WWE Royal Rumble '22 Roundtable - 01/28/22

Jon Jansen, Jason Fanelli, Vaughn Johnson, and Nick Piccone preview the 2022 WWE Royal Rumble!

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Sports talk that has never been donebefore in Philadelphia. We're breaking down the
live action and helping you make yourlive wagers at the right moment. Follow
all the action right now on theline Change with John Chansen. It is

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the greatest weekend of the year andit's on a Saturday, which is a
little bit weird, and we'll talkabout all of that. Welcome to the
Line Change, Fox Sports the Gamblerare all presented by Cure Auto Insurance.
Yes, Championship Sunday is this Sunday, and maybe I'll get a pick from
each of my guests as well,but it's all Royal Rumble. We've talked

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about Championship Sunday all weekend long,so now we got to give time to
the greatest wrestling event in the historyof wrestling, maybe other than World War
Three, which was also a greatevent, but Royal is my absolute favorite.
Nick Pecone, I'll start with you, am I over hyping the Royal

(01:06):
Rumble a little bit too much.I think you're over hyping World War Three
a little too much. But no, I agree with you. Royal Rubble
Weekend. It's the one thing thatsince I was a kid, I was
into that you know. I mentionedit on the latest episode of the Straight
Shooters podcast, an event that Istill get excited for. I still get
excited for WrestleMania, but it's differentwhen it's the Royal Rumble where you really

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honestly don't know, Like you canread the news online all you want,
but you still don't know until thewinner is declared and the Men's Rubble and
the Women's Rumble of what direction thatthey're going to take to WrestleMania. And
that's the most exciting part of itfor me. And Nick is just one
of three that is going to joinus today. The others are Jason Finelli
and Von Johnson. You can followNick at Underscore pecone. Please give him

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his real Twitter account back, please, Von Johnson at Von M Johnson and
Jason Finelli at big Man Finelli.Of course Nick and Von do the Straight
Shooters podcast, and of course youcan hear Jason Finelli's Cheese, Steaks and
Controllers podcast right here on Fox Sports. The Gambler Jason Royal Rumble. To

(02:15):
you, what is Royal Rumble?Is it the greatest event of the year,
Is it the greatest WWE pay perview? Because to me, I
mean we find out who is goingto have the main event sort of WrestleMania.
Oh. I feel like it's themost versatile match they have in their
repertoire. You could tell so manydifferent stories because you have sixty people thirty

(02:37):
in each match they interact with eachother. You could build WrestleMania matches out
of nowhere. Let's not forget intwenty seventeen, Roman reigns eliminates the Undertaker,
which becomes a WrestleMania match, right, so, or I might have
that reverse. But either way,things like that happen all the time in
this match, and it's why it'smy favorite. It's the one time of
the year where you feel the mostmost optimism about the direction of WWE,

(03:05):
because I feel like this has Iknow, I feel like this is the
one time where they could really likeemphasize the future, like Drew McIntyre in
twenty twenty, or they could getyou hype about giving someone an opportunity who
you might not have thought of wouldhave gotten it. I know last year
you predicted Edge to win, butI did not think he'd be he'd be

(03:28):
anywhere near the end of that match, let alone win it. And then
this match with Roman and Daniel Bryanwas one of the best matches of last
year in WWA. It was fantastic. Yeah, so it was just the
unpredictability of this event makes it myfavorite of the year absolutely well, vun
it is like WWE is all yearround, it never stops. But Royal

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Rumble feels, like I think Jasonput it really well, it's about optimism,
right, It's about like the startof WrestleMania season. It's like the
start of the NFL season, andthen you get all the way to the
end of the super Bowl, andthat's what WrestleMania is. Royal Rumble feels
like VON the kickoff to w We's WrestleMania season, their their biggest season
of the year. It's funny thatJason said that it's where we feel the

(04:13):
most optimistic about ww and then theycan kill that optimism by the end of
the night or the next man.I know that, but try to be
a little glass here. Optimism canget wiped out real fast by ww But
I don't even see it as likethe kickoff of like, you know,
like NFL season. I think Isaid this before I know it, said
it on the straight Shooters podcast.But to me, it feels like,

(04:35):
and it's tunny that's happening in thesame weekend, but it feels like the
conference championship games in the NFL,where you can punch your ticket to the
super Bowl if you you know,get it done this weekend, you know,
in k fab terms. So yeah, it's always super exciting. It's
the one show that I think evencasuals like because it's so many different things
happening. You see so many differentwrestlers coming in, you know, into

(04:58):
the match every two minutes. Ibelieve these the intervals nowadays or whatever it
is. But yeah, it's superexciting. It's always a good time to
hang out with people if you can. Obviously, now you know the pandemic
and now it's snowing this weekend inPhilly, so good luck. But if
you can, you can hang outwith a couple of people, watch the
show, laugh at it is forthe most part, I mean, even

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though the match itself is very highstakes, but there's a lot of there
could be a lot of fun tobe had getting to that point. You
can turn your brain off and justenjoy watching people beat each other up for
hours and change and the word rumble. So for the most part, it's
like a it's like a four proofmatch, like you can almost do no
wrong and then ww sometimes fine,it's a way to still somehow do some

(05:44):
type of wrong, but they've gottenthe right the last couple of years or
at least done a good job atleast. Yeah, with the match and
how they who won and how theytell some stories in it, And that's
the beauty. Like you said,that's the beautiful part about this match and
how it's been laid out over thethree decades that existed, is that it's
not just about punching the tickets toWrestleMania. It's also all the stories you
can weave through there. You canhave old rivalries crossing path, you can

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have new rivalries formed, you canhave tag teams break up, you can
you know, all this different stuffthat can happen throughout that match. Uh,
and it just makes for a veryit could potentially be a very exciting
affair because there's so many things thatcould happen, so many different stories you
can tell within that within that match. So it's just it's just so much

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and you just never fully know what'sgonna happen. So yeah, it is
still probably the most fun time tobe a wrestling fan is about this time
when this st wor Rumble. Itabsolutely is. And I think even because
you're right, they have messed up. I mean, Philly was the biggest
one. They like, they havemessed up endings, and I hate to
say, like Roman Reigns winning wasn'tgood. It was just that maybe not

