History of the Royal Rumble--Part 4: 2006-2009
Plus: Predictions on this Sunday's PPV
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We wrap up our four part series on the history of the Royal Rumble today, with a look at the shows from 2006-2009. I just completed the write up on the 2009 show this week, to bring the series current and up to date. I thank everyone that wrote in with nice comments this week. It's certainly always nice to have your hard work appreciated by people.
Before getting back into Royal Rumble's history, I just wanted to make a couple comments on this Sunday's PPV from Atlanta, GA. Unfortunately, due to an illness in the family that has taken up a lot of my free time this week, I didn't have the time to do a proper PPV preview and prediction column. I fully intend to get back into doing that with February's Elimination Chamber PPV and beyond. But I did want to throw my quick predictions out there, anyway.
I'd love to see Shawn Michaels win the Royal Rumble, because I think he's the best choice. I don't buy the idea about him winning being too predictable. I think him winning for the first time in 14 years would make for a great story. But I have to go with Triple H to win this year, based on everything that has been reported. They can then drag out the storyline about how HBK is going to get his match at Wrestlemania with The Undertaker, maybe even teasing HHH taking the match against Taker to further fuel the building tension between DX.
The rumored plan is HBK having to go into the Smackdown Elimination Chamber Match at the February PPV, and winning to earn his title match with Undertaker. Or possibly a one on one match with Batista for the title shot, with HHH then taking on Sheamus for the title at Mania. I'd personally much rather see Michaels win the Rumble, but I see them wanting to drag the storyline and intrigue out for another month, and another PPV before finally getting things resolved for Mania. So I'm picking HHH to win his first Royal Rumble since 2002. Oddly enough, that show took place in the same building that this one is being held in. Coincidence?
As far as the rest of the card, I think Sheamus will retain his WWE Title over Randy Orton. The company believes in Sheamus, and they're fully behind him, and taking the title off him right now would diminish a lot of the work they've done in building him up over the past couple months. I know there are a lot of differing opinions out there on Sheamus, but for me, he's done a good job with the opportunity that was handed to him.
He walks, talks, and acts like a star. That's half the battle in pro wrestling. His work in the ring has been competent and solid, in the limited action that we've seen him in. He wouldn't have been the first guy I would have chosen to shoot to the top on Raw, but I think he's handled it well, and I'm interested to see him continue to progress. The way I look at it, he can only get better from here.
The Undertaker will retain over Rey Mysterio. That one's pretty easy. Despite the immense size difference, these two had a good match on the Christmas Night Smackdown, and I would expect nothing less here. I expect Christian to retain his ECW Title over Ezekiel Jackson in the bathroom match on the card. I honestly hope that Christian gets moved to another show in the draft this year, because ECW is a rapidly sinking ship, and he deserves so much better.
And with the disgraceful way they've been embarrassing and humiliating Mickie James in the “Piggy James” skits on Smackdown, I would hope it ends with her defeating Smackdown's personality black hole Michelle McCool for the Woman's Title on Sunday. It just logically has to end that way, if this is a traditional wrestling storyline. But it's well known how the company has felt about Mickie James and her weight, and this has come off as a lot more than just a traditional wrestling storyline.
You see, in the bubble that Vince McMahon and the decision makers in the company live in, you're a fat pig if you're not a stick with fake tits like the majority of the women on the roster. Personally, I like a girl with a little meat on her bones, so Mickie has always looked good to me. I think she takes the title at the Rumble. If she doesn't, then this was really as complete and as one sided a burial job as there has been in wrestling in a long time. And just for the record, the way they've treated Mickie has been pretty downright disgusting and low class, even by pro wrestling standards.
Should be a good show on Sunday. The Royal Rumble is almost always one of the better WWE shows of the year. The Rumble match is pretty hard to screw up. They've done a good job hyping and promoting the show this year, much better than last year. The Rumble match has a lot of star power this year, and hopefully there will be a surprise or two thrown in. I'm looking forward to it.
But before more history is made this Sunday, I present the conclusion of the history of the Royal Rumble. Remember that all of these write ups appear exactly as they were written at the time, so if any of the comments seem a little out of place by today's standards, you'll know why. We pick things up in 2006:
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January 29, 2006—American Airlines Arena: Miami, FL. Attendance: 16,178. Commentators: Joey Styles and Jerry Lawler (Raw), Michael Cole and Tazz (Smackdown)
This was definitely not a show to put on the mantelpiece in terms of great Royal Rumble events. They made the terrible decision to put the Royal Rumble Match on in the middle of the show. Why, I don’t know. The Royal Rumble Match is what people buy the show to see. It’s a lot of people’s favorite match in wrestling every year. It should be the main event. It’s the highlight of the show. It’s what the PPV is named for. Memo to Vince, don’t screw with tradition. Always put the Rumble on last. Thanks.
