-- Women's match was sloppy, but Beth's alternate anklelock while beating Melina in the head with her own foot was ****ing funny and an awesome spot. The point of a title change here with no Rosa Mendez appearance eludes me and I'm disappointed Beth lost since I was hoping to see her defend it at Mania.
-- JBL Vs. Cena was more of an angle than a match, which was good since the actual match itself was not good. Why Shawn didn't just grab the original ref and toss him in to make the 3 count I don't know? Hopefully, they blow off this JBL/HBK feud at No Way Out and book Shawn Michaels Vs. The Undertaker for Mania since they teased it for the third time in a row on this show. I was kind of disappointed though since I was hoping Undertaker would get involved to counter Shawn's interference and cost JBL the title so that Layfield could order Shawn to go after the Dead Man.
-- Edge Vs. Sting...I mean Jeff was a very good match since these guys can practically wrestle each other in their sleep by this point. As soon as Vickie announced it was No DQ, I knew Jeff would get screwed. I thought Jeff had hurt himself during the table spot on Chavo since it looked like he slipped off the ladder. But of course, the true shocker was Matt's heel turn. Everybody including me was expecting Christian, but they pulled a great swerve on us with Version 1. My sportsbar audience gave out a true "Holy shit!" reaction.
And it only makes sense with Matt going in this direction. After he lost his rematch to Swagger, he would've been going back to mid-card Hell to aimlessly flounder about. I had a feeling it was coming soon, but I did not expect it Sunday night. Matt will probably claim that Jeff's problems have been a distraction, and the real reason why he lost to Swagger. The success of his heel turn though will depend almost completely on the promo he cuts on Smackdown! this week. I wonder if Matt will get a new heel entrance theme song.
I just hope Matt's turn won't be one of those TNA-like angles where if you sit back and look at the timeline, nothing makes sense (already noting if the jealousy aspect is supposed to date back to Survivor Series, why was Matt jealous when he was ECW champion and Jeff was nothing, and why didn't he just job to Kozlov so Jeff wouldn't have made it to Armageddon?) but I really am interested in what they do with this. It's kind of like the Shawn Michaels angle - it's weak on paper with many illogical plot holes, but they do an awesome job making it work on TV.
Hardy Vs. Hardy will make for some excellent story telling. Had it been anybody else that cost Jeff the title, I would've been PISSED!
- The Rumble. I popped for Orton kicking Vince's ass on Raw so I figured he'd be a lock to win it. There were perhaps too many major names in it in the first half of the Rumble, thus preventing the fun "clearing the ring" spots we usually get, but it was a nice change for once. I was happy to hear the MVP chants and to hear the crowd actually boo his elimination, which thankfully he wasn't the first one out. Maybe 2009 will be a kinder year to him. Rey lasted way too long in it this year, Knox should have tossed him in quick fashion once he hit the ring. Santino (NEW record at 1 second being eliminated) and Ziggler's quick tosses were also really funny stuff.
The RVD guest spot ruled big time. The greatness of his cameos is that he picks times when no one is really suspecting anything and shows up to get a massive pop. In fact, I was seriously hoping that RVD had signed a new deal and thus was going to take this thing in his homestate. Can anyone argue that Van Dam was the most over guy in the ring for the time he was in it? I wish he'd come back full time, though he probably would end up doing nothing.
Well, I got my Jericho / Undertaker confrontation. I still would like to see those two FINALLY have a 1 on 1 match sometime. Maybe at Wrestlemania if we can't get Michaels / Taker.
It was a nice touch to see the original Royal Rumble, Jim Duggan, participate. I'm glad to know a legend like him to still madly over. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! and then when he got eliminated, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
HHH in the final four (not to mention the final two) for the umpteenth time is just dull. So much big time talent to choose from...but nope, come Rumble and Mania, it's always HHH in the end. I was actually worried that with The Legacy and Hunter left, Trips was going to overcome the odds and win it, but thanks to smart thinking, Orton threw his ass out immediately instead of giving us the traditional final two mini-match. It made for a nice dynamic that Orton had two pawns to work with instead of "Legacy turning on each other in the match" like we've seen in the past so many times with tag teams and stable members fighting each other.
As far as the aftermath goes, who knows what will happen with Orton. So in that respect this show did work. I'm really excited that WM 25's main event will (hopefully) be Cena Vs. Orton. I wonder if Randy is forced to enter the Elimination Chamber as punishment (even though it's for the World Heavyweight Title) or someone else wins the title there and goes on to face Orton at WM. With both titles being on the line for No Way Out, they almost have to change one of the titles. They need to not toy around with the winner stipulation. It's been done too many times already especially in the past few years, but of course, in retaliation for the attack on Vince, I bet the McMahons will put Orton in matches where he has to defend that title shot. Honestly, he should be after all the things he's done like costing Punk the World Heavyweight Title.
So all in all, The 2009 Royal Rumble match is now my 2nd favorite Royal Rumble right behind 2004. Like the previous Rumble, there was just so much going on at once that it kept it interesting to watch from start to finish. I just wish Shawn Michaels and Matt Hardy had been in it to make it even better.
|
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Linear Mode
