Bold Predictions for Every MLB Team - by Brian Phillips

Our editor asked me to come up with five bold predictions for the upcoming baseball season. I'll do you better boss. Here's one for every team:

Arizona Diamondbacks

It's been the talk of the off season among fantasy nerds like myself. The D-Backs are installing a humidor to make the balls heavier to help out their pitchers. When they struggle offensively that contraption will be gone by June.

Atlanta Braves

A.J. Minter will be closing by mid season. Fastball at 96. Wipeout slider that garners a 23% swinging strike rate. If he can prove he's tamed the walk beast he's in.

Baltimore Orioles

On their way to a last place finish the O's look to replenish a weak farm system by trading Manny Machado. The Yankees offer a package that includes top prospect Miguel Andujar. Holding their noses about trading with a division rival, Baltimore pulls the trigger. New York gives Machado a 6 year deal in the off season.

Boston Red Sox

Mookie Betts goes 30/110 with 25 steals and hits .320 to win AL MVP. A deep dive into his 2016 reveals he may have been the unluckiest regular in the league last season. A .268 batting average on balls in play will do that. Everything else looked normal.

Chicago Cubs

In his first full season on the northside Jose Quintana has a career year. 18 wins in 32 starts. 200 innings. 220 strike outs. Seriously considered for NL Cy Young.

Chicago White Sox

Struggling to maintain a .280 on base percentage, shortstop and lead off hitter Tim Anderson is moved to 9th in the order and eventually optioned to triple A to learn plate discipline.

Cincinnati Reds

Jesse Winker wins a regular starting job. Seizes lead off spot. Hits .310 and scores 85 runs. His on base percentage is sabermetric porn at .380

Cleveland Indians

With Jason Kipnis going on the DL.... again... The Tribe call up #1 prospect Francisco Mejia. Though he's a catcher by trade Cleveland has been working him out at third. Jose Ramirez moves to second full time. Meija talks over at the hot corner and rakes. With a cannon arm he grows into the position and remains a fixture at 3rd for the next several years.

Colorado Rockies

The trade deadline arrives and Colorado has been unable to deal Carlos Gonzalez. Cargo is mired in his second straight terrible season. David Dahl has long ago taken his place in right field. Gonzalez is DFA'd. The Yankees acquire him after he clears waivers for a single A pitcher. Gonzalez pinch hits in game five of the divisional round and hits a series winning home run because Yankees.

Detroit Tigers

Nick Castellanos is a bright spot for an otherwise bleak rebuilding season. He goes 32/110 and hits .290, out producing Miguel Cabrera.

Houston Astros

Free from Pittsburgh Gerritt Cole is given his full arsenal of weapons. Allowed to work his breaking stuff Cole wins 17 games and posts a sub 3.20 era. He starts game one of the World Series.

Kansas City Royals

Jake Junis (who?) leads the club in starts, wins, strikeouts and ERA. Represents KC at the All Star Game.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Crushed by the pressure of trying to be a two-way player in the best league in the world Shohei Ohtani has his last at bat before the end of May.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Beset by injuries the Dodgers fail to win the division title.

Miami Marlins

At the trade deadline the Marlins trade Cameron Maybin to the Yankees for cash considerations. Next season Maybin announces he's signed a three year deal with the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers have the highest team batting average and the highest team ERA in the National League.

Minnesota Twins

Fernando Rodney loses the closer job by May 1st. Gets it back June 1st. Loses again August 15th.

New York Mets

At one point during the season Yoenis Céspedes, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Michael Conforto, and Seth Lugo are all on the disabled list at the same time. Adrian Gonzalez gets 550 at bats.

New York Yankees

Aaron Judge strikes out 220 times and sees his batting average crater to .230. Giancarlo Stanton spends at least four weeks on the disabled list.

Oakland Athletics

Having hit 24 home runs in just 59 games in 2017 Matt Olson slams 52 and leads the American League in 2018.

Philadelphia Phillies

Weary of his underachievement, the Phils bench third baseman Mikel Franco by the end of May and insert top prospect Scott Kingery at the hot corner. Franco is traded to the Dodgers at the deadline because Justin Turner cannot stay healthy.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Cancer survivor Jameson Taillon makes 30 starts and strikes out 200 in 185 innings of work.

St. Louis Cardinals

No longer able to hold him back, late bloomer Jose Martinez is a regular at first base just weeks into the season. Matt Carpenter logs extended time at 2nd and 3rd to make it happen. Martinez hits .300 with 25 home runs and is a National League All Star.

