Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Josh Rosen - 2018 NFL Draft Scouting Report

It's another year in the NFL offseason which means it's another year of teams dreaming on college prospects that they believe will turn their franchise around. Nowhere is this more prevalent than at quarterback where I have heard smart people claim that quarterbacks could be taken with the first four picks (it would take trades in order for this to happen). Today, I am starting my breakdown of the top quarterbacks with UCLA's hot tub-lovin' boy, Josh Rosen, by taking a look at his games against Washington, USC, Texas A+M, and Arizona State.

I'm going to just get this out of the way to start. I am not about to analyze Rosen as a person. I don't think anything he has said or done publicly should be a red flag as his worst crimes seem to be thinking for himself and putting a hot tub in his room. The former is not a crime, and the latter is totally awesome. So let's focus on his contributions on the field.

The first thing that stood out is the man throws a beautiful deep ball.
You really cannot do a better job than that. Not only does he hit his man in stride, but he leads him towards the sideline away from the defender to make it an easier catch for his receiver. In fact, let's look at another one, just for fun.
Again, that is some beautiful shit right there. There are many quarterbacks who can never throw a ball that well on a deep route, yet Rosen shows pretty tremendous consistency when placing the ball down the field.

On top of that, I thought he did a very good job of leading his receivers on his passes.
His accuracy led his receivers away from defenders or gave them the best opportunity to create yards after the catch. Now, no quarterback is perfect, and when Rosen did miss, he tended to miss high which is dangerous as those tend to be the passes that get intercepted by the defense. Overall, I thought he had plus accuracy, but it's not an elite skill at this point.

Maybe my favorite quality about him is his patience in the pocket.

Here, he shows a great feel for the rush, as he steps up and delivers the pass to his open receiver running underneath the coverage. This was actually an area that could use some improvement as he was usually good at feeling backside pressure, but pressure up the middle or on his front side gave him a lot of issues.
It's really confusing as it's understandable for a guy to not feel pressure on the backside, but he doesn't see it when it is coming right at his chest and seems to freeze up when they collapse the middle of the pocket. Lately, teams have done a much better job of scheming for guys who do not have the best pocket awareness, so it is certainly not a death sentence. I don't think he's anywhere near the level of Blaine Gabbert when it comes to troubles with pressure.

Something else that I noticed is that he had a disproportionately high number of balls batted down at the line of scrimmage. I'm not totally sure if this was an issue of release or awareness, but it there were enough balls batted down that it made me take notice which is not usually a focus of mine.

Rosen also shows a tendency to take chances when that is not advisable. Here, he had driven UCLA down to the red zone against USC but threw a bad interception going for the touchdown.
It's unclear if he's staring down that receiver the whole time or just looking left, but he's making the safety's job pretty damn easy as he has an easy break on the ball for the interception.

When it comes to athleticism, he's not going to set the world on fire. He's more smooth than explosive as an athlete.
It all looks correct, but he's just not moving as fast as you hoped he would be. He will not be considered a mobile quarterback as the man is the very definition of a pocket quarterback. When he was put on the move, even within the pocket, he became incredibly inconsistent with his accuracy. He has to clean that up, move with purpose, and reset his feet so he can still throw accurately when his pocket isn't clean.

With that being said, I'll end on a positive and say that he does a good job of processing information when going through progressions. He's able to quickly scan the field and work to his second and third progressions.

Summary
In the end, I like Rosen as a prospect, but I don't love him. He shows some incredible talent throwing the football, but there are other aspects to being a quarterback. He sometimes tries to force the ball in, he doesn't handle pressure well, and he doesn't show effective mobility at this point. I think the best comparison is to Eli Manning. On the bright side, Manning won two Super Bowls; on the downside, he has driven fans mad since he first started with the Giants due to inconsistency and poor decision making.

I think that drafting Rosen gets you a solid starting quarterback, but probably not a franchise changing one. 

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

The 45 Most Important Players to the Chicago Bulls Dynasty - #26 Dennis Hopson

Dennis Hopson
Dennis Hopson is the first person from the first Bulls championship to appear on this list. The Bulls had 12 players on that team, and they all lasted the entire season. There is no shame in this, as though he didn't excel with the Bulls, Hopson was once considered a legitimate stud. He scored 29 points while also pulling down over eight rebounds per game. Hopson was the Big Ten Player of the Year in 1987 (although he missed out on First Team All-American status to Indiana's Steve Alford) which was enough for him to be drafted third overall by the New Jersey Nets later that year, two spots behind David Robinson, and two spots ahead of future teammate, Scottie Pippen.

Even though Hopson was not a Hall of Famer, it's not like he was a bust by any means. In his third year, he led the Nets in scoring with 15.8 points per game. Despite that, the Nets looked to move him in the offseason and traded him to the Chicago Bulls for a first and two second round picks (one of the second round picks would be PJ Brown) before the 1990-91 season.

