History of the Royal Rumble part 3 2000-2005 by Dan Wahlers
History of the Royal Rumble--Part 3: 2000-2005
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January 23, 2000--Madison Square Garden: New York City. Attendance: 19,231. Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
The WWF returned to MSG for the 2000 Royal Rumble. MSG holds the distinction of being the only arena to hold all of the original four PPV's multiple times: (2000, 2008 Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania 1, 10, 20, Summerslam 1988, 1991, 1998, and Survivor Series 1996, 2002.) Business was doing very well at this point in time, and they continued with a very strong PPV to kick off the new millennium. Triple H was the World Champion, and he met Cactus Jack in a Street Fight that many would remember as one of the best matches of 2000. This was during the period when Triple H was considered one of the best workers in the world, as well. These two guys wore each other out. HHH did a major juice job after getting hit with a 2X4 wrapped in barbed wire. The blood was flowing from HHH's forehead like water out of a faucet.
Foley took bump after bump all over the place, in one of the last great matches of his career. He did a piledriver to HHH on a table, which saw the table not break. Foley then dumped a bag of thumbtacks in the ring. Of course, he ended up getting back dropped into them. HHH hit a Pedigree, but Foley kicked out at two drawing a huge pop from the crowd. The crowd was rabid for this entire match. HHH then Pedigreed Foley face first on to the thumbtacks in just an absolutely sick spot, to get the win.
Foley had thumbtacks sticking all over his face, and body after the match, it was disgusting. HHH suffered a deep gash in his leg after being suplexed on a wooden pallet. Jim Ross did one of his best announce jobs ever calling this match, and it's usually cliché when he says it, but this is a match where neither guy would never be the same again. Strongly recommended that you check this match out. This was during the height of Triple H as a worker, since he hasn't been the same since the quad tear in 2001.
As for the Royal Rumble match, with Austin out after neck surgery, it was Rock's turn to carry the wagon. He was the heavy favorite coming into the match. D'Lo Brown and “Grandmaster Sexay” Brian Christopher started off #1 and #2. Rikishi came in at #5, and cleaned house. He went on to eliminate seven guys altogether in the 2000 RR. Mostly midcarders in the Rumble. Bob Backlund made a surprise appearance at #14 getting a big pop from the Garden fans. About eight guys ganged up to eliminate Rikishi halfway through, and the crowd hated it. See, this was during a time when Rikishi's act was actually over huge with the crowd.
A lot of nothing happened until Rock brought the house down coming out at #24. He quickly deposited the Big Bossman and Crash Holly on the floor. Big Show came in at #26 as the 2nd big star of the match, and got rid of Test and Gangrel in short order. Kane was the third big star to come in at #27. Kane got rid of Val Venis and Albert. Between the three of them they cleared the ring of all the dead weight hanging around.
Final Four was Rock, Kane, Big Show, and X-Pac. Rock sent X-Pac flying almost into the first row, but the refs were busy breaking up another fight on the floor, so X-Pac snuck back in and spin kicked Kane out of the ring. Big Show then one handed X-Pac out of the ring for real, and it was down to Rock and Big Show. Rock hit the People's Elbow, but Show no sold it, and chokeslammed Rock nearly out of his boots. Show picked up Rock, and dumped him over the top. Rock held on to the ropes, Big Show thought he won. Replays would later clearly show that Rock's feet hit the floor, but they ignored that fact, since Rock was scripted to win the match. He got back in the ring to eliminate Big Show. Rock was the winner. Of course, he would not get his one on one title shot against HHH at WM 16, because Vince came up with the winning idea of having a Four-Way Match with a McMahon in every corner also involving Big Show and Mick Foley. Vince swerved Rock to help HHH
become the first heel to ever come into a Wrestlemania as World Champion, and leave World Champion.
The undercard was also very good. The Hardy Boys and The Dudleys had a wild Tag Team Tables match, which saw Jeff do a Swanton off the balcony at MSG on to a table. Plus the debut of Tazz in the WWF, as he got a huge Garden pop coming out for the first match to meet Kurt Angle. Yes, Angle was in the first match, and Tazz actually beat him with the Tazmission. From top to bottom this was a very good show in front of a super hot crowd, and aside from the deal with Mae Young taking off her top which you probably want to avoid, this show is definitely worth seeing.