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in that city it should happen.I don't know, it just ended up
not being great. But like,even though sometimes the endings aren't good,
usually this is the most well bookedmatch of the entire year. Like,
as you just said, there's somany weaving storylines together and so many different
things. There are people returning likeHall of Famers and some of the legends
returning. You have also you knowNXT call ups or you have returning wrestlers

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as well, which I'm sure we'regoing to try and predict that, but
there's just there's so much involved ina Royal Rumble match, and the stakes
are that WWE is basically claiming likethis is our next guy or gal that
is going to be at the topand main event basically get a title shot
at WrestleMania. So it's it's bigstakes. The match is always always well
done and it's a lot of funto be had. And we'll go over

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the entire card as well here onthe Royal Rumble Preview on the line change
Fox Sports and Gambler presented by TierraAuto Insuranzavon. I'll go back to you
with this then, As you justsaid, there are a lot of great
storylines and a lot of great thingsthat have happened. Which one's your favorite?
Though? Like what rumble? Doyou always end up going back to?
I mean to go rumble? There'sone rumble When you ask, like

(07:55):
what is rumbles? Is ninety twothat's the best one. And I don't
think I don't think anybody or alot of people would disagree with me.
I mean, come on, that'sthat's the only answer. Is that the
only answer? You know? I'llask you podcast host Nick Peicon that next.
Is there only one answer? Nick? Only one? I guess because

(08:16):
this is my one A as well, but my one B would actually be
in the nineteen ninety one Rumble.Even though I'm a fan of the entire
pay per view, it's one ofmy favorite word rumbles ever. The Rumble
match was actually pretty good, eventhough hull Cogan wound not winning and he
was the champ at the ordered.He wasn't the champ at the time,
but Sergeant Daughter had one developed atthe event. They had so many stories

(08:37):
going along, and that was myfirst Rumble that I ever watched, So
that's why as a fan, likethat just sticks with me since I was
like five years old. But yeah, I mean, I agreed ninety two
Rumble. There's so many Hall ofFamers in it. We just did a
deep dive on that and really doveinto it in terms of like the numbers

(08:58):
and how many Hall of Famers arein there, how many what time for
like how long people were in thematch and stuff like that, and how
everything came out of that event.So I think with all the stories going
on, like there's been maybe betterrumbles if you want to look at it
from like a technical standpoint, andbut the in terms of like that match

(09:24):
itself and not looking ahead to WrestleMania, like everything was on the line in
that particular match. No one wasreally mentioned in WrestleMania at that point,
So I think the ninety two Rumblesobviously up there for me as well.
Jason anything but the ninety one orninety two Rumble or are you on the
same path. Well, I'm notgoing to disagree with ninety two Rumble being

(09:45):
one of the best of all time, but I feel like because we talk
a lot about how modern wrestling isnot as good as it used to be,
we sort of discount the events thathappened. And maybe I have a
little bit of bias because I wasthere, But the twenty eighteen Men's Rumble,
specifically from front to end, isone of the best booked rumbles of

(10:05):
all time. You start with thewhole Baron Corbin thing getting eliminated early,
rushing everybody out of it or knockingeverybody down and then trying to leave.
Heath Slater then comes in. Thenyou have that running joke for the next
ten of six or seven spots wherehe's getting knocked down before he even gets
in the ring, Big E forcespancakes down his throat, and then when

(10:28):
Seamus finally throws him into the ring, he immediately eliminates Seamoths for a fantastic
pop and a good comedy spot.And the final four of that rumble Shinsky,
Balor Sina and Rains and then eventuallyShinskey and Rains is some of the
most tense and like exciting moments ina royal Rumble for me, ever,

(10:52):
because everyone thinks Rains is gonna winwhenever he's final two, and then when
he doesn't, the pop is thatmuch bigger. It was huge in eighteen
when Schinsk threw him over the top. It happened to get in twenty when
Drew McIntyre threw him over the top. So having the current favorites in Baler

(11:13):
and Shinsk versus the old guard inSena and Rain square off like that was
brilliant. I think a little moreconsideration. I don't know, it's not
gonna be greatest of all time,but I think some more consideration should be
given to the twenty eighteen Men's Rumblespecifically. I was there. Yeah,
that one was incredibly well done.And the thing is they've been on a

(11:35):
run of really good rumble matches andwe will talk about that. I got
to bring up one that I don'tknow why I like this one because it
had no business being that good.And I probably think that people remember the
undercard more than they do the rumblematch. But the two thousand Rumble was
stupid good for no reason whatsoever.It's not like there was anything that flashy

(11:56):
about it. But man, thatthing was always just like I always go
back and watch that because I watchedthe that was the McK foley and mc
foley and Triple H match where theydid like a street fight and the Rock
even showed up. It was likecrazy that match, and that's why I
ended up going back and watching thatall the time. But then all of
a sudden, I ended up watchingthe Rumble match, and that thing just

(12:18):
stuck in my mind. That oneis so well done. So if I
had a second favorite, it mightbe the two thousand Rumbles. So come
on, we got Rakeshi out theredancing with too Cool in the middle of
the Rumble. Come on, comeon, smash his face on the floor
exactly multiple times. He comes inmultiple times, gets thrown out multiple times.
I come on, bro, Iagree, that is two Rumble and

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then Rakeshi dancing. That's it.That's the Rumble's best moments. That's the
thing. Yeah, two thousand Rakishidancing, that's it. That's all you
need to know. I can't watchthat whole pay per view anymore because I
believe that's the one where we allgot a little too familiar with May Young?
Is it not? Oh boy?What? I don't know if that's
on Peacock nowadays. Hopefully. Idon't know if it is, but I
have a I have a traumatic.I remember this. It was the year,

(13:03):
the year two thousand, I turnedthirteen. My I ordered the Rumble
was like a birthday gift, andmy dad was sitting there watching with me,
and we get to this segment andhe's looking at me like, what
the hell are you watching? What? I'm like, I didn't play this?
You think I played this? They'rethey're they're dogging me too. That
was a that was an interesting giftsare available on Twitter? Are they really

