Ever have a wrestling show that, for the most part, is decent to mildly enjoyable, until the end? I don’t mean the ending ruined the show, but saved it. Fine, saved is a bad choice of word. Elevated it is more like it. It took a show that you enjoyed, but didn’t love and catapulted it into being worth your hard earned money. Royal Rumble 2011 is that PPV!
From the first match to the Rumble itself, this year’s Royal Rumble was a fine show, but nothing special. The first match came close to blowing it out of the water immediately, but understandably took the high road. The second match was good and made the right choice, though wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before. The third match was filler, doing it’s part (though it deserved better). The Royal Rumble match, the biggest one so far, was a mixed bag, until the end. More on that later, though.
World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (champion) def. Dolph Ziggler w/Vickie Guerrero
This was the perfect match to open the show! Both men worked their asses off to get the crowd on fire, eventually doing so. It took a little awhile, as the crowd seemed a bit dead in the beginning (a recurring problem throughout the night). For me, I was hooked from the opening bell.
Ziggler took it to Edge, pulling out everything he had in his arsenal. Same goes for The Rated R Superstar, who’s patented spear was banned from the match (thanks to current GM stand-in, Vickie Guerrero). As I said in my recap, this shouldn’t have been a problem, as Edge had many other signature maneuvers to put away Ziggler.
Though they didn’t put the challenger away, they sure as hell weakened him down. Both the Edgecution and Edgucator were utilized, with the Edgecution nearly winning it. He folded Ziggler up like an accordion, pounding away at his midsection to inflict more damage. Luckily for Dolph, he was able to get to the ropes for the break.
Shortly after, he dished out his fameasser (which was at one point reversed into a power bomb) and sleeper hold, with the latter coming very close to putting away the champion. It’s nice to see submissions being used well tonight. Once that didn’t work, Vickie inserted herself into the match, distracting Edge. Kelly Kelly randomly came out and attacked Vickie, which makes me wonder why she’d chastise Drew McIntyre for doing it to Trent Baretta, but duplicating the actions herself. What a hypocrite!
Anyway, this distraction led to the Zig Zag. For a split second, it seemed as if Ziggler was going to win the World title. Unfortunately for him, Edge kicked out right before the three. Dolph retaliated by once again locking in the sleeper hold. Edge once again seemed out of it, only to pull through and hoist Ziggler onto his shoulders, giving him a piggyback ride. In the midst of this, he inadvertently clocked the referee.
Being the Ultimate Opportunist, he took advantage of this and nailed the Spear. Instead of immediately going for the cover, he feigned injury while the ref revived. Once he was back to his feet, Edge slowly but surely picked Dolph off the mat and hit his buddy Christian’s finisher, the Killswitch, and got the victory.
Final Thoughts: A damn good match and a great way to kick off the show! Here’s hoping Ziggler doesn’t move back down the card.
WWE Championship: The Miz (champion) w/Alex Riley def. Randy Orton
I’ll be honest with you folks. I didn’t watch this entire match. It’s not because I wasn’t interested in it. On the contrary, I was excited to see this match. My fear of Orton winning back the title made me more anxious for it than I should have been, especially considering I’m still scorned over the fact that Morrison wasn’t challenging him instead. The reason being is that my dog had to use the bathroom, and took forever to do so. I had a fear this was going to happen.
I was able to stand by the door and listen in on the match. My buddies also fed me the happenings (whilst screwing with me), which helped out majorly. I only missed the first few minutes, which seemed like the standard routine. Orton beats on Miz, Riley interferes, Miz gets some offense in, Randy retaliates, etc.
Once I came back in, the match played out exactly as I thought. They simply rewashed the same method from earlier. Orton beating on Miz, Riley interferes, Miz gets some offense in, Randy retaliates, etc. Orton seemed destined to win until the New Nexus showed up. David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, Husky Harris and Mason Ryan stood outside the ring, staring intently at Orton. Riley once again interfered, but had it backfire and was sent flying into the Nexus.
Miz struck from behind, but Orton dodged a Skull Crushing Finale and nailed the RKO. Before he could go for the cover, CM Punk hit the ring and knocked him out with the GTS (the ref was distracted on the outside). He dragged Miz on top of his prone body, giving him the victory. They never explained it (maybe on Raw tomorrow night), but I think the plan was simple. Have the “beatable” champion retain and have an easier opponent to face at Wrestlemania.