The Rumble itself started out with Triple H and Rey Mysterio as #1 and #2 respectively. This was at the beginning of the exploitation of Eddie Guerrero stuff they were doing, as Rey dedicated the match to Eddie. After that it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Mysterio was going to win. Triple H made sure he was kept strong though, as he got to eliminate both Ric Flair and Big Show early on in the match. Flair and Show were his two most recent rivals at the time. Flair only lasted a little more than a minute, and the fans were very upset when he was tossed out so carelessly. Bobby Lashley entered at #8, and was made to look strong in confrontations with Big Show and Kane, though it was those two that ultimately ended up eliminating him.
Carlito, Chris Benoit, and Booker T entered the match, and then things dragged for a while. People like Tatanka, Eugene, Trevor Murdoch, and Road Warrior Animal and his huge gut came and went. Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury made nice showings of themselves, and they were kept in the match a long time. Rob Van Dam made his return to the ring after missing most of 2005 due to reconstructive knee surgery.
Chavo Guerrero entered, and this is when he too was riding the Eddie wave. But he didn’t last long. Triple H pushed him off the top rope as he was getting ready to do the Frog Splash. The fans hated that, and voiced their displeasure. A real class act, that Triple H. Poor Matt Hardy was dry humped, and then eliminated by Viscera of all people. It’s amazing over he still is despite how many times the company has tried to bury him.
Shawn Michaels entered, and a bunch of guys were after him, since Vince had promised a reward to the person that took out HBK. It made for a good storyline within the match, as Michaels fended off attacks from pretty much everyone. He ended up being eliminated by Shane McMahon from behind, while being distracted by Vince. Shane wasn’t even in the match. But this was at the beginning of the HBK/McMahon’s feud that went on for most of 2006, later with Triple H involved.
The final four was Triple H, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, and RVD. Van Dam was eliminated first, leaving Rey facing 2 on 1 odds. HHH and Orton started picking him apart. But Rey defied the odds; he surprised everyone sending HHH out. HHH lasted 60:09 in the match. It was down to Mysterio and Orton. Rey got the win as he pulled Orton over the top rope with a body scissors like maneuver. In doing so, Rey broke the record previously held by Chris Benoit for lasting the longest in a Royal Rumble, as he clocked in at 62:12. Great performances by Mysterio and HHH in another otherwise pretty forgettable Royal Rumble Match.
The two championship matches followed the Royal Rumble, with John Cena defeating Edge to regain the WWE Title he had lost three weeks earlier at New Year’s Revolution. The actual main event of the show was Kurt Angle defending the World Heavyweight Title against Mark Henry. Why they picked that of all matches to end the show, I have no earthly idea. It was an awful match. The Undertaker showed up at the end of the match in a funeral chariot. He made lightning bolts strike the ring, and the ring collapsed. Tazz yelled “Holy shit!” It was Taker's way of challenging Angle for a title match. It was a hokey and silly way to end the PPV.
The undercard wasn’t anything special. It was a Six-Man Cruiserweight Title Match involving Gregory Helms, Kid Kash, Jamie Noble, Paul London, Nunzio, and Funaki. Helms won the CW Title from Kash. That’s more an indictment of the company’s lack of a cruiserweight division than it is a statement about Helms. We also got an ugly match between Mickie James and Ashley Massaro, and a mess involving JBL and The Boogeyman. This was not a very good show, by far the worst Royal Rumble since 1999.
