Instant Royal Rumble Reaction
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What is the instant reaction to the 2026 Royal Rumble preview?
Welcome to the Busted Open Podcast. This is Dave LaGrecca. On today's episode, it's Busted Open After Dark, a very special edition. Myself and Tommy Dreamer talk about Royal Rumble 2026. We get into the men's Royal Rumble match and we get into Gunther and AJ Styles because it looks like we're saying goodbye to AJ right now on the Busted Open Podcast. Podcast. This is the Busted Open Podcast. I guess let's start right there, Tommy. Roman Reigns, your men's Royal Rumble winner.
Bit of a shocker for me. Um, but seeing him in that position, seeing how the he gets those reactions. I just It was a shocker to me because I didn't think he'd be in that picture. But if you look at where business is, maybe they feel it it's a hard decision, right? Because Cody business was good and Roman business was good. So obviously, uh if it's now Roman, he's going to the top and which title he decides to go after, that's a key. Is he gonna go after CM Punk, which is a story, or is he gonna go after Drew McIntyre? Which I don't know if that's the story because also, you know, Cody and Drew had some interactions. And then, of course, now though we're able to breathe for the next little bit, but then we got elimination chamber because this thing called professional wrestling never stops.
So it's uh interesting to see uh where we could go with this.
Yeah, and I'm excited because when you break down and we'll get into the women's Royal Rumble, we'll get into the championship match, we'll get into AJ and Gunther, AJ's retirement match. So there's a lot to get into with that, but let's dive into this men's Royal Rumble 'cause a lot going on. You know, as we just said, Roman Reigns is your winner. Surprised by Gunther's appearance and surprised that Gunther was eliminated.
Yeah, I thought uh for me it was they were gonna do Gunther and CM Punk. Um Interesting that they went even the final four when I'm sitting there watching I'm like Randy Straight up baby faced, um, Gunther. who they're trying to push as your biggest heel opposite Logan Paul, who um is one that gets the biggest heat, and then Roman Reigns, who's kind of the tweener, but playing the heelish role up until he wins, and then they're all cheering for him. But uh yeah, I I did not see the Roman Reigns thing coming business aspect wise. I I it's not a bad call to make when you're telling me, Oh, Roman Reigns is going to main event WrestleMania. Uh, I don't have any problems with that whatsoever, because you look at the business he's done in the past.
And I liked all the stories that they told within, especially within that final four. And you It was a definitive moment, right? And everybody, that's where we say we did a whole master's class leading up to this with like cap capitalizing on your moments. I think everybody Pretty much did that except for a handful of guys, but it wasn't their spot to do it.
Why was Roman Reigns winning the men’s Royal Rumble a surprise?
It was their spot to get other people over. Which unfortunately sucks, but hey, you're still in the Royal Rumble and you get a payday.
All right, let's go from Obafemi at number one. Huge pop for Oba Femi when he went out there uh this afternoon. Um And then Braun Breaker comes out at two and then We see the masked man once again taking out Braun Breaker. Uh I g you know, you we assume it was Seth Rollins, but we had to assume that it was Seth Rollins uh and it turned out to be Austin Theory. So I don't know if that was the return or Seth Rollins or not, but we do know one thing Braun Breaker eliminated early and eliminated by Oba Femi.
When you talk about long term ster storytelling, when you talk about This connective tissue. I love the fact that it was a masked man. I love the fact that you're going to have to wait to see the reveal when this masked man who we all, you know, we didn't know who it was who attacked Seth Rollins. We're all under this guise. It's this, it's that. They did certain things to to lead you different ways, even though most of us were like, Oh, it's Austin Theory. Now we're here and kind of payback to Braun Breaker where yes, this all looks like this is Seth Rollins.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the instant reaction to the 2026 Royal Rumble preview?
0:00–3:11
2
Why was Roman Reigns winning the men’s Royal Rumble a surprise?
3:11–4:49
3
How did the final‑four finish shape the storylines for Roman, CM Punk and Drew McIntyre?
4:49–14:32
4
Who were the breakout stars early in the match (Oba Femi, Trick Williams, LA Knight)?
14:32–34:06
5
Why did the Saudi arena feel off and why was there no traditional countdown?
34:06–46:48