Final Thoughts: Your average Miz/Orton match. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the two gel well together. Problem is we’ve seen it over and over again the past few weeks, making this match redundant and stale. Still viewable, though.
WWE Diva’s Championship: Eve Torres def. Natalya (champion), Michelle McCool & Layla
Disregard the picture above. Before the contest began, the RAW GM changed the match to a Fatal Four Way and randomly inserted Eve Torres into the mix (despite not really having a reason to be in it, outside of being a former champion). I could have found a picture from WWE.com, but opted to stick with the original one I had. Why? To save time. Besides, this match didn’t really matter, outside of the title change.
Which is a shame, as all four competitors are great athletes and deserved much better. I preferred this over another 2-on-1 Handicap match, but felt it was too confusing. Not the rules, mind you, but Eve Torres inclusion. I was expecting a debuting Awesome Kong, especially since Cole only stated “…this following Diva.”
The match itself left a lot to be desired as well. Laycool teamed up against Eve and Natalya, all the while showing some tension in the group. Not enough to boil over, as they worked together for the duration of the match. The finish came when Eve hit a moonsault on Layla and got the victory. However, McCool had Natalya rolled up on the other side of the ring, which the ref didn’t see. I thought she made her pinfall first, meaning a restart of controversy would surface. Upon the replay and my friends’ input, it was clear that Eve got her pinfall first. Therefore, that theory has been thrown out the window.
Final Thoughts: The fact that my recap of the match was short is an indicator on how poorly this match was booked. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering this is the WWE’s women’s division, after all. It seemed as if they were making progress over the past few months, especially at TLC with the first ever Divas Tables Match. As it seems now, it was all for naught.
Royal Rumble Match: Alberto Del Rio wins, last eliminating Santino Marella
No, you didn’t read that wrong. The final two men in the Royal Rumble were Alberto Del Rio and Santino Marella. To be fair, it seemed as if the final two were Del Rio and Orton (who, just like Ziggler, slithered his way into this match), with Del Rio eliminating Orton and seemingly winning. However, Santino was never eliminated. He was simply knocked out cold on the outside, having gone under the ropes, not over them. Therefore, he was still in the match.
When he re-entered, he hit the Cobra on an unsuspecting Alberto Del Rio. He followed this up by celebrating as if he had already won the match, with me, my buddies and the crowd marking like crazy. I was pulling for Del Rio (he was one of my picks to win, after all), but couldn’t help but be ecstatic at the thought of Marella winning. Given the crowd’s response, it could have been pulled off well. Storyline wise, no, but reaction wise, yes.
This didn’t happen, as Del Rio tossed him over the top rope when Santino finally decided to discard of him. This didn’t tarnish Del Rio’s victory, even if he was only in for an upwards of ten minutes (if that). He entered at #38, slowly making his way to the ring (after driving his car out). Once in, he fought with the big names such as Cena, Mysterio, Kane and Barrett, before eliminating Orton. All in all, he looked fantastic!
Since you’ve been anxiously awaiting a full explanation of the mixed bag comment earlier, I’ll explain. It’s clear that Del Rio winning (and Santino almost pulling off an upset) was the saving grace. What it was saving, so to speak, is still a mystery. And yes, I’m purposely dragging this out to the next paragraph. Don’t like it, go ahead and sue me. Actually, please don’t. I have so very little!
The match started out fine, with Punk drawing #1 and a Corre member seemingly drawing #2. Instead, all four members jumped the ring, attacking the Straight Edge Savior. The rest of the New Nexus hit the ring and a huge brawl ensued. The Raw GM announced that none of the Corre or New Nexus members, outside of Punk, were legally in the match at the time. Therefore, they must head to the back or be ejected from the Rumble. Once they leave, we discover Daniel Bryan has drawn #2 (I was close).
A dream match in the WWE for many independent fans, these two started the match off well. They lasted for a good while, as the New Nexus started to pour into the ring. The likes of John Morrison and Mark Henry also came out, giving them competition. Eventually, they all eliminated their foes (sans Husky, who was eliminated earlier). I was pissed that Morrison was eliminated so early, as he was my top pick (we did get to see him use his Parkour to save himself from elimination at one point). It got worse, though.
