Royal Rumble 2014
Date: January 26, 2014
Location: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 15,715
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

This is one of the Rumble I wanted to look at this year as it is one o the most influential of all time while also being one of the most infamous. There are some other matches on the card, but this is all about the Rumble itself, or at least someone who isn’t taking part this year. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Titles: New Age Outlaws vs. Goldust/Cody Rhodes

Rhodes and Goldust are defending in a match that is almost bizarre to see today. Cody takes Dogg down to start as commentary immediately ignores the match to hype up the Royal Rumble. Gunn comes in and gets clotheslined outside, setting up a dive from Cody as we take a break.

Back with the referee checking on Goldust as JBL notes that this is NOT a classic match but rather fresh content. I’m not sure that sounds as good as he thinks. Goldust fights out of the corner and hits a sunset bomb as commentary says Gunn never ages. A clothesline takes Gunn down and it’s Cody coming in to clean house. Cody scores with a springboard double missile dropkick (JBL: “Great move by Dusty’s other son!”) and Cross Rhodes gets two, with Gunn making the save. Gunn comes in off a blind tag and hits a Fameasser for the pin and the titles at 6:31

Rating: C. This was nothing of note from an in-ring perspective but they did something big here by having the titles change hands. The Outlaws winning again is a a big surprise and while it’s little more than nostalgia, it still felt kind of cool. Then again, it’s a shame to see the brothers lose, as they certainly had some potential to be a bigger deal down the line. Not much of a match, but the moment made up for it.

The opening video looks at how this night means everything, with the Royal Rumble being about becoming the one. Tonight, the Road To Wrestlemania begins.

Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt

Bryan is the hottest thing in the world right now but recently joined/turned on the Wyatt Family. That wasn’t cool with Bray (who has Erick Rowan and Luke Harper with him) so let’s have some revenge. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan are here with Wyatt. The bell rings and Wyatt yells about Bryan trying to make a fool out of him. The fans aren’t quite in sync with their YES/DANIEL BRYAN chants as Bryan hammers away to start.

Wyatt runs him over with an elbow to the face as they’re going physical early. Bryan goes for the leg but the other Wyatts offer a distraction to break it up. That earns Harper a big dive so Rowan goes over but the referees eject the Wyatts first. Wyatt tells them that he doesn’t need them to fight this war…which lets Bryan dive onto Wyatt for the big crash. Wyatt dumps him outside but a charge hits the steps to bang up the leg even more.

Back in and Bryan ties up the leg for a stomp as we’re in Vicious Bryan mode here. They fight to the apron where Wyatt twists him down by the arm as commentary talks about how bizarre Wyatt really is. Back in and we hit the chinlock, followed another toss to send Bryan right back out to the floor.

Wyatt puts the head against the post and slugs away, with commentary pointing out Bryan’s recent concussion worries. The backsplash crushes Bryan, with Wyatt asking why the fans didn’t help Bryan. Back in and the chinlock goes on again, with looking bored yet eerie at the same time. Wyatt busts out the spider walk, leaving commentary cracking up about the Exorcist as they completely miss the point of a spot like that. The chinlock goes on again but Wyatt misses an elbow.

Bryan fires off the kicks and sends a charging Wyatt face first into the middle buckle. The super hurricanrana gives Bryan two and he moonsaults over Wyatt, who cuts him off hard with the running body block. Bryan manages to knock him back to the floor and there’s a heck of a diving tornado DDT. A running dropkick against the barricade sets up the YES Kicks back inside as Wyatt is in trouble.

Some running dropkicks in the corner connect but Wyatt has to go for one more, allowing Bray to hit one of the biggest clotheslines I’ve seen in a long time. The YES Lock goes but Wyatt is too close to the ropes. Instead Bryan kicks him out to to the floor, where Wyatt pulls the suicide dive out of the air. Sister Abigail to the barricade and another in the ring finish Bryan off at 21:34.

Rating: A-. These guys beat the fire out of each other and it was a heck of a match as a result. What matters is Wyatt getting the win, which was quite the rarity of him at this point. Bryan lost clean with the Family being sent out early, which gives Wyatt one of the biggest wins of his career. This was about two guys having a fight because they can’t stand each other and it made for a great one.

Paul Heyman wants Brock Lesnar to challenge the winner of Randy Orton vs. John Cena for the World Title, but Big Show is standing in his way. Not that it matters of course though, because Lesnar is going to conquer.

We go to the Kickoff Show panel (Ric Flair, Jim Duggan and Shawn Michaels), with Shawn saying Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan are the future of WWE. Shawn is putting his chips on Bryan in any match and when it turns, it’s turning big time. Flair on the other hand will pick Brock Lesnar over Roman Reigns any day. Duggan is just kind of there.

Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar

They got in a fight a few weeks ago and Show tossed Lesnar around, setting this up. Then they did it a few more times to really prove the point. Lesnar jumps him before the bell and takes Show down, followed by a bunch of chair shots. As Lawler seems to remember Show giving Lesnar his first defeat at the 2002 Royal Rumble (about two and a half months before Lesnar debuted), Lesnar kicks Show down again and gets in another loud chair shot. Lesnar finally fires the chair up the aisle…so Heyman hands him another one.

Show gets up so we ring the bell, with Show managing a KO Punch to send Lesnar outside. Some more shots knock Lesnar around at ringside before they get back inside, where Show drops him with a shot to the ribs. The KO Punch misses though and Lesnar muscles him up (almost dropping him but roaring until he gets it) for the F5 and the pin at 2:02. This was more of an angle than a match but screaming Lesnar is a terrifying human being.

Post match Lesnar unloads on Show with the chair for a rather good while. The chair actually breaks so Heyman tosses in another to keep up the beating.

Shield is ready to win the Royal Rumble but they won’t tell each other their numbers.

Randy Orton is ready to beat John Cena one more time and send him to the back of the line. Renee Young brings up the list of people who want the title but Orton shrugs all of it off.

We recap John Cena vs. Randy Orton. They unified the two World Titles last month at TLC with Orton taking them both, mainly due to a variety of weapons. Now Cena gets a clean rematch, so Orton attacked Cena’s dad to make it personal, because THESE TWO need a reason to fight.

WWE World Title: John Cena vs. Randy Orton

Cena is challenging and takes him down into a quickly broken headscissors. Orton grabs a headlock into a suplex, followed by some headbutts to keep Cena down. Another headlock is reversed into a Liontamer attempt of all things but Orton kicks him outside without much trouble. The chinlock goes on again and we hit the BORING chant about five minutes in. They go outside with Orton sending him into the barricade, followed by some posing back inside.

Orton takes too long posing though and it’s an electric chair off the top to cut him down. Cena initiates the finishing sequence but the AA is countered. Instead Cena grabs a nice neckbreaker and the top rope Fameasser, but the AA is countered again. This time Orton takes him outside for the hanging DDT onto the floor, which of course doesn’t finish a thing (as it’s just a DDT onto the floor).

Back in and Orton….eventually loads up the RKO but Cena pulls him into the ST. The rope is quickly grabbed so Cena tries the AA again, but this time the referee gets bumped. Cena gets the STF again and this time Orton taps, with no referee around. The delay lets Orton get in a belt shot and the delayed cover gets two. Orton again spends WAY too much time posing, allowing Cena to grab the AA for two more.

A quick RKO gives Orton two of his own as they’re firmly in the trading finishers portion. The fans chant what sounds like WE WANT DIVAS but Orton mixes it up with his own STF. Cena slips out and grabs a crossface, which is reversed into an AA from Orton for two more. As you might guess, Cena’s ensuing RKO gets two so he puts Orton up top. The super AA is blocked so Cena grabs a tornado DDT into the STF. Orton is in trouble….and we’ve got Wyatts. Cena fights them off and that’s enough of a distraction for Orton to grab the RKO for the pin at 20:55.

Rating: B. This feels like a match that is much better if you’re away from the feud. Orton and Cena feuded for so long that it stopped having any kind of interest and the fans were pretty clearly sick of them. I can’t say I blame them either, as Orton vs. Cena was done to death for a very long time. The worst part is they had a good match with the trading finishers being something different from them. The Wyatts’ interference was certainly a surprise, and you can pretty clearly see a Wrestlemania showdown coming from here. Good match though, even if the fans weren’t interested.

Post match the Wyatts wreck Cena again to lave him laying. The Wyatts leave, with a bewildered Cena following.

Mae Young tribute video and you better believe Stephanie McMahon is narrating.

The New Age Outlaws show Renee Young how to do their introduction. They have two words for her: new champs.

Miz is going to win the Royal Rumble because he’ll do whatever it takes.

The Usos are ready to go on to main event Wrestlemania.

Big E. Langston (when he had a last name) is winning because that’s where it’s at.

Fandango says his name rather breathily.

Batista: “Exactly.”

Damien Sandow isn’t going to make mistakes.

Ryback is a human wrecking ball in a match full of superstars.

Rey Mysterio is going to win the Royal Rumble again.

The pre-show panel give their picks:

Jim Duggan: Dolph Ziggler

Shawn Michaels: the Shield or CM Punk

Ric Flair: Batista

Royal Rumble

90 second intervals, CM Punk is in at #1 and Seth Rollins is in at #2. Punk slugs away to start and strikes away but they trade running shots in the corner. They’re both down and it’s Damien Sandow in at #3. Punk fights out of a double team with a DDT/neckbreaker combination but can’t get Rollins out. Cody Rhodes is in at #4 and goes right at it with Sandow (they don’t like each other), including Cross Rhodes. Punk tosses Sandow (who is shocked) and Kane (now corporate) is in at #5.

Rollins grabs Punk’s leg so Kane can get in a cheap shot…but Punk escapes a chokeslam and tosses Kane. Alexander Rusev (still from NXT) is in at #6 and spinwheel kicks Rollins down. Rhodes manages to hang on as Sandow is still sitting at ringside. Rusev can’t get rid of anyone and it’s Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter, holding an “every 90 seconds, another illegal sneaks across the border” sign) in at #7.

Swagger and Rusev have the big showdown until a bunch of people go after the latter. Kofi Kingston is in at #8 and goes after Punk, who is down on the apron. With no one getting anywhere, Jimmy Uso is in at #9. Uso headbutts and strikes away but can’t toss anyone either. Goldust is in at #10, giving us Punk, Rollins, Rhodes, Rusev, Swagger, Kingston, Uso and Goldust at the one third mark.

A bunch of people get together to toss Rusev, who pulls Kofi back out (not eliminated). Kofi is laid on the barricade….which he walks down and then dives onto the apron to get back in with a heck of a leaping save. With the collective gasp over, Dean Ambrose is in at #11. That doesn’t exactly go anywhere so it’s Dolph Ziggler in at #12 with a missile dropkick to Ambrose. The ring is getting full and R-Truth is in at #13 to make it even worse.

Ambrose wastes no time in getting rid of Truth and Uso is out as well to clear the ring a bit. Kofi is sent to the apron but hangs on by his feet, even pulling off Swagger’s boot in the process. A boot to the head lets Kofi pull himself back in and it’s Kevin Nash (oh dear) in at #14. Nash knocks Swagger out before going after the Shield, who gets even stronger with Roman Reigns in at #15.

The apron dropkick hits Rhodes and a spear takes him down as well. Reigns headbutts Nash in the chest and dumps Kofi, only to get DDTed by Ziggler. That earns Ziggler a spear and he’s out rather quickly. Reigns low bridges Nash out and it’s Great Khali in at #16. The Shield wastes no time in getting rid of Khali, followed by Reigns tossing Rhodes and Goldust back to back. The TripleBomb is loaded up on Punk but the returning Sheamus is in at #17.

The ten forearms to the chest have Ambrose in trouble and the Irish Curse hits Rollins. There’s the Brogue Kick to Reigns as Sheamus is the only one let standing. The numbers have Sheamus in trouble though and it’s Miz in at #18. That doesn’t go anywhere (much like Punk, who is down in the corner holding his head with a referee talking to him) and it’s Fandango in at #19. El Torito is in at #20, giving us Punk, Rollins, Ambrose, Reigns, Sheamus, Miz, Fandango and Torito at the 2/3 mark.

Torito goes after the once again standing Punk, wh grabs him by the head but gets headscissored. A springboard missile dropkick actually eliminates Fandango but Reigns throws Torito out without much trouble. Antonio Cesaro is in at #21 (with Zeb Colter, whose sign says “you could time it yourself but they stole your watch) and starts with the Swinging. Rollins gets the big extended version and it’s Luke Harper in at #22. Rollins survives an elimination attempt and Reigns spears Cesaro. Rollins and Cesaro slug it out until Jey Uso is in at #23.

Everyone brawls near the roles and it’s JBL in at #24, with Cole getting in the cringe worthy line of “the JBL character has never entered the Royal Rumble”. JBL tells Cole to come take his coat and is quickly tossed by Reigns. Erick Rowan is in at #25 as the fans are a bit quiet here. Harper gets rid of Miz and Uso quickly follows suit. We get the big Shield vs. Wyatts showdown as Ryback is in at #26.

The GOLDBERG chants begin as Sheamus and Cesaro trade forearms. JBL: “That wasn’t a move. That was I’M GOING TO THROW MY FIST INTO YOUR FACE!” Alberto del Rio is in at #27 and no one goes anywhere. Batista (there’s the reaction, albeit not the most positive) is in at #28 and gets rid of Rowan, setting up a showdown with Ryback. A charge into the corner goes badly for Ryback, who gets backdropped out.