(13:28):
know that? Why you know this? I'm just von that's a great question.
I'm glad that even though Nick said, don't ask about it, you
did it anyway, because this podcastis sufficially canceled at this moment. Sorry,
done, it's over, so itmight be so we mentioned a lot,
and I'm glad Jason did mention thetwenty eighteen Rumble because I feel probably

(13:48):
from like twenty sixteen on, theyhave been on a run of just incredible
rumbles and that includes the women's becauseI would say in my top five is
definitely like last year's women's rumble match, which was just so perfect. I'm
an Edge fan. I love EdgeEdge one, and I still even like
the women's match better. I thoughtit was so damn well done. So

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what is a what is a modernrumble uh done for you that you like?
Because obviously wrestling is different nowadays.I think it is. I think
it's Nick or somebody else pointed out, but yeah, things are a little
bit different in modern wrestling. Ithink it was Jason that said, like,
modern wrestling isn't looked at, youknow, as being as good as
back in the day in the eightiesand the nineties. But what is a
modern rumble you know, mean toyou? And when you look back on

(14:35):
it, you know, what,what are the rumbles have done that you've
liked over the past few years.And I'll start with you Nick. The
one thing that hasn't changed is thesetting up for WrestleMania matches. So that's
that's a thing that you know,you can go through stars and build new
stars through the rumble matches all youwant, but like, the one thing
that is a constant is setting upWrestleMania matches. So that's probably my favorite

(14:58):
aspect of that. They haven't changedeven in modern rubble matches. I agree
with Jason. The twenty eighteen Rumblewas great, especially the men's rumble.
I've loved Ronda Rawsey coming out andthe Women's Rumble two, so that was
quite a moment at the end ofthat. So being there for that,
yeah, I think we all werethere. Actually it was a great moment
where just like you remember that andyou're like, man, like, this

(15:20):
is cool. Even though Rowsey wasn'tin the rubble match, like you knew
that, you know now she wasin WWE. She was like the rowdy
Ronda Rowsey character type thing with likepaying homage to Roddy Piper. I enjoyed
that, so kind of like enjoyedthat. Obviously it was in Philly,
so maybe a little bias the factthat I was there the two thousand and

(15:41):
two rumble is not modern. ButI love like mister Perfect's return, so
like, will we see returns?You know, there's so many rumors going
on every year about a possible return. There's even a WW Hall of Famer
that's been rumored to come back.I'm gonna mention his name. I'll leave
that up to you guys if youwant to bring it up, but I
would be interested in seeing if thatcomes to fruition and seeing what happens with

(16:06):
that. Obviously, somebody that theyjust released is rumored to be coming back.
I don't necessarily think it's gonna happen, but that's the beauty of the
way, at least this year.I mean, it's not a beauty that
WW releases so many superstars there.I am a w W shill superstars.
It's not a beauty that they're releasing. But like the aspect of them possibly

(16:29):
making a return for at least aone off, you know, it's gonna
get the crowd pop. They're backin front of a crowd the first time
in two years, so I thinkthat'll help the matches, the women's and
the men's. So I'm looking forwardto that. But the main aspect I
think that I still love of arubble match is the storytelling of what you
know, stories that are going intothe rumble and stories that start at the

(16:51):
rubble and then head to WrestleMania.So that's one of the things that's always
been a constant that I do lookforward to every year. Yeah, Jason,
just seems like, through though itso much has changed with the wrestling
and even the reception of wrestling haschanged, it feels like the Rumble always
still it's still the most well doneand you know, greatest part of wrestling.
They've changed a few things, I'msure about it like, but for

(17:14):
the most part, it's the same, you know, And as Nick said,
they still set up a lot ofwrestling ani events. This event still
is very much probably the best event, or at least match in wrestling that
they do. Yes, it's becauseof its unpredictability of a lot of modern
wrestling gets a lot of the criticismfor modern wrestling is that sometimes it's so

(17:37):
predictable it's tiring. Now there issomething to be said about you know,
people expect the result that you canstill give them, but you can still
do it in a way that makesthem question whether that result is still as
predetermined as it seems like. Ithink, for example, recent Roman Reigns
championship matches, the way that theybook those, you know, going in,

(17:59):
he's going to win and that championshipbrain is going to continue. But
the way that they actually book thosematches, there are moments where you think,
huh, maybe he does get pinnedhere or that like two and a
half, two and three quarter count. That feeling, that feeling of questioning
what you thought was supposed to happen, is what makes the rumble so perfect
because you don't even go in withthat thought, but you still have that

(18:22):
feeling. Every I said this lastyear, every time that number ten hits
that screen and you start counting down, it's gonna happen? What fifty sticks
times between the two different rumbles onSaturday, not counting one and two because
they're already in the ring, sofifty six different times you do a ten
second counter and you have no ideawhat's gonna happen. At zero. It

(18:42):
could be a mid carter. Itcould be someone you haven't seen in years.
It could be a brand new debutsigning. They could pull a chair
out from under the ring and there'sDan Housen. You don't know, you
don't know. I know Dan Howiseis not gonna happen. And that's what
I think makes this event so dangspecial. It's that adrenaline of not fully

(19:07):
knowing what's coming until you see itin front of you and then like Edge
in twenty twenty, not even believingit when it's happening. That's it's awesome.
It's special. Yeah, vod Isdoes it? Does it keep retain
its special kind of kind of waysfor you as well? Because you said
you'd like the ninety two and alsotwo thousand and all of that. So
you know, we all like theearly rubbles or the nineties and early two

(19:30):
thousands rumbles, but are the arethe modern rumbles still doing it for you?
Does it still feel like a specialevent for you? I mean yeah,
most definitely. Because the stakes aresuper high. You get a chance
to potentially main an event. It'snot a guarantee you will main event.
That used to be the thing butno longer the case. But you get
a chance to, you know,have a big match at the biggest show

