IC25's New Column - Why I Loved the 2011 Royal Rumble

[Daniel.Wood]

IC I respectfully disagree with you.

Now firstly I have no problems with Del Rio winning, he's been in fueds with Rey, Christian and just about every top face on Smackdown apart from the current champion Edge. However what I have a problem with is the booking. Del Rio is supposed to be a credible champion heel. Great. This is a stretch considering his finisher is an arm bear (super), But in the Rumble he entered very late on, he jobbed to Orton and then won it. He was weak in the Rumble. In fact I can't think of anyone who's supposed to be in the main event who looked weaker than Del Rio. So, now i'm expected to believe that a man who did NOTHING in the rumble can go on to beat Edge who has triumphed over a Kane who beat Taker three times previously and a Ziggler on a role? (Becase WE ALL know that Edge will be his choice. ). Him winning was not only poorly booked but it make the main event so predictable.

Following on from the predictability we all knew that JOMO wouldn't win, yes his spot on the rail was great, but easily botched. They couldn't risk him being the winner to pull of that move. That to me was a completely awful use of JOMO (they shouldn't have jobbed him out to Nexus) and Bryan...

The age of the final four was irrelevant. The start of the Rumble should NEVER be more exciting than the finish and this time it was. You've also casually dismissed Santino completely from your final four. Despite raising him as a point in your very next reason. There was no drama at the end. I feel that Cena and Del Rio should have been the final two and THEN the Miz should have screwed Cena. Santino killed the drama, he killed everything. Yes it was funny but the suspension of disbelief can only go so far, it was pointless and unnecessary.

Leading on from that I believe that was an adjustment to Riley getting accidentally eliminated. I reckon Riley Cena and Del Rio would have been the final three Cena eliminates Riley, Miz eliminates Cena Del Rio wins. However Riley gets accidentally eliminated so they adjust it slightly. Maybe that's just me.

The throw away matches were excellent. Yes IC they were. BUT. They were rendered null and void, they were cheapened and any significance they may have held was taken completely away by the inclusion of Orton and Ziggler in the rumble. It basically said "Oh well i'm not good enough to win now, it's cool i'll just win the rumble and try again". That's wrong. All of the prestige of the titles was ruined then as well.

Yes, the right guys showed up. I agree. Khali was great. Diesel and Booker T also great. But they were jobbers. Cheap jobbers for a pop. Completely mis-used. Hornswaggle lasted longer than about 30 other wrestlers.. That is completely and utterly wrong. Why was he there because THERE WAS NO WAY HE WOULD EVER WIN. Yes comedy is all well and good but this is the Royal Rumble.. don't cheapen it by killing all momentum with a leprecaun and then job people to HIM. Especially when excellent wrestlers like Trent
Barretta and DH Smith weren't included.

Rumble was good. It was enjoyable as well. BUT there were problems with it and in some cases it was extremely flawed.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

1. Every one of the final combatants was 33 years old or younger. Proof the youth movement is alive and well, Alberto del Rio, Randy Orton, and Wade Barrett are all representative of the focus the WWE is placing on youth. It's sometimes hard to remember that Orton, while at this point certainly a seasoned veteran, is only 30. del Rio is 33. Barrett is 30. In the title matches, Dolph Ziggler is also 30 and so is The Miz. The elder statesman of the main eventers right now is probably Edge, who is 37 and still looks great.

I very much agree here. When you look at a lot of the talent that entred the Rumble last night, Del Rio could be looked at as a elder statesman himself just based on his age. At 33, which is still quite young in the grand scheme of things, Del Rio is older than most of the other competitors in the Rumble match. Off the top of my head, I believe that Kane, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Rey Mysterio & Edge were the only ones in the match older than Del Rio. Or, for that matter, on the entire ppv.

2. We forgot - for a split second - that he's kind of a jobber. When Santino emerged and hit del Rio with the Cobra, impossible as it seemed, for a split second you had to wonder if Santino was going to take the thing. It would be plausible for the anonymous GM to congratulate Santino but force him to defend the Wrestlemania title shot against del Rio because of the way he'd won it. Even still, the ultra-popular unibrowed tag champion once again showed an unparalleled ability to make us forget that he's been a jobber much of his career, and yet remains as over as almost anyone.

I don't see how anyone couldn't have thought that we were about to see the shocker of the decade. We all felt our sphincters tighten up like a drum & our stomachs drop to our feet because that's exactly how we were supposed to feel. It was an excellent teasing moment that left people a little shaken. There are people that are actually complaining about Santino being the last one in the ring with Del Rio. If Santino had actually won the thing I might understand.