It was a dream come true for Hopson. He would gladly give up some minutes in order to play with a winner, and going from the Nets to the Bulls definitely achieved that. Hopson was brought in to provide a scoring spark for the Bulls bench, but things just didn't seem to work out for Hopson. He averaged less than 12 minutes per game and only played in 61 games, and he just never really found a rhythm with the Bulls due to that limited playing time. He still showed flashes of the player he was in New Jersey, but he was never given the consistent minutes to get back to that point.

In the playoffs, he played in just five games for a total of 18 minutes. In those games, the Bulls won by an average of 22 points, so it's not like he exactly got meaningful minutes as he had gone from one team's leading scorer to another team's last man off the bench. When the Bulls went up 3-1 on the Lakers, Hopson was found crying by his locker. Even though he was finally on a winning team, he barely felt like he was a part of the team. He had gotten what he wanted, and it was awful. Still, he got his championship ring, even if it was as nothing more than a 12th man.

He lasted two games with the Bulls the following season before he was mercifully sent to Sacramento for Bobby Hansen and a pick that would later become Corey Williams. He got back to more playing time and more scoring as he progressively got better as the season went on.

Oddly, that season with the Kings would be his last one in the NBA. Back then, there was money for superstars, but role players could often find more money playing overseas, so that is where Hopson would spend the rest of his career while dunking on everyone.

Dennis Hopson may have not lived up to lofty expectations, but he still put together a nice career, and that is worth celebrating.

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Monday, January 29, 2018

The 2018 XFL Mock Draft - Defensive End

In anticipation of Vince McMahon bringing the fun back to football (more concussions, woohoo!), Lukewarm Jonah and I went back and forth to do an XFL Draft. Instead of breaking this down round by round, we are going to go by position groups. Last time we hit the offensive line, so this time we’ll hit up the big guys on the other side of the ball, starting with defensive ends.

Defensive Ends
Jonah: Mario Williams, BJ Dubose, Cam Johnson, Damontre Moore 

Joe: Jon Jones, Da’Quan Bowers, Bjoern Werner, Jackson Jeffcoat, Michael Sam, Drew Ott

Joe: There were two guys that I was bound and determined to get in this draft, and they are both defensive linemen. We’ll get to one today, and as a hint, the other one is tomorrow and is also a former UFC Champion. First off, I acquired the greatest fighter ever, Jon “Bones” Jones. Part of the reason I was able to snag Jones is that he is suspended from competition for the next couple years at least, so he’s going to need something to do in the meantime. Why not give football a try? He has two brothers that are in the NFL, and the dude is a freak of an athlete. Although he fights at 205, his walking around weight is probably close to 240, and with his frame, he should have no trouble adding another 15 pounds. Jon Jones may be an awful human being, but if anybody could adapt to the XFL with zero football experience, it’s him.

Bowers, Werner, and Jeffcoat all can be classified as super productive college players who were never able to make it in the NFL. Each was an All-American and Bowers was the Bronko Nagurski Award winner for best college football defensive player. 

Michael Sam could fit into that above group, but he is more known as becoming the first openly gay player on an NFL roster. Not only do I think he can be productive, but this is obviously just a very good thing for the league considering I have purposely acquired racists, alleged women beaters, and Jon Jones, I could use an actual good person on my team. Again, it’s not my preferred method of doing things, but it’s the XFL baby!

Finally, it was time for my obligatory Iowa Hawkeyes pick of Drew Ott who was so good in college but got hurt at the wrong time and wasn’t able to latch on to an NFL roster. I still 100% believe in the guy playing well if given the chance.

Jonah: You win football games on the lines, everyone knows that.  That’s why my defensive line is headlined by another number one overall pick in the NFL draft Mario Williams.  He’s 32, but could easily still play in the NFL if the money was right.  The guy is a star, what can I say about him?  He’s a multiple time Pro Bowler and All Pro, he would dominate any XFL offensive line besides my own.

BJ Dubose is a guy who I got to see play in preseason games for the Vikings and he looked good.  He just went to a team that was stacked with star defensive ends.  He was hurt in the 2016 offseason, but that’s almost 2 years ago.  Rick Spielman knows how to scout defensive lineman, so I’ll snatch up Dubose and watch him transform into Danielle Hunter.

Cam Johnson is another one of my no name but solid picks.  He’s a solid five year NFL vet who’s great at forcing fumbles.  Those are game changing plays, and he’s good at getting in the backfield and making tackles for loss as well as forcing fumbles.