(19:53):
of the year, and you haveto year. We're just a sucker for
that. Even though ww might putthat match on the roarer rumble winner in
the opening match, doesn't matter.It's still you know, the potential to
be in the main event. Sobecause the stakes are so high and you
have so many moving parts and you'regonna have so many people involved, and
all the things that could potentially happenit. You know, it's even if

(20:17):
you're like a super jaded wrestling fan. It's like, you know, al
Pacino this when I'm out, theypulled me back in. They always pull
you back in. They really doingthe Rod Rumble time, right, It
doesn't matter what's going on. YouYou probably didn't watch from Summer Slam's Survivor
series, but you came back inJanuary to see the Ward Rumble. So
yeah, it's just it's just thepotential of what's going to be there.
I will say I don't like theformer leg where they always do the sign

(20:41):
point at the end, you gota point to the sign and the fireworks
gotta go off. That's maybe that'sgonna stop. Yeah, I don't know.
This is WW They'll they'll get aformula that they think works and they'll
use it for twenty five years.But other than that, no, it
always brings you back. And thatwas at least for that one night.
And even if you don't watch afterthat, or maybe you stick around to
WrestleMania and you don't stick around afterthat, either way you're gonna start watching

(21:04):
again. At least you're gonna,you know, take a look at around
war rumble time. Yeah, andmy favorite thing about rumble past maybe like
you know, all the returns orsurprises, all the unpredictability. My favorite
thing in the world about the rumbleare rumble stats, Michael Cole repeatedly,

(21:29):
just like regurgitating, rumble stats isthe best one. I don't know if
anybody has a favorite rumble stat thatthey can give, But is there any
that come off the top of yourhead, because I don't even I'm not
even gonna call on anyone, justblurt it out. What's a favorite rumble
stat? Ooh uh? They're alsogreat. Probably the shortest elimination, right,

(21:55):
Satina Morella one point nine seconds,right, the shortest time in the
rumble, because I think the bigstat which always like hominy elimination, somebody
got in the single rumble, likeKane had that record for a long time,
and I think that record's been brokentwice since then. It's just it's
just it's kind of lost its luster. But I think the shortest time in
the rumble is always a cool stat. And I think maybe the longest time

(22:18):
too, like who who was inthere the longest? Those two my two.
Yeah, Raysteria has the longest ina in a match still because even
Edge was number one all the wayto the end, but that was only
like fifty seven minutes. Uh,Raymysteria is in there for over an hour.
I think they technically do they technicallygive it to did not give it
to Daniel Brian anymore, Brian Danielsonbecause he had the created to word a
Rumble record. Yeah, I don'tknow if they did. Actually, I

(22:41):
don't know if they I mean,I'm good with not counting that. Yeah,
you know, it's funny. Idon't think they put it in there
because wwe just put something out anduh they're they're saying Raymysterio is still number
one. Well that's okay. Imean, I'm pretty sure they before Brian
Danielson went to AW they were like, Brian Daniel, Brian has the record,
and it's like what he went hewent where? Oh no, no,
no, no, rast got therecord. Again, we don't even

(23:02):
count the Greatest War Rumble. Solet's do a bit of trivia and then
we'll get into the card. Onthe other side of the break. You're
tuning into the Royal Rumble preview hereon the line change. Fox Sports,
a game presented by Care Auto Insurance, Von Johnson, Nick Pcone, Jasponelli
and myself John Janssen. A littletrivia. Who has the longest cumulative time
spent in the ring? So notjust one night, but cumulative cumulative time?

(23:26):
Geez if I can spit that oneout to the longest cumulative time.
Anyone have a guess for the everwomen's side, Yeah, for all time?
Just Vaughn might know this one.Ercho know the women's uh bianca last
year? No cumulative Let's keep Charlottecombined. Yeah, Charlotte Flair. Yep,

(23:51):
Charlotte Flair an hour and fifty oneminutes in the rumble. I know
you guys are the most eliminated,But who also has the most royal rum
appearances appeared? Yep? Cain isthe one with the most royal appearances.
Yes, so highest highest number ofwrestlers involved in elimination. I'm not sure

(24:12):
what that means. I mean likelike like when when eight people have to
put over the fact. Okay,so, so who do you think that
is? Jason took that? Personally? Who do you think sure did was
eliminated? Yeah? Wrestlers involved inelimination Diesel. No, No, I'm

(24:36):
gonna big show, Big Daddy V. I haven't heard that name in a
long, long long time time.Kevin Kevin Nash's back Herky has no idea
why, and I don't take aspace. Yeah so uh oh no.

(25:03):
So winners by entry number. Whichentry number has the most wins? There
are a couple that are tied forsecond, but there is one that has
the most twenty twenty seven, twentyseven. Can anyone name at least one
of the other three that are tiedper seconds? Two thirty is one of
them? One is one of them. The other one is go ahead?

(25:25):
Twenty four twenty four. Yeah,this is off top of the dome,
bros. In front of you.No, we just did. I don't
know if that's really good. Numbertwenty four. And you know what,
number twenty four has a great listof them, Haul Cogan in ninety one,
Steve Boston in ninety eight, andtwo thousand of the Rock. Uh
so those are like the big Iguess like Vince mc mann. Number twenty

(25:47):
four was like that number Back ofthe Day, number thirty two thousand and
seven, The Undertaker won that.John Cena in two thousand and eight and
twenty sixteen, Triple h Number onenineteen ninety five, Seawn Michaels two thousand
for redacted. I think everybody knowswho that one is. One is Edge,
so number one has actually had It'sit's crazy. Maybe they do play

(26:10):
that, play that one a littlebit too much, the number one getting
all the way to the end,but they do do it. Now here's
another one, real quick, well, real quick. Number two should get
some love too, because it startsat the same time as number one.
I don't know why to do that, you know what, I don't know
why they do. They should justmake a number right, They should have
number two one, I guess becauseit sounds like, oh, he was
number one and got all the wayto the end. Your absolutely funny funny

(26:30):
you mentioned that. Do you rememberlast year and the lead up to the
World Rumble, Edge was supposed tobe number two and then the day of
all of a sudden he was numberone, which completely telegramed really gonna go
all the way? I didn't,Yeah, I didn't. All the ralls
beforehand he was two and Randy wasone, and then all of a sudden
when it came for Rumble time theyflipped him, which we were the viewer.

