wager on the two entry numbers we think will eliminate the most. We don't know who has those entry numbers, so it's more luck than judgement. It makes the match even more fun when you do stuff like that.