3. Once again, the "throw-away" title matches were excellent. Royal Rumbles are full of WWE and World Title matches that few bought into as legit challenges. Yet last night, Miz and Orton and Edge and Ziggler put on two very solid and well worked title matches. Ziggler showed me a lot last night, including his ability to sell well in big spots. WWE clearly trusts him enough to place him with Vickie Guerrero, the 1-ton human heat magnet.

The Rumble in and of itself has always been the draw for this event. I thought both the title matches were great and that Ziggler gave another great, standout performance against a legit main eventer. Ziggler has got the stuff in my opinion. He's got the athleticism, he's shown himself to be compotent on the mic, he's fun to watch in the ring, etc. I especially love watching him sell these big, high impact moves because he's fantastic at it. I'm so glad that Miz retained the title last night. Like many, there's part of me that would have liked to see him get the win cleanly, or at least somewhat close to cleanly, but he ultimately retained and that's what matters in the end. He's been entertaining as champ and has had tons of people debating/talking about the WWE Championship scene. The Miz has generated a lot of interest in the title picture, he's got people caring about what he does and what he's invovled in as champ. That's what's most important for me. Doesn't matter how good you look, what your amateur wrestling background & accomplishments are, how many flips or flips you can do if you aren't able to make fans give a damn one way or the other.

4. The right guys showed up. I know people were anticipating the sound of either "King of Kings" or "Time to Play the Game" last night, especially with S(h)eamus in the ring, but it didn't happen. That's ok, because the anticipation is back. Everybody wants to see HHH make his one final run before morphing into a full time executive. Myself included. Last night would have been terrific, except that people DID expect it to happen. So I'm glad it didn't. But Booker T and Nash I didn't see coming (I avoided the spoilers for this very reason) and was pleasantly surprised. WOW did Booker T looks terrific. Nash looked worn in the ring, kind of out of sync, but Booker looks like he's never missed a step.

Again, I agree here. It would have been nice for Trips to appear last night. Like most people, I'm anxious to see him again but I wasn't going to base whether I enjoyed last night's show on whether or not he'd show up. He'll show up soon enough and we'll be all the happier for it. When that guitar rif hits and Lemmy Kilmeister's rough gravelly voice hits, we'll all have chills running through our nuts. I thought Booker T & Nash were used the right way last night. They gave the crowd some great nostalgia moments, they did their thing in the ring for a little bit, they weren't booked to be the centers of attention and were both eliminated by young talent. No complaints here.

5. Wrestlemania makes sense. del Rio winning the Rumble was brilliant, because that's the only thing that could possibly give the World Title match the cred it needs to stand up at Wrestlemania. Outside for Edge vs Christian, the World Title match (if the belt stays with Edge) would have no sensibly built up heat without the Rumble as a factor. I am, of course, TERRIFIED that over-REY-ted Mysterio is going to win the World Title between now and Wrestlemania to give the feud with del Rio a bigger stage, but even if that happens, the rest of the card is shaping up really well. Cena / Miz, Orton / Punk, HHH / S(h)eamus, Barrett / Undertaker, Nexus / Corre, Edge / del Rio OR Edge / Christian and del Rio / Mysterio. Throw in an IC Title defense and a US Title defense, maybe a tag title and women's title (Awesome Kong, anyone?) match, and you have a stacked card after all.

I was thrilled to see Del Rio win the Rumble. How often do we see someone win the Rumble that will ultimately gain huge benefits from it? For someone that's been on WWE television for less than 6 months, winning the Rumble is a huge feather in Del Rio's cap and gives us a brand new, fresh face in the WHC match at WrestleMania. I wouldn't worry about Mysterio winning the WHC as plans, at least for the time being, seem to be calling for Mysterio to feud with Cody Rhodes and for them to have a match at Mania. Give them enough time and it'll be a great match. As of right now, what looks to be the Mania card thus far looks damn good to me.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Daniel Wood, I love, appreciate, and welcome respectful disagreement. Also, you really seem like a guy who knows his stuff, so let's dive in, shall we?

I have no problems with Del Rio winning, he's been in fueds with Rey, Christian and just about every top face on Smackdown apart from the current champion Edge.

It's a sad state of affairs - I think you've listed ALL the top faces on Smackdown, save for maybe Kofi Kingston. And the two you listed - Rey and Christian - are either working through injuries or out because of injuries. You can't blame Del Rio for that. And you didn't, which is good.

Del Rio is supposed to be a credible champion heel. Great. This is a stretch considering his finisher is an arm bear (super), But in the Rumble he entered very late on, he jobbed to Orton and then won it. He was weak in the Rumble. In fact I can't think of anyone who's supposed to be in the main event who looked weaker than Del Rio.

