"He was down a lot" - Wrestling veteran expresses disappointment with Penta's Royal Rumble debut (Exclusive)

Penta became one of WWE's hottest new acquisitions as he debuted on the January 13 episode of RAW, defeating Chad Gable in his first match. Veteran wrestling journalist Bill Apter recently spoke about the masked luchador's performance in the Men's Royal Rumble match.

The star entered the match at number two, kicking off a thrilling exchange with Rey Mysterio to start the Rumble. Penta spent 42 minutes in the over-the-top-rope battle royal and eliminated Finn Balor during that time.

On a recent episode of Sportsleeda Westling's Smack Talk, Bill pointed out that the star's debut in the Men's Royal Rumble match was slightly underwhelming. He noted that WWE was promoting him as the greatest masked luchador, second only to Rey Mysterio, but he spent a lot of time in the match on the floor.

"Just during his whole time in the ring, for a guy that they're building as the greatest, greatest, greatest, he didn't perform. You know, he was down a lot." [From 0:46 onwards]

This week on RAW, Penta defeated Ludwig Kaiser in a singles match. However, he did not get a chance to celebrate as a distraction from Pete Dunne allowed Kaiser to unleash a vicious post-match beatdown.

After a decent showing at the event, it will be interesting to see what lies ahead for the star in the months building up to WrestleMania.

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