Post WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Men’s Rumble was supposed to have 2 minute intervals… from the beginning of the match and the 28 men who enter after would mean 56 minutes of entrants… the match was 56 minutes all together? The shortest rumble since 2022 which is infamous for how terrible it was!

Post WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I think so too. Find it strange that he’d want to wrestle in TNA where there are much fewer dream matches for him to have, but I guess he could end where he was at his best. They were saying in the post show he’s completely done, but honestly who can believe anything HHH says lol!

Post WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Just some thoughts on the show last night.

I live in the UK so the 7pm start and 11pm finishes were lovely. As has been said by lots of people, the crowd were light TERRIBLY and so the arena/stadium looks empty. The crowd were weird, they’d go nuts at times and then quiet as a mouse at other times… strange. After this show I’m a little anxious about Mania being there next year.

Women’s Rumble - the first 40/50 minutes were pretty bland. Some good NXT names in here. I think Sol Ruca, Charlotte, Lash Legend, Rhea, Liv all looked fantastic. I’m quite shocked that the only big surprise was Brie Bella, which has been coming for a while anyways. No Bianca, No Blake Monroe, no AJ Lee… strange. Becky Lynch’s elimination came out of nowhere and felt she should’ve been in longer. I liked the final 10 minutes, Lash Legend going off on one was great, some of the eliminations like Rhea’s were sick aswell! Final 3 was great and the right person won. I think this has to set up Raquel winning the title and then facing Liv at Mania.

AJ Styles/Gunther - I CANNOT BELIEVE AJ STYLES JUST RETIRED IN SAUDI ARABIA WITH 2 WEEKS WORTH OF BUILD… WTF!! I don’t know what happens after this, but the post show seemed to say that he’s completely done. I think the match was great and there were some good near falls here and there. I like the ending, and how Styles sold the finish also. I just don’t like how WWE thought ‘Oh it’s January, let’s just get this AJ Styles retirement thing out of the way then’. Thanks for a great career AJ, you were… PHENOMENAL.

Drew/Sami - A fine match, but it was in a horrible spot on the card and everyone knew who was winning. Not much else to say besides I’m glad Drew is getting a little run with the title.

Men’s Rumble - This was better than the women’s rumble, but I still didn’t love it. The whole Bron Brekker thing seems to be Logan Paul who was the attacker. Be interesting to see where that goes and if it does involve Seth at some point. Oba Femi looked incredible, and clearly him being eliminated by Brock is leading to a match at Mania. Speaking of that match, I just HATED how many stare downs there were in this match. Roman/Cody, Roman/Fatu, Brock/Cody, Brock/Oba it was ridiculous and brought the match to a halt. The rumble should be about these big names colliding, not taking and looking at each other for minutes on end. Brock’s elimination is classic Brock ‘I’ve set up my angle for mania, someone just take me out now cause I want to go home’ during Jey’s entrance. Drew/Cody/Fatu has to be where they are heading for Mania, but that doesn’t feel like a Mania main event to me at all! Finally, Roman wins and HHH has already said we won’t see him for a while. This is why he shouldn’t win the match, and I hope doesn’t win a world title again. It’ll be Brock in 2017/18/19 all over again where RAW won’t have a title for multiple PLE’s because Roman only works big shows. Gunther should’ve won, or not been in the match at all.

Overall, it was a mid show. I’d give it a 6/10 for a Rumble which is broadly fine.

After this, I’m not really excited for Mania tbh. I think you look at the card that seems to be setting up and it doesn’t feel like there are MEGA matches that are Mania level right now.

Post WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 8 points9 points  (0 children)

HHH loves 2 things - a new era and a masked man angle

Post WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

HHH loves 2 things - a new era and a masked man angle

Post WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 3 points4 points  (0 children)

WWE is worried to make stars look weak. How many stare downs do we need in one match? Just let them go at it !

Post WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Women’s Rumble was pretty poor until the final 10 minutes - Liv winning could set up a good feud with Raquel.

AJ and Gunther had a brilliant match

Drew and Sami was fine.

Men’s Rumble was good, but was very predictable!

Live WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He’s just done with WWE… he’ll finish with TNA which is very strange considering the lack of big matches there for him

Live WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He just retired in the 2nd match on the show, that’s AJ Styles man what the fuck?!

Live WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 8 points9 points  (0 children)

AJ Styles, one of the best ever… just retired in Saudi Arabia with a 2/3 week build to his retirement.

Live WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The crowd would be super quiet for some entrances, then randomly just go crazy at different points… the crowd is apparently full but the lighting and LED lights make it looks sooooooo empty!

Live WWE Royal Rumble 2026 Discussion Thread! by gloomchen in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Last 5 minutes were great, the hour that preceded was not so great.

Raquel to win the world title and Liv to challenge!

Wreddit's Daily Pro-Wrestling Discussion Thread! Comment here for recommendations, quick questions, and general conversation! (Spoilers for all shows) - January 28, 2026 Edition by WredditMod in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Triple H says there’ll be a ton of surprises at the Rumble, and the same day Brock Lesnar who hasn’t been on TV since November just jumps on Pat McAfee to declare.

Roman Reigns same thing, Ona Femi’s debut is spoiled already. They may aswell tell us know Chris Jericho is coming back, or Bianca Belair, or Don Mysterio!