Match Results: Tazz defeated Kurt Angle via submission (3:16)....Double Tables Tag Team Match: The Hardy Boys (Jeff and Matt) defeated The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray and D-Von) when Matt Hardy defeated D-Von Dudley (10:17)....WWF Bikini "Ms. Rumble 2000" Contest: Mae Young defeated The Kat, Terri, Jacqueline, B.B., Ivory, and Luna Vachon to win the contest....Intercontinental Heavyweight Title Match (Three-Way Match): Chris Jericho defeated Chyna and Hardcore Holly when Jericho pinned Chyna to win the I-C Title (7:30)....World Tag Team Title Match: The New Age Outlaws (Jesse James and Billy Gunn) defeated The Acolytes (Faarooq and Bradshaw) when Gunn pinned Bradshaw to retain the tag team titles (2:35)....World Heavyweight Title Match (Street Fight Rules): Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Cactus Jack to retain the title (26:48)....Royal Rumble Match: The Rock won the "Royal Rumble" (51:48). Other participants were: D'Lo Brown, Brian Christopher, Headbanger
Mosh, Christian, Rikishi, Test, Big Bossman, Edge, Gangrel, Davey Boy Smith, Bob Backlund, Scott Taylor, Steve Blackman, Viscera, Chris Jericho, Crash Holly, Chyna, Faarooq, “Road Dogg” Jesse James, Al Snow, Val Venis, Prince Albert, Hardcore Holly, Billy Gunn, Big Show, Bradshaw, Kane, The Godfather, and X-Pac.
January 21, 2001--New Orleans Arena: New Orleans, LA. Attendance: 16,056. Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
Another all-around good show in 2001, a year that the winner of the Rumble was actually in doubt for once. Was it going to be Austin, Rock, Undertaker, Kane, or comedian Drew Carey? Who knew? Jeff Hardy and Bull Buchanan started things off. Matt Hardy magically came in at #3, they got rid of Bull, and started fighting each other. Drew Carey came in at #5. The story is he was there to hawk some PPV special he had coming up, and I guess Vince figured what the hell, let's toss him in the Rumble.
Both Matt and Jeff eliminated each other, and Drew got in the ring like he was responsible for it. Carey was all alone in the ring, and time stood still until Kane made his entrance. In a funny spot, Carey took out some money, and offered to bribe Kane. Kane went to chokeslam Carey, but Raven came out as the next entrant to save him. Carey then smartly eliminated himself by jumping over the top rope. A bunch of other guys like Al Snow, Steve Blackman, and Perry Saturn came out, and Kane got rid of them all. He would eliminate 11 guys in all, which I believe is some kind of record.
“The Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All-Time”, The Honky Tonk Man, was a surprise entrant at #12. He came out singing and doing his shtick completely oblivious to Kane being there. He did his "I'm cool, I'm cocky, I'm bad" line, and then turned around to get bashed in the head with his own guitar. Funny spot! Kane tossed him, and then Rock came in next. The Godfather and Tazz both came out, and lasted about five seconds in the ring. It got slow for a while. Big Show made his return after being away for several months. He tossed a couple people out, and chokeslammed everybody in the match. As quickly as he came in, he got tossed by Rock. Big Show then dragged Rock out of the ring and chokeslammed him through a ringside table.
The Undertaker was in at #25, and he and Kane combined to throw a bunch of guys out. Steve Austin was #26, but he got jumped in the aisle by HHH before he even got into the ring. This was payback for Austin costing him his title match with Kurt Angle earlier in the show. Austin came up bleeding, the first time I can ever remember someone juicing in a Royal Rumble match. Rikishi was #30, and he eliminated Undertaker. Rock back in the ring took out Rikishi, down to a Final Four of Austin, Rock, Kane, and Billy Gunn. Which one of these is not like the others? Austin dumped Billy, and went at it with Rock.