Damontre Moore is only 25 but has five years experience in the NFL.  He was supposed to be a to 10 pick but ran a bad 40.  I don’t care about my defensive lineman’s 40 times.  He has a substance abuse strike in the NFL, but again who cares?  This is the XFL baby, substance abuse was rampant when football was cool right?  Moore is a real sleeper that could make a huge impact.

Joe: Mario Williams is a fun pick, and I really can’t say he’s too old since I drafted Reggie Bush as my running back, and they were the top two picks in the same draft. Two of your guys are so boring that you are calling them boring, so I don’t really need to comment on either one of them. But I do like the Damontre Moore pick. At worst case, he was a high motor guy in college that can use that hustle effectively in the XFL. But the one thing that seems to be missing are UFC Champions. What happens when your team gets in a fight, because we know for damn sure that the XFL is going to promote fights.

Jonah: Williams could still play in the NFL and be pretty good.  By boring I just mean not a household name like Mario Williams or Jon Jones.  Speaking of Jones, there’s no doubt he’s an athletic freak but I think a transition to football is difficult for anyone.  Also, you have to make sure he doesn’t go completely insane as he is fond of doing.  Michael Sam is probably your best pick as he should be playing in the NFL, but if the NFL wasn’t willing to accept an openly gay player how do you think the XFL fanbase and ownership is going to react?

Joe: The XFL is 100% going make all gay players wear a rainbow patch. It’s going to be SUPER offensive and Trumpies are going to love it. And my only real concern with Jon Jones is that he gets distracted and starts trying to snort the yard lines. Outside of that, he should be good to go.

That’s all for today. Join us next time for the defensive tackles where you can bet your ass that I picked up Brock Lesnar.

Friday, January 26, 2018

The 2018 XFL Mock Draft - Center

In anticipation of Vince McMahon bringing the fun back to football (more concussions, woohoo!), Lukewarm Jonah and I went back and forth to do an XFL Draft. Instead of breaking this down round by round, we are going to go by position groups. Today, we finish the offensive line with the men in the middle, the Centers.

Center
Jonah: Nick Mangold, Jeremy Zuttah

Joe: Barrett Jones, David Molk

Joe: Finally, we finish with the centers who are kind of boring but are definitely the most reliable guys I have on my offensive line. Barrett Jones probably deserves to one day be in the college football Hall of Fame. He was a two-time consensus All-American, won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy for best offensive lineman in the SEC, the Outland Trophy for best college interior lineman, the Rimington Trophy for best college center, and the Jim Parker Trophy for best collegeiate offensive lineman. And he won three national titles while at Alabama. It is nearly impossible to find a more decorated offensive lineman. What about his pro career? Eh, let’s not talk about that.

David Molk can’t quite compete as he was only a one-time consensus All-American, a Rimington Trophy award winner, and named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. No matter who wins the starting job, we will have excellent leadership in the middle of our offensive line.

Jonah: More old stars on my offensive line.  Nick Mangold is probably the best center in the past 10 years.  He’s 33, but is seemingly healthy.  He was a salary cap casualty, and for some reason didn’t find another team to latch onto.  His work really speaks for itself, he’s a multiple time Pro Bowler and All Pro.

Just in case something happens with Mangold, I have Jeremy Zuttah on the roster too.  He can also play guard, can’t have enough talented guys who can play multiple positions.  He’s still kind of old at 31, but at that age he’s still got a few more good years left in him.  He’s started over 100 games in the NFL, and made the Pro Bowl one year.

Joe: I like the Mangold pick, because even though he isn’t an Olympian, his sister is, and honestly, I might keep her number on speed dial if you need another backup center. 
He’s been declining the past several years, but for a secondary league, he’s a good get. Zuttah is another very good pick for this. Center is probably your strongest position among the offensive line. 

Jonah: Transfering from college to professional sports is important, but again, being a standout college player is probably good enough to play well at XFL level competition.

For all of you that have been patiently waiting, we get to the defense next time, starting with the sackmasters at defensive end.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

The 45 Most Important Players to the Chicago Bulls Dynasty - #27 Rodney McCray

Rodney McCray
Rodney McCray was a fascinating prospect coming out of college. He won a National Title at Louisville but never put up any numbers that jumped out at you. He was invited to play for the USA in the 1980 Olympics, but the USA boycotted those Olympics so he never got to represent his country. Still, even without the stats, he showed enough to be the third overall pick in the NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets.

He put up good numbers every year in the league, the best being 1989-90 when he played for the Sacramento Kings, led the league in minutes while putting up 16.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. He was great on both sides of the ball earning 2nd Team honors for the All-Defensive team in 1986-87 and earning 1st Team in 1987-88.

He played an important role in Houston, Sacramento, and Dallas before being during the 1992 offseason to play in a reduced role with the Chicago Bulls.And boy did that role reduce. He had less than half the minutes he had in any previous season as now he was nothing more than a forward coming off the bench to backup perennial All-Star, Scottie Pippen.