Del Rio kicks Batista in the face and is eliminated or his efforts. Big E. Langston is in at #29 for a bunch of backbreakers to Sheamus, who manages to hang on. The brawling on the ropes continues until Rey Mysterio is in at #30. That gives us Punk, Rollins, Ambrose, Reigns, Sheamus, Cesaro, Harper, Batista, Langston and Mysterio.

Now this bring us to the important part of the match: Rey Mysterio is not Daniel Bryan. The fans were doing the YES pose before Mysterio came out, and then it just fell apart. You could see fans looking around, wondering why this was anyone but Bryan as it is clear that this is NOT the right spot. Mysterio is an all time legend, but the fans do not want to see him here right now and the DANIEL BRYAN chants are on.

Mysterio and Punk both have to hang on to get back in as the booing continues. Sheamus gets rid of Big E., leaving Harper and Cesaro to strike it out. The 619 hits Rollins and the fans are just openly booing now. Rollins is back up with an enziguri to get rid of Mysterio and for one of the only times ever, the fans are happy to see Mysterio eliminated. The fans are chanting for Bryan as Reigns Superman Punches Harper out….but Ambrose tries to toss Reigns.

That lets Cesaro almost eliminate Rollins and Ambrose but Reigns tosses all three of them at once in a pretty awesome visual. That ties the single match elimination record for Reigns, while leaving us with Reigns, Punk, Sheamus and Batista. Cue Kane to eliminate Punk though and unload on him next to the barricade. The beating is on and Kane chokeslams Punk through the announcers’ table, giving us what would wind up being Punk’s last appearance for almost ten years.

The fans are still chanting for Bryan as the other three pull themselves up. Batista powerslams Reigns and the fans chant NO as they know where this is going. Sheamus gives Batista a Regal Roll but misses the Brogue Kick as Batista falls down, with the ans booing even more. Batista backdrops Sheamus to the apron and Reigns gets the record as we’re one on one. The fans are suddenly WAY behind Reigns but Batista cuts him off with a spear. Batista tosses Reigns for the win at 55:08.

Rating: C+. Where do you start with this one? The match certainly has its moments and there is star power throughout, with Reigns feeling like the biggest monster in the world. While some of those eliminations might have felt a little cheap, Reigns did set the record and it was quite the impressive feat. Other than that, you had the Shield vs. the Wyatts and it was a good enough Rumble.

Except for that one big thing. I have never heard a crowd turn on a match like that and it was a fascinating thing to see. At the end of the day, this was the fans outright rejecting what WWE was presenting them and there is no way around it. The fans wanted Bryan and rejected everything else when they didn’t get him. It also doesn’t help that Batista was slotted into the spot no matter what the people wanted and this was the result. It would only get worse, leading to an all time Wrestlemania. At the time though, it was one of the most tone deaf moments WWE could have had and brought a pretty good Rumble WAY down.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a VERY weird show as the main event outweighs everything else, even though the rest of the show was rather good. The World Title match was better than average and the opener was a smash, with Lesnar wrecking Big Show stuck in the middle. Then there’s the Rumble, which is overshadowed by the last five or ten minutes. It’s a show, and main event, unlike any other and that is why I wanted to see it again.

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Royal Rumble 2013
Date: January 27, 2013
Location: US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: 13,00
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

This show was only a year ago and I can barely remember anything about it. Aside from the Rumble the big matches are the Rock challenging CM Punk for the WWE Title in the most obvious ending ever and Alberto Del Rio defending his newly won World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show in a last man standing match. Other than that we’ve only got HELL NO vs. the Rhodes Scholars to complete the card. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: US Title: The Miz vs. Antonio Cesaro

Cesaro is defending. This is just after Flair passed the Figure Four to Miz, starting the worst period of his career. Miz grabs a headlock to start and gets two off an elbow to the jaw. The headlock takes Cesaro down to the mat but he fights up and grabs one of his own. Back up and Miz tries a leapfrog but gets caught in midair with a tikt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. The champion takes over and cranks on both of Miz’s arms before getting two off a Michinoku Driver.

A hard European uppercut sets up the gutwrench suplex for two and it’s back to the double arm. Back up again and Miz slips out of a slam and hooks the Reality Check for two. There’s the running clothesline in the corner and Miz goes up but hurts his knee on the top rope ax handle. Cesaro gets caught with his feet on the ropes, allowing Miz to get two off a rollup. Antonio misses a running knee in the corner but is still able to roll away from the Figure Four. Cesar takes him to the floor and rams Miz into the metal underneath the ring. Miz is out cold so Cesaro Neutralizes him for the pin to retain.

Rating: D+. Miz just doesn’t work in a lot of these matches and the Figure Four doesn’t work in the slightest. Thankfully he wouldn’t be featured very prominently for awhile as there was just nothing to him for the most part. Cesaro still needs to get a push as he’s more talented and marketable than half the roster but instead we get people like Miz.

The opening video is about time passing and how no one has enough. This ties into Punk’s time as champion with Rock saying the reign ends tonight.

Smackdown World Title: Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio

Last man standing match, which is a rematch with the same stipulations from when Alberto won the title a few weeks ago. Del Rio turned the announce table on top of Big Show so Big Show turned it on top of him a few weeks later. Alberto is shown in the back and he runs into Bret Hart for no apparent reason whatsoever. Bret says Alberto reminds him of a Mexican version of himself. Alberto calls Bret a Canadian Del Rio and Ricardo gushes, earning him Bret’s sunglasses. What a bizarre cameo.

Some hard chops have Del Rio in early trouble and a slam gets a five count. Alberto chops away but jumps off the middle rope right into a chop to change control right back. The champion dropkicks the giant’s knee out but the low superkick actually knocks Big Show up from his knees to his feet. A hurricanrana and a seated senton put Big Show down and Alberto gets a breather. It’s amazing how much more intersting Del Rio is by doing this lucha stuff instead of his arm work. The arm stuff is good but this is such a nice change of pace.

Big Show blocks the armbreaker with one arm and slams Del Rio down, sending him outside. Del Rio gets back in as Big Show gets a chair but the champion dropkicks him in the ribs to knock it out of his hands. A series of chair shots (crowd: “SI! SI! SI!”) has Big Show down but Alberto dives into a chokeslam for an eight count. We head outside again with Del Rio getting chopped to the floor with ease. This is a very slow paced match so far.

A pair of low blows puts Big Show down in the aisle but he’s up at nine. Show hits something resembling a DDT on the floor before sending Del Rio into the set. He rips a piece of the set, resembling a light tube, and blasts Del Rio over the back. Since this is WWE there’s a table readily available and Big Show takes the champion on top of the set for a chokeslam through the table. The bump looked awesome but he’s again on his feet at nine.

The beating takes Del Rio back to the ring and Show loads up the WMD. Alberto sees it coming and rolls outside, only to have Big Show throw Ricardo around for fun. Big Show misses a charge through the barricade (clearly heavily padded) for five but a long series of chair shots has him down again. Del Rio crushes the arm between the steps and a chair, but Alberto follows up with a fire extinguisher blast to the face for no apparent reason. Back in and the armbreaker goes on, but Ricardo ups the ante by duct taping Big Show’s legs to the ropes. The giant can’t get up and Alberto retains the title.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t the worst match in the world but it was very slowly paced and the ending made Del Rio look more clever than tough. It also doesn’t help that the match was the same gimmick they did less than a month ago. Face Alberto was a nice guy but they cut the cord just six months after this. Not bad, but Del Rio winning the title here would have been much better.

Send Slim Jims to the military!

Ziggler isn’t worried about being in the Rumble and AJ threatens Matt Striker with Big E. Langston for implying Ziggler can’t win. Langston does one of the most mind blowing imitations of an annoying reporter while asking Ziggler for his thoughts on the main event. Dolph has little of note to say but no one was hearing him after Big E.’s bit anyway.

Cesaro says he’ll continue the streak of non-Americans winning the Rumble.

The Prime Time Players……WE’RE GETTING RUMBLE PROMOS!!!! Anyway they say anyone that thinks they’ll eliminate either of them is getting a penalty flag.

Orton says he’s perfect for the Rumble because it’s every man for himself.

Cena is ready for the Rumble because it means he can be champion again.

Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett says he’ll restore credability to the Rumble.

Sheamus says he won the Rumble last year and he’ll do it again tonight.

Ryback isn’t any catchphrase and he doesn’t eat Fruity Pebbles, but he’ll see food every 90 seconds. Feed him more.

We recap Miz vs. Cesaro on the pre-show.

Tag Titles: HELL NO vs. Rhodes Scholars

The Scholars are challenging. Cody kicks Bryan in the ribs as Cole references Queen lyrics. Bryan spins out of a wristlock and the fans chant for Cody’s mustache. Cody’s leapfrog is countered into a surfboard and it’s off to Kane for a low dropkick and a two count. Rhodes scores with a dropkick of his own and drives Kane into the corner for the tag off to Sandow. Kane easily powers Sandow into the corner because, you know, he’s Damien Sandow and it’s off to Bryan for the YES Kicks.

JBL rants about Cole and Lawler hugging as Kane kicks Sandow in the face, knocking him out to the floor. The FLYING GOAT takes out the challengers but Cody low bridges Bryan to the floor to take over. Back in and a half crab has Daniel in trouble but he reverses into a small package to escape. Damien comes in again and drops an elbow for two before dropping the Wind-Up Elbow.

After some knees to the back it’s Cody in again but he charges into a boot in the corner. Sandow breaks up a hot tag attempt and Cody puts Bryan in an over the shoulder backbreaker. Daniel slides down to escape and makes the tag to Kane. Sandow is tossed around like a rag doll but a Cody distraction prevents the top rope clothesline. Kane grabs both guys by the throat and Bryan tags himself in. The Scholars double suplex Kane but Bryan shoves Cody into a chokeslam and Daniel YES Locks Sandow to retain.

Rating: C. Nothing you wouldn’t see on Raw around this time which means it was fine. The Scholars were a nice idea for a team but it was clear that they had no chance at this point given how low their individual stocks were. Kane and Bryan gelled perfectly well as a team and Bryan would get far bigger very soon.

Rumble By The Numbers which I’ve typed many times already.

HELL NO celebrates in the back when Vickie Guerrero comes up and gives them their Rumble numbers. Daniel shows Kane his but Kane won’t show Bryan.

We look at the Royal Rumble Fan Fest which is another name for Axxess. This included a tournament of NXT wrestlers for a spot in the Rumble, won by Bo Dallas.

Royal Rumble

Ziggler is #1 which he picked (the other option was #2) after winning a Beat the Clock Challenge on Raw. Dolph says he’ll win and doesn’t care who he faces first, bringing out a returning Chris Jericho at #2. This was a complete shock and the roof is blown off the building. Also remember that Ziggler beat Jericho to send him out of the company to give us some history. The clock is at 90 seconds between entrants this year.

Jericho is quickly sent to the apron but comes back with a top rope ax handle. Now it’s Dolph on the apron as the fans tell Jericho he still has it. When did Jericho ever come close to losing it? A superplex brings Ziggler back into the ring and Cody Rhodes is in at #3. Jericho hammers away on him but Ziggler gets in a cheap shot as the double teaming begins. Chris knocks Ziggler down and puts Cody in the Walls but Dolph makes the save.

Dolph catapults Jericho throat first into the bottom rope as Kofi Kingston is in at #4. Kofi immediately speeds things up and pounds away on Cody but can’t hit Ziggy with Trouble in Paradise. Ziggler is thrown to the apron and all four guys try to eliminate each other at the same time in the same spot. Santino Marella is #5 and he sends all four to the apron before loading up the Cobra. Everybody is back in and even though Santino takes Kofi down with the sock, it’s Cody backdropping Marella out.

Drew McIntyre of 3MB is #6 and gets to fight Kofi as everyone else takes a breather. Back up and it’s time to lay on the ropes while trying to eliminate people. Jericho is sent over the ropes but he keeps his feet off the ground and gets back in. Titus O’Neil is in at #7 to add some power, including taking Cody and Kofi down with a double clothesline. Cole finally tells us that the bark is a shout out to his fraternity from Florida. Thank you for explaining that to us after two years.

Jericho throws out McIntyre but can’t do the same to Ziggler as Goldust is #8. Cody gets ready for the showdown and the fans are WAY into this. They trade the kneeling uppercuts and Goldie stomps on Cody for a bit. The fans chant for Goldust and it’s David Otunga (remember him?) is in at #9. The announcers ignore the match to talk about the commentators being in the Rumble last year as people start to pair off.

Nothing much happens until Heath Slater is in at #10. That gives us Ziggler, Jericho, Rhodes, Kingston, O’Neil, Goldust, Otunga and Slater at the moment. Slater fires off right hands to Kofi as Jericho calls spots to Ziggler. Dolph gets stuck on the apron again and Sheamus is #11 to clear out some bodies. He destroys everyone with his usual stuff before sending Titus to the apron for the ten forearms. Otunga is thrown onto Titus to get rid of O’Neil before ten forearms and a Brogue Kick get rid of the lawyer. Tensai, still the Japanese lunkhead, is #12.

Everybody goes after Tensai to make a big cluster in the corner. That goes nowhere at all so Brodus Clay comes in at #13. We get a Tons of Funk preview before Goldust backdrops Cody to the apron, only to get pulled to the apron as well. Cody gets back in and sends Goldust into the post for the elimination and a lot of booing. Rey Mysterio is #14 to make the crowd happy again. Ziggler and Jericho get quick 619s and the top rope splash crushes Jericho. Things slow down a bit until we reach the halfway point with Darren Young at #15.