This was like the 1990 Rumble meeting between Hogan and Warrior in that the crowd was torn between both guys. Kane snuck in, and tossed both guys, but only Rock went out. It was down to Austin and Kane, no big surprise who was going to win now. Austin got a chair, and bashed Kane several times with it, the fourth shot sending him over the top rope. Austin won the Royal Rumble for the record third time. Kane lasted an impressive 54 minutes in the match. Austin went on to defeat Rock for the title at WM 17, and an ill-fated heel turn. Great end to a pretty sluggish Rumble match.
As I mentioned, Angle and HHH met for the title on the undercard. It was a very good match between the two, and an odd dynamic in that both guys were heel, but the crowd seemed to be favoring Angle. Angle retained the title. Also definitely worth seeing is the I-C Title Ladder Match between Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. It would get overshadowed by many other great matches during 2001, but this was certainly one of the best matches of the year.
Benoit and Jericho pounded each other in a very stiff, back and forth match. A memorable spot was Jericho putting the Walls of Jericho on Benoit on top of the ladder. These two always worked well together, and this was perhaps the best of them all. The Dudleys won their 230th tag team titles over Edge and Christian in the opener, and they did an atrocious sympathy angle with Chyna, a.k.a. the lunatic Joanie Lauer now being seen on VH1's "Surreal Life."
Match Results: World Tag Team Title Match: The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray and D-Von) defeated Edge and Christian (9:58) when D-Von pinned Edge to win the Tag Team Titles...Intercontinental Heavyweight Title Match (Ladder Match): Chris Jericho defeated Chris Benoit (18:43) to win the title...Women's World Title Match: Ivory pinned Chyna (3:27) to retain the title...World Heavyweight Title Match: Kurt Angle pinned Triple H (24:18) to retain the title...Royal Rumble Match: Steve Austin won the "Royal Rumble" (1:01:54) Other Participants Were: Kane, Jeff Hardy, Bull Buchanan, Matt Hardy, Faarooq, Drew Carey, Raven, Al Snow, Perry Saturn, Steve Blackman, Grandmaster Sexay, Honky Tonk Man, The Rock, The Goodfather, Tazz, Bradshaw, Albert, Hardcore Holly, K-Kwik, Val Venis, William Regal, Test, Big Show, Crash Holly, The Undertaker, Scotty Too Hotty, Steve Austin, Billy Gunn, Haku, and Rikishi.
January 20, 2002--Philips Arena: Atlanta, GA. Attendance: 16,106 (12,915 paid). Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
They kept the string going with another really good show in 2002. Ric Flair had returned to the company in November, and had the dueling GM battle with Vince McMahon. A very entertaining match between Flair and McMahon, which saw both men bleed. Not what you would call a well worked match, but it was well booked, and Flair was on top of his game as usual. He made Vince tap to the Figure-Four. Chris Jericho was the Undisputed Champion back when they had only one World Title that actually meant something, unlike today. He met Rock for the title in a very good match that Jericho actually won, although he had to use the ropes to get the win, like all no-good dirty heels do.
Jericho was on quite a roll at this point, but it was to be short-lived, as he would soon get run over by the HHH/Stephanie/Lucy The Dog runaway train. Who is Lucy you ask? You really don't want to know, but I'm sure it's a name Chris Jericho, or his fans will never forget. Edge and William Regal met for the I-C Title. This was during the period when Regal was using brass knucks every match to beat his opponents. Entertaining undercard and the Royal Rumble was top notch as well.
Rikishi was the #1 entrant. Goldust was #2 making his return after a few years away. The ring filled up with midcarders until The Undertaker came out at #8. Goodbye Billy Gunn, Al Snow, Rikishi, and Goldust. Matt and Jeff Hardy were the next two entrants. They went at it with Taker actually selling somewhat for the Hardy’s. He ended up throwing both of them out. Tough Enough Season 1 winner Maven was next at #11, and Taker was standing there waiting for the fresh meat. Naturally, Maven got destroyed.