Now in his early 30s, McCray was not the player he had once been. He got a decent amount of playing time for a bench player, averaging 16 minutes per game, but his impact was rarely seen in the box score. He had a season high of 15 points and only reached double digits one other time. He played solid defense but with the diminished athleticism, he was not the shutdown defender he once was.

In the playoffs, the Bulls rotation shrank and McCray's role nearly disappeared. He played in just seven games for a total of 39 minutes and scoring two points. He played in just a single game in the NBA Finals. It was a rather forgettable playoffs for McCray. Still, it did get something that had long alluded McCray, and that is a NBA Championship Ring. Having reached the pinnacle of team accomplishments, McCray retired after the 1992-93 season.

There isn't much information on McCray after his career ended, so I would just like to point out that this video is of a different Rodney McCray.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Dirty Signs with Kristin Is The Best Thing On YouTube

With Logan Paul filming dead bodies and Pewdie Pie doing something racist, I think, YouTube personalities have taken a hit lately. Since I am old and uncool, I have never gone down that wormhole of weird YouTube personalities, but it's understandable that people are taking advantage of a new medium to gain fame. And any time that this many people are going out and putting out original content, eventually a star will be born. Well, folks, I have recently found that star, and she deserves all of the YouTube money.

It all started when Steel Panther tweeted out a link. If it was good enough for Steel Panther, then surely, it was good enough for me. But it wasn't good enough for me, it was actually too great for me, and that is why I need to share Dirty Signs with Kristin with the world.


Not only is this entertaining, it's educational as well. I have never had the urge to learn sign language, but you best believe that I am learning all of the dirty phrases that Kristin has decided to teach. I can learn helpful phrases, like the Valentine's favorite of asking someone to toss my salad.


Or less catchy phrases, like "I want to tongue punch your fart box."


The great news is that no matter what the situation, I'll be prepared thanks to Kristin's videos.

Somehow, these videos only are in the hundred thousand page views. These videos should be in the hundred millions for views as it should be required course work for any high schooler. Sometimes, the internet lets us down, but sometimes, it helps us discover something beautiful. Dirty Signs with Kristin, thank you for your service.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

The 45 Most Important Players to the Chicago Bulls Dynasty - #28 Darrell Walker

Darrell Walker
Darrell Walker joined the Bulls during the 1992-93 NBA season, a Chicago returning to play for his hometown team. He began his career in 1983, becoming the 12th overall selection by the New York Knicks. He then had stints in Denver, Washington, and finally, in 1991, he was traded to the hated Detroit Pistons. Walker receives no penalty for being a part of the Pistons for three reasons. First, by 1991, their dynasty had crumbled under the mighty power of the Bulls. Second, he had no choice in the matter as he was traded against his will. And finally, he may have been a sleeper cell, as during the 9 games he played in the 1992-93 season, he shot 15% from the field. Mad respect for Darrell Walker on that one.

After being released in November of 1992, the Bulls decided to kick the tires on him by giving him a 10-day contract in January of 1993. Although he struggled early on, the Bulls gave him a second 10-day contract. But he started to come around with contributions off the bench and the Bulls extended his contract through the end of the season. His best game during that regular season was against the Utah Jazz where he was 3-4 from the field with 8 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, a steal, and zero turnovers.

In the playoffs, he played in nine games, including three in the Finals. He did not exactly serve as a good luck charm as the Bulls lost two of those three games he played in during the Finals. Still, he provided competent play for short periods of time which was all his role was ever meant to be.

Incredibly, there is a highlight video of Darrell Walker's time with the Bulls.

Okay, so it was basically only a single play, but he not only tied up 6'10" Danny Manning, he then dominated him in the tip-off to help the Bulls hold on to a two-point victory.

He would retire after the season, because it really doesn't get any better than winning a title with your hometown team. After his playing career, he would go into coaching with short head coaching stints with both the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards. The man known as the Junkyard Dog was unable to grab a ring as a coach, but I am certain that he was able to Grab Them Cakes.


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Monday, January 22, 2018

How To Make Money Betting on the 2018 Royal Rumble

It's that time of year again. The time to help you make bank by betting on something with predetermined outcomes. Lukewarm Jonah has joined me to give you everything you need to know about betting on the Royal Rumble. And we even included our surprise entrants at the end so you could impress all of your friends with how you see the bigger picture when it comes to the wrestling world. In the words of DX's theme music, let's "Break it down."