San Diego Padres

Jose Pirela will hit .285 with 20 homers, 80 RBI, 85 runs and 15 steals and represent the Pads at the All Star Game.

San Francisco Giants

Beginning the season without Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija the Giants find themselves in a deep hole by June. An already aging roster will not be able to staunch the bleeding. The Giants finish last and manager Bruce Bochy is fired.

Seattle Mariners

All the way back from Tommy John surgery Cardinals 2013 #1 pick Marco Gonzalez will log 180 innings with an ERA of 3.20, 15 wins and a strikeout per inning.

Texas Rangers

Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor combine for 80 home runs, and between them a .210 average.

Toronto Blue Jays

With only Curtis Granderson holding him back, one time Astros prospect Teoscar Hernández forces his way into the starting line up. Hernandez strikes out a lot, but with a 50% flyball rate and loads of hard contact he hits 30 home runs.

Washington Nationals

By May 1st 20 year old top prospect Victor Robles is a fixture in center field and goes neck and neck with the Braves' Ronald Acuna for National League Rookie Of The Year.

 

My Picks:

American League Division Winners: Yankees, Indians, Astros.

Wild Cards: Red Sox, Mariners.

National League Division Winners:   Nationals, Cubs, Rockies

Wild Cards:  Dodgers, Brewers

World Series:  Nationals/Astros

World Champions:   Houston Astros

Brian Phillips hosts the CD1025 Morning Show in Columbus,OH. Tune in or stream it at CD1025.com .



























 

Reds Opening Day at The Library Bar: A Tradition Unlike Any Other - by Colin Gawel

*** Reds Opening Day Rained Out! Rescheduled Friday March 30th. All bets are off but hope folks can make it. 

Join your favorite Pencilstorm writers for MLB Opening Day at The Library Bar on Thursday March 29th. First pitch for the Reds vs Nationals is 4 pm and I wouldn't be  late if you plan on catching Homer Bailey on the hill as he might be headed for the showers by 4:30.

The Tribe open the season later that evening on the West coast against Brian Phillips and the Seattle Mariners. 

Reds Win Total 73.5?  It's funny. The Reds have been awful the past few seasons but they have been a surprisingly fun team to watch. When future hall of famer Joey Votto is locked in, every AB is must watch TV. And he is locked in most of the time. Billy Hamilton ABs are must miss TV but the guy is a human highlight reel on the base paths and especially in center field. (Watch This)

I want to say the team will improve in 2018 but the pitching once again looks historically bad. How bad? The Pencilstorm fantasy baseball league drafted 360 players. Exactly three Reds pitchers were chosen. Luis Castillo, Raisel Iglesias, and Homer Bailey. Actually, I chose Homer as my last pick and he isn't even starting for my fantasy team despite being the Reds opening day pitcher. That's rough.

If Reds manager Brian Price had any sense and/or balls, he would read Chapter 9 in Brian Kenny's amazing baseball book Ahead of the Curve and just eliminate the starting pitcher for 2018. Every pitcher goes through the line-up one time and they all pitch roughly equal innings. This would mathematically guarantee to improve the team's win total. But who wants use numbers when you can rely on tradition? Price's inability to accept reality and think outside the box will finally cost him his job this year.

That reminds me of a story I once wrote: What if Dusty Baker was Bryan Price?

And.......        The Reds Will Remember the Dusty Baker Years Fondly.

Anyway,  I'm an optimist so I like the Reds to combine dumb luck with magic to get 74 wins. 

Cleveland Indians 94.5 wins. The only thing not to like about this Tribe squad is that everything looks too good. Nobody in the AL Central can touch them so it's all about knocking off the Astros or Yankees in the playoffs. Payroll reality sets in next year so it's do or die time on the North shore. I'll take the over. 98 wins.

Colin Gawel wrote this at Colin's Coffee in between serving customers. Excuse the typos please. Colin and The Bowlers are playing Little Rock Bar Sunday April 29th 2-5pm. 