Matt and Jeff jumped back in, and Taker threw them out again. While he was yelling at both of them, Maven drop kicked him over the top rope for the surprise elimination of the night, probably of all-time. The place went nuts for this, as Taker was a heel at the time. Taker gave him this hilarious bug eyed look, and got back in the ring to destroy him some more. He threw him out, and absolutely tattooed Maven with a chairshot to the head. Maven might not have done another thing noteworthy during his career, but he'll always be able to say he eliminated The Undertaker from a Royal Rumble.
The ring started to fill up with midcarders again, just in time for Steve Austin to enter at #19. Stunner for everyone, goodbye Christian, Perry Saturn, and Chuck Palumbo. Val Venis and Test were next, they double teamed Austin for a while, but eventually they got tossed. Triple H entered #24, and his entire entrance took up more than two minutes. The Hurricane came out, and unfortunately ran into Austin and HHH. After getting rid of him, Austin and HHH went at each other; both were faces at the time.
The late “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig made his return to the WWF at #25, and went at it with both Austin and HHH. Kurt Angle was #26, what a lineup in the ring at that point. Hennig looked really good here, and everyone sold like crazy for him. It's a shame they would sign him to a contract, and then job him out to everyone on the roster before he left again. He really could have done well if they gave him a chance. Perhaps he would still be with us.
Big Show was in next, and he Chokeslammed everybody. But as was the case the previous year, Show didn't last long, as he got thrown out by the next entrant Kane in an impressive show of strength. Rob Van Dam came in at #29, and hit a Frog Splash on Kurt Angle. RVD brawled with everyone, except HHH who quickly Pedigreed him to stop any chance he had at upstaging him. HHH was pulling his bullshit even back then. Booker T was #30, and quickly disposed of the lifeless RVD. Booker didn't last long, as he was quickly Stunnered, and thrown out by Austin.
Final four was Austin, HHH, Angle, and Perfect. I don't think anyone could have ever predicted Perfect lasting that far. Angle threw out Austin. Angle and Perfect ganged up on HHH. Austin came back in, and laid everyone out with a chair. Angle tried to double cross Perfect, and throw him out, but shockingly Perfect didn't go out. Huge pop for Perfect staying in. He hit the Perfectplex on Angle, but HHH was there to ruin everyone's fun, and Hennig's night was done. Great showing for someone who hadn't been seen in the company for six years, and the last notable thing Hennig would do before his untimely death in 2003.
HHH and Angle were left. Angle hit an Angle Slam, and thought he had thrown HHH out. As he was celebrating HHH came back, and clotheslined Angle out to get the win at 1:09:22 in the longest Rumble match ever. Everyone knows what Triple H ended up doing, and is still doing today. Back then he was still a face, some people kind of tolerated it a little more. But there is no doubt this night was about him, and I'm sure this was probably the beginning of Austin's ill feelings toward the company. Very good all-around show, with some great matches on the undercard. With the exception of some of the early Rumbles, and the fiasco Vince Russo booked in 1999, all the Rumble matches have pretty much been good over the years. It's a hard match to screw up.
Match Results: World Tag Team Title Match: Tazz and Spike Dudley defeated The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (5:06) when Tazz made D-Von Dudley submit to retain the tag team titles...Intercontinental Heavyweight Title Match: William Regal pinned Edge (9:45) to win the title...Women's World Heavyweight Title Match: Trish Stratus pinned Jazz (3:43) to retain the title. Jacqueline was the special guest referee...Street Fight Match: Ric Flair defeated Vince McMahon (14:55) via submission...Undisputed Heavyweight Title Match: Chris Jericho pinned The Rock (18:48) to retain the title...Royal Rumble Match: Triple H won the "Royal Rumble" (69:22) Participants included: Al Snow, Albert, Big Show, Billy Gunn, Booker T, Big Bossman, Bradshaw, Christian, Chuck Palumbo, Diamond Dallas Page, Faarooq, The Godfather, Goldust, Jeff Hardy, Kane, Kurt Angle, Lance Storm, Matt Hardy, Maven, Mr. Perfect, Perry Saturn, Rikishi, Rob Van Dam, Scotty Too Hotty, Steve Austin,
Test, The Hurricane, Triple H, The Undertaker, and Val Venis.