A bunch of guys join forces to dump Brodus and Kofi puts out Tensai a few seconds later. Now we get to the part that everybody was waiting on as Kofi is knocked off the apron, only to land on Tensai’s back. He jumps onto the announcers’ table as he tries to figure this out. Why he doesn’t just jump two feet to get onto the steps is beyond me. Bo Dallas is #16 as this is going on. Instead of the steps, Kofi gets JBL’s office chair and pogos his way back to the ring. Kingston pulls Darren out of the ring but gets caught with the Disaster Kick for the elimination before he can get back inside.

Godfather gives us the nostalgia pop at #17 and is dropkicked out by Ziggler four seconds later. He seems ok with that and leaves with his women. The whole point was the entrance anyway so I have no issue with that. Wade Barrett is in at #18 as the ring is getting too full. Everything slows down again and John Cena is #19 to clear out some tired people. Everybody gets ready for him so Cena comes a charging. John fights them all off and throws out Slater and Cody but can’t dump Jericho.

Damien Sandow is #20, giving us Ziggler, Jericho, Sheamus, Mysterio, Dallas, Barrett, Cena and Sandow. Mysteiro and Barrett fight to the apron and a big forearm puts Rey out. Sheamus goes right after Wade as Jericho tries to put Cena in the Walls. Daniel Bryan is #21 and fires off kicks to Sandow. Now it’s Barrett getting the kicks as everyone else is down. Sheamus and Bryan try to put Jericho out but he slides back in under the ropes.

Antonio Cesaro is in at #22 and gets in a fight with Sheamus as the fans start the dueling Cena chants. Everybody is back up now and Great Khali is #23. It’s chops all around until things calm a bit. Kane comes in at #24 to fire things up again (get it?) but the ring is too full. It gets even worse with Zach Ryder coming in at #25 but HELL NO dumps Khali. Bryan dumps Kane but Cesaro dumps Bryan into Kane’s arms. Daniel: YES! Kane shouts no and drops Bryan for the elimination in a funny bit.

Randy Orton is #26 and it’s powerslams all around. Ziggler and Dallas get a double Elevated DDT and it’s an RKO for Ryder, followed by the elimination. Jinder Mahal gets lucky #27 as Cesaro lifts Cena up, only to be eliminated himself. Ziggler gets launched to the ropes but slides back in as Miz is #28. He gets in a fight with Cesaro in the aisle and limps into the ring to sell the ankle injury from earlier. Sheamus dumps Mahal and Sin Cara is #29.

Cara tries an enziguri on Ziggler which misses by four inches but Ziggler sells it anyway. Bo Dallas pulls Barrett out in an elimination that should have led further than it did. Miz sends Jericho to the apron as Barrett pulls Dallas out from the floor. Ryback is #30 to give us a final grouping of Ryback, Ziggler, Jericho, Sheamus, Cena, Sandow, Orton, Miz and Sin Cara. Damien is out first and Sin Cara quickly follows. Miz tries to power Ryback out and is tossed as well to get us down to six. Jericho is somehow still alive and hits a Lionsault on Cena but the springboard dropkick doesn’t eliminate Sheamus.

Ziggler backdrops Jericho to the apron and superkicks him out (missed as well but he’s spent at this point) but walks into an RKO. There’s one for Cena as well and Sheamus gets the third. That leaves Ryback to fight Orton but the monster gets taken down with an Elevated DDT. Ryback fights off the RKO and clotheslines Randy out to get us down to four. Ziggler DDTs Cena down but a Brogue Kick puts Dolph on the floor.

It’s Sheamus, Ryback and Cena with Ryback getting double suplexed down. Cena and Sheamus make things serious by LOOKING AT THE SIGN. John takes over but Ryback runs him over with a clothesline. Sheamus escapes the Shell Shock, looks at the sign, and hits White Noise on Ryback. The Brogue Kick is countered with a backdrop to eliminate Sheamus and we’re down to two.

They LOOK AT THE SIGN and do their signature taunts before Ryback spinebusters Cena down. The Meathook is countered into the STF and Ryback passes out, leaving him as dead weight. Ryback fights out of the corner and Cena’s head into the mat. He loads up a powerslam but Cena slips out the back and shoves Ryback out for the win and title shot at Wrestlemania.

Rating: B. It’s a good but not great Rumble. That being said, there was almost no other option to win here, even though it set up the rematch that no one wanted to see. There’s certainly some good stuff in it and there were no down spots, but you would expect more big moments than we got here.

Coming Home ad for Wrestlemania. That still should have been Wrestlemania XXX.

We recap CM Punk vs. The Rock. It’s a basic story: Punk has been champion for 434 days and Rock is getting a title shot because he’s the Rock, which was kind of a lame reason, especially when the shot was announced six months ago. That began a countdown that made everything Punk did meaningless, because there was no way it would be anyone but Rock taking the belt from him here. Yeah Punk got in some shots on Rock before the match, but this was as much of a layup as you could get. Also if Shield or anyone interferes, Punk is stripped of the title.

Rock, after waiting for them to chant his name, says he isn’t worried about Shield, even though they busted up his lung recently. He goes on a rant about how many hard things he’s been through, but redeems himself a bit by talking about his mom getting cancer but beating it to be here tonight. Punk has said that the people don’t count but Rock says every single one of them count to him. He reaches his hand out to everyone that believes in the Rock so he can get their power, if you smell what he’s cooking.

Raw World Title: The Rock vs. CM Punk

Punk of course has Heyman with him. He charges right into the brawl and actually pounds Rock down into the corner. A quick Rock Bottom is countered but Punk is sent outside. Rock follows him outside and sends the champion into the barricade before loading up the announce table. Punk comes back with a shot to the ribs and puts the table back together in a great bit. Back in and Rock scores with more right hands to knock Punk to the floor again.

Punk is whipped into the barricade one more time but he gets a boot up to stop a charging Bull. He finishes fixing the announce table instead of following up on Rock before dropping Rock ribs first on the barricade. They head inside again for a body vice from CM followed by a knee to the ribs for two. Off to a freaky looking hold where Punk pins Rock’s shoulders down but pulls back on his head to crank on the shoulders and back.

More choking follows and a knee to the back has Rock on the apron, followed by a springboard dropkick to send him outside. Punk tries a top rope ax handle to take Rock down but injures his knee in the process. Rock scores with some kicks to the knee but the champion easily sends him out to the floor to stop the comeback. Back in and Punk misses the springboard clothesline and reinjures the knee, giving Rock his opening.

A DDT gets one on Punk but he fights out of the Rock Bottom. The GTS is countered into a Sharpshooter attempt but Punk counters into the Anaconda Vice in a nice sequence. Rock rolls over into a cradle, forcing Punk to let go of the hold. Back up and tries the Rock Bottom but Punk counters into a rollup for two, only to be countered into a low seated Sharpshooter. Punk is next to the rope so naturally he takes thirty seconds to get the break.

Rock takes him to the floor and loads up the announce table again. They fight on top but Rock counters a GTS attempt into what was supposed to be a Rock Bottom but was really more like the table collapsing with Rock’s arm around Punk’s chest. Rock comes up holding his knee and both guys make it back in at an eight count. Punk scores with a high kick but both guys are down.

Back up and Rock wins a slugout before scoring with the spinebuster. He loads up the People’s Elbow and there go the lights. Cole can see Shield pulling Rock to the floor and powerbombing him through the table. The lights come back up and Rock is laid out as the referee has no idea what’s going on. The announcers try to tell Mike Chioda what happened and Punk feigns innocence.

He throws Rock back in for the pin and celebrates but here’s Vince to say Punk is stripped of the title for the interference. Rock says no and to restart the match. The bell rings again and Punk stomps away as JBL threatens to put Cole through a table for playing cheerleader. The Macho Elbow gets two but the GTS is countered into a spinebuster, setting up the People’s Elbow to end Punk’s reign.

Rating: B. It’s another good match but it felt like they were dancing around for twenty three minutes before we got to the obvious ending. The Shield stuff was a decent fake out but it really didn’t need to be there. Rock winning was obvious though and that really put a ceiling on how high this was going to get.

Rock celebrates for about three minutes to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Yeah it’s a good show overall, but the major problem is obvious: there was no other possibly ending other than Rock vs. Cena at Wrestlemania 29 and almost everyone knew it. The show is definitely entetaining and actually really good at times, but it was so telegraphed up and down the card that it offers almost no excitement at all, even on the initial viewing. Still though, worth checking out if you have nothing else to do.

Ratings Comparison

Antonio Cesaro vs. The Miz

Original: C-

Redo: D+

Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show

Original: B

Redo: C-

HELL NO vs. Rhodes Scholars

Original: C

Redo: C

Royal Rumble

Original: C+

Redo: B

The Rock vs. CM Punk

Original: B

Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: A-

Redo: B

That original overall rating is too high for what I gave everything else. Also I think the original last man standing match rating is closer to the accurate one. It just didn’t hold up as well on a second viewing, but it was good.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/01/27/royal-rumble-2013-by-the-book-and-still-awesome/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $4 at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: January 19, 2026
Location: SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

It’s another afternoon show as we wrap up the European tour. That’s a big deal as we are less than two weeks away from the Royal Rumble. As a result, it is time to start getting ready for the show’s namesake matches, as only Cody Rhodes has announced himself for the Rumble. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here is Gunther to get things going. The fans are NOT pleased with him and tell him that he tapped out. Gunther says AJ Styles made a mistake last week because he forgot who he was facing. We hear Gunther’s accomplishments and he is officially in the Royal Rumble. Cue Styles, who gets right to the point: he wants a rematch with Gunther at the Royal Rumble.

Gunther doesn’t want to wrestle twice that night so it’s a no, but Styles calls him a little b****, which actually isn’t enough for a yes. As Gunther goes to leave, he says hang on as there is one way he’ll do it. The fans at Gunther, who eventually says he’ll do it if Styles puts his career on the line. Gunther tells Styles he has until the end of the night to decide.

Maxxine Dupri runs into Natalya, who is here to support her against Becky Lynch.

Women’s Intercontinental Title: Maxxine Dupri vs. Becky Lynch

Dupri is defending and has Natalya with her. Dupri wrestles her down to start but it’s too early for the ankle lock. A dropkick puts Lynch on the floor instead but she’s back with a hard forearm as we take a break. We come back with Dupri hitting a step up legdrop to the back of the head for two but she misses a kick and gets caught in the Disarm-Her. That’s reversed into the ankle lock, which is broken up as well.

Dupri gets crotched on top and superplexed back down, with Lynch rolling into a DDT for two. Lynch pulls the turnbuckle pad off but almost gets sent into it, allowing Dupri to hit a high crossbody. That’s rolled through for two and Dupri gets the ankle lock again. Lynch gets out again so Dupri kicks her in the head…and Natalya puts Lynch’s foot on the rope. Dupri is stunned and walks into the Manhandle Slam to retain the title at 11:33.

Rating: B-. This might as well have had a countdown until Natalya turned on Dupri, as they weren’t even hiding what was going on. That being said, it was a good way to get out of the match while protecting Dupri. This really needs to be it for Dupri vs. Lynch, as Dupri needs to get revenge on Natalya while Lynch just needs a fresh opponent. Dupri has come a very long way in this feud though so well done indeed.

Post match Natalya jumps Dupri and lays her out, including the Sharpshooter. It’s broken up but Natalya does it again.

We recap Adam Pearce suspending Bron Breakker last week but also putting his hands on him, which Paul Heyman didn’t like.

Pearce asks AJ Styles what he’s doing about Gunther and Styles says he’s going to call his wife. With Styles gone, Paul Heyman comes in to ask how Pearce’s week went. Pearce said it was good and Heyman is surprised, but Pearce says they’re in Belfast. Heyman: “Couldn’t find an arena in London?” Pearce: “What do you want?” Heyman: “A lot.” Anyway, the Vision has a six man tag tonight and they’ll both be ringside.

Video on CM Punk vs. Finn Balor.

Raquel Rodriguez says Stephanie Vaquer is still out of action but she’s ready to win the Women’s Title when she gets the chance. Liv Morgan says this is going to be the Judgment Day’s year because they’ll all win titles.

Here is Jey Uso to announce that he’s in the Royal Ru

IMG Credit: WWE

mble as well. And that’s that.

New Day and Grayson Waller want their Tag Team Title shot, with Adam Pearce agreeing. But that’s if they win a four way next week. Ranting ensues.

Vision vs. Rey Mysterio/Penta/Dragon Lee

Paul Heyman and Adam Pearce are both here too. Lee takes over on Theory to start and it’s quickly off to Paul vs. Penta for a strut off. Penta takes him down by is quickly dropped by Paul, meaning it’s off to Mysterio vs. Reed. Mysterio is knocked down with the power but manages a kick to the head. It’s back to Penta to take over and the three good guys hit big stereo dives (that looked great) to the floor as we take a break.

We come back with Lee not being able to lift up Reed but avoiding the sitdown splash. A powerslam gives Reed two but he misses the running backsplash. It’s back to Mysterio to pick up the pace and hammer away at Theory in the corner. Penta comes in for a scary Penta Driver to Theory as everything breaks down. Paul is sent outside and Lee’s big flip dive hits Reed.

Back in and Theory brainbusters Penta onto the knee for two and it’s time for Heyman and Pearce to get on the apron. Paul tries to slide Theory the knuckles but Pearce breaks it up, earning some yelling from Heyman. Pearce yells at him, allowing Mysterio to pick up the knuckles and knock Theory silly. The Destroyer finishes for Penta at 15:03.

Rating: B+. This was a heck of a match with a bunch of stuff going on but it stayed coherent. The stuff with Heyman and Pearce is interesting and I’m curious to see where it goes. At the same time, Mysterio using the knuckles was a bit of a surprise but it still worked. Pretty awesome stuff here.