Match Results: World Cruiserweight Title Match (Cruiserweight Open Invitational SmackDown! Match): Gregory Helms (RAW) defeated Kid Kash, Sho Funaki, Nunzio, Jamie Noble, and Paul London (7:42) when Helms pinned Funaki to win the title...RAW Match: Mickie James pinned Ashley Massaro (7:46). Trish Stratus was the special referee...SmackDown! Match: The Boogeyman defeated John Bradshaw Layfield (1:56)...Royal Rumble Match (RAW vs. SmackDown!): Rey Mysterio (SmackDown!) won the "Royal Rumble" battle royal match (62:12). Other participants were: Triple H (RAW), Simon Dean (SmackDown!), Psicosis (SmackDown!), Ric Flair (RAW), The Big Show (RAW), Sylvan Grenier (SmackDown!), Bobby Lashley (SmackDown!), Kane (RAW), Carlito (RAW), Booker T (SmackDown!), Joey Mercury (SmackDown!), Road Warrior Animal (SmackDown!), Orlando Jordan (SmackDown!), Chavo Guerrero Jr. (RAW), Matt Hardy (SmackDown!), Tatanka, Super Crazy (SmackDown!), Trevor Murdoch (RAW), Chris Masters
(RAW), Shelton Benjamin (RAW), Eugene (RAW), Goldust, Chris Benoit (SmackDown!), Viscera (RAW), Randy Orton (SmackDown!), Johnny Nitro (SmackDown!), Shawn Michaels (RAW), and Rob Van Dam (RAW)...RAW World Heavyweight Title Match: John Cena defeated Edge (14:02) to win the title...SmackDown! World Heavyweight Title Match: Kurt Angle defeated Mark Henry (9:30) to retain the title.
January 28, 2007—AT&T Center: San Antonio, TX. Attendance: 15,566. Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (Raw), Michael Cole and JBL (Smackdown), Joey Styles and Tazz (ECW)
The 2007 Royal Rumble was among the better PPV’s of the year in WWE. Matt and Jeff Hardy teamed up against MNM in the opener. Those two teams had a nice little mini feud towards the end of 2006 into 2007, and they always had good matches together, as one would expect. This match was no exception. Bobby Lashley was the ECW Champion at the time, and he faced Test, who is the epitome of why the new ECW was never taken seriously by anyone. They had a bad match that ended when Test got himself counted out. They actually used the PPV to build the feud for further TV rematches, which is generally the exact opposite way that wrestling should be booked. Test ended up being released not too soon after.
Among the other undercard matches was Batista successfully defending his World Title against Mr. Kennedy. It was a pretty decent match, I thought. Kennedy did a nice job carrying the bulk of the match, using a variety of leg holds on Batista’s knee, which Batista sold well. Batista ended up pinning Kennedy to retain his title with the Batista Bomb.
Then we had John Cena vs. Umaga in a “Last Man Standing Match.” Cena had a great year in the ring in 2007, and this match signaled the beginning of a new era for him in that respect. It was an excellent match all around, great work from both guys, and a well told story throughout the match. The highlights included a spot where Umaga was standing on the floor outside the ring, and Cena tossed the ring stairs over the top rope, with them nailing Umaga right in the head.
Also a unique spot where a bloody Cena was setup on the ECW announce table, and Umaga ran across the other two announce tables, before splashing through the ECW table where Cena had been. Umaga’s manager at the time, Armando Estrada, had unhooked the top rope from the ring posts and wanted Umaga to jab Cena in the throat with the exposed metal bolt from the turnbuckle. Cena ended up using the ropes to hog tie and choke out Umaga in the STFU. Umaga wouldn’t stay down, so Cena choked him out again, and eventually won the match. This was one of the best matches in WWE in 2007.
The Royal Rumble Match was called by Michael Cole, JBL, and Jerry Lawler. Two men with the combined age of 106 started things off, with the 57 year old at the time Ric Flair, and the 49 year old Fit Finlay drawing #1 and #2 respectively. Finlay would go on to last 32 minutes in the match, with Flair only lasting until Edge came in at #5, and sent The Nature Boy to the showers. This was the first year for ECW to be represented in the Royal Rumble, as ECW Originals Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, and The Sandman made appearances in the match.
Kane was in at #10, and eliminated Dreamer and Sabu, with Sabu being unceremoniously chokeslammed to the floor through a table he had set up himself. Other notables include CM Punk at #12, Jeff Hardy at #14 and Randy Orton at #16. #17 was the late Chris Benoit making his final Rumble appearance. He would go on to eliminate three people in the match. The ring began to fill up until Shawn Michaels entered at #23, and the crowd went nuts for him in his hometown.
