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.

Royal Rumble Stats

First off I want to say that I did not see Sheamus winning the Rumble.  I was convinced the Jericho was going to win it all.  Apparently just another wrinkle in this Jericho story.

The Great White is Headed to Wrestlemania
Photo Credit to WWE.com

Here are some Stats from the Royal Rumble match.

Entry Order

1. The Miz

2. Alex Riley

3. R-Truth

4. Cody Rhodes

5. Justin Gabriel

6. Primo

7. Mick Foley

8. Ricardo Rodriquez

9. Santino Marella

10. Epico

11. Kofi Kingston

12. Jerry Lawler

13. Ezekiel Jackson

14. Jinder Mahal

15. Great Khali

16. Hunico

17. Booker T

18. Dolph Ziggler

19. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

20. Michael Cole

21. Kharma

22. Sheamus

23. Road Dogg

24. Jey Uso

25. Jack Swagger

26. Wade Barret

27. David Otunga

28. Randy Orton

29. Chris Jericho

30. Big Show

Breakdown by number of eliminations

0 Eliminations: Alex Riley, R-Truth, Justin Gabriel, Primo, Epico, Kofi Kingston, Jerry Lawler, Ezekiel Jackson, Jinder Mahal, Hunico, Booker T, Jim Duggan, Michael Cole, Road Dogg, Jey Uso, Jack Swagger, and David Otunga.

1 Elimination: 

Ricardo Rodriguez (Justin Gabriel)

Santino Marella (Ricardo Rodriguez)

Dolph Ziggler (Kharma)

Wade Barrett (Road Dogg)

2 Eliminations:

Miz (Alex Riley, R-Truth)

Great Khali (Jinder Mahal, Ezekiel Jackson)

Kharma (Michael Cole, Hunico)

Sheamus (Kofi Kingston, Chris Jericho)

Chris Jericho (Randy Orton, David Otunga)

3 Elimnations:

Mick Foley (Justin Gabriel, Primo, Epico)

Randy Orton (Big Show, Wade Barrett, Jey Uso)

4 Eliminations:

Big Show (Miz, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger)

6 Eliminations:

Cody Rhodes (Mick Foley, Santino, Jerry Lawler, Great Khali, Booker T, Jim Duggan)

Tomorrow I plan on having a full review of the entire PPV up.

On the Eve of the Rumble

Photo Credit to WWE.com

First off I want to start of by saying that the Royal Rumble is probably my favorite PPV of the year.  Wrestlemania is a very close second, but for me nothing is like the Rumble.  The Rumble sets us off on the Road to Wrestlemania.  The Rumble gets all the major storylines for the year up and running.  It is the place were the next great superstars are born.

This years Rumble is shaping up to be a good one.  We have some great storylines heading into the show.  Not only do we have the great Punk/Laurinaitis/Ziggler drama over the WWE Championship, we also have the Kane/Cena Embrace the Hate semi-mess, and we have a great story in the Bryan/Show/Henry battle over the World Heavyweight Championship.

CM Punk vs Dolph Ziggler has the chance to be the match of the year if they give it enough time.  Both of these guys bring it every night.  They are both at the top of the food chain in the WWE as far as in-ring performers go.  I expect nothing less than a 4* match out of these two guys.

Although Kane vs John Cena is not going to be a technical showcase, I am interested in seeing how this plays out.  Kane has dominated Cena up until this point.  One would think that Cena is going to get the best of Kane sooner or later, but with all of the changes Cena's character is going through it is hard to tell.

The triple threat cage match between Daniel Bryan, Big Show, and Mark Henry is also an interesting one in m book.  One would think that Bryan has no chance competing against those two monsters.  I will interested to see if Mark Henry is going to be able to go as he is coming off of a knee injury on Smackdown.  

And as we all know the Royal Rumble match itself is a hard one to call.  I love the unexpected entrants.  That is what makes it exciting to me.

MY RUMBLE PREDICTIONS

*Kane defeats John Cena - I am going out on a limb here.  I feel that if they let Kane win that he will help further Cena embrace the hate.  Kane's win would make Cena realize that he must make some changes.

*CM Punk over Dolph Zigger - Dolph will be a champ before the year is over, I just don't think right now is the time.  They need to keep developing him a little bit more.  I feel that he needs to drop Vicki as she has done her job already.  I think that Punk deserves to be the champ as Wreslemania.

*Daniel Bryan over Big Show and Mark Henry - I love Bryan's current heel run.  He is doing a great job  in getting the character heat.  There are some great feuds ahead if Bryan hangs on to the title.  I also feel he will hold on to the title at least until Wrestlemania.

The Royal Rumble Match

*We already know The Miz is entrant number 1.  Look for R-Truth to come in a #2.

*Ziggler, Punk, Cena, and Kane will all be in the match after competing earlier in the night.

*Mick Foley will eliminate Dolph Ziggler setting up a future feud.

*Goldust will enter the Rumble and eliminate Cody Rhodes.

*Batista or RVD will return for the Rumble.

*The Final Five superstars in the Rumble will be: Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Randy Oron, CM Punk and Chris Jericho.

*Chris Jericho will win the Royal Rumble Match.

Those are my predictions.  I went out on a limb for a few of them, but we will see what happens. 

Leave me your match predictions.  If a few of you leave them we will have a contest.  Who ever gets the most correct is the winner and I will let the person write a post for the blog after the Rumble.