January 19, 2003--Fleet Center: Boston, MA. Attendance: 14,712. Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (Raw) Michael Cole and Tazz (Smackdown)
The 2003 Royal Rumble is remembered by a lot of fans, because it produced one of the best, and one of the worst matches in WWE that year. This was of course the first Royal Rumble after the brand split, and the first time Raw and Smackdown talent had been in the ring together since then. Kurt Angle defended his WWE Title against Chris Benoit in my personal pick for best match of 2003. It finished 2nd in the WON Year-End voting behind a Misawa/Kobashi match that I unfortunately didn't see.
I could have watched Angle and Benoit wrestle each other every week, and never gotten tired of it. This was an excellent match. There were tons of false finishes that the crowd bought into every time. It was just an all-around great match. Both guys were on top of their game. Benoit did get the loss, but he received a well deserved standing ovation from the Boston fans after the match. Definitely a match worth going out of your way to see, if you haven't ever seen it. A ***** match in my opinion.
On the flip side of that, you have the Triple H/Scott Steiner debacle. This was the match that won the dubious Worst Match of the Year honors in that year’s WON Awards, and it would be hard to argue with that pick. Any hope they had of pushing Scott Steiner as anything serious was flushed down the toilet with this horrendous performance by him. Quite a steep decline for a man that used to be considered among the best workers in the world not too many years ago. Terrible match, the crowd hated it, and Steiner was buried by the next month. The lowlight was Steiner falling on his ass after executing a suplex on HHH. Steiner was awful, but HHH didn’t go out of his way to help him, either.
Brock Lesnar had to earn his slot in the Royal Rumble match by defeating Big Show in the opening match. The Rumble started with Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho as the first two entrants. Jericho came in through the crowd, and jumped Shawn from behind to kick things off. He whacked Shawn with a chair busting him open. This would set the stage for their great Wrestlemania encounter that year, as Jericho bloodied Michaels, and then dumped him from the ring right away. The crowd hated that decision. The action got pretty fast with people like Rey Mysterio, Edge, and Christian coming in. Mysterio and Edge did a double team move on Chris Nowinski off the top that busted his nose. Tommy Dreamer came in, and bashed everybody with his cane, including busting open Jericho hardway with a nice gash to the forehead.
RVD, Matt Hardy, and Eddie Guerrero are among the next entrants, as the action really started to pick up. Jericho lasted for quite a while until Michaels came charging back in all bandaged up, and went right after Jericho. This allowed Test to dump Jericho. Brock came in at #29, and took care of Matt Hardy, and Team Angle. He impressively F5'd Hardy right out of the ring. The Undertaker returned from another vacation at #30, Rosie and John Cena quickly bit the dust. Maven tried a repeat of 2002, but this time the dropkick didn't work, and Taker got his revenge by tossing the Tough Enough winner.
It came down to a Final four of Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, Kane and Batista. Brock and Taker went at it. Lesnar almost threw Taker out, and had to pull him back in to avoid him actually falling out before it was time, pretty funny spot. Undertaker threw out Batista, and then double crossed Kane by throwing him out. Batista came back in with a chair, and Taker tossed him again. While he was standing over by the ropes, Brock hoisted him out to get the win. Chris Jericho actually eliminated the most guys with six. Brock went on to beat Kurt Angle at WM 19.
Match Results: Winner Advances to the Royal Rumble Match (Smackdown Match): Brock Lesnar pinned Big Show (6:29)...(RAW) World Tag Team Title Match: The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) defeated Lance Storm and William Regal (7:26) when D-Von Dudley pinned Lance Storm to win the tag team titles...(Smackdown Match): Torrie Wilson pinned Dawn Marie (3:35)...(RAW) World Heavyweight Title Match: Scott Steiner defeated Triple H by DQ (18:13). Triple H retains the title...(Smackdown) WWE Championship Match: Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit (19:47) by submission to retain the title...Royal Rumble Match (RAW vs. SmackDown Match): Brock Lesnar won the "Royal Rumble" (53:47) Other participants were: Shawn Michaels (RAW), Chris Jericho (RAW), Christopher Nowinski (RAW), Rey Mysterio (Smackdown), Edge (Smackdown), Christian (RAW), Chavo Guerrero Jr. (Smackdown), Tajiri (Smackdown), Bill DeMott (Smackdown), Tommy Dreamer (RAW), Bull Buchanan (Smackdown), Rob
Van Dam (RAW), Matt Hardy (Smackdown), Eddie Guerrero (Smackdown) John Cena (Smackdown), Charlie Haas (Smackdown), Rikishi (Smackdown), Jamal (RAW), Kane (RAW), Shelton Benjamin (Smackdown), Booker T (RAW), A-Train (SmackDown!), Maven (RAW), Goldust (RAW), Batista (RAW), Brock Lesnar (Smackdown), The Undertaker (Smackdown).