HBK tossed Finlay, who had been in there since the beginning, and Shelton Benjamin. The ring continued filling up with the likes of Chris Masters, Chavo Guerrero, MVP, and Carlito entering the match. It all built up to The Great Khali coming down to clean house at #28. Everyone lined up to take their chops and head butts from Khali. Then he started tossing people like nobody’s business. Bob Holly, The Miz, Rob Van Dam, Chris Benoit, Carlito, and Chavo were all dismissed by Khali in short order. “Can anyone stop The Great Khali?”, Michael Cole wondered.
#30 could and it was The Undertaker. Taker clotheslined Khali out, and got rid of MVP, leaving a final four of Undertaker, Michaels, Edge, and Randy Orton. MVP brought a chair back into the ring. Orton got a hold of the chair, and cracked Taker in the face with it. He came up bleeding. HBK was out of the ring as a result of the Khali beating, so Edge and Orton double teamed Taker, when they weren’t arguing with each other. They set him up for a conchairto, but before they could deliver, HBK got back in the ring and eliminated Edge and Orton. Edge was the “Iron Man” of this match lasting 44 minutes in total. The crowd rose to its feet in a thunderous ovation as it came down to two of the all-time greats as the final two.
This was one of the best finishing sequences to a Royal Rumble ever. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels gave you seven minutes of almost a mini-match, as they reversed and countered each other, and both narrowly avoided going over the top rope at various times. It was very dramatic and compelling stuff, as you honestly didn’t know who was going to win. The crowd was hanging on every move.
Finally, the finish came when Michaels nailed Taker with a Superkick, and they both went down. As both men struggled to their feet, HBK went for another Superkick, but Undertaker ducked it, and hoisted Michaels up and over to the floor to win his first Royal Rumble Match. Michaels put his head in his hands as he sat on the verge of tears in the aisle way. Undertaker looked his way, and gave him a respectful nod of the head. You couldn’t have asked for a better finish to a Royal Rumble.
Undertaker, of course, went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Batista at Wrestlemania 23 that year, and Shawn Michaels competed for the WWE Title and lost in the main event of the show against John Cena. Ever since that night, fans have been clamoring for a rekindling of the Undertaker/Shawn Michaels rivalry. Perhaps one of these years we will see that, before both of these wrestling legends hang up their boots.
Match Results: The Hardy Boys (Jeff and Matt Hardy) defeated MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) (15:32) when Jeff Hardy pinned Johnny Nitro...ECW World Heavyweight Title Match: Bobby Lashley defeated Test (7:09) by Count Out to retain the title...SmackDown! World Heavyweight Title Match: Batista pinned Mr. Ken Kennedy (10:29) to retain the title...RAW WWE Title Match (Last Man Standing Match): John Cena defeated Umaga (23:10) in a "Last Man Standing" match to retain the title...Royal Rumble Match: The Undertaker (SmackDown!) (57:20) won the "Royal Rumble" match. Other participants were: Ric Flair (RAW), Fit Finlay (SmackDown!), Kenny Dykstra (RAW), Matt Hardy (SmackDown!), Edge (RAW), Tommy Dreamer (ECW), Sabu (ECW), Gregory Helms (SmackDown!), Shelton Benjamin (RAW), Kane (SmackDown!), CM Punk (ECW), King Booker (SmackDown!), Super Crazy (RAW), Jeff Hardy (RAW), The Sandman (ECW), Randy Orton (RAW), Chris Benoit (SmackDown!), Rob Van Dam (ECW),
Viscera (RAW), Johnny Nitro (RAW), Kevin Thorn (ECW), Hardcore Holly (ECW), Shawn Michaels (RAW), Chris Masters (RAW), Chavo Guerrero (SmackDown!), MVP (SmackDown!), Carlito (RAW), The Great Khali (RAW), and The Miz (SmackDown!).
January 27, 2008—Madison Square Garden: New York City, NY. Attendance: 20,798. Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (Raw), Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman (Smackdown), Joey Styles and Tazz (ECW)
I had the pleasure of attending this show live. As I’ve said many times, there’s nothing like a wrestling show at MSG. The PPV opened with Ric Flair putting his career on the line against MVP. He did a promo before the match talking about how he wrestled his first match at MSG in 1976. You mean it wasn’t in 1991 against Hulk Hogan? Match was pretty non-descript, and Flair won clean with the Figure Four, in what would turn out to be his final appearance at MSG, for now anyway. And I say that, because you never know.
Chris Jericho faced JBL in a match that ended in a DQ. This was in the period right after both guys returned to action after lengthy absences, and both guys were still rusty, and definitely not on the same page. This feud never clicked. Jericho went on to have a phenomenal 2008 after turning heel a few months later, and JBL did a lot better for himself, after losing over 50 pounds.