(26:52):
That's what famous for. This isa great one to end on because
it's going to lead us obviously intothe Rumble paper review, which we'll get
to next. But most times asa runner up question, well the women
it has to be real ripley,right, I'm not sure, you know
what, I'm not sure what thewomen's is. On the women's side.

(27:14):
Charlotte Flair is the only Woe tohave reached the final two participants twice.
She was a runner up in nineteenand I think they've had four different Randy
it's tied. Yep. Yeah,not Randy Orton Roman Roman reigns. He
was the runner up in fourteen,seventeen, eighteen, and twenty. There
was there was a run that theyused him for as like because everybody would

(27:37):
boo them at the end, sothey would use it to like actually get
the baby face to like get cheeredat the end. I remember Shinsky eliminating
Roman at the end, and theneverybody are like yay because they didn't want
Roman. That was all. Didn'twant Roman to win. It wasn't even
and people like Shinsk and that's youknow, that's a very marky crown.
But I think it was more becauselike Rains was the one eliminated, so

(27:59):
they're like, yeah, boo Rains, no way he won, and everybody's
glad. You would have thought thatby now Roman Range would have won like
five Royal Rumbles. He's only winone and as everybody hated it, Wow,
it is hard to imagine he didonly win one. That's hard.
At the end of that year hewon the title and cheered it. Yeah
all right, So here's what we'regonna do. We're gonna go to a
break and we're going to predict someRoyal Rumble. We're going to add maybe

(28:23):
to the stats of Royal Rumble history. We're gonna preview the entire card,
go over the Rumble match that's comingout next year on the Line Change Fox
Sports and Gambler presented by Curato Insurance. The Gambler presented by Curato Insurance.
Welcome back to the Line Change FoxSports and Gambler presented by Kauto Insurance.

(28:45):
You're tuned into a special edition ofthe Line Change. It is the Royal
Rumble Review and of course had toget the uh we just called ourselves the
Roundtable. I think for a bunchof wrestling dudes to not have a stable
Nick aim for our for our segmentsis, uh, that's a that's a
dropped ball. The heads of theround table, the heads of the round

(29:06):
table. There, that's pretty good. That's it's it's not great. But
for one on the fly, youknow, yeah, I know they're gonna
like take this John Janson off theline, change get him out. Uh
So joining me today in the voicesyou hear Nick Piccone at Underscore pecone on
Twitter, Hire Nick Piccone, PleaseVon Johnson at Von m Johnson and also

(29:30):
jas Fonelli at big Man Finelli.So now we're getting into predictions for the
Rumble, and of course there arealways other matches outside of the Royal Rumble
events. We'll start off with theone that's not a championship match, what
I'm sort of looking forward to,only because I actually do like two of
these wrestlers, Edge and Beth Phoenixagainst MS and Maurice. I'll start with

(29:52):
Vaughn here who we have winning thisone, uh, Edge and Beth Phoenix
only because I don't see Beth Phoenixlosing her first match back and she's a
bunch of years and she's gonna beatthe living hell out of Maurice on us.
All, yeah, I know that'sgonna be such a hot tag,
you know it is, like,that's gonna be so great when Beth Phoenix
gets her like gets her hands onMaurice and like beats the crap out of
her. So you know what,Von and not Vaughn, Jason and Nick,

(30:15):
I'll make this quay, are weall going Edge and Beth Phoenix?
I imagine? So yes? Not? Man? What no way? Really
sorry, I have to prolong thissegment, but I see, you know,
Edge and Miss eventually having the blowoff at Edge win and that so
uh, you know, it doesn'tmake sense in my view of how I

(30:36):
see this going for edgend Beth Phoenixto win. I think they're gonna drive
this out a little bit longer.So the Miss and Maurice somehow win.
I like it. All right,let's go into the three championship matches.
Man, the rumble card is alwaysso good. But the Row Women's Championship,
it's Becky Lynch and do Drop.I'm not going to have or make

(30:56):
anyone have to explain what do Dropis. Nobody knows nobody and nobody will
care after she There's no way beloses. I agree with I agree with
you. There's no way that BeckyLynch loses, but Piper Nevin because I
refuse to use the other name Iknow a great name too. But she's

(31:18):
gonna come out of this looking likea million dollars. I guarantee it.
Be is gonna make her look likean absolute stud, which I think is
the whole reason for this match,just to get her even further away from
that awful, awful even Marie nthing. So if you if you have
Do Drop, if you have DoDrop in this match, coming out looking

(31:38):
like a killer, even in defeat, I think mission accomplished. Nick.
I kind of agree with Jason there. I do. I think that I
would like to see something in termsof like do you Drop loses gets mad.
There's still plenty of spots left inthe women's rubble. Enter the rubble,
win it, and then eventually challengeCharlotte. You know, WrestleMania build

(32:00):
that up and maybe you have giveDo Drop a moment at WrestleMania. I
don't know how they would build thatto make Do Drop like a fan favorite,
but I could see that happening becauseotherwise, you know, what,
what have they done with do Droplately? I mean not much so uh,
you know, they've released so manywomen over the last few months that
you know, they need to startelevating some of these other women and hopefully

(32:22):
this is a good spot for dowDrop to do. So listen, Pipe
and Kniven got this match because theydon't have enough women, right like,
they gotta put all they put allthe women in the rumbles, all right
now? What so that's fair?I like, I think Piperkniven is super
talented. I don't know what thehell WW is thinking with the name and
just do Drop? Who thought ofthat? I don't, I don't know,
but Bess going away now, youknow what, wrote one quick thing

(32:46):
here. If do Drop somehow beatsthe odds and wins this match, it
would be amazing if she pulled aWalter because I'm not using his name either,
picked up the mic and said thewinner of this match and new role
women's champion. Looked right at thelens and said, Piper Niven and drop
the mic. I about that.Actually, may you may have just convinced

