The Royal Rumble Match
I figured I would break this section up with notes from the Rumble. There was plenty to discuss about it.
– I was NOT bothered by the fact John Cena won the match. I think it's crazy so many people are. There were people on Twitter threatening to quit watching the product because Cena won and will be facing Rock at 'Mania. Again, crazy. This will be one of the major discussions tonight on VOW, so be sure to tune into the debate.
– Thank you, WWE, for not building up another Chris Jericho return. Notice how it didn't end in disappointment as a result? I have no problem with Jericho coming in for a short run into 'Mania, and as long as he works to put over a guy like Ziggler or Ryback, I'll chalk it up as a successful relationship. But to the Mike Killam's of the world marking out yet again for Y2J, get ready to feel sadness yet again when he ultimately leaves one more time after 'Mania.
– Santino's short time in the Rumble was great. Him throwing everyone over the top rope, but eliminating none of them are the little spots that make the Royal Rumble matches so great. Good to see him out there, period. I hope it means his injury was less severe than originally thought.
– Boy, did the dirt sheets miss the mark with the surprise entrants this year or what?! From Brock Lesnar (yep, yours truly called that one and I'll be sure to talk more about this in a minute), to Shelton Benjamin, to Carlito, to Chris Masters, I think we batted around 0-13 collectively. I already mentioned Jericho, but the Goldust and Godfather appearances were fun. I am a little upset we didn't get Mark Henry, or Christian, or someone with a little significance going forward, outside of Jericho, but I'm not torn up about it either.
– I absolutely HATED that one of the two talked-about records were not broken last night. Did you hear the crowd erupt when Dolph Ziggler got eliminated? That's because WWE did a good job of selling the idea he could possibly beat Rey's record for time spent in the Rumble. He really didn't even get close when you think about it. The other record discussed was Kane's and the most eliminated by one person. Ryback did make it down to the final two with Cena, so I'll let that one slide, but all the stars were aligned perfectly for Dolph to successfully keep his verbal promise. Hell, it was WWE who set the stars up that way! I have no clue why they didn't let him go the distance.
– I like that Kofi Kingston has a new mission in life. Every year, he's the guy that has to come up with new, clever ways to "not" get eliminated, before he ultimately gets eliminated for real. It's the same aas how I looked forward to Shelton Benjamin's one insane spot during the MITB matches each year.
– The Royal Rumble match, overall, was decent, but not incredible. The predictability of Cena winning will certainly ruin it for many, but I just didn't think it provided constant entertainment the whole match through. The Rumble matches are about the little moments. You try to fit in as many stories as you can within the one-hour time limit (approximately) and then, once it gets down to the final four or so, it becomes any man's ball game. This year certainly had some decent spots, but they seemed few and far between compared to past Rumbles. Again, not a bad match, but not one of the best.