WWE Universal Championship Match
Brock Lesnar: 3/10

Braun Strowman: 2/1
Kane: 10/1

LJ: This outcome is pretty obvious and the odds show it.  Lesnar is going to win here so he can be defeated by Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania and Reigns can have his what 4th or 5th big win moment.  I think Strowman actually has Kane down and beat when Triple H runs in and attacks Strowman.  Stephanie rehired Strowman, and they kept asking on commentary “Who can stop Braun Strowman?”  For some reason the answer to that question is always Triple H.  Plus Triple H caught those hands at Survivor Series with no follow up.  I think it’s coming and it’s their way of keeping Strowman strong while not winning the match.

Since this bet is really easy I’m going to go into my Vic Venom mode and fantasy book.  What should happen is that Strowman should pin Kane.  Lesnar keeps his aura of invincibility so that Reigns still gets the rub from beating Lesnar at Wrestlemania, but the match doesn’t need the title.  It’s big enough to be one of the main events, but it doesn’t need to be the main event, as in the last match of the night.  If that happens that will be four years straight for Reigns and it won’t win him any fans.  You set up the match like the Lesnar vs. Undertaker match was set up.  Lesnar comes out looking for his Universal Title rematch when Reigns comes down and attacks him.  It worked fine when The Undertaker did it, and it will work fine for Reigns.  The match should actually be good, as was their first match.  They fight at Wrestlemania, Reigns kicks out of the F5 which has been so protected over the past year that even Braun Strowman didn’t kick out of it.  He gets the win and by not going on last, he doesn’t get boos rained down upon him.

Joe: When I first thought about this match, I thought that maybe Strowman could win since it’s not like they have anybody that can give him a challenge, but then you reminded me that Triple H is the toughest, coolest, most awesome, super sweet, suck it dude in the whole universe. Braun may have hands like sledgehammers, but Triple H has an ACTUAL sledgehammer, so he will probably retire Strowman.

That means it’s down to Brock Lesnar or Kane. I could see this match going either wa, hahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahaha, no, I can’t. Brock Lesnar definitely wins.

Men’s Royal Rumble:

Shinsuke Nakamura
7/5
Kurt Angle
50/1
Big Show
100/1
Roman Reigns
9/4
Big Cass
50/1
Jake "The Snake" Roberts
100/1
Dolph Ziggler
4/1
The Rock
50/1
Johnny Gargano
100/1
John Cena
4/1
Shelton Benjamin
50/1
Scott Dawson
100/1
Braun Strowman
5/1
Eric Young
50/1
Dash Wilder
100/1
Daniel Bryan
5/1
Triple H
50/1
Tommaso Ciampa
100/1
Finn Balor
7/1
Chad Gable
50/1
Heath Slater
150/1
Randy Orton
10/1
Dean Ambrose
50/1
John Morrison
150/1
Baron Corbin
10/1
Karl Anderson
66/1
Bo Dallas
150/1
Seth Rollins
16/1
Luke Gallows
66/1
Curtis Axel
150/1
AJ Styles
16/1
Shane McMahon
66/1
Bubba Ray
150/1
Sami Zayn
18/1
Killian Dain
66/1
Sin Cara
150/1
Kevin Owens
18/1
CM Punk
66/1
Kalisto
150/1
Batista
20/1
Kassius Ohno
66/1
Goldust
150/1
Bobby Roode
20/1
Apollo Crews
66/1
No Way Jose
150/1
Samoa Joe
25/1
Eric Rowan
66/1
R-Truth
150/1
Bray Wyatt
25/1
Enzo Amore
66/1
Jey Uso
150/1
Rusev
25/1
Mojo Rawley
66/1
Jimmy Uso
150/1
Jinder Mahal
25/1
Luke Harper
66/1
Fandango
150/1
Matt Hardy
33/1
Neville
80/1
Stone Cold Steve Austin
150/1
Jeff Hardy
33/1
Kane
80/1
Alberto Del Rio
200/1
Brock Lesnar
33/1
Tyler Bates
80/1
Jerry Lawler
200/1
Jason Jordan
33/1
Tyler Breeze
80/1
Shaquille O'Neal
200/1
Chris Jericho
33/1
Brian Kendrick
80/1
Billy Gunn
200/1
The Miz
35/1
TJ Perkins
80/1
Hulk Hogan
200/1
Big E
35/1
Pete Dunne
80/1
Kevin Nash
200/1
Sheamus
40/1
Zack Ryder
80/1
James Ellsworth
200/1
Kofi Kingston
40/1
Shawn Michaels
80/1
Darren Young
200/1
Goldberg
40/1
Hideo Itami
80/1
Carlito
225/1
Undertaker
40/1
Tye Dilinger
80/1
Vin Diesel
250/1
Elias
40/1
Titus O'Neil
80/1
Rhyno
250/1
Cesaro
40/1
Conor McGregor
100/1
Floyd Mayweather
400/1
Kenny Omega
40/1
Ryback
100/1
Donald Trump
750/1
Roderick Strong
50/1
Jack Gallagher
100/1
Barack Obama
1000/1

LJ: Huge shock for me here, with Reigns not the odds on favorite.  If for some reason Reigns doesn’t win, you have to assume a Smackdown guy will win and it looks like the favorite is Nakamura to take on, presumably, AJ Styles at Wrestlemania.  That is a dream match and it would be pretty awesome.  Roman getting better than 2 to 1 odds when it’s pretty clear he’s going to be fighting Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at Wrestlemania is pretty insane.

