2011 Royal Rumble card feels slightly "half-assed" to me

[MaverickAZ]

I mean, i like the idea of a larger Rumble match (40), but part of me also goes, "well theres such a LACK of storyline feuds these days that would draw, they HAD to make the switch"

So we have 2, yes just TWO, singles matches, and the garbage divas match, as far is i've seen, thats on the PPV tonight. the second biggest PPV of the year, and yet both secondary titles (US and intercontinental), are NOT being defended , unless there is some late addition. WOW. thats amazingly ridiculous in my opinion, and just goes to show you how much the times have changed so to speak. I remember feuds for the intercontinental title providing a good 30 mins worth of storyline and good time on RAW/Smackdown pack in the late 90's, early 2000's.

Daniel Bryan and Ted Dibiase, i know both are in the rumble, but i find it hard to believe they couldn't put a decent entertaining match out there with Bryan obviously getting the win, to atleast have one of those titles "defended"

 

[Mindshatter]

In theory I agree with you but I just feel they will give more time to the title matches perhaps to test Ziggler out in the world title scene especially. And clearly they are giving alot more time for the rumble but yes I don't see why we can't have one of them defended but still have both of them in the rumble too.

 

[Stephen11]

There's more than likely going to be some mid-card title defenses as the card is a bit light. On the other hand, regardless of your opinion on the new Rumble size, it's going to need more time so they have to extend the time used for the Rumble plus they realized how bad last year's was so odds are that they would extend it even more. There's only so much time in a PPV and if we are going to have a 1 1/2 hour + rumble then they need to give it quite a bit of time. Plus, majority of the PPV buyers buy the Rumble for the Rumble match so the rest of the card is irrelevant.

 

[Suviluer]

i completely agree... i remember that back in the day there used to be a intercontinental or U.S. tittle match and those guys would later go in the rumble too!! now its only two matches and thats it.... i mean its cool to have 40 in the rumble but really its kind of sad since the reason that theres only two matches is that theres no decent feuds going on....

 

[Jsaturn14]

I have to disagree with you. First off, the rumble is going to go on for at least an hour and a half. That is half your show right there. Now, yes, you could put out a 10 minute match with Bryan defending his title, but is anyone else as sick of 10 minute matches that end before they even start as me? No, I don't think I would like to see that. Instead, with the card that they have right now, I would love to see each of the title matches get at least 35 minutes of time out there. I want to see a story develop and end in the ring, especially between Orton and Miz, and I honestly think that is what we are going to get tonight, which just makes me happy. Now, if you combine the two long title matches with the rumble, and then a 5 minute diva's match to break things up with, that is your entire 2 hour and 50 minute show right there. That doesn't feel half-assed to me. That feels like they are giving a young champion (the miz) and a young challenger (Ziggler) the chance to go out there and really show people what they can do. That is friggen awesome to me.

 

[The Suplexer Perfecter]

Oh for god's sake.

The secondary titles were not defended at the Rumble in 09, 08, 07, 06, 05, 04, 03, and I could go on and on. Last year the US title was defended in a match made during the PPV and it wasn't that good and quite pointless.

If they had a mid card title defense, I doubt it would be given enough time. Plenty of the non world title matches are never given enough time at the Rumble.

If they do make a mid card title match I hope it is given time. I don't want 7 minutes of pointlessness just for the sake of a mid card title match

Imagine them giving the world title matches TIME to be really good. How dare they!

 

[parksy69_2004]

I agree with you. The IC belt used to be much more meaningful back in days when Brutus the Barber Beefcake and Ted Dibiase(the talented one) were feuding. It had more of a main event feel to it, and now? Polar opposite.

 

[marklouis]

I agree. I was watching the 2000 rumble last night, & that card featured an IC title match & a tag title match, & the participants of those matches also competed in the rumble. They could've easily booked a Bryan/DiBiase match & a Kingston/Swagger match, along with a Kozlov & Santino vs Nexus tag title match. And the rumble having 10 more guys shouldn't make the match that much longer, considering those guys really have no chance of winning & could be quickly eliminated.