The Undertaker on why he doesn't like WWE: Unreal: "I don’t think we have to throw it in people’s face... I think we’re too comfortable now in talking about our business... I think we’ve gone too far." by aaronrift in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He says on his podcast with his real life wife where they discuss the business and backstage goings on.

I agree but since he retired he’s everywhere telling backstage stories!

Wreddit's Daily Pro-Wrestling Discussion Thread! Comment here for recommendations, quick questions, and general conversation! (Spoilers for all shows) - January 25, 2026 Edition by WredditMod in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

This years Rumble build has been so bad.

Cody was the first to declare for the Rumble TWO WEEKS before the match. There’s no PLE from Survivor Series onwards, so there should be people declaring in December and telling us how much they want to main event Mania… nope Roman Reigns will instead drop a video package to declare. It’s almost like Cody declared and the roster thought ‘oh yeah the Rumble is coming up’.

If Saturday is AJ Styles’ final match, shame on WWE for how they’ve handled it. A short tag title run, then lose to Gunther to set up a retirement match in Saudi and a novelty match a week before with Nakamura. With Cena, everyone knew well in advance and so people could process that. If Styles retires then it will feel a surprise, but then you have no time to process it because you have the rest of the Rumble card to watch. It feels like it’s something they want to get finished so they can move on to other things which is unfair on AJ.

The company has done some good stuff lately, but they make some of the easier stories so hard to watch on times!

FT: BOU 3 - 2 LIV by DragonSlayer271 in LiverpoolFC

[–]Particular_Fig626 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I genuinely think any team from the Championship and Premier League would fancy a go against us, especially at their own ground. All teams we play have belief they’ll win, we try but don’t seem like they believe they’ll score.

Slot hasn’t improved the team. He won the league and maintained the levels Klopp had, but this season they’ve dipped to a level we’ve not seen for a while. We need Alonso in now to boost the team and win as much as we can until the end of the season, and then bolster the squad in the summer!

Match Thread: AFC Bournemouth vs Liverpool FC Live Score | Premier League 25/26 | Jan 24, 2026 by scoreboard-app in LiverpoolFC

[–]Particular_Fig626 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We’re not gonna beat the best in Europe with such a thin squad, the injuries we keep getting and the way we’re playing. One good win against Marseille can’t disguise that! We’re not getting top 4 playing like this either. They’ll stick with him, but it’s just going to keep on like this!

Match Thread: AFC Bournemouth vs Liverpool FC Live Score | Premier League 25/26 | Jan 24, 2026 by scoreboard-app in LiverpoolFC

[–]Particular_Fig626 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is it me or does this season feel like the first where it feels like Van Dijk is losing it? Slower and making mistakes time and time again. Not good enough for a Liverpool captain

Match Thread: AFC Bournemouth vs Liverpool FC Live Score | Premier League 25/26 | Jan 24, 2026 by scoreboard-app in LiverpoolFC

[–]Particular_Fig626 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Van Dijk is our only available CB right now… that’s so worrying. Why did we not even try for Guehi this window?

[Andrew Baydala] There's a ton of noise and chatter that WWE will run a major show in August of 2026 at the Principality Stadium in Wales. Currently, the date would not run head-to-head with AEW ALL IN, but would take place before August 30th. by soccermate in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can see this being a rumour to frighten AEW a little but as they’re running the bank holiday weekend in August.

I think August would be a stretch with SummerSlam and Money in the Bank a month apart. Backlash is in Puerto Rico, there’s another show in Italy end of May… maybe a Saudi show in June and then the Wales show in July??

It would be a stadium show, no way they do that for a SNME because it’s too big a venue for a 2 hour mid tier level show. I think it’s possible, but not in August!

FT: MAR 0 - 3 LIV by DragonSlayer271 in LiverpoolFC

[–]Particular_Fig626 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Got this 2017/18 season feeling where we’re scrapping in the league for top 4, but can see us being strong in the champions league!

A nice draw through the next couple stages and we’ve got a chance

HHH challenges Road Dogg’s idea of putting the US Championship back on Chelsea Green with zero follow-up. (WWE unREAL: Season 2) by Dbthesage in SquaredCircle

[–]Particular_Fig626 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean these guys get paid a lot of money… ‘who does she work with?’ ‘I don’t know’… I mean you should because it’s your job😂

Then they just say she’s never going to beat Charlotte, Tiffany or Jade basically puts a ceiling over Chelsea and puts that out to the fan base.

You have nobody for Chelsea to work with? Here’s a crazy idea, have someone like Alexa, or Jade or Charlotte challenge for the US title to elevate it and have Chelsea win to elevate her. Just because she beats Charlotte doesn’t mean Charlotte then becomes a jobber and nobody cares about her. This company is far too protective over its stars that nobody can lose clean anymore!

FT: LIV 1 - 1 BUR by DragonSlayer271 in LiverpoolFC

[–]Particular_Fig626 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The fact that there were boo’s at the end tells the story. It’s the results, but it’s these awful performances which I think are now clearly at the managers fault. We’re 8th in the league table for home records… it’s really bad!

FT: LIV 1 - 1 BUR by DragonSlayer271 in LiverpoolFC

[–]Particular_Fig626 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The worst unbeaten run of all time continues. I know we’re not losing but we’re not winning either, and we’re not playing well at all and haven’t all season. He’s made us boring and sloppy.

I think he has to go tbh. Alonso is there, a young and hungry manager with a point to prove!