January 25, 2004--Wachovia Center: Philadelphia, PA. Attendance: 17,289. Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (Raw) Michael Cole and Tazz (Smackdown)
The 2004 Royal Rumble was built around one thing, and that was Chris Benoit's quest for the WWE Championship. He was on Smackdown at the time, and he entered the Rumble drawing the #1 slot. Randy Orton from Raw drew #2, previewing the Summerslam 2004 main event. A "pre-JBL" Bradshaw was #5, and was quickly the first man eliminated by Benoit. The way he was pushed early in the year would make his late year title run all the more bizarre. The match picked up when Kane entered at #12. He came in, and cleaned house on everyone, but didn't actually throw anyone out.
The Undertaker's gong went off drawing a huge pop from the crowd, apparently thinking Taker was going to make a surprise appearance. While Kane was distracted with that, Booker T tossed him out. Along the way Benoit was eliminating people like Rhyno, Matt Morgan, and A-Train. Shelton Benjamin made an appearance at #17, but didn't last long courtesy of Orton. It came down to Benoit and Orton alone again. Ernest "The Cat" Miller was out next for some comic relief, if you want to call what he did comedy. Somebody better call his Momma, as he did his dance routine, and then was rudely shown the exit by Benoit and Orton.
The match picked back up with Kurt Angle at #19. Benoit and Angle renewed their heated rivalry. Test was supposed to be #21, but he was shown lying beaten up in the back. Sheriff Austin sent the man who did the deed out instead, and it was Mick Foley making a surprise appearance in the Rumble to the delight of the Philly fans. The Orton/Foley feud was one of the best things in all of wrestling that year, and it was really kicked into high gear here.
Foley wore out Orton, as Jim Ross proclaimed, “He's not a coward, by god!" JR and Tazz called the match, by the way. Foley did the Cactus Jack clothesline spot to eliminate both guys, and the brawl continued on the floor. It was Benoit, Angle, and Christian in at that point. Nunzio was technically in the match, but he was sitting on the floor outside the ring. Big Show was #24, followed by Chris Jericho at #25. This was one of the more star-studded Royal Rumble matches in years.
Chris Jericho and Christian were still technically friends at that point, so this was the beginning of their feud. As Christian tried to eliminate Jericho from behind, but ended up being the one tossed out by Y2J. John Cena was in at #28, followed by Rob Van Dam, and finally Bill Goldberg at #30. If I were a betting man, I would bet on this being the one and only Royal Rumble appearance Goldberg makes in his career. Pretty safe bet.
Goldberg came in, and speared Big Show, Billy Gunn, and Kurt Angle. He then speared Nunzio half way across the ring. He was booked to be dominant for the short time he was in the ring; unlike the way he was booked during most of his one year WWE tenure. Charlie Haas, Nunzio, and Billy Gunn were all gone courtesy of Goldberg. He then went to attempt a Jackhammer on Big Show, a move he actually pulled off in WCW. But that was a different Big Show. Brock Lesnar did a run-in giving Goldberg the F5, leading to their dubious match at Wrestlemania 20. Angle then threw out a stunned Goldberg.