 

Why I'm Excited for Roman Reigns to Headline WrestleMania (Again) - by Big Vin Vader

Why I’m Excited for Roman Reigns to Headline WrestleMania (Again) 

follow @bigvinvader

There, I said it.  That might be the single most blasphemous statement to most hardcore WWE fans.  At the same time, all of the nonstop Roman hating has pretty much run its course.  I can understand being sick of having him forced as the company's top guy year in and out, but John Cena is privy to just as divisive a reaction.  Let's face it, the RAW I was at last December at the Schott was full of Roman fans; I saw more of his merch than anyone else, and his reaction from the crowd was pretty much all positive.  And let's not forget how into the Shield everyone was, both initially, as well as leading up to last year's botched reunion.  Not to mention the fact that Reigns participated in several of 2017's all-around best matches: his Royal Rumble clash with Kevin Owens was one of my favorites, and the multi-man matches at Extreme Rules and SummerSlam were fantastic, with his series against Braun Strowman not falling far behind. Plus, he had a barnburner of a match with Cesaro on Raw at the end of the year. His promo game has always been somewhat lacking, but that's not for his lack of confidence in delivery.  And the verbal thrashing he laid on Brock Lesnar following last week's so-so Elimination Chamber match points to him improving in that regard to become one of the company's best all-around performers.  So the issue really shouldn't be with Reigns himself, but with the role the company insists on putting him in.  However, if he keeps delivering at this consistent rate, then there should be no real reason to regard the backlash he will undoubtedly continue to get.

People really ought to be fed up with Brock Lesnar's prominent position as the face of RAW, given his reduced schedule, aforementioned homophobia, and general disinterest in delivering enjoyable singles matches.  But he has always been capable of delivering better.  When Brock is pressured to put on a good performance, he can really bring it.  After two wet squib squashes against Goldberg, Lesnar stepped up his game at last year's WrestleMania to deliver one of the best sub-five-minute matches I've seen.  That match also served as a solid reminder of the incredible athletic potential that Brock still possesses yet generally fails to display.  His match with Samoa Joe at Great Balls of Fire was also very good, although it was hampered by its short runtime and predictable outcome.  Basically, he may phone it in more often than not with his part-time schedule, and I certainly don't like him as a person, but he is capable of delivering a great match when he feels compelled to do so.  He's also going to have been champion for a full year by the time WrestleMania comes around, so the stakes are high over the title change whether the fans want Roman to win or not.  And even if a good portion of the fans are opposed to him as Universal Champion, isn't he far better suited to a top spot than Jinder Mahal ever was?  Also, do title belts even really mean much any longer?

If you ask me, people make way too much of the main event position of WrestleMania.  Also, even the term "main event" has been devalued at this point.  Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble last year, meaning he was supposed to take that spot at Mania; his match against Bray Wyatt lasted ten minutes and was seventh on the ten-match card.  The main event isn't even the best match on the show: last year that honor went to Shane McMahon's curtain jerker against AJ Styles.  Hell, I can't even begin to count how many WrestleManias put their worst overall matches in the main event spot.  The way WWE has been running their PPVs lately, the final match is the perfect time to tune out following six hours of programming.  I know I fell asleep multiple times throughout Reigns' last coronation against Triple H at WM32.  All of that considered, why should it really matter if Roman headlines the event for the fourth year in a row?

All of that makes it seem like I'm just dismissing the match off the bat, but as the title of this column suggests, I'm actually looking forward to Lesnar vs. Reigns.  This match has been no secret, having been booked nearly a year ago and unchanged in any way since.  We've had plenty of time to prepare ourselves, and people seemed to will themselves to forget about this, or at least expect a last-minute change.  Obviously all the talk of Lesnar returning to UFC shook things up a little bit, and certainly seemed to solidify Reigns' apparent victory.  But there have been a few notable moments along the way that have looked to make this one something memorable, something less than the expected phoned-in coronation of Roman Reigns.   Also, with the possibility of Brock retiring from wrestling once again, it seems like a sure shot for him to turn in a top-notch performance on his way out.  This is the exact thing to light a fire under his ass and force him to deliver a quality farewell.

More to the point when it comes to anticipating this match, we need to look at its direct precedent: Lesnar vs. Reigns for the WWE Title at WM 31.  Everything about that match was awesome, and it was another perfect example of Roman shining in the main event spot.  Lesnar and Reigns have complementary hard-hitting styles, as well as a shared versatility that keeps their powerhouse moves from clashing in the course of things.  Their match was brutal and full of hardway blood, which was shocking to see but also lent the conflict more drama and made each wrestler look legitimately vulnerable.  Let's be honest, if there's anyone who looks like they could believably hurt Brock, it's Roman Reigns.  And after fifteen or so minutes of incredible, fast-paced action (and don't forget that both men can pull off incredible selling jobs) the whole show was thrown for a loop as Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and pinning a weakened Reigns to snag the title.  So technically, the predicted outcome of this year's match isn't even a rehashed finish.  Everything about that earlier match points in favor of this rematch delivering an even better showing, although I'm really hoping they stick with the lean runtime of the earlier contest.