Edge beat Rey Mysterio in the World Heavyweight Title Match. It was a good, not great match. Vickie Guerrero was heavily involved in helping Edge retain the title. Vickie draped herself over Edge to take a 619 from Rey, and then Rey springboarded into the ring, and right into a perfectly timed spear by Edge.
The other title match was Randy Orton defeating Jeff Hardy. Jeff was getting a huge push at the time, and had a huge amount of momentum. A lot of people hoped to see him win the title. But in the end, they made the decision to keep the title on Orton, and when Jeff lost I remember it taking a lot of the life out of the building. In between title matches, we had the unfortunate debut of Mike Adamle as an on-air talent. He referred to Jeff Hardy as “Jeff Harvey”, and that mishap pretty much set the tone for his entire disastrous tenure in WWE.
Michael Buffer was on hand to do the intros for the Royal Rumble Match. Surprise of all surprises when The Undertaker came out at #1, and the guy he ended the previous year’s Royal Rumble with, Shawn Michaels, was #2. A nice little piece of storytelling there, starting where we left off, as it were. Santino Marella was in at #3 for the comedy spot, where he gets in with the big stars, and gets tossed right out. John Morrison was #6, and he made a nice accounting of himself in the match lasting 29 minutes. Jim Ross referred to him as a “young Shawn Michaels.” I wish I could count all the guys that have been compared to HBK over the years. Morrison is good, though, and constantly improving.
Tommy Dreamer was in at #7, and got the big, nostalgic ECW pop. He didn’t last long, however, as he was quickly eliminated by #8 Batista. CM Punk was #12, and went after Taker and HBK, before Taker almost took his head off with a clothesline. HBK was bleeding from the nose by this point, not sure how it happened. Umaga was #14, and he sent Bob Holly to the floor with a Samoan Spike. Snitsky was #15 to round out the first half. Reportedly, midtown traffic slowed down as Snitsky and his yellow teeth made their way to the ring.
“Superfly” Jimmy Snuka made a surprise appearance at #18, and the MSG crowd popped big for the Hall of Famer. Snuka can barely move, so he stayed near the ropes, and everyone lined up to take chops and head butts, even Undertaker. It got even better at #19, with Roddy Piper. The crowd went bonkers for Piper. Snuka stared him down, and as Jim Ross called it, “the parting of the red sea” as all the other wrestlers stepped aside, and Piper and Snuka squared off in the middle of the ring like the clock had turned back to 1984. It was a great moment.
Kane was out at #20, and quickly ended the trip down memory lane, by dumping put both Piper and Snuka. The crowd booed that. #22 was MSG favorite Mick Foley, who also got a nice reaction. Undertaker eliminated Snitsky, and then turned around right into a Superkick by HBK that knocked him out of the ring. The crowd gasped. Taker glared at Michaels, and while HBK was looking at Taker, he was thrown out by Ken Kennedy. Taker put Snitsky through the Smackdown announce table, as HBK high tailed it to the back, with Taker in hot pursuit. Both guys lasted 32 minutes in the match altogether. Things slowed down for a bit until Triple H came in at #29.
Hunter quickly dispatched of Cody Rhodes and Big Daddy V. HHH and Foley squared off like it was 2000 all over again. Foley was thrown into Elijah Burke, and both guys went to the floor. One spot left, who could it be? Why, it’s John Cena, the surprise #30 entrant. Cena was back after three months from a torn pectoral injury, much to the shock of everyone at MSG. He got a huge face pop initially, and then the fans remembered they were supposed to boo him.
Cena cleaned house on Carlito, Chavo, and Mark Henry. Cena and HHH had an exchange, but Kennedy and Umaga were still in. HHH eliminated Umaga, and Batista threw out Kennedy. This left a final four of Cena, HHH, Batista, and Kane. HHH and Batista double teamed to get rid of Kane, and it was down to three of the top faces in the company. The crowd was on its feet, and all three guys stopped to soak in the moment.
Batista and Cena went at it. HHH joined in, and went for a Pedigree on Batista, that Dave reversed into a spinebuster. He went for a Batista bomb on Cena, but he back dropped out of it, and HHH tossed out Batista to bring it down to two. Cena and HHH have a hot exchange with both guys trying to hit their finishers, and the other guy getting out of it. Cena got HHH up for the FU, but HHH kept holding onto the ropes, finally Cena got him free, and dumped him out to win the Royal Rumble. Batista was the “Iron Man” lasting longest at just under 38 minutes. Triple H eliminated six, the most in the match. It was another well booked Royal Rumble Match, and overall a very good PPV from top to bottom.