Post match the winners celebrate as Heyman has his phone out.

CM Punk’s plan to beat Finn Balor: be the best in the world.

Paul Heyman yells at Adam Pearce and suggests he’ll be fired. He suggests that Pearce answer a phone call, which Pearce does, though we don’t hear who it’s from.

Here are Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky for a chat. They’re ready for their title defense at Saturday Night’s Main Event, but then they’re both in the Royal Rumble. Cue Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez to interrupt, with Morgan saying Ripley will turn on Sky, as she always does. Perez says the two of them, and Raquel Rodriguez are going into the Rumble as well, which has Ripley mockingly laughing. Cue Rodriguez and the fight is on, with Perez chop blocking Sky. Oblivion leaves Ripley laying.

Lyra Valkyria talks to Bayley, saying it’s hard to be positive when she has let her best friend down. Bayley can’t believe that idea because Valkyria can’t let her down. Now one of them is going to win the Royal Rumble! A hard hug ensues.

IMG Credit: WWE

Je’Von Evans vs. El Grande Americano

Los Americanos are here too. Evans gets an early rollup for two and flips around a bit before they head outside. A jump onto the steps lets Evans knock him down again and we take an early break. We come back with….the match ending at 6:21 as Evans was injured during the break. He seems to be favoring his shoulder or pectoral muscle. Not enough shown to rate but dang that’s discouraging. Hopefully it’s not too bad.

Finn Balor is ready to win the World Title.

Preview of Unreal season 2.

Video on Oba Femi.

Adam Pearce talks to the Vision, saying that he won’t be lifting Bron Breakker’s suspension but he wants Breakker here next week to talk things over. Heyman says Pearce better be on his best behavior. With the Vision gone, AJ Styles comes in and he’s in for the match with Gunther, so it’s official.

Saturday Night’s Main Event rundown.

The Kabuki Warriors aren’t happy, with Asuka blaming Kairi Sane for their recent losses. Sane says she’ll help Asuka win the Royal Rumble, which seems to soothe things over.

IMG Credit: WWE

Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. Finn Balor

Punk is defending and Balor has the old theme song for a great entrance. Feeling out process to start with a takedown going nowhere so they trade posing. Balor loads up the Sling Blade but instead grabs a jumping chinlock for a bit of a weird spot. That’s broken up and Balor is sent outside for a suicide dive as we take a break.

We come back with Balor fighting out of a chinlock and the two trading shots to the head. Balor strikes him into the corner but he seems to come up favoring his leg. The Coup de Grace takes too long and Punk catches him on top for the superplex. Their legs lock for two so Punk drops him with a running clothesline.

Back up and Balor hits the Sling Blade, followed by a running clothesline out to the floor. The big running flip dive connects but the Coup de Grace misses back inside. Punk hits a quick GTS for two but another attempt is escaped. The shotgun dropkick sends Punk into the corner and Balor does it again, setting up the Coup de Grace for a VERY close two. Punk manages to get back up and another GTS retains the title at 16:12.

Rating: B. Yeah this was good, with Balor feeling like enough of a threat to make the match work. It was interesting to see Balor as the clear good guy in the match, though Punk was basically neutral rather than being a heel. That’s not something you see very often but it made for an interesting dynamic here. Good main event, and now Punk can move on to something a bit bigger for the Rumble.

Post match respect is shown and they’re cool with each other.

Overall Rating: B+. This was the wrestling heavy show, with a pretty awesome main event, an outstanding six man tag and enough stuff being set up for the Royal Rumble to make the show feel more important. I had a great time with this one, as the crowd made it even better. Heck of a show here as the European run comes to a close.

Results
Becky Lynch b. Maxxine Dupri – Manhandle Slam
Rey Mysterio/Dragon Lee/Penta b. The Vision – Canadian Destroyer to Theory
El Grande Americano b. Je’Von Evans via injury stoppage
CM Punk b. Finn Balor – GTS

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AAA On FOX
Date: January 17, 2026
Location: Gimnasio Olimpico Juan de la Barrera, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Corey Graves, John Bradshaw Layfield, Rey Mysterio

No not that FOX. Well kind of, but the one for Latin America. This is a big deal for AAA, and WWE as a result, so the show is being streamed on WWE’s YouTube channel. The main event features El Grande Americano vs. El Hijo del Vikingo for a future Mega Title shot. I’m sure we’ll have some surprises as well so let’s get to it.

Please note that my Spanish is limited at best so I apologize in advance for not understanding some of the promos.

We start with some rather enthusiastic fans outside. Nothing wrong with that.

Here is Rey Mysterio to get things going, which is always going to work. Mysterio welcomes us to the show and talks about it being a new era on Fox. I believe he thanks the Pena family (former owners) for giving him his start here and this is his home. Now that AAA is on Fox, millions of people will get to see what lucha libre means to the wrestlers, as it is part of their culture.

He mentions that the main event is for the title shot against his son Dominik, and the fans are NOT pleased. Granted they’re even less pleased with El Hijo del Vikingo, but they do seem to like El Grande Americano. Mysterio heads outside and greets some fans before joining commentary.

La Parka/Mr. Iguana/Nino Hamburguesa vs. Los Vipers

Hamburguesa and Taurus slug it out to start with Hamburguesa dropping him with a clothesline. The running seated senton crushes Taurus but Hysteria trips Hamburguesa from the floor. Negro comes in with something like a dropkick version of What’s Up but the rather large Hamburguesa blocks the double superplex.

Instead it’s a double middle rope splash, allowing the tag off to Parka. House is cleaned and the Thriller connects, with Hysteria making the save. Iguana comes in for a very spinning headlock takeover to drop Negro as everything breaks down. Hamburguesa hits a big dive to the floor and a spinning faceplant gives Iguana the pin on Taurus at 4:35.

Rating: C+. This is a simple, easy to understand match as a trio of fun guys come together to beat three villains. It might not have been a great match or anything close to it, but they had fun and got the crowd going. That’s all this needed to be, as it’s basically a little taste of what you’ll get here to bring the new audience along.

Penta El Cero Miedo is in the back and talks about how he was here fifteen years ago and he was the Rey de Reyes. I believe he says he’ll be watching the main event.

Flammer vs. Lady Shani

Flammer’s Reina de Reinas title isn’t on the line and the rest of Las Toxicas are here with her. Shani rolls her up to start but Flammer is back with a double stomp to the ribs. Flammer hits a basement dropkick for two but Shani is back with a kick to the head. A tumbleweed (eventually) rolls Flammer around for two as Lola Vice comes out to brawl with La Hiedra, leaving Lady Maravilla to trip Shani. Flammer’s running dropkick in the corner is enough for the pin at 3:33.

Rating: C. This was another “here’s what you’ll get around here”, albeit with a bit more storyline involvement. They had some stuff here based on stories that had been going for awhile and that made it a bit more complicated. Featuring a long running champion makes sense, though why not make it a title match to add a bit of spice to the show?

El Hijo del Vikingo doesn’t seem to care about the fans and isn’t worried about the main event. He does however seem rather cocky.

Here is Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. for a chat. He talks about the importance of the Latin American Title and how much he wants to make lucha libre better. Apparently he’s throwing out a challenge and here is a man in a purple mask to drop Wagner and pick up the title. The purple mask comes off and it’s….Santos Escobar.

Dominik Mysterio says the celebrities aren’t the reason AAA is so hot right now, because it’s all about him. He beat John Cena, which his father never could do, and he’ll be the king of luchadors.

El Hijo del Vikingo vs. El Grande Americano

For a future Mega Title shot and Dorian Roldan is here with Vikingo. Rey is impressed by Americano, having “been a babyface all my life.” Americano works on the arm to start but Vikingo goes after the eye to get out. Some shots to the head keep Americano down until he slugs right back. Roldan offers a distraction though and Vikingo stomps away in the corner but American powers out with a suplex.

Another distraction lets Vikingo dropkick him out to the floor and Americano gets sent into the steps. Vikingo hits a 450 back inside, which seems to wake Americano up for some reason. Americano fights back and hits a middle rope clothesline, followed by a modified camel clutch. Roldan offers another distraction but this time Americano drops Vikingo.

Americano loads up the disc but throws it away, instead opting to throw on the camel clutch again. With that broken up, Americano puts him on top but Roldan grabs the leg to block a superplex. Roldan is ejected, leaving American to go after the disc on the floor. Cue Omos to cut him off though, allowing Vikingo to hit a dive. Back in and the 630 finishes Americano at 13:46.

Rating: B. This felt like a bigger match, with Omos making everything feel more important. The idea of having Vikingo as part of a big heel stable works well, as the fans absolutely cannot stand him. Just go with what is working and the rest should figure itself out, which might be where we’re going from here.

Post match Americano decks Vikingo but gets taken out by Omos. Rey Mysterio gets in with a kendo stick and the villains bail to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This show might not have been some instant classic, but it did a good job of giving the fans a taste of what you’ll get around here. You had a fun opener, a women’s match and a main event to set up a future title match. Throw in some WWE names for the star power and this was a good way to get the fans into things. It’s not a must see show, but it did what it needed to do and I’d call that a success.

Results
La Parka/Mr. Iguana/Nino Hamburguesa b. Los Vipers – Spinning faceplant to Taurus
Flammer b. Lady Shani – Running corner dropkick
El Hijo del Vikingo b. El Grande Americano – 630

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Best Of Mike Awesome
Commentators: Joey Styles, Shane Douglas, Cyrus, Joel Gertner, Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson, Mick Foley

It’s another Best Of from the WWE Vault and that has me curious. This isn’t someone you often think of as having a long career, mainly because he didn’t, but he certainly did live up to his name. You can probably figure out some of the matches from here, but I’m wondering what they’re going to use to fill in all of the time. Let’s get to it.

Quick opening video, as usual.

From ECW Heatwave 1998.

Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka

Joey Styles is right there to explain the history between these two, which is a nice way to spend entrances. Awesome runs him over to start and swears a bit before pulling Tanaka out of the air. An overhead belly to belly sends Tanaka flying and a slingshot shoulder puts him down again. Tanaka is sent outside and dropped with a big dive as the fans already want tables.

Back in and a nice looking top rope clothesline drops Tanaka but he pops back up with a suplex. It’s time for a chair (of course), which Tanaka takes down the ramp for a running start and a big shot to Awesome’s head. Awesome is right back up and they head outside for a chair duel (which looks cool despite being rather dumb).

Tanaka is knocked over the barricade so of course Awesome goes up and dives over the barricade to take him down again (that’s just not normal). Back in and the Awesome Bomb gets two, followed by a heck of an Alabama slam into the Awesome Splash. Some absolutely sickening unprotected chair shots to the head knock Tanaka silly and it’s time to set up a table on the floor.

Even Shane Douglas on commentary knows this is stupid so Awesome goes back inside with a top rope chair shot to the head (geez). Some Awesome Bombs through the table are blocked though and Tanaka instead powerbombs him over the top and through the table for a terrifying landing. Somehow that only gets two, as does the Roaring Elbow, leaving commentary stunned. A tornado DDT onto some chairs finishes Awesome at 11:51.

Rating: B. This is going to be a collection where you instantly get the idea of the featured star. Awesome could do things in and out of (and above) a ring that almost no one else could even approach and it looked great. That’s what we saw here and my goodness it was impressive to see. Some of those chair shots were terrifying, but that’s 90s ECW for you.

From Anarchy Rulz 1999.

ECW World Title: Taz vs. Masato Tanaka

Taz is defending and you might notice something missing here. We get the Big Match Intros and Taz, who is set to leave for the WWF, is told that he sold out. Hold on though as here is Mike Awesome in the crowd (with Judge Jeff Jones) and Taz says let him through. Paul Heyman comes in to break it up but Taz wants him in, so Heyman makes it a three way dance.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. Taz vs. Masato Tanaka

Taz is defending and Tanaka dives through the ropes to take Awesome out before he can even get inside. The two of them fight on the floor while Taz chills in the corner, which is rather funny for some reason. They get inside, where Taz clotheslines Tanaka, who is tossed with a Razor’s Edge. Awesome gets caught on top with a superplex but Tanaka Roaring Elbows Taz. That and an Awesome Splash pins Taz at 2:02, guaranteeing a new champion and rather popping the crowd.

This brings out Paul Heyman with the locker room for a big farewell to Taz as the fans realize what’s going on (though Taz would be around for about another month and a half). So we’re down to one on one with Awesome sending him to the floor for the big dive. The top rope clothesline and sitout Awesome Bomb get two each but Tanaka slips out of another powerbomb. A triangle clothesline sends Awesome outside again and the running chair shot knocks him silly.

Tanaka adds a tornado DDT to send him off the ramp, followed by another onto a chair back inside for two. A tiger bomb gets the same but Awesome is back with an Awesome Bomb over the top through the table at ringside. An Alabama slam into an Awesome Splash gives Awesome two so he cracks Tanaka in the head with a chair over and over. Awesome can’t believe it and charges into a boot in the corner.

Diamond Dust (flipping Stunner out of the corner, which always looks great) gets two on Awesome, who is right back with a spear for two. A table is thrown in and Awesome caves Tanaka’s head in with another chair shot. The table is set up and they head up top, where Awesome hits a super Awesome Bomb for the pin and the title at 13:49.

Rating: B-. This was a bit of a weird one as you had a mini match at first, which was all about getting rid of Taz. Then it broke down into something very similar to the first match, which was kind of the point. Awesome winning the title is a huge moment for him of course as he hadn’t been around ECW for a long time, but now he’s on top as Taz is leaving. That’s pretty awe…cool.

Post match Taz gives Awesome the belt to really put him over.