Finally, right after winning the men's Elimination Chamber match, Reigns delivered a career-best promo on RAW, tearing into Brock's part-time schedule and behind-the-scenes attitude.  It was a blistering two minutes, and delivered the sort of scripted heat that's been lacking from pretty much every episode of the flagship show.  In doing yet another fake shoot-style promo, Reigns inadvertently gave voice to a large portion of the hardcore audience that is traditionally against him in every way.  This is smart booking, even though the "things 'they' don't want me to say" shtick feels a little tired.  The way to get Reigns over as a face is to call attention to his reliability, his constant presence and dependability.  Lesnar's part-time schedule has been a subject of much derision from fans, and it was time that somebody brought that into the storyline.  Even more to the point, Reigns called Brock out for skipping Elimination Chamber (not that he was booked) to take photos with Dana White, calling his loyalty in question.  To cap it all off, he called Brock a bitch, which got a big shock reaction from the crowd, so I'd say it paid off to err on the side of bad taste this time around.  That promo helped prove that Reigns is out to prove himself yet again, while also making sure that Lesnar will be out for blood once he gets his hands on his challenger.

So don't talk to me about all of the times Reigns has been forced on fans, or all of the great (possibly even better) wrestlers that have been sacrificed to his various pushes.  What we have here is a sure-shot incredible match that should steal the show, particularly in light of some recent misguided booking decisions.  Consider: there's a very real chance that AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura's dream match will become a triple-threat featuring John Cena.  I'm sure it would still be great, but that isn't what people want or need to see.  And then, likely to be an absolute mess, is the newly-announced Triple H/Stephanie McMahon vs. Ronda Rousey/Kurt Angle.  That's even worse of an idea than putting the Rock in Angle's place.  Stephanie can't wrestle, Kurt barely can any longer, and Rousey hasn't even been tried in the ring as of yet.  This match will be a disaster, emphasized even further by the fact that Stephanie McMahon (along with Rousey) could very well be the first woman to headline WrestleMania.  Think about that before complaining about Reigns winning the Universal Title.

Big Vin Vader covers WWE for Pencilstorm. Follow on twitter @bigvinvader 

 

 

 

 

The Power of No Expectations - by James A. Baumann

The Power of No Expectations

This evening, the Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball team will take the Value City Arena floor for the last time this season. It will be the last home game for seniors Jae’Sean Tate and Kam Williams as well as Keita Bates-Diop if he decides to test the NBA waters (subliminal message “please stay”). It will be the last home game of coach Chris Holtmann’s first year. And it will be the last home game of a season that, to be honest, about 90 percent of the city of Columbus had totally written off.

The story has been oft repeated: past disappointments; new coach hired late; committed players released to go to other schools; would-be returners taking off (and being let go); and questions about who would even fill out the roster. Projections had the Buckeyes as low as 11 or 12 in the Big Ten. When people said, “Do you think this team can make the tournament?” they were talking about the NIT.

From a personal point of view, the uncertainty manifested itself with repeated questions if I was going to re-up on my season tickets. For the last dozen years or so, attending games with friends and family has been a highlight of the battleship gray days of Columbus. I’m not saying I have to roll loose change to make the purchase, but it’s not an unsubstantial one either. I admit I gave pause, but in the end I decided to take the plunge. When asked why I would say, only half-jokingly, that I hoped the fan defections would allow me to get better seats and that “when everyone starts jumping on the bandwagon, I want to say I was there at the beginning.”

Well, the bandwagon pulled up a lot sooner than anyone (except perhaps announcer Dan Dakitch ) expected. Sure, there were a couple of tough losses early in the season, but those were quickly forgotten as this team now sits in the top four of the league and most likely will be the higher-seeded team in their first NCAA tournament team. There was the incredible comeback against Michigan and two dramatic upsets over Michigan State and Purdue. The Schott saw its first sell-out in years and, maybe more importantly, the student section has been filled and loud.

Here’s the thing, for me all the wins have been gravy. Yeah, the Ws are great, but this also is a fun team that is filled with interesting stories. They play hard and work as a team. There are the Wesson brothers, local kids playing together and following in the footsteps of their Buckeye father. There’s Musa Jallow, who may be the best athlete on the team despite the fact he should be planning for his high school prom. Andrew Dakich has been welcomed into the fold despite his school-up-north history. The scrappy, undersized Tate has put up incredible numbers while also becoming probably the team’s most beloved fan-favorite since Aaron Craft. And, of course, there is the emergence of Bates-Diop (“please stay”) as one of the country’s best players and also one of its best human beings. As he comes back from the serious leg injury that led to his red shirt last season, there have been as many feel good stories about him (like this and this)  as there have been ways announcers have pronounced his name. (I swear I heard one call him “Beta Dates-Kiop.”)

