Jim Ross shares his thoughts on WWE Royal Rumble.
WWE held its Royal Rumble premium live event on January 28. The show kicked off with the Men's Royal Rumble, and Cody Rhodes, who made his return from a torn pectoral muscle, won the bout. He was the thirtieth entrant, and he last eliminated Gunther in order to emerge victorious. Though Gunther didn't clinch the win. the WWE Intercontinental Champion broke the record for the longest time spent in a Royal Rumble match. He was the first entrant, and he lasted over an hour and eleven minutes.
In a clip Ross' Grilling JR podcast posted to its YouTube channel, Ross, a former longtime WWE commentator and head of talent relations, was asked to share his thoughts on the Royal Rumble event. The WWE Hall of Famer noted that he didn't watch the whole thing, but he liked what he saw. Ross congratulated Rhodes for his victory and noted that while it wasn't abig surprise, he believed it was the right call.
“I watched in and out of it. I had company here, so I didn’t dwell on it. But I did watch pieces of it. I thought it was an amazing production. It looked great, sounded good on my TV. So it was an interesting event. Certainly [I’ll] congratulate Cody Rhodes for winning it. It’s not a huge surprise, but does that matter? He was the right guy for the job. Now he’s gonna be able to help the company build their way to WrestleMania in a few weeks. So I thought it was a good show. I thought there were some moments in there. I thought it was interesting that they started out with the Royal Rumble match for the men. Didn’t have a problem with it. I thought it was an interesting way to start, and it captured my attention right off the bat," Ross said.
Ross also praised Gunther and expressed that he was arguably the MVP of the match, given his impressive performance. He called it the best night of Gunther's career and stated that he had a successful outing, though he didn't win. Ross went on to state that he expects great things for Gunther moving forward.
“He’s a freak, and [he] had a hell of a night, no doubt about it. Probably the best night of his career ever. It’s arguable to say that Gunther was the MVP of that show because he went well over an hour. But he’s a lean, mean fighting machine, there’s no doubt about that. So hat’s off to him as well. It’s just great to see wrestlers having the opportunity on a major stage to succeed, and their effort dictates their success. If that is true, which I believe it to be, Gunther had a hell of a night. He had a very successful night, even though he didn’t win. It’s one of those classic situations where the guy that goes over doesn’t always get over, and in this scenario, I fully believe that Gunther got over, even though he didn’t win the Rumble. So he’s an interesting prospect. I would expect great things for him, especially after Saturday night," Ross said.
Click here to see what Rhodes said about his road to the Royal Rumble.
Rhodes recently stated that Nick Khan and Bruce Prichard have been nothing but angels to him. Check out his comments here.
WWE announced record-breaking gate and viewership numbers for the Royal Rumble premium live event. More information is available here.
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