You can make the same argument for the Miz. The heel contenders or heel champions have been returning to the cowardly, loophole-seeking, valet-dependent heels of the days of yore. Even S(h)eamus, the next legit tough guy champ, ran from fights and cheated to win.

The fact is this - WWE has to book the guys this way, because otherwise, fans LOVE them. Look what happened with Orton and Edge went into legit champs - they became babyfaces. So while I agree that booking Del Rio to look weak sorta sucks, it's also necessary in order to keep him a heel.

Does that take some of the shine off of the WHC Match at Mania? Sure. But it's still better than face vs face.

So, now i'm expected to believe that a man who did NOTHING in the rumble can go on to beat Edge who has triumphed over a Kane who beat Taker three times previously and a Ziggler on a role? (Becase WE ALL know that Edge will be his choice. ). Him winning was not only poorly booked but it make the main event so predictable.

That's the beauty of the next few months. They now have time to make us believe that.

Also, you're assuming Edge will be champ. A few folks have already made the facinating point of Rey winning the WHC at Elimination Chamber and defending against Del Rio at Wrestlemania. Here, you have Del Rio, a man who debuted in the WWE by making Rey tap out and then taking him out due to injury. How's that for you?

You've also casually dismissed Santino completely from your final four. Despite raising him as a point in your very next reason.

That was intentional. He didn't work the "final four." He got back for 15 seconds on a technicality. But your point is noted.

Santino killed the drama, he killed everything.

I dunno dude, I saw the crowd going pretty nuts when he came back and Cobra'd Del Rio. Is showed me that people were upset Del Rio (the heel) won, and that Santino was their hope. I loved it. Every bit of it.

The throw away matches were excellent. Yes IC they were. BUT. They were rendered null and void, they were cheapened and any significance they may have held was taken completely away by the inclusion of Orton and Ziggler in the rumble. It basically said "Oh well i'm not good enough to win now, it's cool i'll just win the rumble and try again". That's wrong. All of the prestige of the titles was ruined then as well.

This is an EXCELLENT point. I agree 95%. The other 5% is the side of me happier to see Orton and Ziggler instead of Primo and Trent Barette or whomever. But spot on analysis from you right there. Fortunately, since they came in the Rumble AFTER the title matches were over, it didn't take away from how much I enjoyed the title matches at the time they were on. Had Orton and Ziggles been announced as "participating in the Rumble if they lose" prior to the match, I'd agree with you completely.

Khali was great. Diesel and Booker T also great. But they were jobbers. Cheap jobbers for a pop. Completely mis-used.

You couldn't seriously expect guys who probably signed a one-time appearance contract with Nash and Booker to be pushed as legit threats to win, could you? How would you have booked them differently? What's wrong with nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia? Sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle a la Ricky Steamboat.

I think what you and I don't see eye to eye on comes down to simple preference. I was enthralled by the conclusion of the Rumble and the night on the whole. I also downed 3 Blacksmiths (Guinness and Smithwicks version of a Black and Tan) so maybe I was easy. Either way. You make some valid points.

 

[ProudNexusMember]

This year's Rumble was not even close to being in comparison to last years. This year there seem to be a lot of wasted opportunities and just a bunch of comedic fills. It was a total waste to have Hornswoggle in the Rumble, there was a bunch of wasted momentum with the New Nexus, because once you heard John Cena's music, you knew that he would come in and demolish the whole Nexus by himself because the WWE Universe (women and children) love John Cena. I see all these people crying out Morrison not getting a chance...Morrison has fans, but Morrison has no mic skills. I was not a fan of Del Rio winning the Rumble, because quite frankly, he is the Mexican JBL. He will be just another waste of a push. It would have been a much more entertaining storyline for the Elimination Chamber if Santino had of won. Can you imagine the amout of junk talking and jokes that would have went on between Santino and the Miz?? Remember, its not about wrestling anymore, its about entertainment and comedy (hence Hornswoggle in the Rumble). The Rumble was expanded to 40 people because there are limited stars in the WWE right now and that was proven with Orton and Ziggler being put back in the Rumble. I hate John Cena, but it would have been better for him to win, at least that makes since. It would have made a better decision for CM Punk or Wade Barrett to win the rumble. I was supremely disappointed with the Rumble, and it does but in jeopardy whether or not I will order Wrestlemania. The card will be the same, the matches will be the usual, and the outcomes probably be the same. I've said it once, and I will say it again, wrestling is headed down a bad road because people are losing interest because the talent is dwindling and the storylines are lame...best case scenario for WWE...turn John Cena heel, give us something to watch for.