The city’s collective blood-pressure would be much healthier if more fans looked for the stories behind the scoreboard. I remember falling into the trap somewhat during the 2006-’07 season as Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., and company made it to the national championship game. There were a number of great moments that season: a game winner against Wisconsin  and a last-second block against Tennessee. But with all the winning came a mixture of complacency and raised expectations. If the team won, well, that’s what they were supposed to do. If they lost, it was a gut punch. There literally was nowhere for the mood to go but down.

That is why this season has benefitted from the power of no expectations. The ups-and-downs are the nature of a college basketball season as teams juggle lineups, navigate injuries, evaluate strategies, deal with matchups, and set themselves up for post-season play. This flies in the face of the football fans for that handful of teams whose season is ruined with just one loss. To that end, I actually wonder how much the seemingly most fanatic OSU followers really appreciate or enjoy watching the sport – regardless of what it is – being played.

I’ll be in my seat tonight, sending off the seniors and rooting for another win. I’ll also be sure to take a second and appreciate what may not prove to be the most successful season I’ve seen, but certainly has been among the most memorable. I encourage other fans to do the same and be ready to come back next year and see how the next chapter of this story plays out (please come back Keita). But if they do, I hope they are behind me in line for tickets. After all, I was there this year.

How WWE Fixed the Royal Rumble - by Big Vin Vader

How WWE Fixed the Royal Rumble   by @Bigvinvader

The crowd in Philly was right: Holy Shit.  I don't think anyone expected the Royal Rumble to be nearly as good as it was.  Saturday's NXT TakeOver was one of the company's best PPVs in years and looked to totally eclipse the main roster's PPV.  And while nothing at the Rumble was as mind-blowingly great as Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole or Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade Almas for the NXT championship, we still got the single best men's Rumble match I've ever seen, and a hell of a first-ever women's match.  Those two seemed like surefire duds just because the past two years have been such colossal train wrecks.  There was no precedent for the women's match, so it should have been fine on paper, but I wasn't optimistic that WWE would make it anything truly special or respectful.  Wrong.  Not only was the in-ring action itself incredible, but the booking decisions for each match were nearly perfect, delivering exactly the sorts of spots and outcomes that the entire audience wanted to see.  The whole show bodes very well for the company's 2018, and even the nature of the surprise entrants shows that things are going to play out well this year.

I was legitimately surprised when the men's Rumble came in the middle of the show.  It's always the main event, the focus of the entire PPV itself, so it seemed odd to put it in any other spot.  Then again, it was tricky to structure a show featuring two separate one-hour matches, so it wasn't the worst choice.  It was also nice to realize the women would be headlining the show, no longer being cast as the "bathroom break" match in the sub-main event spot.  If anyone was stupid enough to just tune out during the women's Rumble, they missed a great match with a fantastic conclusion and several more legitimate surprises.  I've never been quite so excited about the result of a Royal Rumble, let alone two in the same night, so that's what I want to focus on here.  The rest of the card is harder to discuss, since I'd initially been looking forward to it more than the Rumble matches.  That wasn't necessarily because of their potential quality, since nobody really needed to see Kane in a Triple Threat title match in 2018.  I just expected WWE to totally botch the dual Rumbles and planned to find solace in the other matches on the show.  None of that was necessary, however, and as it stands now, I don't have too much to say about the undercard.  Lesnar, Styles, and the Usos retained, while The Bar won the RAW tag titles from Rollins and Jordan.  Nothing was terrible, but there was also nothing especially memorable or remarkable about the rest of the show either.

