Royal Rumble Rewind

Overall I was a little disappointed in the PPV as a whole.  Normally the Rumble is my favorite PPV of the year.  The Rumble sets the stage for the biggest show of the year.  The Rumble normally ends some feuds while starting up the biggest feuds of the year.  I don't know if we got that last night.

Daniel Bryan retains the World Heavyweight Championship vs Mark Henry and Big Show
This match was a disappointment to me.  Going into the match I predicted that Bryan would win.  I am fine with him winning as I believe it helps further his heel turn.  However, I feel that the match wasn't given enough time to truly tell a story.  I know the Henry is nursing multiple injuries, which I commend him for still competing, but the match did not have any flow.
I honestly believe that the match was supposed to last longer.  I think that Bryan slipped out of Big Show's hands before the match was supposed to end.  With that being said Bryan escaping from the cage plays perfectly into his current storyline.
Prediction: 1/1
Match Rating: 65/100


Beth Phoenix/The Bellas/Natalya defeat Kelly Kelly/Tamina/Eve/Alicia Fox
I was a little surprised to see this match happen as nothing was advertised.  I don't know why this surprises me because we all know the WWE is prone to adding matches to PPV's at the last minute.  As far as Divas matches go this one was not terrible.  Kelly Kelly had a good spot when she dove from the top rope to the outside onto the dog-pile of Divas.
It was also nice that they actually let the Divas have a match that lasted longer than 2 minutes.  I am actually glad they put the match on the card.
No Prediction
Match Rating: 50/100


Kane vs John Cena - No Contest
This enter match was a clusterf*ck.  The No Contest ending did not work for me.  If they want to prolong the feud then fine, just do it by letting Kane win.  We all know that Cena is going over in the end, which is fine because he needs to have momentum heading into Wrestlemania.  It just made no sense that on one of the biggest PPV's of the year they chose to go the No-Contest route.
It also appears that they are building a Ryder-Kane feud after Kane is done with Cena.  I have no problem with that either, but nothing made sense in the way it was done last night.
Prediction - 1/2
Match Rating - 35/100


Brodus Clay defeats Drew McIntyre
When I first heard Drew's music I was thinking "WTF?".  Then out came the Funkasauras and it made a little more sense.  By putting both of these guys on the PPV it shows up that the WWE has big thins planed for both.
For the first time we saw Brodus take a little bit of damage, granted he shook it off as he "Funked Up".
As happy as I was too see Brodus on the PPV I don't know that I like putting a squash match on the Rumble.  I do know that they wanted to use Brodus and I honestly believe this was a better option than putting him in the Rumble.  This way he still looks strong.  In the Rumble, we know he would not have won, thus he would have been thrown out.  That would have shown some signs of weakness for the big fella.  So in that sense I can understand what they were doing.
No Prediction
Match Rating - 45/100


CM Punk retains the WWE Championship by defeating Dolph Ziggler
I thought this match was very well down.  Punk and Ziggler both got to showcase what they do and the Punk/Laurinaitis feud was kept in place and used brilliantly during the match.  Ziggler showed that he belongs on the big stage.  He is going to be a Main Eventer for the next 10 years.  The guy has got "IT". He is going to be one of the guys that has the company on his shoulders for the foreseeable future.
As for the match, I loved the back and forth between Punk and Laurinaitis.  Their interactions are what helped the match reach that next level.
Also, Ziggler has one of the best counters to the GO TO SLEEP that I have seen.  Impressive.
Early candidate for Match of the Year.
Prediction - 2/3
Match Rating - 81/100


Sheamus wins the Royal Rumble Match
I felt that the RR match itself was a little underwhelming.  There were some good moment and some bad.  There were some surprises that I did not see coming.

Top Five Moments of the Match in order
1. Kofi's handstand - To me this rivals Morrison's spot from last year.
2. The Cobra and Socko standoff - I laughed out loud as this was happening.
3. The return of the Road Dogg - Oh You Didn't Know!
4. Ricardo Rodriguez - everything he did in the Rumble was great.
5. The Return of Kharma - I am glad she is back!

Breakout Star of the Rumble - Kofi Kingston - He was the most exciting man in the Rumble.  I believe this performance may help him stay out of the WWE cellar.

Surprise Entrant - Great Khali - I honestly didn't see that one coming.  All of the others I had heard rumored.  Rumor also has it that he may stick around for a mini-feud which would be fine by me.  I have always been a fan of Khali.  I know he isn't a great wrestler and his charisma is lacking, but there is something I like about him.  Maybe it is the fact that he is HUGE.

Biggest Surpise - Jericho Not Winning - I was surprised he did not win.  I would have bet money on him  being the winner, however I am sure that the WWE knew that most people thought he would win so they switched it up.  I am interested to see how Jericho ties his performance at the Rumble into his "The End of the World" schtick.

Rumble MVP - Cody Rhodes - Cody eliminated the most people in this years match.  Normally that would not be grounds to be the match MVP but they are grooming Cody to be a main event fixture for many years.  I am glad they are taking their time.  Not rushing him may be the best thing that could ever happen to him.  Only time will tell, but I feel that last night was the jump start for The Dashing One.

Overall I would give the show a rating of 65/100.  It could have been much better.  Hopefully the WWE can ramp up their game heading into Wrestlemania.