(33:07):
me that she's she's actually gonna winnow I don't know that was that was
convincing that Jason, Uh, let'smove on. That's all it takes,
because that would be that would makeme go wild. I'd probably like jump
up and spill a beer during that, like I did with Matt Hardy and
Jeff Hardy when they returned. So, yeah, that's a great one.
Now the two incredibly good matches,Roman Rains and Seth Rollins for the Universal

(33:30):
Championship. This one is probably goingto go the Roman Reigns. I don't
I don't foresee him losing this one, but I'm curious to see if any
of you guys think. So we'llstart with you, Nick Roman Reign Seth
Rollins. Obviously a lot of historythere between the two wrestlers. It's gonna
be a great match as well.But who ends up winning Brock Lesner winning

(33:52):
the title of Day one? Uh, kind of flip me a little bit.
I can see Rolins winning here andthen obviously do Lear Rains at Mania
and Rains coming out on top.But I don't see how you have Rollins
win. But I'm gonna go withSeth Rollins because I don't know where they're

(34:14):
going. Lesnar went into the titlewas weird. I still don't know if
I'm a fan of it. I'lldefinitely be a fan of Lesnar Versus Lastly,
though, but I think that Rainsand Rollins is a little just random.
But no so has brought Lesnar beinginserted into the fatal four way day
one, and then he wound upone end of the title, so who

(34:35):
knows what their plans are, ButI'll just go Rollins because a Lesnar Rains
title for title thing, I don'tsee that happening, Jason. So I
am picking Roman Rains to win thismatch, and I'll explain why a little
bit when we get to the nextone, because it requires my explanation for
the next title match. But Iwill say that as random as this booking

(34:59):
was, as much as the draftjust does not matter anymore, wild card
rule, whatever you want to callit. I thought that this feud was
very well booked, just going ontheir history name dropping Mox if you recall,
it started with Seth knocking on thedoor to Roman's locker room with the

(35:20):
shield Cadence, which I thought waspretty a nice little throwback sort of thing.
I think this has the potential tobe match of the night just because
of how well these two work together. But I do think Roman comes out
on top, and I will explainuh in the next match. Von it's
Roman Reigns. Yep, that's it. Yeah, I think so. I

(35:44):
think pretty point, I think it'sRoman Domine. Sorry Nick, but no,
I I think you're right, Vaughan, pretty fainly like I don't.
I don't see Roman Reigns losing thismatch now, that could mean something different
the next one. It's a matchthat we all wanted, probably should have
been a WrestleMania match. But I'lltake it at the Rumble because Rumbles Rumble's

(36:05):
sort of another wrestling to in termsof how big the scope of the event
is because it's at like baseball stadiumsnow and it's become a little bit of
a stadium event. But brock Lesnerand Bobby Lashley, brock Lesner the WWE
Champion going up against Bobby Lashly.I have a feeling we are gonna hear
a couple Bobby Lasts on this,aren't we. I'm gonna start with Jason.

(36:28):
Here is Bobby lash gonna get thisdone. Bobby Lashley has been good,
It's been fun. Bobby lash isgonna get this done because Paul Hayman's
gonna turn on Brocklester go back toRoman reigns, and you're gonna get lesser
that way for the Universal title,the match you were supposed to have in
the beginning. So Nick, yourlogical, Nick, your logic is sound,

(36:49):
But I think the title changes handsin this match and not the other
one. I agree with Hayman turning, but I think it's going to happen
at Mania. But I mean yourlogic is sound too, So the way
w W E books things, like, both of our logic is sound because
of w W logic. So that'strue, that's right. True. My

(37:12):
my logical brand says, oh,Brock wins, because that's what Brock does.
But I think that's what I'm saying, like my I don't know my
conspiracy brand or what my my thirdeyes open right now and I'm like my
third eye a second, big,big match. Bob can win this thing

(37:32):
match, Bob m B. Ifyou believe the dirt sheet chatter. Apparently
Big Eie was never supposed to comeout of Day one as the champion.
It is supposed to be Seth Rollins, who was supposed to lose to Bobby
Lashley eventually anyway, So if youuse the real rumble as make good and
put the storyline back on track,Lashly beats Lessener here, Lashly wins,

(37:58):
and then I'm kind of falling inline with what Jason said and that Lesner
gets Roman at WrestleMania, but hedoesn't. Just you know, talk with
way into that match. We'll talkabout it. We'll talk about it.
I like it, Nick, we'regoing to going Bobby Lashley? Is this
a Bobby Lashley. I'm going Brock. I'm going Brock because I don't like
I'm with Vaughn and like Brock wins. You know, that's that's simply a

(38:20):
Brock wins, unless obviously the Haymanturn happens sooner than I think it will,
because the whole Hayman thing was soweird, and that's why it just
automatically feels like a plan between RomanReigns and Paul Hayman. But I don't
know if that plan comes to fruitionto tonight. Not tonight, but at
the Royal Rumble. I think itcomes to fruition down the road. So

(38:44):
I'll say Brock wins just to bedifferent. I guess, Wow, always
trying to be different, Nick,I get it, but no, Yeah,
I think Bobby Lashley. I thinkI'm gonna go with laste here.
It makes sense for him because they'vebeen building him up. As you know,
this is kind of big monster likebrock Lesner character. And I think

(39:04):
this is that's gonna be the notthe passing of the torch, but it's
gonna be the proof of the pudding. Like lastly, is you know,
the the guy that can do this? So that is it for the undercard.
And of course, now what wedo we go and check out the
Royal rumble matches. We're gonna startoff with the Let's start off with the
men's because that's the one I haveup right now, So we'll start with

(39:25):
that one first. We'll start fromthe bottom here, work all your way
up to the top. I needa yes or no. We'll just go
down from Vaughn Jason and Nick doit real quick. Will any Superstar War
record thirteen plus eliminations? Yes orno? No? No, no,
no, no, Yeah, I'mgonna know on that one too, Johnny

(39:45):
Knoxville entry number this is the bestone. Like this is why I love
doing this right here on the Gamblerare presented by Care Auto Insurance. Johnny
Knoxville entry number and it's a it'san over under over fifteen and a half
for under fifteen and a half underunder. I think under too. I
think they're gonna get it out ofthe way quick vote over wow, because

(40:09):
I think Nick is the show.I think we're the squares and Nick is
being I think we've never had,uh, like a celebrity that just comes
out last. So I think,like, I think we're actually gonna have
two firsts uh and the men's andwomen's rumble. And I'll explain that as
we get to the women's, butuh, this will be the first.

