I covered this live. The Rumble match is in Play By Play format. The other matches are covering the main points. Enjoy.
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WWE Royal Rumble
January 30, 2011
Boston, Massachusetts
They show a video package highlighting Royal Rumble history. Pretty good like usual. The crowd looks full. Legit sellout. The announcers are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Matt Striker as usual for PPVs.
Note: I will be writing about the 2011 Royal Rumble live tonight exclusively here at thejohnreport.net. Join me tonight!
The 23rd Royal Rumble is the LAST one I’m reviewing this month. Wow. I have to give myself a Barry Horowitz-like pat on the back for this. Frankly I don’t think I’m going to watch Rumble matches ever again after this past month. Haha. I love them, but maybe I overdid it. Anyway, I wrote this one live last year. I’ll admit that the writeup isn’t as thorough as some of the others. It’s Sunday morning before the 2011 Rumble and I really didn’t feel like re-watching this again, so I’ll use my writeup from a year ago. That’s easiest. You’ll get the Rumble match first along with my usual opinions and then I’ll put the rest of the card in just because you might be curious. Let’s get to it.
The 22nd Royal Rumble started a 2009 calendar year that wasn’t an amazing one for WWE. I’ll always remember 2009 for the parade of guest hosts that would hurt Raw more often than it would help it while Smackdown was a far superior show on a regular basis. There was some star power missing from it with Cena, Edge, Jeff Hardy, JBL and Shawn Michaels involved in undercard matches while Batista was dealing with one of his many injuries. That left us with only a few viable threats to win while the midcard guys featured a few different people who you see at the top of the card two years later.
The 21st Royal Rumble came to us from New York City. On a personal note this was the first WWE PPV I watched since the summer of 2007 because I was pretty shaken from the double murder suicide involving Chris Benoit. I barely kept up with WWE programming in the second half of 2007. I barely watched Raw or Smackdown and I only read about the results most of the time. I watched the good matches & feuds while leaving out other parts. I was intrigued by Chris Jericho’s return since he was one of my favorites (he wrestled JBL on this card) and of course the Rumble match itself. It’s always been a big draw to me. I did keep up with the angles, but I felt distant from the product a bit. After this show I was full time again. This is the second time I will have watched it since its original airing 3 years ago.
batista, hhh, john cena, royal rumble, shawn michaels, undertaker, wwe
The 20th Royal Rumble occurred in San Antonio, Texas – the hometown of arguably WWE’s best wrestler ever: Shawn Michaels. His buddy Triple H was out with injury, so Michaels went into the match as a heavy favorite. The other favorite was The Undertaker, who had never won a Rumble match before. For this writeup I’m using my original copy that I did in 2007 with a few small edits thrown in. I went through it, I think it covers everything very well and it saves me an hour of my life when I have more Rumbles to get through. I’ll even admit that some of the final thoughts are similar as well. It’s not me being lazy. It’s just why write it out again when I’ve already done it, ya know? As a bonus I’ll include the rest of the card at the bottom. The Rumble match went on last, but since this column is about the Rumble match I’ll put that first, do the facts & opinions and then post the rest of the card. Cool? Let’s get to it.
batista, edge, john cena, randy orton, royal rumble, shawn michaels, undertaker, wwe
The 19th Royal Rumble came a few months after the death of former WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero. It was a tough period for WWE and its fans because Eddie was such a beloved figure who was a top star for the company upon his death. Due to that it made the winner a bit obvious although that didn’t make me any less excited for the Rumble. I remember watching it with a heavy heart, but also a smile because it made me think of all the great performances Eddie gave us through the years. I think I’m making myself sad writing this! Sorry. Let’s get to the match.
eddie guerrero, randy orton, rey mysterio, royal rumble, shawn michaels, triple h, vince mcmahon, wwe
The 18th Royal Rumble saw the dawning of a new era in WWE as guys like John Cena and Batista, both of whom were entering their third Rumbles, were ready to break though to that main event level. There was also Edge, who was back to being a heel and had the WWE machine backing him on his way up the card too. What’s interesting about this PPV is that they actually pushed the brand extension hard. It made it refreshing because when a Raw guy hit a Smackdown guy it felt different. These days we don’t have that, which hurts the product a bit in my eyes. Let’s hope I don’t tear a quad writing this one.
The 17th Royal Rumble is the one WWE doesn’t want you to remember. Why? Chris Benoit. Yep. I said the name. It’s arguably the most infamous name in the history of the company due to the double murder suicide that occurred in the summer of 2007. I thought long and hard about what I’d do once I get to the 2004 Rumble because it’s tough for me. Benoit was one of my favorite wrestlers ever and when he won this match I was legitimately happy for the guy. I marked the fuck out, as they say. Since the murder, though, that changed. I’m not here to debate his mental state or anything like that. That’s up to you to decide on your own. What I’m going to do is present the Rumble match to you as I’ve done all month for the past 16 Rumbles. I actually wrote this one live 7 years ago, so I’m using that copy. No re-watch. As a result I don’t do too much of the heel-face designation, but hopefully you can figure it out as you go along. In the comments I ask that you talk about the match because this whole thing from the beginning has been about the matches more than anything else. Cool? Let’s get to it.
brock lesnar, chris benoit, chris jericho, goldberg, john cena, kurt angle, royal rumble, wwe
The 16th Royal Rumble was the first one under the World Wrestling Entertainment name. The Stone Cold era was coming to a close while The Rock had a budding movie career that would cause him to leave the company on a permanent basis a few years after this. They were building around new stars like former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, the animal Batista and this rapper kid named John Cena. Also, Shawn Michaels was making his Royal Rumble return after not being in a Rumble match since 1996. A lot to look forward to. Would it deliver?
batista, brock lesnar, john cena, royal rumble, undertaker, wwe
The 15th Royal Rumble was the last one under the World Wrestling Federation name as the company would officially become World Wrestling Entertainment in the spring of 2002. They also did the “brand extension” a few months later in 2002 as a way to get more people on the shows with some being exclusive to Raw while others are exclusive to Smackdown. It’s the roster format we know today. Due to all that it was a big year for the company. Let’s see if they could start it out right with the Rumble.
2002, kurt angle, royal rumble, steve austin, triple h, undertaker, wwe, wwf
The 14th Royal Rumble came at a time when the WWF was at its absolute best, in my humble opinion. I think the period from the 2000 Rumble to WrestleMania X7 was the best 15 month run in the history of the company due to the talent on the roster, the stories they told and the matches they had. A lot of the top guys were at or near their prime and they had a good mix of younger guys in the midcard scene as well. The big story going in was Steve Austin’s return after missing most of 2000 with a neck injury. Could he complete the comeback with a Rumble win? I should add I have seen this PPV a few times since its original airing. This might be the first WWE event I ever bought on DVD and I’m a cheap bastard about buying DVDs of a PPV. I don’t think I’ve bought a DVD of a PPV since WrestleMania 22. It helps that I find other methods now *cough*, but that should give you an indication of how much I liked this PPV.
The 13th Royal Rumble happened at a PPV event that a lot of people (myself included) consider to be one of the best PPVs in the history of WWE. The match that preceded it, Triple H defeating Cactus Jack in a wild brawl, is one of the ten best matches in the history of the company in my humble opinion. One day I might write that column. We’ll see. Not today, though. This is about the 2000 Royal Rumble match, which featured a lot of top names in the WWF except for Steve Austin. He missed most of 2000 with neck surgery. He was the focus of the three previous Rumbles and he’d be back in a year, but for this year it was time for somebody else to shine.
big show, cactus jack, kane, the rock, triple h, wwe, wwf royal rumble