Royal Rumble 2014 - The Road to WrestleMania Begins Here

It's over 12 hours later since end result of WWE Royal Rumble 2014, and I honestly can't wait until the end of the month to do this write-up to vent my feelings from after this event.

Without a shadow of a doubt, there are millions of people in the WWE Universe and even former WWE talent who are thoroughly pissed off.

I will apologize now as this write-up won't be lengthy, as I'm rushing to get this up before tonight's Monday Night RAW (obviously that didn't happen...) and that broadcast ends up swaying my opinions up to this moment.

Results:

Pre-Show: New Age Outlaws def. The Rhodes Brothers to become the NEW WWE Tag Team Champions

I was honestly surprised that WWE would change the Tag Team titles over on pre-show. If anything, I was more convinced that the New Age Outlaws would win the gold tonight on RAW in a rematch after losing to the Rhodes Brothers. (Shrugs) Oh well. At least it gives the tag team division a temporary breath of fresh air. I don't have anything against either team, but it annoys me a bit that the same people who were totally against the New Age Outlaws' run in Impact Wrestling/TNA are 100% backing their WWE return instead of referring them as old, washed-up has-beens.

Bray Wyatt def. Daniel Bryan

Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the show-stealer and match of the night. I won't go as far as saying this was the Match of the Year like most other wrestling outlets are reporting. C'mon, 2014 JUST started. Let's not jump the gun on this yet. It was a wise choice by WWE to eject Luke and Rowen from ringside as that gave Bray Wyatt to shine on his own - reminiscent of his bout with Kofi Kingston last year. I will go on record and say I was completely fine with the finish here as all of the media attention surrounding Bryan's health condition after suffering a concussion, it was a no-brainer that would be getting up that easily after the Sister Abigail into the barricade. I loved how they set it up like a catch finisher from WWE 2K14 though. That was more than enough of an excuse to write-off Daniel Bryan from appearing in the Rumble match later tonight. Otherwise, I'm sure the IWC would be bitching about why he didn't sell the injury or the brutality of the attack. Speaking of brutal attacks...

Brock Lesnar def. The Big Show

Boy, this was over quick. I was expecting The Big Show to put on a bit more of a fight here but dayum son... At least, Big Show sold that "injury"... The main thing I took away here is that Lesnar is a LOT stronger than he was back in 2002-2003 from their feud. Back then, he could barely lift The Big Show for the F-5. Now he makes it look like he was tossing around Rey Mysterio like a ragdoll. A part of me was kinda hoping for the lights to go out during the post-match assault and The Undertaker stares down with Brock Lesnar just to hype the potential WrestleMania match.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton def. John Cena to retain

I can't blame the fans in attendance for how disgusted they were with this match. I felt a little bad for both John Cena and Randy Orton during the match as the match itself wasn't that bad. I had to rewatch it earlier today while sober, but seriously, I have seen far worse matches than this. Just like their match at TLC, this could have been a lot better - it's just that the crowds are beyond sick of seeing these two Superstars in the main event picture.

One thing is certain though, is that John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt is pretty much set in stone for WrestleMania or Elimination Chamber. It's good to see him in a fresh feud.

Batista wins the 2014 Royal Rumble Match to Main Event at WrestleMania XXX

Unlike everyone else, I thoroughly enjoyed the bulk of this Rumble match. I thought the deafening boos for El Torito (who is an established and renown talent in Mexico) and even Rey Mysterio were a bit unnecessary, just because the bulk of that live crowd and the IWC wanted Daniel Bryan to appear in the Rumble and reign supreme. Let's get facts straight here though - prior to the Rumble, Daniel Bryan has stated himself in interviews, along with CM Punk in an interview on Thursday at his own house, that Bryan was NOT going to be in the Rumble match. The Road to WrestleMania does NOT end at the Rumble, folks. We still have Elimination Chamber and then ANYTHING can happen in those weeks before 'Mania to change the landscape before the event.

I was more pissed off to see both Dolph Ziggler (who returned from another concussion) and Damien Sandow both have lackluster performances in this match. Kofi Kingston and Antonio Cesaro didn't disappoint me in the least though. I was impressed that Alexander Rusev made an appearance from NXT, but was letdown that he didn't have Lana accompanying him to the ring. 

Oh yeah, for the people complaining about JBL in the Rumble, think about this. He still didn't do as bad as Santino...

At first, I was a little letdown that CM Punk didn't walk out of the Rumble as the winner, but I am confident that CM Punk and Kane will have a interesting program to make up for that. 

I don't see why people were surprised that Batista won the Rumble match to headline WrestleMania - why else would WWE go through all of this trouble to sign him to 3 year contract if his first match back wasn't an impact? It is much like The Rock's return for the last two WrestleManias. WWE gets to bring back a wrestler turned Hollywood star to grace their programming, all while racking in that free publicity and tie-ins for the potential films that said wrestler is going to appear in. In Batista's case, he is set to play as Drax the Destroyer in the highly anticipated Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy film this summer. WWE would be stupid not to bank on this star power to help sell WrestleMania XXX. 

Really, if WWE wants Batista in the main event at WrestleMania then more power to them. I'll just turn my stream off after The Undertaker defends The Streak. Simple as that.

Seriously, everyone shouldn't be too mad nor upset at this event. WWE delivered on several fronts with this PPV. If you're really that butt-hurt about the event, don't watch RAW tonight or any other night and find another wrestling outlet that caters to your interests. But of course, most "fans" are too lazy to even take the effort to do that when it takes just as much time as racing to a wrestling forum, Facebook, or Twitter and bitching about it.

• Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt stole the show in the opening contest.
• The New Age Outlaws proved that they could inject new interest into the Tag Team division.
• The Shield dominated the bulk of the Rumble match, with the team's MVP being Roman Reigns. 
• Brock Lesnar decimated The Big Show.
• The Orton/Cena feud seems to be done now that The Wyatt Family has targeted John Cena.