(40:30):
I think, you know, JohnnyKnoxville comes out thirtieth and maybe gets eliminated
quickly, uh because I understand,like, why would you wait for a
celebrity to appear like in the rubblematch, but even hyping in since the
beginning of the month, but uhw so anything can happen right, come
out early and literally get thrown intolike the third row by somebody has thirty

(40:53):
two and his ticket wrestling and itgets maybe he says the record for the
quickest elimination. Ever. Listen,Johnny Knoxville is eliminating sammy' z ain I'm
telling you right now, oh morethan likely. Yeah, but then he'll
go right out. I'm Johnny Knoxville, this is a jackass, and then
warboard I'm thrown out, but Sammyeliminating him, and then no, there

(41:22):
is there is no predetermined one Johnny. I think Johnny Knoxville can start the
match. He could, and hewalk out and just say, I'm Johnny
Knoxville, Welcome to Jackass. ThenSammy z Ain comes out and he gets
in the ring, tries to eliminateHi. Johnny Knoxville turns it, gets
him over, and then some youknow, big burly dude comes out and
just beats the ground. Otis right, yeah, right, yeah, al

(41:44):
right? Beer? Does beer showup at the rumble? Yes? Or
no? Send beer? Uh?Length of match? Is it going to
be sixty minutes or longer? Orfifty nine minutes and fifty nine seconds or
shorter? I think the match designedgoes an hour, so I think they're
over on that. Every time.I think last year under last year I

(42:07):
sture did go under barely barely bya couple of minutes. Yeah, how
did they go under an hour?It's a minute, didn't think about it.
Stick to one fifty minutes? Ithink true. If the average is
ninety seconds and you have twenty eightcountdowns, that's what twenty eight minutes plus
fourteen minutes is forty two definite minutesand then whatever after that, So fifty

(42:32):
seven that makes sense. So yeah, a gonna get on with two minutes.
I didn't know it was ninety seconds. Now I'm gonna go over.
I'll go over. I'm sticking withthe over two over as well. But
I think they'll they will make anexception because it's a Saturday night, the
back in front of fans. Theywere not last year and it was a
Sunday and it was the Thunderdome andit didn't. Those pay per views and

(42:54):
w W pay per views in generalhaven't been super long these days. But
I think they're they're gonna make ita little longer this year for or Rumble.
So will then match be won bya first time winner? Hmmm?
Yes, I think so too.I say yes, Yeah, you know
what I'm gonna go with. I'mI'm gonna I'm gonna say yes because my

(43:15):
win win is the first time,it would be okay, I kind of
have to two kind of picks here, but the both will be for first
time win is awesome. Will theentry winner's entry number be odd even neither
that I'm gonna go even based offof my so I got like sound picked

(43:37):
that I made straight shooters, butalso have like again conspiracy brain pick,
and based off of that, I'mgonna go even. I'm gonna go even
to because it was odd last year. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go
even as well. See I don'teven know it was odd last year.
Wait one one and Women's Breath,Yeah, they're both let's go even numbers,

(44:00):
brand of brand of winner, RawNXT, SmackDown or any other winner
slash Free Agent. Well, I'mgonna for Men's World, Bro, I'm
gonna go raw because right now thereare twenty two announced entrants and only fire
from SmackDown with no Josh. Yeah, for real, I'm looking at I'm
looking at Wikipedia right now, whichreal quick shout out to Wickney for listening

(44:22):
Seth Rollins as Seth freaking Rollins.I love that. But there there are
wrong right, That's right. Thereare twenty two out of thirty entrance announced
as of today, Shamous Happy Corbyn, Madcap Moss, Samdy's and and Kovie
King's different SmackDown. Johnny Knoxville isunaffiliated. The rest are role They just
don't give a damn about Yeah,thirteen of twenty two, right, No,

(44:46):
that's wrong. That my math iswrong. There crap, fifteen sixteen
out of twenty two, sixteen outthere. It is sixteen out of twenty
two are raw at the moment.That's why. That's it is wild.
So I'm going wrong. SmackDown isgonna get a bunch. Smack is gonna
have to get a bunch of guystonight. Right, They're gonna have to

(45:06):
at least get what four maybe five, and then you have three unknowns.
You gotta have this match from SmackDown. Right. Do you think McAfee will
that if it takes him off thecommentary for a little bit, because I
think it's a little overboarding commentary.Another surprise tension potentially. How about Corey

(45:28):
Graves, That is interesting. Heis clear. Reports are that he's kind
of getting back into wrestling. Yeah, that's it, that's it. I
thought he was gonna take a ball. I thought Brock was gonna h him
with the five on Raw or something. That's why I thought he was gonna
like be the McAfee Corey Graves showdown. I want to see that. Absolutely

(45:51):
a w story. They absolutely let'slet's move on. We gotta uh,
we gotta get through these a littlebit quick. When will the winner enter
the match? One through five throughten, eleven through fifteen, sixteen through
twenty, twenty one through twenty five, or twenty six through thirty, sixteen
through twenty I'm going twenty one totwenty five, twenty six through thirty.