Benoit, Jericho, RVD, Angle, and Cena all hit their finishers on Big Show. All five tried to gang up to lift Show out of the ring, but he tossed them all aside like nothing. Cena got thrown out by Show, and landed awkwardly on his knee. RVD was next to go. So the final four was Benoit, Angle, Jericho, and Big Show. Jericho got tossed, but did the Shawn Michaels "skin the cat" to get back in the ring, before finally getting chokeslammed out by Big Show. They were doing their best to book Big Show as a dominant monster here.
Angle went for the ankle lock, which Big Show stayed in for a long time, before kicking Angle out over the rope. Down to Show and Benoit. Show had Benoit up for a press slam, but Benoit got out of it, and got Show in a front face lock. Benoit began pulling back on the face lock, and Big Show slowly began to teeter. Finally, at 61:37, Benoit got Show off his feet, and over the top rope to win the 2004 Royal Rumble.
This was one of the best Royal Rumble matches of all-time. It was booked very well, and you had many internal storylines revolving throughout. First was of course the Benoit going the distance storyline. He went on to win his first World Title at WM 20 in a match that came in #2 in that year's WON Year-End Awards. You also had the Foley/Orton storyline, Undertaker/Kane, Goldberg/Lesnar, Jericho/Christian, and the dominance of Big Show despite losing. You also had an outstanding “Last Man Standing Match” between Triple H and Shawn Michaels on the undercard. The match ended in a draw with neither guy able to answer the ten count.
Match Results: (RAW Sunday Night Heat Match): Victoria pinned Woman’s World Champion, Molly Holly, in a non-title match...(RAW) World Tag Team Title Match (Tables Match): Ric Flair and Batista defeated The Dudley Boys (4:21) to retain the tag team titles...(Smackdown) World Cruiserweight Title Match: Rey Mysterio pinned Jamie Noble (3:13) to retain the title...Smackdown Match: Eddie Guerrero pinned Chavo Guerrero Jr. (8:02)... (Smackdown) WWE Championship Match: Brock Lesnar pinned Hardcore Holly (6:22) to retain the title... (RAW) World Heavyweight Title Match (Last Man Standing Match): Triple H and Shawn Michaels fought to a No Contest (22:45) when both wrestlers could not get up after the 10 count. Triple H retains the title...Royal Rumble Match: Chris Benoit (1:01:34) won the "Royal Rumble." Participants were: Chris Benoit (Smackdown), Randy Orton (RAW), Mark Henry (RAW),Tajiri (Smackdown), Rhyno (Smackdown), Bradshaw (Smackdown), Matt Hardy
(RAW), Scott Steiner (RAW), Matt Morgan (Smackdown), Hurricane Helms (RAW), Booker T (RAW), Spike Dudley (RAW), Kane (RAW), Rikishi (Smackdown), Renee Dupree (RAW), A-Train (Smackdown), Shelton Benjamin (Smackdown), Ernest Miller (Smackdown), Kurt Angle (Smackdown), Rico (RAW), Mick Foley (RAW), Christian (RAW), Nunzio (Smackdown), The Big Show (Smackdown), Chris Jericho (RAW), Charlie Haas (Smackdown), Billy Gunn (Smackdown), John Cena (Smackdown), Rob Van Dam (RAW), and Bill Goldberg (RAW).
January 30, 2005—Save Mart Center: Fresno, CA. Attendance: 11,488. Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (Raw), Michael Cole and Tazz (Smackdown)
Another solid PPV that featured an undercard of Triple H defending the World Title against Randy Orton, a Triple Threat with JBL defending his WWE Title against Kurt Angle and The Big Show, as well as a Shawn Michaels vs. Edge singles match, and an awful Undertaker/Heidenreich “Casket Match.” The Royal Rumble Match was expected to be won by either Batista or John Cena. Both were the rising stars on their respective shows, which at the time was Batista on Raw, and Cena on Smackdown. Jim Ross and Tazz called the match.
The Rumble started off with Eddie Guerrero as the #1 entrant, he was followed by Chris Benoit at #2. We got the treat of watching those two work together for the first 90 seconds, and at various times during the match. Tough Enough winner Daniel Puder was #3, and he was followed by Bob Holly at #4. Benoit, Guerrero, and Holly dished out some initiation to young Daniel, as they took turns chopping the ever loving shit out of his chest. It made you cringe just watching.