From ECW On TNN, October 22, 1999.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. New Jack

Awesome is defending and Joel Gertner does the introduction before bailing out of absolute fear. Well to be fair, he is a rather well educated man. Jack starts fast with an oar to the head and tries to choke with a rope. Awesome slugs back and gets bitten in the face for his efforts. A missed charge in the corner has Awesome in more trouble and they go outside, which can’t go well. The running chair shot from the apron only hits the barricade, followed by a top rope clothesline inside.

As you might expect, Jack comes back with some staple gun shots to the head, followed by a guitar to the same head. Jack goes up top but dives into a chair to the head, allowing Awesome to send him through the table at ringside. The Awesome Splash retains the title at 6:20.

Rating: C+. When you get the fun version of New Jack (work with me here), he’s kind of a blast to watch. There’s something great about having the some playing throughout and the various weapons he’ll use at any time. I don’t think there was much in the way of drama about the title changing, but Awesome having to get through him was good.

From ECW On TNN, December 10, 1999.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Awesome is defending and shoulders Scorpio down to start. A superkick gets Scorpio out of trouble and they go outside, with Awesome hitting an ax handle off the apron. Awesome’s big diving clothesline over the barricade drops Scorpio again, followed by a big shoulder back inside. Scorpio gets in a kick to the head for a breather though, setting up a top rope splash for two.

A moonsault gets the same but Awesome launches him with a German suplex. Jazz tries to come in to help Scorpio, who has to save her with a crossbody. Another superkick drops Awesome and a table is set up in the ring. The moonsault takes too long though and the super Awesome Bomb sends Scorpio through the table (in a GREAT visual) to retain the title at 9:26.

Rating: B-. The ending alone boosted this one up, but it’s always fun to see Scorpio out there. He’s a good example of a guy who just worked every time he was in the ring and some of his best work came in ECW. Getting to see him with this kind of a special chance was nice, even though he was little more than a means to make Awesome look better.

From ECW On TNN, December 24, 1999. This is an impromptu match, but I believe it was advertised in advance due to the taping schedule. I was at my aunt’s house and wanted to watch it, but my cousin threw me out of her room for watching that “stupid wrestling”. Instead I went into their attic and sat for two hours without anyone noticing I was gone. Anyway.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka

Awesome is defending in an impromptu match, with Tanaka in workout pants as he takes Awesome outside for the running chair shot. Awesome fights back as he is known to do and runs him over to take it back inside. The sitout Awesome Bomb gets two and Awesome drops him again as we take a break.

We come back with the Awesome Splash getting two and a table being set up in the corner. That takes too long of course and Tanaka suplexes him through the table, followed by the tornado DDT onto the chairs for two. A top rope chair shot gives Tanaka two and some chairs to the head just make him mad.

One of the scariest chair shots to the head I’ve ever seen puts him down, followed by the Awesome Bomb for two. We take another break and come back again with Awesome catching him on top. That’s reversed into a tornado DDT through the table, which allows Tanaka to hit the Roaring Elbow for the pin and the title at 17:02.

Rating: B. These guys fought a lot (as you can tell) and unfortunately it’s not a rivalry that holds up well when you see it over and over. You’re seeing a lot of the same spots here, though at least Tanaka won with his finisher for a change. Tanaka getting the title is quite the step for him, as beating Awesome was a pretty rare accomplishment.

Post match respect is shown. Awesome would get the title back the next week.

ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. Little Spike Dudley

Awesome is defending and the idea is that Spike keeps beating giants. Before the bell, Spike loads up a bunch of tables at ringside, even getting a production worker to help him. Spike grabs the mic and calls out Awesome for putting people through tables, including women. And it’s time to fight, which is going to be painful. Spike jumps him to start and gets sent through some tables at ringside, then does it again for a bonus.

They go outside, with Awesome throwing him over the barricade for the big flying shoulder. A slingshot splash gives Awesome two back inside but Spike manages to send him outside. The dive off the apron connects but Awesome throws him around, banging up Spike’s knee in the process. The crowd chants something that warrants an edit to the audio, leaving Awesome to go after the knee again.

Back in and Spike gets in a hurricanrana, only to have Awesome BLAST HIM with a clothesline. Spike knocks him right back down though and it’s a top rope double stomp to crush Awesome again. Awesome fights up with a chair shot and sends him over the barricade, setting up the big springboard dive. The landing sees Awesome slip a bit though and he seems to bang up his (awesome) elbow.

Another table is set up at ringside, with Spike managing a quick Acid Drop to send him through the table. A top rope chair to the head knocks Awesome silly again but he’s fine enough to send Spike over the top and through another table (which Spike barely hits). Awesome sets up another table inside but Spike catches him on top. That doesn’t last long though as it’s the super Awesome Bomb through the table to retain the title at 14:11.

Rating: B. This is not exactly a match designed for everyone, but rather a match where it’s all about seeing Awesome absolute wreck Spike. While Spike got in a few shots, it was hard to imagine him actually winning the title. That doesn’t make it any less entertaining though, as Spike’s pain was quite the sight to behold. Fun match, though the physicality and destruction might be a bit much to take.

From ECW On TNN, March 10, 2000.

Tag Team Titles: Mike Awesome/Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer/Masato Tanaka

Dreamer and Tanaka are defending and Dreamer Russian legsweeps Awesome to start. Raven mocks Dreamer though and it’s a belly to back suplex to put Dreamer down. Raven comes in to hammer away and then run, allowing Dreamer to bring in Tanaka. Awesome runs him over with a clothesline but Tanaka gets in a drop toehold into the corner. The tornado DDT is countered though and it’s back to Raven to slug away in a weird combination.

A running chair shot doesn’t do much to Tanaka, who is back up to bring in Dreamer. Everything breaks down and Dreamer puts Raven in the Tree Of Woe, only to get taken out by Awesome again. The middle rope elbow gives Awesome two and Raven grabs the mic to mock Dreamer (and hit him too). It takes too long and Dreamer gets in a shot of his own, only to have Awesome come back in for some rather physical violence. A table is brought in but Dreamer avoids the Awesome Splash.

The crash is enough for the tag back to Tanaka, meaning a bunch of elbows. Everything breaks down and more tables are brought in, with Dreamer giving Raven a neckbreaker. Back up and Raven pulls Dreamer off the top for a drop toehold through the corner of the table (even the ECW fans know that was rough). The Awesome Splash gets two and the Awesome Bomb through the table gets two, with Tanaka making the save. The Roaring Elbow drops Raven and Dreamer’s DDT gets two, with Awesome making a save of his own. A running Awesome Bomb sends Dreamer through a table for the pin and the titles at 12:11.

Rating: C+. Ok, we get it with Awesome vs. Tanaka. I get that this was a big deal for Awesome to become a double champion, but this is a lot to take in such short order. The match was good enough and it was nice to see some actual tag wrestling before the wildness got going. Things weren’t exactly going well for ECW at this point and Awesome would be gone in about a month.

From WCW Starrcade 2000.

Mike Awesome vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Ambulance match and Awesome is now That 70s Guy. They start brawling as you would expect, with Bigelow clotheslining him out to the floor. Awesome fights back though and gets in a ring bell shot. Some chair shots to the back put Awesome down and they fight up the aisle with Bigelow chairing him in the ribs a few times. They go up to the ambulance, with Bigelow slamming the door onto him over and over.

Bigelow punches through a window by mistake but he’s fine enough to hit Awesome with the chair again. They go back to ringside with Awesome slugging away but the running…something is countered with a backdrop through a table. They go back up to the ambulance and fight with the lights from the top. A big shot knocks Bigelow through the roof for the win at 7:56.

Rating: C. WCW was obsessed with Awesome having ambulance matches, as he had something like seven of them in about as many months. There was no explanation of a story here, which says a lot for this kind of a gimmick match on a major show. Then again, that’s part of the reason why you don’t see WCW around anymore. See also Awesome getting to WCW in April and apparently doing nothing of note for eight months.

From One Night Stand 2005.

Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka

They chop it out to start and Styles goes on a crazed rant against Awesome for leaving for WCW and more money. You know, because ECW was known for its financial stability. Awesome comes back with a slingshot shoulder and a big dive over the top to the floor (Styles was hoping Awesome would have cracked his head open). Tanaka fights back with a running chair shot but gets powerbombed HARD through a table to knock him silly.

The Awesome Splash connects for two, followed by an even more sickening chair to the head. Tanaka is back with the tornado DDT onto a chair and something like a Conchairto. The top rope rope chair shot drives the chair onto Awesome’s face for two more so Awesome grabs the chair. That means a top rope chair shot to Tanaka and it’s time for yet another table.

Awesome takes too long loading him up though and a tornado DDT sends Awesome through the table for two more. Tanaka goes up but gets Awesome Bombed onto what’s left of the table…for two. Another Awesome Bomb through the table on the floor, followed by a slingshot Awesome Splash, gives Awesome the pin (on the floor, which is apparently legal) at 9:57.

Rating: B. These guys knew how to beat each other up, but seeing some version of it five times in less than two hours was a lot to take. At the same time, Joey Styles was REALLY annoying here, spending so much time complaining about Awesome leaving ECW. There have been reports that Awesome wasn’t being paid on time (which certainly wouldn’t be unique for ECW) but apparently he should have just stuck around. Anyway, another hard hitting fight here in what would wind up being Awesome’s last match.

Overall Rating: B-. Awesome is a VERY interesting case as there was pretty much no one like him at the time, but he never did much of anything outside of ECW. There have been reports that the bigger stars in WCW wouldn’t work with him and his physical style, though that doesn’t exactly excuse the That 70s Guy and the untouched Fat Chick Thriller. The fact that his time in WWE was basically ignored saved for the ECW reunion show is rather telling as well. Awesome was a force while he was around, but he just wasn’t around for that long.

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Royal Rumble 2012
Date: January 29, 2012
Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 18,121
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Booker T

This is a show that I remember liking at the time but aside from the ending to the Rumble itself, almost nothing springs to mind about the show. I’m curious to see what that means as this was kind of a weaker time for the company. Hopefully they can make this work, as the Rumble can be all over the place. Let’s get to it.

The opening video features a bunch of people saying they want to win the Royal Rumble and a voiceover asking who is going to Wrestlemania.

Smackdown World Title: Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show

Bryan is defending in a cage and Cole cannot stand him. Also Bryan is mad at Show for running over his girlfriend AJ Lee, though it isn’t clear if it was a setup. Bryan gets sent into the corner to start, leaving Show to splash Henry against the cage. For some reason Bryan tries to kick at Show, who throws him against the cage for his efforts. The WMD hits cage, with Bryan dropkicking the leg out to take over.

Bryan kicks away at Henry as well but it’s way too early to escape the cage. Henry: “CLOSE THAT DOOR!” Bryan gets slingshotted into the cage but Show is back up with a superkick. That leaves Show to go after Bryan, with the big slow shots in the corner keeping Bryan down. Henry is back up to go after both of them as commentary discusses Bryan and AJ’s relationship.

Henry misses a charge into the cage and gets speared by Show to give Bryan two. Bryan’s tornado DDT plants Show (which has Lawler far too impressed) and the LeBell Lock goes on. Henry breaks that up but gets caught with the WMD. Bryan tries to escape and gets over, but Show grabs his hand. Show basically does some curls with Bryan, who eventually falls down to retain the title at 9:08.

Rating: C+. This was a nice story with Bryan having to escape from the two monsters who were basically playing with him. Bryan was still trying to get everything together at this point, as he certainly had the skill but he was making his transition into being a main event star. That took some time, mainly due to winning the title via the Money In The Bank briefcase, but that has been an issue with the concept for a long time. The match was entertaining though, even with Bryan almost retaining by accident.

Video on John Cena, who won’t change who he is, even as we hear from some fans who are on either side. We also see a bunch of his promotional work for WWE and my goodness the build to his match vs. Rock was outstanding. It makes me want to watch it again, so they’re doing something right.

Beth Phoenix/Bella Twins/Natalya vs. Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres/Alicia Fox/Tamina

Natalya headlocks Tamina down to start but it’s off to Eve for a dancing moonsault. Phoenix comes in and gets clotheslined down so Brie can come in for a chinlock. This lets commentary compare Twitter followers until Eve gets up for the tag off to Fox. The chinlock goes on again but Eve fights out and hands it off to Kelly. The screaming headscissors ensues and everything breaks down. Kelly gets beaten down on the floor and everyone joins in, allowing Kelly to get up top for a big dive onto the pile. Back in and Brie kicks Kelly in the face, allowing the Glam Slam to finish Kelly at 5:28.

Rating: D+. It’s a bad sign that the best thing you can say about a match is “at least it was short” but that’s about all this one had. The women’s division was not in a good place at this point, with Phoenix being one of the few bright spot. There were talented people in this match, but it doesn’t matter if they don’t get to do anything.

We recap Kane vs. John Cena, which has seen Kane being the unstoppable monster and wrecking Zack Ryder, who has come off like a total loser in the whole thing. Kane has left him in a wheelchair as well as the US Title, likely because Ryder got over on his own.

Ryder, in a wheelchair and a neck brace, arrives with girlfriend Eve Torres joining him. Johnny Ace is here too and mocks both of them a bit, with neither being impressed.

Kane vs. John Cena

Kane fires off the uppercuts to start but Cena is back up with a running clothesline. That’s enough to send them outside, with Cena whipping him knees first into the steps. Kane slugs him right back down inside and sends him into the corner, setting up a chinlock. The comeback is cut off with another uppercut and a bulldog attempt is casually shoved away.

