Welcome to our live coverage of the WWE's Royal Rumble PPV from the Phillips Arena in Atlanta.
We're looking for your thoughts on both this show as well as last night's Strikeforce show. We're looking for a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Christian vs. Ezekiel Jackson for the ECW title opens the show
Christian escaped after two slams into the turnbuckles in a powerslam like move, hit the killswitch and got the pin. Good opener. Mostly your usual Christian style good match with a ton of near falls and then the reversals off usual finishes at the end. Jackson did his part well
Teddy Long and Tiffany were in a discussion when Cryme Tyme showed up. Only one of them is allowed in the Rumble and they have to choose which one. They told Khali that he would offer him a kiss from Tiffany if they would give one of them their Rumble spot. Ranjin Singh told Khali not to do it. Khali was acting like he's been watching "Family Matters." The Miz showed up amidst all this fun. The Miz said five years from now nobody will remember these guys but they'll remember that he won the Rumble. Teddy got mad at Miz and ordered him to defend the title against MVP next.
Cody Rhodes told Randy Orton that he was there for him tonight. Rhodes said he wished he could say the same for Ted DiBiase and theoretically ratted him out. He said Ted wants to win the Rumble match and then beat Orton to win the title at Mania.
The Miz vs. MVP for the U.S. title
A series of near falls by MVP until Miz got the pin with a small package as he came into the ring. After the match MVP laid out Miz with the playmaker. Solid match, believe it or not the opener was better.
Chris Jericho and Big Show had a discussion. Jericho has a black right eye. Don't know where that came from. They did the broken up lovers dialogue. Show said that if it comes down to himself, Jericho and Miz that he's throwing both of them out. R-Truth showed up and said he would throw Jericho out tonight and that's the truth.
Randy Orton is in a bad mood. Ted DiBiase came up and told him that whatever he needs, he's there. He said Cody keeps talking about how he's going to win the Rumble and face Sheamus at WrestleMania, and how Cody is counting Randy out of winning. Randy got mad and told DiBiase that he didn't want either of them helping him in the match.
Sheamus vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title
Slow, deliberate match. Rhodes attacked Sheamus in front of the ref (Scott "I no longer have a name" Armstrong). Orton then gave Sheamus the RKO but Armstrong ruled it a DQ.
Crowd was solidly for Orton when they were making noise but they were quiet much of the match. Orton went crazy attacking Rhodes until DiBiase saved Rhodes. Orton then attacked DiBiase as well. Crowd was chanting "RKO" at this point. Sheamus then hit the kick and laid out Orton. Match wasn't much but the post-match was good stuff. Looks like a break-up of Legacy and Orton as a babyface.
Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James for the women's title
McCool claimed James wasn't there and started calling her Piggie. Layla came out in the fat suit and James showed up, threw Layla into the barricade. McCool went to kick James, who moved, and McCool kicked Layla. James used a DDT for the pin in 20 seconds.
After the match, the babyface women, Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, Maria, Eve and the Bella Twins brought in a big giant cake and threw it in McCool and Layla's face. Segment was strong face revenge for the storyline. It worked a lot better than a regular match in this segment would have.
This could be to throw people off, but they did a commercial for the Elimination Chamber PPV built around the idea HHH would be in the Chamber. If that's the case, it's probably for the Raw title match at Sheamus with HHH as the star in the Raw chamber. But it could also mean nothing.
Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio for the World title
Undertaker looks like suffered a broken nose, probably from Rey Mysterio's knee brace early in the match. Good match, mostly movement by Mystrerio around Undertaker. Mysterio did two 619's and went for a springboard Thesz press, but Undertaker caught him in mid-air and gave him a high last ride power bomb for the pin.
Shawn Michaels and Kane are having a discussion. Kane said Shawn's obsession with his brother isn't healthy. Kane told Michaels things aren't going to turn out well. HHH showed up. Shawn told him that he and Undertaker was meant to be. HHH said that he knew it was, so he knows Shawn will find another way to get the match.
Royal Rumble next.
Final three are Edge, Cena and Batista with Batista eliminating Michaels. Cena ducked and Batista went over the top, leaving Cena and Edge. Edge then threw Cena out so Edge won the Rumble. Very interesting how they take this because in theory that takes the Edge vs. Jericho match off the books that they'd planned for months. Edge had eliminated Jericho beforehand. Michaels threw out HHH early in the match. Not the best Rumble in history, but it was entertaining for 49 minutes.
Send us a news tip: newstips@wrestlingobserver.com
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news from this site or from our newsletters, please include a link to www.wrestlingobserver.com
For the most in-depth and detailed news and analysis on pro-wrestling and MMA, always turn to Wrestlingobserver.com/Figure Four Weekly Online, the #1 website of its kind on the Internet. Members receive online access to both the Wrestling Observer and Figure Four Weekly newsletters and growing archives, Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer three times per week, the popular Bryan and Vinny Show twice per week, additional radio shows including Figure Four Daily with Alvarez, Mike Coughlin's Five Star Radio, the Dr. Keith Lipinski Show, The Adam and Mike Big Audio Nightmare, Tough Talk and the Karl Stern Wrestling History Show, the infamous BOARD, and more! Members also have full access to the thousands of hours of audio in our radio show archives which date back to 2005. For your convenience, we offer secure online payments using your VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Discover card or PayPal account. Don't miss out on the fun, sign up now! Don\'t miss out on the fun, sign up now!
Want full access? QUICK AND EASY $10.99 SIGNUP!