I didn’t mind the New Nexus annihilating and quickly eliminating a few new entrants. People like Tyler Reks could take the beating for all I cared. I was actually enjoying this moment, but was fearing it was going to go on for too long. It didn’t quite hit that fear, but did step upon one I didn’t expect to happen.
Booker T returned as a surprise entrant (possibly for one night only), only to be quickly be discarded by the New Nexus. He did get a lot of offense on them, including hitting his respective finishers (the Book End and Scissors Kick), as well as performing a Spin-a-rooni. After that, though, CM Punk and his comrades tossed him over, before the next entrant even came out. There was no reason to not have Booker last longer in the Rumble, especially given the huge pop he had received (and this was from a relatively quite crowd).
Out next to save the day was John Cena, who quickly dispatched of Mason Ryan, Michael McGillicutty and David Otunga. I’m not one to complain over this too much, but this bugged me. Why couldn’t Booker have stayed in to help him, or at least had eliminated McGillicutty or Otunga before being ejected? I was able to overlook this, as Punk and Cena went at it as the next entrant came out.
That man would be Hornswoggle. I’m not much of a fan of this guy, only laughing at a few of his routines. I will state that I loved his performance here, though, which is easily his best work to date. He hung around Cena and Kofi Kingston (who would come out shortly), mimicking their signature moves, as well as nailing his tadpole splash. For the most part, he kept to the side and watched in amazement.
In the midst of all of this, Cena easily dumped Punked shortly after Hornswoggle entered. He did it relatively easy, as well. Granted, Punk had been in since the beginning and Cena was an early twenty entrant (can’t remember the exact number, sorry). Punk has survived longer in other Rumbles and hadn’t taken too much damage, thanks to the New Nexus protecting him. Even then, my biggest gripe is that they didn’t drag the two dueling out. That’s essentially my only problem.
The match started to pick back up (after a few quick eliminations), with men like Sheamus and Jackson entering the match. Another huge surprise came in the form of Kevin Nash, who was donning his Diesel gimmick. That’s right, he entered as Big Daddy Cool, not himself. I’m not a big fan, but I admit I marked. Just like Booker T, he didn’t last long, though he did get in some good offense. Sheamus eliminated him after he and Barrett had continually gone at it. A possible match between the two if Taker can’t come back for Wrestlemania?
If you’re anxiously awaiting the return of Triple H, then you’re going to be disappointed. He never showed up, leaving his return to be at a Raw or the Elimination Chamber. That, or he doesn’t return at all, giving Sheamus the honor of being the man who retired the King of Kings. This would be a great rub for an already established Sheamus.
This basically sums up the Rumble match, sans one big moment. The Miz came down and did commentary for the match when his ally, Alex Riley, entered the Rumble. He stuck around long after his partner was eliminated, scouting his potential competition. He showed his true colors when he snuck into the ring and eliminated John Cena. I’m now convinced these two are facing off at Mania.
As for Orton and Punk, they can face each other. With Punk screwing Orton over, they have a vendetta on an already built-up feud (their history in 2008 and Orton’s altercations with Nexus). This became yet another reason why Punk’s elimination was a bad idea. Orton should have slithered his way in to eliminate Punk, then set his sights on winning the Rumble (though he never should have been entered in the first place). With Punk being long gone, his appearance seemed completely random, though I did think it was coming down to him and Orton at one point. Thankfully, that never happened.
Final Thoughts: Alberto Del Rio winning the Royal Rumble helped make this PPV much better than it had any right to be. That includes the Rumble, which had it’s share of ups and downs. The extra ten men elevated the excitement as well, making the match feel even more like an epic. I say stick with the 40-man shtick, as it’s highly entertaining. I was also glad to see the 90 second intervals stay intact, making the match longer and keeping the flow going.
As for the undercard, Edge/Ziggler is the only truly memorable match. Miz/Orton was decent at best, suffering from a routine set-up. The Fatal Four Way Women’s match was unfortunately lackluster, cementing it’s status as filler.
Still, the Royal Rumble, along with it’s huge winner, made this an entertaining event that’s on par, if not a bit better, than last year’s event.
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