A neck snap across the top rope doesn’t get Cena very far either, as Kane drops him again. The smother hold is countered into an STF, which is countered into a side slam to drop Cena again. The top rope clothesline connects and a big boot gives Kane two, meaning it’s frustration time. Kane’s superplex is broken up and it’s a super Five Knuckle Shuffle but the AA is broken up as well. They fight outside and that’s enough for a rather lame double countout at 10:57.

Rating: C-. This was a bad time for Cena, as he had the biggest match of his career coming up in a few months, but that didn’t leave him with much to do on the way there. That was on full display here, as this feud with Kane went on for a long time and never felt important in any way. Throw in the ending being about setting up a rematch and it was even worse.

Post match they brawl into the back with Kane being sent into various things. Kane comes back with a chair and breaks into Zack Ryder’s private room, knocks Ryder out, and kidnaps him. They go into the arena, where Kane Tombstones him, even with Eve Torres watching. Cue Cena for the save but Kane gives him a chokeslam and leaves everyone laying.

Video on The Rock, who is one of the world’s biggest movie stars. And he’s handsome. And charismatic. And did I mention a star?

Brodus Clay vs. Drew McIntyre

Clay dances to start, gets clotheslined in the corner, suplexes McIntyre and What The Funk finishes at 1:04. Sweet goodness him getting away from WWE was the absolute best thing he could have gone.

We recap CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler for the former’s Raw World Title. This is more about Punk vs. Johnny Ace, who Punk can’t stand for being such a miserable failure at everything. Ace caused Ziggler to pin Punk to earn the title shot and made himself guest referee. He’s guaranteed that he’s going to screw Punk over, which has officially put him UNDER REVIEW, which has him backpedaling. Oh and Ziggler is here too. The last part of the video features Ziggler saying not to forget him. It’s not a great look but here we are.

Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler, with Vickie Guerrero, is challenging and Johnny Ace is guest referee. Hold on though as Ace says he’ll be the outside referee with a regular referee in the ring. Actually hold on again as Ace tosses Vickie, which follows a previously established stipulation. The threat of a GTS has Ziggler worried to start so Punk knocks him into the corner. Punk grabs an abdominal stretch and hammers on the ribs before sending him outside.

The dive misses though and Ziggler takes over back inside, including the jumping elbows. The sleeper goes on for a bit before the running Fameasser is countered into a sitout powerbomb. Punk hits a running neckbreaker but Ziggler reverses a high crossbody into a rollup for two. The top rope elbow gets two more but the referee gets bumped, which you knew was coming.

Punk grabs the Anaconda Vice for the tap, though Ace is checking on the referee. A rollup gets the same treatment so Punk goes after Ace, only for Ziggler to knock Punk into Ace. The GTS connects but Ace still won’t count, saying Punk jumped him on purpose. Another GTS is countered into a Fameasser (that was great) for two and they’re both down. Back up and Punk hits a second GTS for the pin, with both referees counting the three at 14:32.

Rating: B-. These two worked well together, though Ace being boring and unfair was quite the negative. The whole feud was built around the idea that Ace wasn’t interesting and they made that quite clear here. It was a good match, which shouldn’t be a surprise, but just drop the Ace stuff already.

Rumble by the Numbers:

30 Superstars
1 winner
31 Hall of Famers in the Rumble
21 main events those Hall of Famers have been in at Wrestlemania
695 entrants who have been eliminated
39 entrants eliminated by Michaels, a record (Kane is second at 35)
13 consecutive Rumbles for Kane
11 eliminations for Kane in 2001
194,107lbs that have been in the Rumble, or over 97 tons, or 430 Big Show
421,883 people who have attended the Rumble
62:12 Rey Mysterio spent in the Rumble in 2006, a record
3 wins for Austin
1 second that Santino lasted in 2009
2 women who have competed in the Rumble
1, the entrant that has produced the same amount of winners as #30 at two each
27, the entrant with more winners than any other at four
55 percent of winners that have won the title at Wrestlemania

Royal Rumble

Two minute intervals. Miz is in at #1 and Alex Riley (Miz’s former goon) is in at #2. They stare at each other to start and Riley goes after him but misses a charge. Miz stomps him down to start and gets the pretty easy elimination. R-Truth is in at #3 and hammers away, including a kind of powerslam. That’s enough to throw Miz to the apron but not out as Cody Rhodes is in at #4.

A Beautiful Disaster hits R-Truth and the double teaming is on, with R-Truth getting knocked down into the corner. Justin Gabriel is in at #5 and goes after Rhodes as the four of them pair off. We get a pair of brawls in the corner until Primo is in at #6 to continue a not so star studded start. R-Truth hits the running forearm on Rhodes but gets tossed by Miz, who goes to the floor (under the bottom rope) to go after him. That means a Little Jimmy to drop Miz on the floor while the other three are still inside. Mick Foley is in at #7 and tosses Primo before continuing the brawling.

Ricardo Rodriguez is in at #8, complete with Alberto Del Rio’s music, gear, and…that’s about it, as he drives out in a banged up car (bad paint, ugly seat covers, trash bag for a window) and isn’t in the best condition. Naturally the fans love him, even as Foley drops him with a right hand. Foley and Rodriguez actually get together to eliminate Gabriel and it’s Santino Marella in #9. Marella starts in with his usual and gets rid of Rodriguez. That leaves Marella vs. Foley so yes we do indeed get the Cobra vs. Mr. Socko showdown, with the expected reaction of the crowd going bananas.

Epico is in at #10 and is quickly tossed, leaving us with Miz, Rhodes, Foley and Marella. Rhodes gets up to toss Marella so it’s Socko to Miz, only for Rhodes to toss Foley as well. Kofi Kingston is in at #11, giving us quite the talented three way. Kingston takes over and hits a double Boom Drop but the numbers catch up with him in a hurry. Jerry Lawler is in at #12 (Booker is shocked and Cole is stunned) and ducks Miz’s left hand, which hits Rhodes by mistake. Lawler gets in his usual offense and goes up, only for Rhodes to knock him out.

Ezekiel Jackson is in at #13 as Booker praises Lawler, who has returned to commentary. Jackson gets to clean house and it’s Jinder Mahal in at #14. The entrance takes forever as Mahal has to get out of his gear before going after Jackson. Great Khali is in at #15 and gets rid of Jackson and Mahal without much trouble. Hunico (with Camacho and the gold bicycle) is in at #16 and does about as much as you would expect.

Booker T. is in at #17 and Cole absolutely loses it (You know where this is going, though neither Cole nor Lawler noticed that Booker wasn’t wearing pants?) as the fans go nuts. Miz throws Kingston over the top but Kingston skins the cat to stay alive. Kingston gets shoved out anyway….but LANDS ON HIS HANDS AND WALKS BACKWARDS TO THE STEPS in one of the most ridiculously awesome saved you’ll ever see. Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero) is in at #18 as things start to slow down a bit.

Jim Duggan is in at #19 and the fans are rather happy to see him. As you might expect, Duggan certainly brings the energy as he throws those big right hands, only to get knocked out by Rhodes. Ziggler and Rhodes get rid of Booker and Khali at the same time and it’s Michael Cole in at #20 (you knew it was coming and the fan behind him freaking out makes it even better). His entrance takes forever and it’s the returning Kharma (Awesome Kong) in at #21 to immediately drop Cole (Booker and Lawler love it).

That’s enough to send Cole out to the apron, where Booker and Lawler pull him out for good. Kharma goes after Ziggler with a lifting Pedigree but has to stop for some yelling at Vickie. Hunico goes after Kharma but gets tossed, only for Ziggler to dump Kharma out. Sheamus is in at #22 as we have Sheamus, Miz, Rhodes, Kingston and Ziggler. Sheamus dumps Kingston and fires off the forearms to Miz and Rhodes.

Road Dogg is in at #23 and the fans go nuts all over again (even Cole is happy). Dogg gets in his usual dancing punches until things slow down and it’s Jey Uso in at #24. That means some dancing punches of his own until US Champion Jack Swagger is in at #25. The brawling continues on the ropes and it’s Wade Barrett in at #26. Barrett dumps Dogg to clear the ring a bit and it’s David Otunga in at #27 to clutter it right back up.

Randy Orton (hometown star) is in at #28 and goes right after Barrett, who put him on the shelf for a month. Uso is out and Rhodes and Ziggler get taken down with a double hanging DDT, followed by an RKO to Barrett for the elimination. Chris Jericho is in at #29 and tosses Otunga before things slow down a bit. Big Show is in at #30, giving us a final group of Miz, Rhodes, Ziggler, Sheamus, Swagger, Orton, Jericho and Show (not too shabby). Swagger is out before Show even gets in and gets WMD’d to make it even worse.

Show gets inside and tosses Miz, Rhodes and Ziggler in short order to get us down to four in a hurry. Jericho gets knocked down and it’s an RKO to Show, which doesn’t seem overly bright. Show gets up and Orton tosses him on his own, only to get dumped by Jericho to leave us with Jericho vs. Sheamus (quite the odd pairing). Jericho’s bulldog is countered but he’s right back with a dropkick.

Sheamus is sent out to the apron but hooks his leg around the ropes to survive. He’s able to get back inside, where Jericho catches him in a quick Walls. That’s broken up as well and Jericho gets sent to the apron, where he manages to get back inside as well. They both almost wind up crashing to the floor before getting inside just in time. A Codebreaker drops Sheamus, who is right back with a missed Brogue Kick. Jericho can’t hit the Codebreaker though and gets sent to the apron, where a Brogue Kick gives Sheamus the win at 55:25.

Rating: B. The ending alone here was rather good, with the drama of Jericho and Sheamus being worth a look. At the same time, this Rumble was heavy on the comedy, with the commentary entrances, plus Socko vs. the Cobra. It did have some good moments in between though and I had a good time watching this one back. I remembered liking it well enough back in the day and it was nice to see it live up to the hype.

Pyro and sign pointing take us out.

Overall Rating: B-. The Raw World Title and Rumble are the only things worth seeing here, unless you want to see Bryan in way over his head against some monsters. The problem here is the same as it always was around this time: with John Cena vs. the Rock looming at Wrestlemania, nothing else felt important. They do get some credit for trying something new with Sheamus though, as even though he was a former World Champion, winning the Rumble was a different level. Good enough show, but the Rumble carried the thing.

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It’s from a forgotten period of the company….and that might be for the better.

https://411mania.com/wrestling/halls-elimination-chamber-2012-review/

Smackdown
Date: January 16, 2026
Location: Wembley Arena, London, England
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Corey Graves

It’s another taped show overseas but in this case we have a pretty big focal point. This week’s show features four matches, with the winners going on to a four way for a future shot at Drew McIntyre’s World Title. That should make for a big and rather wrestling heavy night so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Drew McIntyre winning the World Title last week when Jacob Fatu got involved.

IMG Credit: WWE

Here is McIntyre, played to the ring by some bagpipers of course, for his first chat as champion. He takes his sweet time with his entrance, this is the first time he has ever had an introduction as champion in front of fans. McIntyre says he prayed for this and it happened. He’s still the first and only British WWE Champion and talks about how no one did anything for him when he was champion.

There was only one person who believed in him before and that was….himself. McIntyre wants the fans to cheer for him before talking about the former (oh he loves that word) champion, Cody Rhodes. There’s no rematch clause, so he’ll be champion for a long time…and here is Randy Orton to interrupt. Orton talks about beating McIntyre before so he knows he can do it again. Cue Jacob Fatu to chase McIntyre through the crowd but the Miz (facing Orton tonight) sneaks up from behind with a Skull Crushing Finale.

IMG Credit: WWE

#1 Contenders Qualifying Match: The Miz vs. Randy Orton

We’re joined in progress with Miz hammering away, including an exchange of right hands. They go outside with Miz dropping him onto the announcers’ table for an Orton pose. Back in and Orton wins a slugout before hitting the hanging DDT. They go outside again, with Orton dropping him onto the announcers’ table a few times. The RKO is loaded up but Miz reverses into the Skull Crushing Finale for a near fall. Miz tries it again but has to settle for two off a rollup. Orton pops back up and the RKO (while getting to take a breather) finishes Miz off at 4:37.

Rating: C. Orton shrugged off Miz’s offense and took him out here, which was rather impressive. As old as he is, Orton can still make this stuff work with that RKO being as dangerous as ever. It’s one of the biggest finishers ever and it still works well. On the other hand you have the Miz, who is still a heck of a villain, even if he probably only has so much time left in the ring.

An anxious Drew McIntyre is trying to leave with the title but runs into Ilja Dragunov, who promises to take a step closer to the title tonight. McIntyre says he’ll beat him too and gets out as fast as he can.

The Wyatt Sicks aren’t wild on Solo Sikoa and the MFT’s taking the lantern, but they’ll get it back.

Charlotte comes up to see Alexa Bliss last week, with Bliss ranting about how terrible things went for her last week. She wants to know if Charlotte was really sick, which Charlotte insists was the case. Charlotte says she’s turned down a bunch of title matches for the good of the team. Bliss: “Name two.” Charlotte: “That’s beside the point.” She’s here now though and she’s stretching before her match. Bliss leaves and Nia Jax and Lash Legend come up to gloat. Charlotte isn’t pleased and makes some threats, along with saying Legend has changed.

Kiana James/Giulia vs. Charlotte/Alexa Bliss

Bliss strikes away at James to start but gets caught with a knee to the ribs. Charlotte comes in to send her into the corner, only to walk into a superkick. Everything breaks down and Bliss is in trouble as we take a break. We come back with Bliss kicking her way to freedom, allowing the tag off to Charlotte. Chopping abounds, followed by a big clothesline to James. A high crossbody gives Charlotte two but Giulia breaks up the moonsault. Giulia and Charlotte get to strike it out until Bliss is back in with the Sister Abigail DDT to finish James at 8:28.