(46:12):
I'm actually leaning twenty one through twentyfive as well. I think I think
both winners are going to be laterbecause they were so early last year one
and three. Who will win theMen's Royal Rumble Match? Now they give
us to the options. I don'tI don't think this is telling, but
it's obviously anybody wrestling is going totake this, uh maybe some way.
But Biggie aj Styles, Raymisterio,Kevin Owens, and Omas are all listed,

(46:35):
and then there's any other superstar Ithink Biggie. So the odds aren't
great because it's like, oh,just pick any other superstar. You're bound
to win it. But uh yeah, I think I think Biggie O big
ee aj styles. So I gotagain sound pick that I've made on straight
Shooters. I picked Kevin Owens becausehe hasn't been known yet and he's kind

(46:59):
of I to do something. Yeah, me too, But the conspiracy brain
the third eye because Big Match Bobwill win the w W Championship. God
brock Lesna comes into number thirty winsand that's how he gets Roman reigns.
That's exactly what's gonna happen. Oh, drop that Bob on y'all. High

(47:20):
I like me, now, Idon't. I don't, I do,
but I don't. Yeah, y'all, y'all sat y'all simmer on that for
a little bit. No, No, you know we're gonna do. We're
just gonna move. We're gonna we'regonna do the Jalen Hurts thing. We're
gonna take a deuce and we're gonnamove on all right over to the women's
and yeah, we'll try and getthese done quick. Will any superstar record

(47:44):
eight plus eliminations? Yes or no? Yeah? No, Well Michelle mccols
and the Rubbles she had ten,so maybe, Oh God, Bianca bell
Air entry number over under fifteen anda half under over under. Yeah,
I'm gonna say under as well.Uh, same thing. Length the match
over an hour? Under an hourunder? I guess under this is only

(48:07):
go under, yeah, go underas well. Will the match be won
by a first time winner? That'syes, gotta be yes, yeah,
yeah, because they've only been likethree or four winners. Charlot and Becky
are champions, so they're out soright, Yeah, I don't see repeating
so well, well I don't seeit. And if Oscar comes back,

(48:29):
I don't see that neither. Ihave my will. Will the winner's entry
number be otter even I'm going eveneven again, yeah even. I guess
whatever brand of winner, Raw NXT, SmackDown any other, SmackDown any other
raw, any other when, well, you'll see. You'll see where I'm

(48:50):
getting at. When winter maybe thematch? When will the winner enter the
match? I'm going twenty six thirtymiddle, middle of the match, fifteen
range or whatever. Who will winthe women's Royal Rumble? It's Bianca Belair,
Charlotte Flair, Leda, Raya Ripley, Live Morgan and than any other

(49:15):
superstar. I'm going any other metoo. I think the conventional wisdom will
say Bailey because she's you know,people think she's gonna come back. I'm
gonna go Rea Ripley, She's she'sbeen I think either. I know she
was the last one eliminated last year, I believe or was it Charlotte right,
you're right, and she was amongthe final ones to be eliminated.

(49:36):
I believe in twenty twenty, SoLear Ripley. How about that? I
said earlier, we're gonna see afirst time event happened here. I think
we're gonna see finally a legend wina royal rubble match. We have a
run to WrestleMania where she will eventuallylose and retire officially, and that will

(49:59):
be Leader. I don't know howit happens, but lead us on that
lead us on that docket. Andit stood out to me why not I
fall into the conventional wisdom category thatvull And just said, I am picking
Bailey. I'm picking Bailey too.I know I'm such a I'm gonna be
such a good we gotta there mightbe a chance for a big confrontation in

(50:21):
this match. All right, youjust mentioned Leader. Guess who else is
on this show, Beth Phoenix.Guess who used to mess with Edge?
Really rewarded the viewer? And thatlook storyline? Please, I'm just saying
we just need Edge out there andrings off for some reason. Oh no,

(50:43):
look, ladies relaxed, like allright, that's stun it over.
Why would be Beth? Beth comesout number one, Edge comes out to
support his wife at lead us numbertwo. I'm here for the drama,
all right, chosen violence? Isit for a Royal Rumble weekend? A

(51:08):
Royal Rumble preview? Now before Iget out of here, we're also a
sports gambling show here in the lineChase Fox Sports and Gamble presented by Ciato
in shirts, So real quick?Who is winning this weekend's games? Fun?
We'll start with you. I don'tknow, all right, Jason,
I don't know. I am.I am hoping for a Bengals nine ers

(51:31):
super Bowl like the eighties. Sameplease, same. I'm tired of the
Chiefs. I was very upset theybeat the Bills in the way they did.
I mean, my brother laws ofBills fans, so I was rooting
for them up by proxy. ButI like the Bills. Uh So I'm
kind of done with the Chiefs andbetween the pack forty nine Ers and Rams.

(51:54):
I don't really care, but it'dbe nice Bengals forty nine ers little
throwback. Give me it makes somesense. Please, Chiefs haven't won that
many championships to be like, I'mtired of them. No, it's not
about championships. It's just about seeingthem like continued success. I'm just I
want to do team love it.Patrick Mahomes is greatness. I love greatness.

(52:15):
I listen. I'm not ting that. I'm just I want someone to
I want to watch somebody new someoneYou watch the Patriots for twenty years.
We can get your check. Iknow the chief Still, that's part of
it. Chiefs to be the Patriotsagain before they become I guess I would
go cheese. I'm going to putthe favor from that. But also Andy

(52:37):
Reid, former Eagles coach, welike and still I against him. But
look, you're a compromise, sothat doesn't count. Next year's a different
Listen, Next years a different stories. The Chiefs are an hour away to
winning a super Bowl. Get himout of him. We're not. I
don't mind. So forty nine soyou got Chiefs. I'm let's go Rams

(53:00):
and they're going on the second yearin a row team or host of Super
Bowl and I Live. We're allon different ends out of all the the
few odds or combinations that we couldhave had. Von and I are both
Chiefs and Rams, Jason Nick areboth forty nine ers and Cincinnati that be
gonna party like as nineteen eighty eight. Baby, Let's go hell Yeah.
That is That is it for theRoyal Rumble Preview again. Thanks to my

(53:21):
guest Von Johnson, Jason Fonelli andNick pcone. My name is John Jansen.
Have a great weekend. Uh.We will be back Monday nights at
eight o'clock eight to eleven right herein the line Change. We'll obviously be
breaking down those championship Sunday games.That is it for us here on the
line Change Fox Sports again. We'represented by Cairo Auto Insurance