I’m going to take a look at a few more interesting bets before I make my official pick.  First of all, Dolph Ziggler at 4 to 1?  No idea how he has the same odds as John Cena.  Cena is an interesting option because he’s the “free agent” John Cena so if he won there would be some drama as to which champion he was going to choose which the WWE might want to explore.  I’m about 99% sure Daniel Bryan won’t ever be wrestling in the WWE again, so I need 100 to 1 to make that bet make sense.  

Finn Balor with the newly reunited Balor Club is interesting at 7 to 1, but I feel like Lesnar has to drop the title for anyone from RAW to win who’s not Roman Reigns.  The story is the same for Seth Rollins at 16 to win, if anyone from RAW wins it almost has to be Reigns unless Brock drops the title in the triple threat.  Beyond that there’s Sami and Kevin at 18 to 1, either of which could face AJ Styles at Wrestlemania in a good title match but they’ll probably be doing something stupid with Shane McMahon.  

Chris Jericho at 33 to 1 is somewhat interesting since he’s going to be back for RAW’s 25th anniversary so he should be in the Rumble.  For a really long shot, how about CM Punk at 66/1.  If Punk ever comes back it’s for the Wrestlemania main event he never got, and he could want to come back and wrestle AJ Styles for another dream match.  They could put it on last, give Punk his main event, and possibly save Roman from some hate.

Finally my pick, it’s super boring but at least it’s not the odds on favorite.  I’m picking Roman Reigns.  We are all but assured he’s fighting Lesnar for the Universal Title at Wrestlemania, so if you know the guy is going to be fighting for a World Title, might as well pick him to win the match that guarantees it will happen.  Plus, at 9/2 the odds are just too good to ignore their golden boy winning.

Now what should happen is that Lesnar drops the title like I wrote about in my previous fantasy booking.  Reigns is tied up with him at Wrestlemania which opens up the entire field to some interesting possibilities.  It may sound a little crazy, but I’d have John Cena win and challenge the new Universal Champion Braun Strowman.  Cena can put Strowman over in the main event of Wrestlemania cementing him as a main eventer.  Once Reigns beats Lesnar then you can have those four guys feud with each other for the next few months, creating a stacked main event scene that people will be interested in.

Joe: The two matches we have been hearing about for WrestleMania seem to be Lesnar/Reigns and Styles/Nakamura, so I can see why Nakamura is favored and that is why he is my pick. I mean, the Royal Rumble has not been well received in years. The last time that I think a majority of fans were happy about a Rumble winner was 2010 with Edge. The last five years have been Cena, Batista, Reigns, Triple H, and Randy Orton. I think it’s time that a fan favorite takes it, and what better way than to have Nakamura take it here.

For the interesting longshots, I’ll pick a mild underdog, a medium dog, a longshot, and a super longshot to make things interesting. For the mild underdog, let’s go for Rusev at 25/1. This doesn’t really have a shot in hell of happening, but I love Rusev and the world is starting to understand that they should also love Rusev. So let’s love Rusev together in the main event of WrestleMania.

For my medium underdog, I’ll go with Big E. He’s been dynamite for years in the New Day, and this is the perfect way to bust him out of the team atmosphere and let him take on the world as a singles competitor. And this just came to mind, but my two picks would be two of the most delightful options to appear on The Today Show the morning after WrestleMania, so either way, we should probably make that happen.

For my longshot, let’s go with Kenny Omega. This won’t happen, but let me make the case for how it could. Word has it that he re-upped with New Japan for another year, but could this just be a fantastic swerve to make a truly shocking appearance? There is the issue that his current contract doesn’t end until the end of January, but maybe NJPW and WWE have a working relationship after the Jericho thing where he could come back and drop his title after winning the Royal Rumble. Good God, could you imagine him against Brock Lesnar? Keep imagining, because despite what I laid out, it’s definitely not happening.

For my super longshot, I’ll go off the board and reveal one of my surprise entrants for the Royal Rumble, Rey Mysterio Jr. His contract with Lucha Underground is over, and although there was word that WWE was not interested in bringing him back, that seems like it could just be a ploy to make his return a surprise. He was once booed as the 30th entrant in the Rumble, but he could make a pretty triumphant return as this year’s 30th entrant with what I would expect to be a huge pop, even in a crowd full of haters like Philadelphia.