Rating: C+. Charlotte and Bliss have turned into a heck of a team, which is nice to see as it means we have some actual teams rather than just doing the revolving door of title challengers. Let the division be built up a bit and see how well it can work. That’s what we’re getting here and it’s rather nice to see after such a long time of it not working.

Post match Nia Jax and Lash Legend run in to drop Charlotte and Bliss, with Giulia and James getting in Jax and Legend’s faces.

Solo Sikoa says if the Wyatts want their lantern back, put the Tag Team Titles on the line.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat (but only after hugging a young fan, which leaves her in tears). Normally he would tap his fist on the mat and we would all say WHOA and he’d move on to whatever he’s talking about. He was champion and saw the fans as his teammates. But now he got too complacent, but maybe it was that Drew McIntyre was just too good. Rhodes brings up the Royal Rumble, and since this is a special city, where he wrestled for What Culture Pro Wrestling to hone his skills and in a city that deserves a Wrestlemania, he is declaring himself for the Royal Rumble.

With that out of the way, he gets to Jacob Fatu, who Rhodes knew was going to be something special. Rhodes knows Fatu is a young veteran and that means he knows what RECEIPT means. Fatu can either come out here and get it or he can stay back there and Rhodes can find him. This was the intense Rhodes and that worked well.

Matt Cardona is disappointed that Cody Rhodes lost last week because he wanted to wrestle his buddy for the title. He’s back to win the title. Another intense promo here and it’s nice to see that he is feeling like something other than Zack Ryder.

#1 Contenders Qualifying Match: Trick Williams vs. Matt Cardona

Williams poses at him to start and gets powered into the corner. Some big shoulders drop Cardona, who is right back with a dropkick into a Downward Spiral. Cardona knocks him outside for a dropkick off the apron and we take a break. We come back with Williams forearming away but Cardona grabs a Zig Zag for two. Williams misses a Stinger Splash but he rolls away before the Reboot. Back in and Williams slingshots him over the ropes and hits the Trick Kick for two. The Rough Ryder misses and Williams Pounces him down hard. The Trick Shot gives Williams the pin at 8:50.

Rating: C+. Williams continues the hot start to his main roster career and that’s a good sign. There is no reason to believe that he’ll win the match at Saturday Night’s Main Event but at least he is getting a few wins like this one. As usual it’s all about the followup, but he’s doing well so far.

Post match Kit Wilson comes out and decks Cardona.

Damian Priest is ready to face Solo Sikoa, but he knows it won’t be one on one. He also knows he has to get to Drew McIntyre, one on one for the title.

Post break, Kit Wilson is still in the ring and says he is the solution to the problem around here. He’s going to solve the toxic masculinity…and Jacob Fatu is behind him. Destruction ensues and Fatu calls out Cody Rhodes. Cue Rhodes (who has changed clothes in the 15 minutes since he was in the ring) for the brawl with security and Nick Aldis not quite being able to break it up.

IMG Credit: WWE

#1 Contenders Qualifying Match: Solo Sikoa vs. Damian Priest

The MFTs are here with Sikoa, who headbutts him into the ropes, only to get caught with a superkick. Priest kicks him out to the floor, where the MFTs aren’t going to allow any shenanigans. Sikoa gets in a cheap shot though and the MFTs drop Priest as we take a break. We come back with Sikoa hitting a running Umaga Attack but Priest spinwheel kicks him in the face.

Priest kicks away and they trade big shots to the head, with Priest getting the better of things. Talla Tonga gets caught trying to interfere and gets ejected, leaving Priest to grab the Razor’s Edge for two. Another MFTs distraction lets Sikoa hit the Spinning Solo into the Superfly Splash for two of his own. Cue the Wyatt Sicks to go after the MFTs but Sikoa grabs the lantern. The distraction is enough for Priest to hit South Of Heaven for the win at 10:51.

Rating: B-. I got into this a bit more than I was expecting as Priest gets to move on to a pretty big match. That’s not the focal point though, as this was more about the MFTs vs. the Wyatts. That will likely be the cool down match at the Royal Rumble, or at worst at Saturday Night’s Main Event, and they are making it feel important.

Post match Priest leaves and Uncle Howdy gets the lantern back but it’s Tama Tonga dropping Howdy to take it back.

Drew McIntyre runs into Sami Zayn, bragging that Zayn has never beaten him. Zayn promises to win twice in a row so he can go to the Royal Rumble and face McIntyre again.

US Title: Carmelo Hayes vs. ???

It’s open challenge time with…TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater answering (and not defending). They lock up to start and Hayes takes him down for an early exchange of rollups. A chop hurts Slater’s hand but Hayes might have banged up his knee. Slater kicks him in the face and adds a handspring elbow to send Hayes outside. The slingshot dive connects and a nice high crossbody puts Hayes down for two.

We take a break and come back with Slater kicking away until a suplex cutter gives Hayes two of his own. Slater kicks him in the face for two more and a slingshot ax kick to the back of the head has Hayes in more trouble. They trade rollups for two each until Slater sends him outside for the huge flip dive over the top rope. Back in and the Swanton 450 misses for Slater, setting up the First 48. Hayes goes up top with Scott following, only to get superplexed into a cutter to retain the title at 11:45.

Rating: B. This was your weekly “here are some talented stars doing their thing for awhile”. Hayes is getting into a groove of this thing, though the whole open challenge thing is getting a bit old. Slater coming to WWE full time sooner than later wouldn’t surprise me, as he seems ready to come over.

Shinsuke Nakamura is watching in the back but Tama Tonga interrupts, saying he’s coming for the US Title. Tonga tells Nakamura to stay out of his way but Nakamura doesn’t seem impressed.

Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae have Axiom’s mask, with Axiom popping up. He wants the mask back but LeRae walks off with it. Cue another Axiom to punch Gargano and of course it’s Nathan Frazer, who will face Gargano next week.

Video on Oba Femi.

Chelsea Green vs. Jordynne Grace

Alba Fyre is here with Green and Jade Cargill is watching from ringside. Grace powers her down to start and grabs a rather delayed vertical suplex. Back up and Green manages to sens her into the corner for a superkick from Fyre. Grace clotheslines her down and grabs a suplex, followed by a Death Valley Driver for the pin at 2:36. Well that was almost squashy.

Post match Grace calls out Cargill, who accidentally gets decked by a charging Green.

Trick Williams puts Smackdown on notice (uh oh) that he is that dog. Damian Priest comes in to say they’re both ready for Saturday Night’s Main Event, but on Friday, he’ll whoop that Trick.

IMG Credit: WWE

#1 Contenders Qualifying Match: Ilja Dragunov vs. Sami Zayn

They slug it out to start until Zayn hits a clothesline for the knockdown. The forearms in the corner don’t do much to Dragunov, who is right back with a running boot in the corner. Something off the top misses for Dragunov and Zayn gives him a suplex for two. Dragunov is back with some rolling German suplexes and goes up top, where Zayn catches him with a top rope superplex as we take a break.

We come back with Dragunov busted open and escaping the Blue Thunder Bomb. A missile dropkick gives Dragunov two but the H Bomb is blocked with a raised boot (quite the logical counter). The Helluva Kick misses as well and they fight to the apron. Dragunov hits Torpedo Moscow to leave both of them down on the floor. Back in and Dragunov hits a powerbomb (THUD) but the top rope backsplash hits raised knees. The Helluva Kick gives Zayn the pin at 12:27.

Rating: B. These guys beat each other up in the way you would expect them to do and it made for a good main event. Zayn feels like he is finally on the path towards the World Title, however long it might take for him to get there. Dragunov losing again is perfectly fine, but what matters here is that he didn’t feel too far over his head. If that can continue, they might have something with him.

Post match Trick Williams jumps Zayn to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This show had a theme running throughout, but at the same time, this was the first three hour show that felt every minute. It wasn’t a show that felt it needed to go that long and that made it a bit tedious. On the other hand, the positive was that the show featured four matches which had World Title implications, plus other stories getting coverage. This was a well put together show, but three hours a week can absolutely grind you down in short fashion.

Results
Randy Orton b. The Miz – RKO
Charlotte/Alexa bliss b. Kiana James/Giulia – Sister Abigail DDT to James
Trick Williams b. Matt Cardona – Trick Shot
Damian Priest b. Solo Sikoa – South Of Heaven
Carmelo Hayes b. Leon Slater – Superplex cutter
Jordynne Grace b. Chelsea Green – Death Valley Driver
Sami Zayn b. Ilja Dragunov – Helluva Kick

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Royal Rumble 2011
Date: January 30, 2011
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 15,113
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Matt Striker

It’s an interesting choice for the annual redo as 2011 is kind of a forgotten time. This was something closer to a transitional period for the company as they were trying some different people in the World Title scene, hence why the Miz is defending here. Other than that we need a card for Wrestlemania and things will start here, with the only edition of the Royal Rumble with FORTY entrants. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at how winning the Royal Rumble can send you on the Road to Wrestlemania. The big draw is the forty man Rumble, which sounds more long than thrilling.

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler

Edge (in a rare face role) is defending while Ziggler has Edge’s ex-wife (and his current girlfriend, as well as acting GM of Smackdown) in his corner. Since Vickie is rather evil, Edge loses the title if he uses a spear. They trade some shots to the ribs to start with Ziggler hammering him down in the corner, only to get whipped hard into the other corner. The announcers proceed to talk about Vickie, with Striker bragging about getting along with Lawler for a change.

Ziggler gets sent to the apron and Edge slips through the legs to send him face first onto said apron. Back in and a neckbreaker gives Ziggler two as neither is exactly pulling away so far. A boot to the face and a hanging neckbreaker keep Edge down and we’re already on the chinlock. That’s broken up and it’s a catapult to send Ziggler into the buckle, only for him to grab another neckbreaker for two more.

The chinlock goes on again as the neck work continues. At least he’s sticking with something. Ziggler sends him outside, rams him into the barricade, and grabs another chinlock. Edge finally gets up and hits a double crossbody to put them both down. The missed Stinger Splash makes it even worse for Ziggler and a flapjack puts him down again. I love a good flapjack so points for that. A jawbreaker gets Ziggler out of trouble but the running Fameasser is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two more.

Edge heads up top, shrugs off a superplex attempt, and hits a high crossbody with Ziggler rolling through for two. Striker gets WAY too excited over a not very near fall, but that’s Striker for you. Ziggler dropkicks him for two more but Edge is right back with the Edgecator (it’s been awhile on that one), sending Ziggler straight to the ropes. Back up and Ziggler hits the Fameasser for two and the fans are getting into things for the first time.

A big boot puts Ziggler down but Edge has to stop himself form using the spear, instead going with the Edgecution for two, with Vickie pulling the referee out. Vickie gets on the apron to slap the already annoyed Edge, drawing out Edge’s friend Kelly Kelly for the catfight. The distraction lets Ziggler hit a Zig Zag for two in a rather hot near fall.

The sleeper goes on but the referee gets bumped just before Edge jawbreaks his way to freedom. There’s no referee and no Vickie and there’s the spear to cut Ziggler down. Cole: “COME ON REF YOU FOOL!” The referee gets up and it’s an Unprettier to retain Edge’s title at 20:44.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but the drama was there near the end. That being said, I’m not big on the idea being Edge can’t use the spear and then “oh well he used it anyway”. In this case there would actually be some fallout though so points for that for a change. It was a great example of the Royal Rumble World Title match: not an epic, but a good solid match that had some drama before the hero retained in the end.

We recap the Miz vs. Randy Orton for the Raw World Title. Miz cashed in Money in the Bank on Orton to win the title back in November and then beat him again to retain at TLC in a tables match. Tonight it’s just a singles match, because WWE didn’t know how to build to a gimmick match back then either. The idea here is that Miz is in WAY over his head but he’s ready to prove himself on the big stage.

Miz talks about how unfair his title reign has been because everyone says he shouldn’t be here. Riley promises Miz will win.

Raw World Title: The Miz vs. Randy Orton

Orton is challenging and Miz has Alex Riley (sweet goodness what could have been) in his corner. I had forgotten how annoying/stupid Cole as the Miz superfan really was. It’s also weird to not hear the “QUIET ON THE SET” intro to Miz’s music. Orton unloads on him in the corner to start as Cole wants Lawler to call this one down the middle. They head outside with Miz being rammed into the apron for two and Orton starts kicking at the ribs.

A catapult sends Miz throat first into the bottom rope as Cole talks about Miz being able to brawl if you want him do. Striker: “Who comes up to someone and says ‘I want to brawl with you.’?” And that’s why Striker is a pest. Orton stomps away but Riley, who went to Boston College, snaps Orton’s neck across the ropes to a big pop. A missed charge in the corner lets Miz stomp away and there’s the running corner clothesline for two. Miz chokes away as Cole compares the basketball games that Miz and Lawler are invited to.

Riley cheats again so Cole high fives him as Miz grabs a chinlock. A knee to the ribs and another to the face get two apiece and it’s back to the chinlock. That lets Cole compare Miz to Lou Thesz, Bob Backlund, Steve Austin and DX rolled into one. Ok he can be annoying but when he turns it up that high, it can be a little funny. Orton fights out but walks into a big boot for two. Miz gets crotched on top though and a superplex brings Miz down for two more.

The backbreaker sets up the hanging DDT but Miz backdrops his way out of trouble. Back in and a top rope ax handle gives Miz two more and he hammers away. Now it’s a reverse chinlock to really mix things up a bit. They head outside again with Orton bouncing off the post for a nine count, allowing him to come back in with a Thesz press and right hands. The powerslam sets up the Garvin Stomp and a big knee drop gets two.