 

[Daniel.Wood]

It's a sad state of affairs - I think you've listed ALL the top faces on Smackdown, save for maybe Kofi Kingston. And the two you listed - Rey and Christian - are either working through injuries or out because of injuries. You can't blame Del Rio for that. And you didn't, which is good.

This is why I feel that maybe it was a better idea for a face to win the rumble. (i'm a Morrison mark so slightly biased) That way they could have let a heel have the title and build up a new Smackdown face.

I do like him, I think he has a great look but I don't think he can carry the main event, not with Edge who in my opinion in the last year hasn't had a ppv worthy match up until now. However if Christian was to get involved it would be a decent match-up.

You can make the same argument for the Miz. The heel contenders or heel champions have been returning to the cowardly, loophole-seeking, valet-dependent heels of the days of yore. Even S(h)eamus, the next legit tough guy champ, ran from fights and cheated to win.

The fact is this - WWE has to book the guys this way, because otherwise, fans LOVE them. Look what happened with Orton and Edge went into legit champs - they became babyfaces. So while I agree that booking Del Rio to look weak sorta sucks, it's also necessary in order to keep him a heel.

Does that take some of the shine off of the WHC Match at Mania? Sure. But it's still better than face vs face.

I see your point, it's very clearly because he's a heel, but he didn't win in a sneaky heel way. His ring announcer didn't get involved. Okay he eliminated Orton surprisingly but he got battered the whole time he was there. I don't know I just don't think it fitted in with what he had done so far, he had injured Rey, injured Christian so he could have been booked better I thought.

I've never understood Orton as a face. He switched from heel to face but kept the same 'psychotic' gimmick. I guess what you say rings true in that respect. I personally think his success is purely down to the 'RKO' because otherwise he's as dull as most wrestlers.

Also, you're assuming Edge will be champ. A few folks have already made the facinating point of Rey winning the WHC at Elimination Chamber and defending against Del Rio at Wrestlemania. Here, you have Del Rio, a man who debuted in the WWE by making Rey tap out and then taking him out due to injury. How's that for you?

I personally think Rey being in a main event wrestlemania match would suck. I've lost all believability when it comes to Rey.. (i'm excited about the mistico rumours however). I get the Del Rio - Rey rivalry but i'd rather Mysterio Vs Rhodes as a non title match than Del Rio Vs Mysterio WHC match.

I dunno dude, I saw the crowd going pretty nuts when he came back and Cobra'd Del Rio. Is showed me that people were upset Del Rio (the heel) won, and that Santino was their hope. I loved it. Every bit of it.

Well obviously he gets a huge pop, he's a good face. But again it's about suspension of disbelief there was no legitimate threat to Del Rio. I however believe that Santino being there at all was a result of Riley's accidental elimination . I believe the planned ending was Cena eliminated Riley and then the Miz eliminating Cena for Del Rio to win.

This is an EXCELLENT point. I agree 95%. The other 5% is the side of me happier to see Orton and Ziggler instead of Primo and Trent Barette or whomever. But spot on analysis from you right there. Fortunately, since they came in the Rumble AFTER the title matches were over, it didn't take away from how much I enjoyed the title matches at the time they were on. Had Orton and Ziggles been announced as "participating in the Rumble if they lose" prior to the match, I'd agree with you completely.

Why thankyou. Obviously there are reasons for both to be in the rumble. I just thought they didn't need to.

You couldn't seriously expect guys who probably signed a one-time appearance contract with Nash and Booker to be pushed as legit threats to win, could you? How would you have booked them differently? What's wrong with nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia? Sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle a la Ricky Steamboat.

I don't know I just think the WWE underestimated how big both of their pops would be. I would have prefered them to have eliminated someone or just had more of an impact.. Maybe that's just me

 

[Ferbian]

1. Every one of the final combatants was 33 years old or younger. Proof the youth movement is alive and well, Alberto del Rio, Randy Orton, and Wade Barrett are all representative of the focus the WWE is placing on youth. It's sometimes hard to remember that Orton, while at this point certainly a seasoned veteran, is only 30. del Rio is 33. Barrett is 30. In the title matches, Dolph Ziggler is also 30 and so is The Miz. The elder statesman of the main eventers right now is probably Edge, who is 37 and still looks great.

Well, the whole fact that the "Youth Movement is on a roll" in terms of the Royal Rumble is something I feel is only partially true. On one hand I do definitely see your point in terms of the age aspect, however you can't deny the fact that 2 of the final combatants were 2 people that have been in the business for the better of the last decade. While they're still young, I don't necessarily lean it towards the youth movement in the way it could've been done.

