Happy Wednesday Everyone!
We’re continuing my current rebooking arc this week, as we go from Survivor Series 2015 all the way up to WrestleMania XXXII.
Last week we booked Starrcade 2015, and I’ll post the results after the break line for those who would like to be easily caught up to where we are in this six part arc. You can also read the full article in my archives should you wish to.
Starrcade 2015 ended with a few key plot points. Roman Reigns retained his WWE Title against Cody Rhodes in the Main Event, whilst Dean Ambrose managed to gain entry into the Royal Rumble match courtesy of a big win.
Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch defeated Naomi and Sasha Banks, but now both of their teams have splintered and action is required to address it at the Royal Rumble.
Kevin Owens is still the Intercontinental Champion, but his grip on that belt might soon be slipping, as might The New Day’s hold on the WWE Tag Titles.
Let’s see what happens next as we rebook Royal Rumble 2016!
You can view the real card for the event by clicking below;
https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=137909&page=2
Results from WWE Starrcade 2015
Winners are in BOLD
Tyler Breeze w/ Summer Rae Vs Goldust
10 Minutes. Clean pin
The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman) Vs The Dudley Boyz (D-Von and Bubba Rat), Mark Henry and Jack Swagger
10 Minutes. Clean pin (Bray pins D-Von)
WWE Intercontinental Title
Champ: Kevin Owens Vs Adrian Neville
13 Minutes. Clean pin
B.A.D (Sasha Banks and Naomi) Vs WWE Women’s Champ Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch
10 Minutes. Clean submission (Becky taps out Naomi)
Charlotte walks out on Lynch post-match
The Miz Vs Dolph Ziggler
12 Minutes. Clean pin
Dean Ambrose’s team must win in order for him to qualify for the Royal Rumble match
New Day will be forced to vacate their WWE Tag Team Titles if they lose
The League of Nations (Sheamus, US Champ Alberto Del Rio, Rusev and Wade Barrett)
Vs
Dean Ambrose and WWE Tag Team Champs The New Day (Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E. Langston)
20 Minutes. Clean pin (Ambrose pins Barrett)
WWE Title
Champ: Roman Reigns Vs Cody Rhodes
15-20 Minutes. Clean pin
_______________________________________________________________
Okay, now that I’ve reminded you of the results of the previous show, let’s move on to Royal Rumble 2016!
Opening Match
Naomi and Tamina Vs Sasha Banks and NXT Women’s Champ Bayley
10 Minutes
Naomi, Tamina and Banks were all part of the B.A.D faction, but now that has splintered with Banks going her own way and turning Face in the process. Naomi and Tamina won’t be ready to let that one slide without a fight, so they’ll challenge Banks to grab a partner and face them here at Royal Rumble 2016, thinking that Banks won’t have any friends on the main roster to help her out due to her previous Heel behaviour as part of the faction. Banks outthinks them though and puts in a call to her fellow Four Horsewoman Bayley to pay a visit to the main roster for the evening to help Banks in her battle with her former stablemates. Bayley will hopefully get a nice reaction and she can play her part in a deserved victory, as Banks will tap out Naomi with the Bank Statement in order to give her team the win. I’m sure we’ll be seeing Bayley again someday, but for right now this is just a one night deal.
Match Two
WWE Women’s Title
Champ: Charlotte Flair Vs Becky Lynch
15 Minutes
Back at Starrcade, Flair and Lynch were able to pick up the victory over B.A.D, with Lynch managing to pick up the decision. Lynch did nothing wrong in picking up the victory, but Flair was miffed that it wasn’t her that got to take the glory, leading to Flair refusing to shake Lynch’s hand following the bout. Flair and Lynch would attempt to mend fences and tag again, picking up a victory over some local talent on television. However, Lynch would again be the one to get the fall, leading to Flair turning Heel on her supposed friend and beating her up in an effort to remind Lynch who the real star of the team was.
In reality, Flair is a better Heel than babyface, so this is a good way to get her on that side of the fence by making her completely unreasonable and in the wrong in this instance. Lynch will challenge her former friend to a Title match here at Royal Rumble 2016, with Flair constantly on the back foot due to the ferocity of Lynch’s attacks. Flair will look to be heading for a defeat, but a momentary dazing of the referee will allow Flair to poke Lynch in the eye before getting a rope assisted three count from the groggy referee in order to retain her Title whilst Lynch seethes.
Match Three
WWE Tag Team Titles
Champs: The New Day (Big E. Langston and Kofi Kingston) w/ Xavier Woods Vs The League of Nations (Wade Barrett and US Champ Alberto Del Rio) w/ Rusev
15 Minutes
The New Day got into the bad books of The Authority back at Starrcade 2015 by defying Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in order to team with Dean Ambrose against The League of Nations. New Day managed to hold onto their belts at Starrcade, but The League was quickly granted another Title shot here at Royal Rumble 2016. With both Woods and Rusev at ringside, there will be plenty of chicanery in this one, as New Day may now be babyfaces but they aren’t exactly known for always following the straight and narrow. Rusev will turn over a Kofi small package on Del Rio to seemingly open the door to a Title change, but Woods will use the commotion caused by Big E attacking Rusev to roll the small package back over so that Kofi is on top, leading to The New Day eking out the victory.