Neither finisher can hit so Orton goes with an Angle Slam of all things. Miz tries to bail so Orton clotheslines him down and throws him back inside for two more. Now the hanging DDT connects and the RKO is loaded up, but here’s the New Nexus for a distraction. Riley tries to come in so Orton throws him at the team, leaving Miz to take the RKO. Cue CM Punk, the leader of the New Nexus, with a GTS to Orton so Miz can retain at 19:50. Cole is literally jumping up and down in celebration.

Rating: C-. I’m a big Miz fan but some of these main event level matches just do not hold up all that well. What we got here wasn’t terrible but it also hit a firm ceiling and needed to be at least five minutes shorter. The ending set up something for the future and Orton vs. Punk should be good, but Miz still feels like he’s in over his head. That can make for a good heel, but the matches aren’t often the best.

Miz is stunned that he survived.

Cody Rhodes is too devastated by his recent facial injury at Rey Mysterio’s legs that he won’t be appearing tonight. It was his time to shine but now he will wait in the shadows. That’s the start of what could have been an incredibly awesome character. We wound up getting just an awesome one, so I’ll take what I can get.

Fans pick their Rumble winners. Some of them even gets them right.

Divas Title: Laycool vs. Natalya

Laycool is challenging after Natalya beat them in a handicap match at Survivor Series. Striker doesn’t think much of Natalya, again showing that Striker doesn’t need to exist. Hold on though as we have a message from the Anonymous Raw GM. There are a few changes to the match.

Divas Title: Layla vs. Michelle McCool vs. Eve Torres vs. Natalya

Natalya is defending and it is one fall to a finish. Laycool jumps them to start and takes over early on with Layla feeding Eve in for a clothesline from Michelle. A double Stroke plants Eve again as Striker asks Lawler to politely assess the Divas assets. Natalya gets back up and Striker tries to analyze things in that annoying way that only he can do so. Laycool clears the ring and that means it’s time for the awkward staredown.

That’s broken up as Natalya trips Layla and Eve rolls Michelle up for two. Natalya sweeps Eve’s legs but has to stack Layla on top of her for the double Sharpshooter. That’s broken up in a hurry as Lawler calls the hold a great photo op. Layla’s Layout puts Eve on the floor but Natalya is back up to take Laycool down. Michelle kicks Layla by mistake but Eve sends Natalya and Michelle outside. Eve’s moonsault finishes Layla at 5:12, even as Michelle has Natalya pinned at the same time.

Rating: C. This was a weird time for the women as they were far better in the ring than they were before but no one cared about this and the division was used as nothing more than filler. The wrestling wasn’t bad and there was a story, but you could see how unimportant all of this was in the grand scheme of things. I do miss Laycool though.

United States Champion Daniel Bryan, with girlfriend Gail Kim (oh yeah that was a thing), is ready to go from NXT rookie to World Champion, when the Bellas come in to apologize for trying to steal Bryan last week. The fight breaks out because they suggest they’re better than Gail, with referees not being able to break it up.

And now, the always popular (with me at least) Rumble By The Numbers:

40 entrants

1 winner

24 winners

656 losing entrants

39 eliminations by Shawn, a record

26 WWE Hall of Famers who have competed

183,932lbs that has competed in the Rumble, or 92 tons or 492 Big Shows

2 women who have competed in the Rumble

11 eliminations by Kane in 2001, a record

13 straight Rumbles for Kane, also a record

62:12 Mysterio lasted in the 2006 Rumble

1 second, the record for shortest time in the Rumble, held by Santino Marella

3 wins by Austin

2, the number of wins that spot #1 has produced, the same as #30

70% of winners have gone on to win the title at Wrestlemania

Royal Rumble

Forty entrants, ninety second intervals and CM Punk is in at #1 but here’s the Corre, as in all four of them, to surround the ring and jump him. The rest of the New Nexus comes in and the brawl is on but the GM emails in to say everyone but Punk needs to get out or be disqualified. Can you be disqualified from the Rumble? Anyway, Daniel Bryan is in at #2 for the geek out start. Punk shoulders him down to start and shouts as Striker talks about the internet loving this match.

Bryan grabs a fireman’s carry but can’t get Punk out as the CM PUNK chants start up in a hurry. A missile dropkick puts Punk down and it’s Justin Gabriel (of the Corre) in at #3. That means Punk gets beaten down in the corner but Gabriel misses the 450, allowing Bryan to toss him without much trouble. Zack Ryder, now a cocky heel with some song about a radio, is in at #4 and goes after Punk as well. Bryan breaks that up as well but tosses Ryder at Punk for an assisted Rough Ryder. Not that it matters as Bryan throws Ryder out a few seconds later.

William Regal is in at #5 and Striker is very pleased. Regal and Bryan uppercut it out and the internet smiles even more. Ted DiBiase Jr., with girlfriend Maryse is in at #6 and I’m having so many weird flashbacks to this forgotten era. Bryan kicks at Regal as DiBiase can’t get rid of Punk in a tag match I don’t really need to see. With that going nowhere, John Morrison is in at #7 and of course slingshots in to kick Regal in the head.

Morrison is sent outside in a hurry but he hangs onto the barricade like Spider-Man, crawls to the side, gets to his feet on the barricade, and dives to the steps for the save, inspiring a Jamaican named Kofi Kingston for years to come. As he defies….well something, Regal is dumped and it’s Yoshi Tatsu (with his AWESOME theme song) in at #8. We get some near eliminations with neither going anywhere so Husky Harris (New Nexus member) in in at #9. Striker: “If this kid looks like this at 23, what’s he going to look like at 30?” Eh bigger beard, carrying a lantern, kind of cultish. Maybe answers to the name Bray.

Harris cleans a bit of house and we rush to the next entry, with commentary pointing out how fast it is between Harris’ entry and Chavo Guerrero (the second Smackdown name, after Gabriel) coming in at #10. That gives us Punk, Bryan, DiBiase, Morrison, Tatsu, Harris, Henry and Chavo. Guerrero goes with Three Amigos to everyone he can find, with probably a dozen or so total. Striker: “Chavo Guerrero with a Royal Rumble moment!” Stop, please. Like, please. Mark Henry is in at #11 and this should clear the ring out a bit. Chavo is out in a hurry and Tatsu follows him until JTG is in at #12.

Everyone punches a lot and it’s Michael McGillicutty (Curtis Axel, also of the New Nexus) in at #13. JTG is dropkicked out in a hurry and the rest of the entrants start realizing that the New Nexus is getting too strong. DiBiase is backdropped out and it’s Chris Masters (HE STILL HAD A JOB???) in at #14. The Masterlock (not the Masterpiece Cole) has Punk in trouble but McGillicutty makes the save. David Otunga (ALSO New Nexus) is in at #15 and Punk gets rid of Bryan.

Masters follows him and the team dumps Morrison. That leaves New Nexus vs. Henry and it goes as well as you would expect for Mark, with the team clearing the ring. Tyler Reks (I barely remember him) is in at #16 and goes out as fast as you would expect. Vladimir Kozlov is in at #17 and gets the exact same treatment. R-Truth is in at #18 and manages to last a full minute (including Punk hitting a running knee in the corner and shouting “WHAT’S UP”) before getting tossed out.

Great Khali comes in at #19 for the hope spot and Punk hides behind Otunga in a smart move. Otunga goes at Khali, who isn’t smart enough to pull him out because he’s rather shove him away. Harris gets eliminated though but Mason Ryan (a musclehead from Wales and the final member of the New Nexus in the greatest luck of Rumble draws ever) is in at #20. That gives us Punk, McGillicutty, Otunga, Ryan and Khali but Ryan puts Khali out in a hurry. Booker T. returns in a huge surprise (and the kind that you need in the Royal Rumble) at #21 and Punk drops to his knees in panic.

Booker kicks everyone he can and gets in a Spinarooni but Punk and Ryan get him out. Punk smiles a lot (“WE’RE GOING TO WRESTLEMANIA!”)….and John Cena is in at #22. Cena counts all four of them and charges into the ring anyway with Ryan, Otunga and McGillicutty being knocked out in seconds, leaving Punk all alone. The eyes are bugging out and this is one heck of an underrated showdown. They knock each other down in a hurry and it’s Hornswoggle in at #23, playing Barbarian to Cena and Punk’s Hogan and Warrior.

Punk gets up and kicks Hornswoggle in the head, only to walk into an AA for the elimination. Tyson Kidd is in at #24 and gets double teamed, including a headscissors from Hornswoggle and an AA from Cena. Hornswoggle even gets in his own AA and Kidd is gone in a hurry. Heath Slater (Corre) is in at #25, takes a beating, and is out in less than a minute. Kofi Kingston comes in at #26 in a showdown that would be way more interesting nine years later (Daily trivia: Cena and Kofi have never had a singles match. You would think it would have happened in a one off at some point).

Kofi and Cena knock each other down and it’s Jack Swagger in at #27 to not do much, meaning it’s King Sheamus in at #28. Hornswoggle kicks him in the leg and gets Brogue Kicked out so Sheamus and Swagger can beat up the heroes. Rey Mysterio is in at #29 to pick up the pace and knock down everyone not named Sheamus, who blasts him with a clothesline. Trouble in Paradise puts Sheamus down instead and a 619 eliminates Swagger. Wade Barrett (the Corre’s leader) is in at #30, giving us Cena, Kingston, Sheamus, Mysterio and Barrett for a nice talent pool.

Kofi stomps Barrett down in the corner and it’s a banged up Dolph Ziggler in at #31. Mysterio saves Cena from being eliminated (with commentary talking about how smart he is to know you need friends in a match like this)….and DIESEL is in at #32 to a huge pop, which wound up wrecking a major storyline later in the year (Who would have called that?). Diesel cleans house to a big pop and it’s Drew McIntyre (almost unrecognizable compared to how he looks today) to hammer away, even as the LET’S GO DIESEL chants keep going.

Alex Riley is in at #34 and Miz joins him as Diesel is tossed out. Miz joins commentary and it’s Big Show in at #35. Sheamus and McIntyre are waiting on him as Striker and Cole talk over each other so much that I actually can’t understand either of them. I know Cole is a character at this point but he’s lead commentator. In other words, again, shut up Striker. Show dumps McIntyre and it’s Ezekiel Jackson (a big musclehead, also of the Corre) in at #36 to dump Show in a hurry.

Santino Marella is in at #37 and gets knocked to the floor (not out) almost immediately. Alberto Del Rio (still brand new here) is in at #38 with Ricardo Rodriguez handling his intro. Riley is eliminated during his entrance and Mysterio spends too much time staring at Del Rio, allowing Sheamus to hit him from behind. Del Rio’s entrance takes so long that it’s Randy Orton in at #39 for the parade of RKOs.

Kofi and Sheamus are both out and it’s Kane in at #40, giving us a final grouping of Cena, Mysterio, Barrett, Jackson, Marella, Del Rio, Orton and Kane (not too bad). Cena and Orton stare at him but he knocks both of them down without much trouble. Jackson can’t slam Kane and gets low bridged out (Striker: “That’s huge!” That’s the third time he’s used those same words to describe an elimination.).

Mysterio gets rid of Kane but Barrett dumps him as well, leaving us with Orton, Cena, Barrett, Del Rio and Marella (still on the floor). Cena and Orton have a showdown with nowhere near the heat of Punk vs. Cena from earlier but Barrett suplexes Cena to break that up.

There’s an AA to Del Rio but Riley comes back down for a distraction, allowing Miz to dump Cena. Rock would be back in two weeks so I think Cena will be fine. Orton gets rid of Barrett but Del Rio throws him out….as Santino crawls back in. Santino crosses himself and hits the Cobra (as taught to him by Jon Lovitz). The Trombone pose takes too long though and Del Rio throws him out for the win at 1:09:51. I lost my mind when Santino snuck back in watching this live and bought it completely, so they had a great idea with this one. He was already a Tag Team Champion so pushing him wasn’t out of the question.

Rating: B. This is a weird one as you could say cut out the extra ten people and it’s a classic but if you cut out the ten people, you probably don’t have the awesome New Nexus deal, which set them up as a threat and made Cena’s entrance that much better (seriously that was awesome). There are a lot of great moments here, but it goes a bit longer than the sweet spot. The winner was WIDE open this year though and that does a lot of good for the match. Oddly enough this should have been about thirty five people, which isn’t something you would often see. Good Rumble though and worth your time.

Rodriguez loses it to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The best word to describe this show is forgettable, as other than the Santino spot at the end. The Rumble is rather good and makes the show work, but there are so many people and angles that I can’t remember at all around here and it shows badly. There’s a reason that this era is so forgotten, and Rock coming back to take over things for a few months made it even worse. Punk would rise soon enough, but my goodness this is a completely lost era in a lot of ways. Check out the Rumble, but find something else otherwise.

Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler

Original: A-
2013 Redo: A-

2020 Redo: B

Miz vs. Randy Orton

Original: B
2013 Redo: B

2020 Redo: C-

Eve Torres vs. Natalya vs. Layla vs. Michelle McCool

Original: D
2013 Redo: D+

2020 Redo: C

Royal Rumble

Original: A
2013 Redo: A

2020 Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: A
2013 Redo: A

2020 Redo: B-

Dang was I in a really bad mood here?

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/30/royal-rumble-2011-his-name-is-alberto-del-rio/

And the 2013 Redo:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2020/01/20/royal-rumble-count-up-2011-2013-redo-they-had-me/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also -available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author- page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6