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It's always hard to run down the Rumble itself and touch on even half of the important moments in the match, but I'm gonna do my best.  Rusev came out first to a huge pop; the crowd has already turned him face.  He is so incredibly over that he needs better opportunities.  Finn Balor was out second, and he got about the same reaction, which is hardly surprising since only Vince McMahon believes that he isn't over with the fans.  Then again, somebody in the company must have faith in him, as he was this year's Iron Man, nearly making it coast-to-coast, lasting fifty-five minutes in total.  It was a pretty great showing, and it should have done wonders for Balor's stock in the pre-WrestleMania season.  At least until he lost clean to John Cena (who had eliminated him from the Rumble) on RAW the very next night.  I guess it's better than another loss to Kane.  There were several big surprises throughout the match, and each one was great.  First was Andrade Almas coming in at #7, which was especially surprising so soon after he retained the NXT championship the night before.  Almas put in a good showing and lasted nearly half an hour, so there's little doubt that he'll connect with the audience once he's called up to the main roster.  The in-ring portion of the Rumble was a few notches above what we've grown used to in the last few years, so the whole thing was already exceeding expectations.  Things picked up even more at the mid-point, with Shinsuke Nakamura, crowd favorite alongside Balor, coming in at #14 to a huge reaction. 

Both brands were represented by great talent, with all three members of the New Day entering, as well as other favorites like Cesaro, the finally-Broken Matt Hardy, and Seth Rollins all making appearances.  Shane Helms returning as The Hurricane was another legitimate surprise, though he only lasted forty-five seconds.  Shortly after that, Adam Cole made a surprise appearance at #23, which is especially impressive after the brutality of his Extreme Rules match from Saturday’s NXT TakeOver.  Just like Almas, Cole got a great reaction from the crowd, and will definitely find his place on the main roster once they make the decision to call him up (which should be sooner rather than later).  By this point, Jinder Mahal was the least received entrant into the match, and his presence here makes sense as the crowd needs someone to react against with little overall stakes.  So by the time the final five or so entrants were due, everything had been great, and things stayed consistent.  Entrant #27 was the biggest surprise of all, with Rey Mysterio coming out of nowhere to return to WWE, and last a good ten minutes.  Granted, his presence means nothing at the moment since he's still a free agent and has committed to nothing as of yet.  Still, that was the sort of surprise that the company always strives for yet fails to deliver.  Roman Reigns was in next and got the expected split reaction, while racking up several eliminations.  Dolph Ziggler was out at #30, which should have been a huge deal.  Ever since he forfeited the US title on SmackDown late last year, there was quiet buzz that he was the dark horse to win the match, reclaiming his tarnished legacy in the most spectacular fashion.  Instead, he eliminated Goldust, lasted for two minutes, and was thrown out by Balor.  At that point he shouldn't even have been booked in the first place.

The final stretch of the match was some of the best action on the PPV.  Mysterio hit both Reigns and Cena with a 619 at the same time, which was probably the best thing he could have done to rile up the Philly crowd.  Right after that, Balor got rid of him, leaving himself, Reigns, Cena, and Nakamura as the final four.  That was brilliant booking, especially in a hardcore town like Philly, with the two company golden boys pitted against the clear fan favorites and two of the company's best wrestlers.  At that point, it really seemed like anything could happen, especially given the number of times better, more deserving wrestlers have been sacrificed to Cena and Reigns.  Cena eliminated Balor, but Shinsuke went after him fast and got him out of there.  There was some legitimate tension as the final two went back-and-forth, and they really teased this one out.  I can't recall ever feeling that sort of anxiety during the conclusion of a Rumble match; usually it's more of a sunken sense of foregone inevitability.  So imagine the genuine elation I felt when Shinsuke Nakamura, who has been misused and horribly booked since debuting on the main roster, took out Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble.  Obviously, the Fargo Center went nuts for that one.  Renee Young came out to interview Nakamura and asked which champion he wanted to face.  The answer was somewhat predictable, but no less exciting: AJ Styles.  I'll take it as a given that AJ will retain the WWE Championship until Mania, but that's hardly the sort of spoiler to get upset at. 

All said, this was the Royal Rumble that I've enjoyed the most in recent memory, as well as the one that seemed most engineered to satisfy the company's fan base.  Apart from possibly Finn Balor, nobody but Shinsuke should have even stood a chance at winning the match, and even then, Nakamura vs. Styles is the dream match fans have been waiting to see.  WWE were smart and waited for the right time, to give the match a good build and the biggest possible stage to be seen on.  Everything about this is shaping up to be a classic, which is hardly a surprise given AJ and Shinuke's past match in New Japan living up to that very title.  On the other side of things, the Rumble itself was about as good as it gets given the nature of the match.  None of the competitors were wastes of time, and the fan favorites, save Dolph Ziggler, were booked incredibly well.  Best of all, in this particular Rumble at least, there was no McMahon/Helmsley ego stroking to be seen at all.  As expected, Daniel Bryan did not make an appearance.

Big Vin Vader covers WWE for Pencilstorm. Follow@Bigvinvader