Dark Match (SmackDown! Match): Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore defeated Deuce and Domino...Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair defeated SmackDown! United States Champion, Montel Vontavious Porter, (7:50) via submission in a "non-title" match...RAW Match: John Bradshaw Layfield defeated Chris Jericho (9:24) by Disqualification...SmackDown! World Heavyweight Title Match: Edge pinned Rey Mysterio (12:34) to retain the title...RAW World Heavyweight Title Match: Randy Orton pinned Intercontinental Champion, Jeff Hardy, (14:12) to retain the title...Royal Rumble Match: John Cena (RAW) won the "Royal Rumble" match (51:33). Other participants were: The Undertaker (SmackDown!), Shawn Michaels (RAW), Santino Marella (RAW), The Great Khali (SmackDown!), Hardcore Holly (RAW), John Morrison (ECW), Tommy Dreamer (ECW), Batista (SmackDown!), Hornswoggle (RAW), Chuck Palumbo (SmackDown!), Jamie Noble (SmackDown!), CM Punk (ECW), Cody Rhodes (RAW), Umaga (RAW), Gene
Snitsky (RAW), The Miz (ECW), Shelton Benjamin (ECW), Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Kane (SmackDown!), Carlito (RAW), Mick Foley, Ken Kennedy (RAW), Big Daddy V (ECW), Mark Henry (SmackDown!), Chavo Guerrero (ECW), Fit Finlay (SmackDown!), Elijah Burke (ECW), and Triple H (RAW).
January 25, 2009—Joe Louis Arena: Detroit, MI. Attendance: 16,685. Commentators: Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler (Raw), Jim Ross and Tazz (Smackdown), Todd Grisham and Matt Striker (ECW)
The PPV opened with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler at ringside talking in their serious voices discussing an incident from the previous Monday's Raw where Randy Orton had punted Vince McMahon in the head. They said that Vince's condition was being kept private, and that he would be reprimanded for his actions on Raw the next night. That was a great start to an angle that ended up going down the tubes really fast. Jack Swagger retained the ECW Title over Matt Hardy in the opener. Melina defeated Beth Phoenix to win the Woman's Title.
John Cena defended the World Heavyweight Title against JBL. This was during the time that JBL had Shawn Michaels working for him, because Michaels had squandered his family's money in storyline. They had a deal that HBK would be released from his contract with JBL if he helped him beat Cena. At the end of the match, and with the referee down, Michaels superkicked both Cena and JBL. He put JBL on top of Cena, and walked out. Michaels was great playing the conflicted family man during this storyline. Cena kicked out, however, and ended up pinning JBL with the FU to retain his title.
In the other world title match, Edge beat Jeff Hardy to win the World Title for the seventh time. The usual great match that Edge and Hardy always had. The end of this match featured the heel turn of Matt Hardy, as he plastered his brother Jeff in head with a chair, after coming out under the guise of helping Jeff counter the interference of Vickie and Chavo Guerrero in the No DQ Match. Matt stood with a look of contempt on his face as Edge pinned Jeff.
Jim Ross, who is very sorely missed right now, sold the heel turn big time on commentary by saying he was sick to his stomach over the whole thing, and that it was one of the most shocking things he'd ever seen in WWE. The heel turn at the PPV was executed very well, but unfortunately, the follow up wasn't, and Matt never really took off as a heel. He played the role well, but the booking of his heel character was very weak, and he ended up hastily turning back face later in 2009, once he returned to Smackdown after an ill-fated few months on Raw following the draft.
There was little mystery over who the favorite to win the Royal Rumble was. The booking leading up to the PPV was clearly favoring Randy Orton. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler re-teamed to call the match. Rey Mysterio and John Morrison started things off at #1 and #2 respectively. They would also meet in September 2009 on Smackdown in an awesome match that got honorable mention for Match of the Year in the 2009 Observer Year-End Awards. We had an ugly match up of Vladimir Kozlov and Great Khali shortly into the match, with Khali being the first man eliminated at the hands of Kozlov. This was during the time when Kozlov was being pushed as an unbeatable monster. He quickly got rid of MVP and Carlito. Triple H was in at #7, and had a brief exchange with Kozlov, before tossing him out. He would be the first of six guys in total that HHH would eliminate in the match.