Semi-Main
WWE Title
Champ: Roman Reigns Vs Dolph Ziggler
15 Minutes
Ziggler defeated The Miz back at Starrcade and has an argument to make that he might have won the WWE Title Tournament back at Survivor Series had Miz not caused his elimination against Kevin Owens. This will lead to Ziggler being named the number one contender when Reigns tells Triple H that he’s happy to take on the challenge. Just like at Starrcade against Cody Rhodes, Reigns’ confidence almost becomes his undoing, as Ziggler proves to be a hearty challenge and almost picks up the victory. Ultimately though, Reigns will have enough to catch Ziggler with the Spear and pick up the three count following a close battle.
Reigns will celebrate with his belt post-match, until a familiar donging noise causes the lights to go out and a certain entrance music will hit. The arena will be bathed in purple light, as The Undertaker comes down to the ring and gestures that he wants the belt. Reigns will be unnerved at first, but his natural cocky nature will take over and he’ll raise the belt in his hand right in Undertaker’s face, which will of course earn him a Choke Slam from his next challenger.
Main Event
The Royal Rumble
60 Minutes
The big story coming into the Royal Rumble match is that Dean Ambrose has had the deck stacked against him by The Authority, with him being forced to enter at #1 and The Authority filling the match with those sympathetic to their cause in an effort to stop Ambrose from winning. This will lead to Ambrose getting clobbered throughout the bout by the likes of Sheamus and Big Show, but he will not stop his pursuit of victory. Eventually the Rumble match will come down to Ambrose and surprise entrant Chris Jericho as the final two, with one of them advancing to WrestleMania XXXII.
Jericho will have already created a stir in the contest by eliminating Brock Lesnar earlier in the bout after Lesnar had already decimated a host of big competitors, including Big Show, Braun Strowman and Kane. Lesnar will destroy the ringside area in a rage and will take out a number of security staff before finally being calmed down by Paul Heyman and led away.
AJ Styles will make his debut in the match and give an impressive showing of himself until being eliminated by a showboating Kevin Owens. However, Owens’ joy will be short-lived, as his NXT rival and former friend Sami Zayn will be another surprise entrant in the bout and will throw Owens over the top to the floor, writing another chapter in their ongoing rivalry. Styles will manage to eliminate US Champ Alberto Del Rio before being thrown out himself however.
Eventually Ambrose and Jericho will fight back and forth in the closing section until Ambrose is ultimately able to prevail and send Jericho to the floor. Jericho will be disappointed to have lost, but he will give Ambrose a nod of approval before leaving, reasonably pleased with his performance, especially the fact he managed to claim the scalp of Brock Lesnar.
Dean Ambrose has overcome the machinations of The Authority once again, but this is by no means over and the path to WrestleMania XXXII is going to have its fair share of obstacles on the horizon.
In Conclusion
Going forward from this we need to find a way to keep Dean Ambrose busy until it’s time for him to wrestle for the belt at WrestleMania XXXII, and I think I’ve got an idea for that which will work and I’ll explain what that is next week.
Reigns has one of the biggest matches of his career upcoming at the next pay per view, with Undertaker always being someone you can put in a Title match due to his residual overness from years of being a star in WWE. The match might not be a classic, but it’s still a big match and we can do some fun stuff with Reigns’ confidence being challenged by having to face such a legend.
Becky Lynch may have lost to Charlotte Flair, but she’s by no means out of the Title picture yet, especially considering how she was defeated at Royal Rumble 2016. Sasha Bank’s victory earlier in the night makes her a genuine contender as well, so Flair could very well have some difficult challenges ahead.
Jericho throwing out Lesnar was a deliberate attempt to pivot from what they did in real life where they teased a feud between Lesnar and Bray Wyatt. I wouldn’t be against presenting the Bray Vs Brock match as something for Lesnar to do during Mania Season, but I think it would be stretching credibility to include it here as I’m pretty certain Lesnar would turn something like that down in real life, so I’ve gone in different directions for both Lesnar and The Wyatt’s.
Sami Zayn will be working both NXT and the main roster now as we build to WrestleMania XXXII, after which he will be strictly main roster once he’s finished up his NXT commitments. We can now build to an eventual singles match between Owens and Zayn, and I’ve got some ideas on how to tell that story which will hopefully be entertaining.
Gaining the use of AJ Styles is going to be a huge bonus and I’ll waste no time getting him into the mix, and we’ll build on that next week when we rebook Fastlane 2016.
I hope you all enjoyed this and are interested in seeing where we’re going next with everything. As always, please share your own ideas in the comments section, as I always get a kick out of discussing stuff like this.
Hopefully I’ll see you all next week when we move into the Fastlane!