As the match progressed, people like Edge, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho Shelton Benjamin, and Booker T joined the match. You had a lot of really good workers in the ring at the same time. With Raw and Smackdown GM’s Eric Bischoff and Teddy Long at ringside, the wrestlers paired off into factions representing their respective brands, and went at it. They stopped for a minute to gang up on, and toss Muhammad Hassan, which the crowd popped huge for. Jim Ross continued to confuse Charlie Haas and Rene Dupree, for some reason.
Eddie Guerrero was eliminated by Edge after being in the match for 27 minutes. Shawn Michaels came in, and went right after Edge. Kurt Angle was next, and he came in a house of fire, German suplexing everyone in the ring. But he was quickly superkicked out of the ring by HBK. Angle later came back in, and dragged HBK from the ring, and put him in the Ankle Lock. The Angle/HBK feud, one of the best of 2005, was born.
John Cena came in at #25 to a huge pop; Batista was in at #28 to an even bigger pop. Ric Flair closed the show at #30. This was when Flair and Batista were still technically together in Evolution, but everyone was waiting for the big Batista face turn. Flair tried to double cross Batista, but ended up getting thrown out by Edge. The final four was Batista, Cena, Edge, and Rey Mysterio. It came down to Batista and Cena as the last two. The crowd roared as the top two faces in the company squared off. Batista was supposed to give Cena a Batista Bomb, but he was too close to the ropes. He stumbled, and both guys fell out of the ring, and hit the floor at the same time. They couldn’t have timed it any better if they tried. But the thing was, they weren’t trying. That was not the planned finish.
Vince McMahon then came storming to the ring, and in the process of diving in the ring, tore both of his quadriceps. It was a bizarre sight as Vince sat in the ring unable to get up, barking orders at the referees. They had to get to the right finish, so the match was restarted. Cena went for an FU, but Batista got out of it, hit a spinebuster, and tossed Cena for the Royal Rumble win. Of course, he went on to eventually complete the face turn by leaving Evolution, and defeating Triple H in the main event of Wrestlemania 21 to win his first World Title. The botched finish notwithstanding, this was an excellent Royal Rumble Match. A lot of star power, some really good work during the body of the match. Plus the usual storylines in the match that make every Royal Rumble so special. Definite thumbs up show.
Match Results: RAW Match: Edge pinned Shawn Michaels (18:32)...Casket Match (Smackdown Match): The Undertaker defeated John Heidenreich (13:19) in a "casket" match...Smackdown WWE Championship Match (Three-Way Match): John Bradshaw Layfield defeated Kurt Angle and The Big Show (12:04) when Bradshaw pinned Angle to retain the title...RAW World Heavyweight Title Match: Triple H pinned Randy Orton (21:27) to retain the title...Royal Rumble Match (RAW vs. Smackdown): Batista (RAW) won the "Royal Rumble" battle royal match (54:19). Other participants were: Eddie Guerrero (Smackdown), Chris Benoit (RAW), Daniel Puder (Smackdown), Hardcore Holly (Smackdown), Hurricane Helms (RAW), Kenzo Suzuki (Smackdown), Edge (RAW), Rey Mysterio (Smackdown), Shelton Benjamin (RAW), Booker T (Smackdown), Chris Jericho (RAW), Luther Reigns (Smackdown), Muhammed Hassan (RAW), Orlando Jordan (Smackdown), Scotty Too Hotty (Smackdown), Charlie Haas (Smackdown), Renee Dupree
(Smackdown), Simon Dean (RAW), Shawn Michaels (RAW), Kurt Angle (Smackdown), Jonathan Coachman (RAW), Mark Jindrak (Smackdown), Viscera (RAW), Paul London (Smackdown), John Cena (Smackdown), Gene Snitsky (RAW), Kane (RAW), Christian (RAW), and Ric Flair (RAW).
Thanks for reading. Come back on Saturday for the fourth and final part of the history of the Royal Rumble series, where I will cover the shows from 2006-2009, as well as give some brief predictions on this year's PPV. Until next time, take care and be well.
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