Orton was in at #8, his Legacy underling Ted Dibiase at #10, Chris Jericho at #11. Orton and Dibiase teamed up to do some damage. The Miz was #13, and teamed up with his partner at the time John Morrison, to go at it with Orton and Dibiase. But that didn't last long, as Morrison and Miz were both dropped with RKO's, and then thrown out by HHH. Cody Rhodes was #15 to join his Legacy teammates in triple teaming HHH and others. The Undertaker was out at #16, and everyone stopped what they were doing to wait for him. He got in the ring and cleaned house, JTG was tossed out. CM Punk was the proverbial house of fire in at #18, dropping HHH with the Go To Sleep.
Mark Henry, William Regal, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, Kane, and R-Truth were all into the match next. The ring was really filling up with guys at that point. Rob Van Dam came in as a surprise entrant at #25 to a huge pop from the Detroit fans. He went around crazily kicking everyone in the ring. Dolph Ziggler came in at #27. He made the mistake of shaking hands with Kane, who quickly yanked him out of the ring. That wasn't the quickest elimination, though. That would be reserved for Santino Marella, who broke The Warlord's record from 1990 by getting clotheslined out of the ring by Kane in one second in the comedy spot of the night. These fans in the first section had a huge Santino sign all ready to go too. Too bad, guys. All that work for nothing. There were about 15 guys in the ring at this point.
“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan was a surprise entrant at #29, a full 21 years after he won the first Royal Rumble in 1988. USA chants from the crowd. Big Show was #30 and got in the ring and went face to face with Undertaker. It was time to clean house. Show got rid of Duggan, Truth, Punk, Knox, and Mysterio. He eliminated six guys in all. Mysterio lasted 49:24 in the match, close second to HHH who was in 49:55, for longest time. RVD hit the Five Star Frog Splash on Orton, but was then thrown out by Jericho. Undertaker then eliminated Jericho. The ring was starting to empty out quickly. All three members of Legacy ganged up to eliminate Kane. They then ganged up on Undertaker, and HHH and Big Show squared off.
Action moved along and Undertaker and Big Show ended up going at it again, and they were out on the apron fighting. Orton hit an RKO on Big Show across the top rope, and Big Show hit the floor. He then pulled Taker off the apron to eliminate him. How a guy that was just eliminated can eliminate someone still in the match is beyond me. Taker and Show brawled into the crowd. This left HHH alone with Orton, Rhodes, and Dibiase of Legacy as the final four. They beatdown HHH, but of course he made a comeback, and managed to throw out Dibiase and then Rhodes. But just as he was throwing out Rhodes, Orton snuck up behind him and pushed him out to win the Royal Rumble. Good show overall and a well booked Rumble.
Match Results: ECW Championship Match: Jack Swagger defeated Matt Hardy (10:28) to retain title...Woman's Championship Match: Melina defeated Beth Phoenix (5:58) to win title...World Heavyweight Championship Match: John Cena defeated John “Bradshaw” Layfield (15:30) to retain title...WWE Championship Match: Edge defeated Jeff Hardy (19:25) to win title...Royal Rumble Match: Randy Orton (Raw) win the “Royal Rumble Match” (58:38). Other participants were: Rey Mysterio (Raw), John Morrison (ECW), Carlito (Smackdown), MVP (Smackdown), The Great Khali (Smackdown), Vladimir Kozlov (Smackdown), Triple H (Smackdown), JTG (Raw), Ted Dibiase Jr. (Raw), Chris Jericho (Raw), Mike Knox (Raw), The Miz (ECW), Finlay (ECW), Cody Rhodes (Raw), The Undertaker (Smackdown), Goldust (Raw), CM Punk (Raw), Mark Henry (ECW), Shelton Benjamin (Smackdown), William Regal (Smackdown), Kofi Kingston (Raw), Kane (Raw), R-Truth (Smackdown), Rob Van Dam (surprise
appearance), The Brian Kendrick (Smackdown), Dolph Ziggler (Raw), Santino Marella (Raw), Jim Duggan (surprise appearance), The Big Show (Smackdown).
I hope you enjoyed my four part series on the history of the Royal Rumble. Same time, same place next year. Thanks for reading. Until next time, take care and be well.
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