Women’s Royal Rumble:




Asuka
11/8
AJ Lee
25/1
Carmella
33/1
Ronda Rousey
2/1
Trish Stratus
25/1
Maria Menounos
33/1
Becky Lynch
6/1
Brie Bella
25/1
Tamina
33/1
Nia Jax
8/1
Lita
25/1
Nikki Cross
33/1
Nikki Bella
10/1
Natalya
25/1
Michelle McCool
33/1
Sasha Banks
14/1
Beth Phoenix
25/1
Ruby Riott
33/1
Charlotte Flair
14/1
Mickie James
33/1
Peyton Royce
33/1
Bayley
16/1
Lana
33/1
Billie Kay
33/1
Naomi
18/1
Ember Moon
33/1
Alicia Fox
40/1
Stephanie McMahon
20/1
Stacy Keibler
33/1
Torrie Wilson
50/1
Alexa Bliss
20/1
Kairi Sane
33/1



LJ: The Women’s Royal Rumble, the historic first Women’s Royal Rumble.  This is interesting and it should be fun to pick.  Not surprisingly Asuka is the favorite to win here.  She’s undefeated, but I’m not sure whether a battle royal actually would count as a loss for her.  So the question is, does the WWE do the obvious thing and have her win and have her be crowned at Wrestlemania, or do they go with someone else?  

Who else is interesting on here?  Let’s see, well Ronda Rousey not officially on the roster is the next best odds that’s pretty interesting.  If they bring in Rousey, she’s going to be a huge deal immediately.  Becky Lynch is one of my favorites and a 4 to 1 bet.  Sasha Banks is 14 to 1 and Bayley is 16 to 1.  Pretty nice odds for the non champion horsewomen.  

If we’re going for the long shots, Natalya was champ not that long ago and is 25 to 1.  Ruby Riott is 33 to 1, and if they actually want one of the groups of new women’s wrestlers to make an impact, winning the Rumble is a great way to do it.

I really like to make interesting picks, but maybe the WWE has just gotten too predictable.  I have to take Asuka at 11 to 8.  Getting better than even money on the person who is undefeated and pinned the RAW women’s champion a couple of weeks ago is way too good of a bet to ignore.

Now what should happen is that either Becky Lynch or Bayley should win the Rumble.  Two absolute workhorses in the women’s division who have been relatively ignored as of late.  At least Lynch is still booked somewhat respectable, so I would have Bayley win it.  Her credibility is immediately rebuilt, and she can defeat Alexa Bliss who made her look stupid for their entire feud on the biggest stage of them all.

Joe: Asuka would seem like the obvious pick, but considering that I already picked Shinsuke Nakamura, I have my doubts that they are going to have two Japanese winners this year. Asuka has the longest undefeated streak ever, so we are kind of past the point where this thing needs to continue. She has to lose eventually, and it’s pretty easy to not count this as a loss, even if you do want to keep playing up the undefeated streak, so I’ll say that she is unable to get the win in this one.

That means that I am going with The Boss, Sasha Banks. I mean, when it comes down to it, let’s just go with the best, and Sasha still has the best history of matches of anyone in the history of the WWE. Then, instead of taking on Asuka or Alexa Bliss, she uses her title opportunity to join Smackdown and go after Charlotte one more time. We know those two can put on an incredible match, and them one-on-one at WrestleMania could lead to their best match yet.

The other person I see who has a great chance is Becky Lynch. They have been giving her more of a push lately, so things might be lining up for her to win the Rumble and challenge Charlotte. Let’s face it, the women’s division on Smackdown is just Charlotte, Becky, and Naomi, because I’m not quite ready to count anyone in The Riott Squad since their alliance makes absolutely zero sense. Why not give Becky a big WrestleMania match where her and Charlotte should be able to put on a good show?

For a longshot, let’s go with Trish Stratus. Why? Because it’s Trish Stratus, and I will always pick Trish to win anything, even if it makes zero sense.

For another longshot, I’ll go with Peyton Royce. The Iconic Duo doesn’t really have anything to do in NXT, so this would be a good time to bring them up. Royce is clearly the star of the group, and The Iconic Duo could be a formidable combo to threaten for Charlotte’s title. It’d be tough to build it as a big match, but Peyton can go, so there are far worse ways for this match to end.

Alright, let’s move onto the important stuff. Jonah, who do you got for surprises?

LJ: I’ve got lots of surprises in mind.  The Rumble is in Philly, so I’ve got to get a few ECW guys in the Rumble.  I’m thinking at least the Dudleys and RVD, but Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman and even Sabu are options as well.  I think Killian Dain is the NXT guy in the match.  Hopefully Mae Young competitor and friend of The Jonah Show Jazzy Gabbert makes her way back for the women’s Royal Rumble.  She’s an intimidating presence and would make a fantastic addition.  Kelly Kelly is treated like a big deal for some reason, so let’s say she returns in the women’s Rumble too.  I’ll say Mia Yim and Laurel Van Ness make their debuts in the Rumble too, they need a lot of people in that women’s Rumble.  

