WWE’s road to WrestleMania kicked off tonight with the Royal Rumble – and we got an early shout for match of the year as well!
Browsing: Roman Reigns
WWE’s final pay-per-view of the year saw the end of a long-running feud… and a changing of the guard.
We’re on the home straight. This Sunday, over 85,000 fans will pack the AT&T Stadium near Dallas, Texas (regardless of whatever attendance number WWE announces), as the thirty-second WrestleMania comes to pay-per-view.
Less than 24 hours after the Fast Lane pay per view that left us with only a main event, WWE locked in a few more big matches for WrestleMania on Raw. However, both of those new directions ended up raising more questions than answers for the company’s big stars, and their aim as a whole.
Sunday night saw WWE complete their final pay-per-view before WrestleMania, with a Fast Lane pay-per-view that was notable for… very little, actually. The bookies (or at least, 888sport) had the results right in all-but-one match – and for someone notoriously awful at pay-per-view predictions, I came out 100% with my winners!
So, the first pay-per-view of 2016 is in the books, and WWE has a new champion. Perhaps the biggest surprise on Sunday was that the company kept their surprises limited to two: a debut, and the new champion.
In years gone by, it’s been a bit of a stereotype – you can’t bet on wrestling, it’s fixed! Well, in recent times, bookmakers have been offering odds for pay-per-views for several months now, with those odds usually shifting at the last minute (particularly if a certain dolphin-themed Redditer has his say!)
Next Sunday sees the WWE kick off 2016 with its first pay-per-view of the year; the 29th Royal Rumble event. Traditionally, this is the first major sign-post on the road to WrestleMania, and the start of three months of segments ending with wrestlers pointing to a sign.