The Road to Wrestlemania is well and truly underway following the 27th annual Royal Rumble event! Last night gave witness to a pay per view that broke hearts and made stars. The fallout has been raucous, both good and bad, andwhether it was boos or cheers, this event has certainly got people talking! Anticipation for the event had been high. The Rumble always does good PPV buys owing to the uniqueness (and unpredictability) of the over-the-top-rope 30 man contest. This year saw an action packed undercard to boot, even featuring the rarely appearing Brock Lesnar. Two sound wrestling matches of Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton vs John Cena rounded off the card, albeit if the promotional buildup for these bouts was left wanting in recent weeks. So, did the event deliver on the night? They say no reaction is a bad thing, so WWE will probably be happy with how last night went because there was certainly a very vocal reaction. Even some of the mainstream press has been reporting this morning on the raucous cheers and boos of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania crowd. A lot happened last night, so let's get straight to it in trying to make sense of all the fallout... Tag Title Match: Rhodes Brothers Vs New Age Outlaws Getting right to the action, let's start on the kickoff show that preceded the PPV broadcast. These lead-ins aren't a bad idea and this had some sort of prestige with the tag team titles being on the line. Cody Rhodes defended against Billy Gunn and Road Dogg, which is hardly the most inspiring match but served a purpose. The action was low key to decent in spots, but this being a short lead in match it was never going to be great. The finish came when Cody hit a cross roads on Road Dogg, only for Billy Gunn to make the save. Cody next nailed his disaster kick on Dogg, unaware that Gunn had made a blind tag. The result was a Fameasser from Billy for the pin. Winners: The New Age OutlawsAnalysis: 50% Not bad, not great this one did its job. I called it in my predictions column that the title switch would happen. Cody and Goldust have lost so much of the buzz they had in the Autumn, and it's best Cody moves on. He has such a bright future as a singles star, and although they didn't fall out, the Goldust and Cody loss could be the start of a brother vs brother feud for Wrestlemania. The Outlaws are irrelevant. They are solely winning to be transitional champions, with the deserving Usos probably getting the belts at Elimination Chamber. The Outlaws win marks 14 years since their last win, and for me it just illustrates how much the WWE tag division is dead.