Now for the big surprises that probably won’t happen but I really hope they do.  There’s a legend of the WWE who lives in Philadelphia and is still in incredible shape.  His name is Steve Blackman and I want him in the Rumble.

I also hope Pentagon Jr. and Fenix make their debut in the Royal Rumble and Pentagon breaks everyone’s arm while yelling cero miedo.  

Maybe CJ Parker comes back after his successful stint as Juice Robinson and has a successful Rumble.  

Finally, it doesn’t make any sense and I’m pretty sure he’s under contract but The Villain Marty Scrull makes his debut and tears it up in the Rumble.  Umbrellas and plague masks for all.

Joe: I’d have to say that I’d pop the biggest for a Steve Blackman return. They could even get Al Snow and reunite Head Cheese. That would be a total waste of Rumble spots, but I’d enjoy the stupidity of it all.

I’ve got a whole lot of surprises that I could see happening at the Rumble. I already mentioned Rey Mysterio Jr. and Kenny Omega, and I do honestly think Trish Stratus and/or Lita will show up at some point, but beyond that I’ve got five more surprises that I’ll rank in order of likelihood.

5. Ricochet/Prince Puma - Probably not happening as I see him making his initial impact in NXT.

4. Norman Smiley - A surprising legend is always out there, and who better than one of the top coaches at the Performance Center? He’ll likely be up there for the NXT show the night before, so let’s get Screamin’ Norman Smiley his Royal Rumble moment.

3. Bobby Lashley - I’m pretty sure he’s done with TNA, but I kind of doubt they use him as a surprise entrant in Philadelphia, because he’s the type of guy that a Philly crowd could definitely boo out of a building. Of course, maybe that’s reason to bring him in here.

2. Ethan Carter III - No idea if he’ll go back to Derrick Bateman, but I kind of doubt he will keep the gimmick of Dixie Carter’s nephew although that would be hilarious. No matter what the gimmick is, this is the kind of guy that will get a huge pop from the Philly crowd, and he’ll be excellent on Smackdown where he can interact with his old friend Daniel Bryan and possibly break up the relationship between John Cena and Nikki Bella, because DB and DB are destined to become brothers-in-law.

1. Sable - A pretty shocking choice but one that makes a ton of sense when you think about it. Her husband, Brock Lesnar, is already going to be there, and it’s not like Sable really wants to wrestle again. Here, she can show up, get a huge pop, and get eliminated in about five minutes. It’s basically the best way to feed an ego without any real sacrifice.

Jonah, although a lot of the matches don’t have odds out yet, is there anything else you wanted to highlight on the card?

LJ: The 2 out of 3 falls match between the Usos and Gable and Benjamin has a chance to steal the show. I’ll say Gable and Benjamin win, since the Usos don’t really need the titles, they’re plenty over as it is. Also, can I just say I love Daniel Bryan’s gimmick of being highly suggestable? I think I’m going to show up on Smackdown and say I should be employed and have him immediately hire me.
I’ll pick The Bar to take back their titles from Jordan and Rollins, due to Jordan screw up. This can complete Jordan’s heel turn and he can feud with Rollins and or Reigns.
I’ll take AJ Styles to retain over Kevin and Sami, probably through some sort of commissioner/GM weirdness. AJ Styles is half of pretty much every dream match you can put on at Wrestlemania, so you’ve got to keep the title on him. My original thought was whoever pinned Styles would be the champ, so I thought it would lead to Kevin and Sami turning on each other, but apparently they’ll be co champions so Shane McMahon will just jump off the roof onto the both of them to cost them the match.
If The Miz doesn’t beat Roman Reigns on the RAW 25th anniversary, he will beat him here through nefarious means. Reigns can’t be holding onto the Intercontinental Championship while he chases Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship.

Joe: I agree on the Smackdown title match, but I say that The New Shield retains their titles. But for a prediction down the line, if somebody on Raw wins the Royal Rumble, there is a 100% chance that Jason Jordan is going to challenge for the main event spot at WrestleMania. He's very good at just asking for stuff, because wrestlers almost always get what they ask for if they do it in the middle of the ring.

This handicap match makes no sense, but I say that Zayn and Owens win the title here. Co-champions would be incredibly confusing, but they can solve the issue next month at Elimination Chamber where Styles wins back his belt.

There will probably be some women's matches, but nothing seems set in stone, and let's face it, we all only really care about the Royal Rumbles themselves. This event gets me amped up every year, and even a bad Rumble is still pretty great. They have two chances to get this one right so they're bound to get one right, right?...Right?