Let's remember that, while they're still young, they also have years of experience in WWE, and the youth movement to me is the youngsters, the "rookies" standing up and taking over, which isn't what fully happened with John Cena and Randy Orton still being around.

However, if we look past the Royal Rumble match, then you definitely have a bigger overall look at the WWE Youth Movement. The Miz vs Randy Orton, with The Miz being, well.. 30 years old, but nonetheless a new face in the top, as well as still young (In comparison to some of the elder talent at least). The same with Dolph Ziggler vs Edge, which has Dolph being the young, cocky and brass talent trying to move up in the world. That in itself is much more of a showing in how the Youth Movement is alive and strong.

And not to forget, the Royal Rumble was very dominated by youngsters, rather than having a number of participants like Triple H, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Chris Jericho, Edge and even Matt Hardy filling up the ring like they did 1 year ago. That should also have a big saying, much more than the fact that the final combatants were all below the age of 33.

2. We forgot - for a split second - that he's kind of a jobber. When Santino emerged and hit del Rio with the Cobra, impossible as it seemed, for a split second you had to wonder if Santino was going to take the thing. It would be plausible for the anonymous GM to congratulate Santino but force him to defend the Wrestlemania title shot against del Rio because of the way he'd won it. Even still, the ultra-popular unibrowed tag champion once again showed an unparalleled ability to make us forget that he's been a jobber much of his career, and yet remains as over as almost anyone.

And the IWC would've gone absolutely even more berserk if Santino had won. Either way, I sorta agree. For a moment I believe I both read numerous comments, as well as I believe I found myself saying "My Gawd, no they wouldn't!" at Santino appearing and seemingly showing potential of actually winning this thing.

3. Once again, the "throw-away" title matches were excellent. Royal Rumbles are full of WWE and World Title matches that few bought into as legit challenges. Yet last night, Miz and Orton and Edge and Ziggler put on two very solid and well worked title matches. Ziggler showed me a lot last night, including his ability to sell well in big spots. WWE clearly trusts him enough to place him with Vickie Guerrero, the 1-ton human heat magnet.

I agree, very solid performances from both matches, while they still remained to the point where they didn't take any focus off the Royal Rumble in itself when the match is over, or for that sake when the match was going underway. Which I think should be the primary thing to focus on about this whole Pay Per View, which is that it was an overall very strong card.

4. The right guys showed up. I know people were anticipating the sound of either "King of Kings" or "Time to Play the Game" last night, especially with S(h)eamus in the ring, but it didn't happen. That's ok, because the anticipation is back. Everybody wants to see HHH make his one final run before morphing into a full time executive. Myself included. Last night would have been terrific, except that people DID expect it to happen. So I'm glad it didn't. But Booker T and Nash I didn't see coming (I avoided the spoilers for this very reason) and was pleasantly surprised. WOW did Booker T looks terrific. Nash looked worn in the ring, kind of out of sync, but Booker looks like he's never missed a step.

I knew of the surprise appearances from Booker T and Nash before it happened. However, I'll admit that even I marked out at how the whole thing was handled. I went back to watch Booker T's entrance 5 times on Youtube after I had watched it the first time, simply from the sheer fact of how much I loved it.

The same thing is something I could say about Kevin Nash, even though his appearance wasn't as much of a pop generator in terms of what happened in the short amount of time he was in the ring, however the crowd was HOT AS HELL for Kevin, and I definitely say that the sole fact that the crowd was chanting his name, after so many years absent from WWE both shows how much he still has going for him, as well as how great this event as a whole was.

5. Wrestlemania makes sense. del Rio winning the Rumble was brilliant, because that's the only thing that could possibly give the World Title match the cred it needs to stand up at Wrestlemania. Outside for Edge vs Christian, the World Title match (if the belt stays with Edge) would have no sensibly built up heat without the Rumble as a factor. I am, of course, TERRIFIED that over-REY-ted Mysterio is going to win the World Title between now and Wrestlemania to give the feud with del Rio a bigger stage, but even if that happens, the rest of the card is shaping up really well. Cena / Miz, Orton / Punk, HHH / S(h)eamus, Barrett / Undertaker, Nexus / Corre, Edge / del Rio OR Edge / Christian and del Rio / Mysterio. Throw in an IC Title defense and a US Title defense, maybe a tag title and women's title (Awesome Kong, anyone?) match, and you have a stacked card after all.

The bold part is something I can only agree on whole hearted. And I definitely also agree with the fact that the card looks to be something that could make perfect sense. Even though I do agree with another post made by Uncle Sam that mentioned how Wrestlemania has a potential of lacking without John Cena vs CM Punk, but I can definitely say that I think it's salvageable.

Great thread, IC.