 

[DeathClutch]

That is because your looking at it with a half assed view.

I like this card better then the last 7 Rumbles, 2002 being the strongest undercard by leaps and bounds, but this years minds me of 2004 Rumble, the Title matches one being strong (Orton/Miz to HHH/HBK) the other having a question mark (Edge/Ziggler to Lesnar/Holly) but I like the fact Zigger has just been thrown into the title picture, I like his style and Smackdown could do with a brash young main eventer (Not saying he should win the world title yet) but with mania coming up in April I think having Ziggler being pushed now is like a trial & error if Ziggler fails then he won't be pushed (think of Swagger) so if Ziggler looks a worthy contender expect him to win one of the MITB's this year.

The Divas rematch? happened at the Survivor Series so having the rematch at the Royal Rumble just gives the rematch a more significant meaning.

Rumble it's self that is the match that sells the rumble ppv, not the undercard.

ps. you remember 30 min IC title matches in the late 90s/early 00s? dude you've got to have lost the preception of time, the only time matches were 30 mins was Main event PPV matches, last time IC title matches were 30 mins was back in the mid 90s.

 

[The Suplexer Perfecter]

I agree. I was watching the 2000 rumble last night, & that card featured an IC title match & a tag title match, & the participants of those matches also competed in the rumble. They could've easily booked a Bryan/DiBiase match & a Kingston/Swagger match, along with a Kozlov & Santino vs Nexus tag title match. And the rumble having 10 more guys shouldn't make the match that much longer, considering those guys really have no chance of winning & could be quickly eliminated.

the IC match that lasted 7 minutes and the tag title match that lasted 2.
Not that impressive.

And if you have guys come out every 90 seconds, you'll need more time. 15 minutes to be exact. Plus the time for the final guys to go at it.

An IC, US, Tag, Divas, WWE, and World title matches would take up way too much time. If you had 5 minute matches for those, people will complain.

 

[CM11]

quick point!!! the incontinental belt had more meaning when raw and smackdown had same roster and no world title, since the addition of the world title and split shows it has little meaning nor should it, as austin said if your not in the wwe to win the world belt u shudn be in it so why should passion be put into it, its there to keep midcard wrestling interesting and since the rumble cares none for the matches why shud thos belts be involved.
on to the point, the card is not weak its similar to past rumbles with the chance of belt changing very little, not sayin it wnt happen but slim. the rumble sells itself the under matches which happen to be world title matches are even slightly irrevlant cause of the rumble so no the card aint weak. the only thing i would say is let a match happen at the end of the rumble this year lik taker hbk. edge cena coulda been great with edge getting a strong victory over cena which woulda looked fantastic and as we know they know how to put on a match. way to rushed towards the end last year instead of matches. so this year whoever last 2or3 are lets have some wrestling to send us home happy!

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I foresee a thrown together match coming into play still. Probably a quick bad one, but they've been doing it more lately. A few of the recent PPV's have had Tag Title matches that were unannounced. That will probably be the case here.

Plus like others have said. They are definitely gonna need extra time with 10 extra guys in the Rumble.

 

[justinept]

In my opinion, the Royal Rumble has ALWAYS featured a lackluster undercard ... So this is nothing new to me. The actual rumble is what people are paying to see, and because of that, the WWE has no need to use a potential WrestleMania storyline or potential WrestleMania match for the sake of increasing a RR buyrate.

I'll be watching the RR tonight because I'm excited to see who gets the win. The obvious favorites are a returning John Cena and a potentially returning Triple H - but given that Cena is on a WM collision course with Punk and Triple H is rumored to be on a course with Shaemus, it makes little sense for either Cena or Trips to win (those potential matches don't necessarily need to be for a title to draw interest.)

Take Shaemus, Trips, Punk and Cena out of the picture ... take out Edge, Orton, Ziggler and Miz as well ...and who gets the win tonight? John Morrion? Albero Del Rio? Does Kofi Kingston finally break through? Does the WWE do something crazy and push Daniel Bryan to the moon? My money is on JoMo ... which would mark the first mid-card wrestler to win the rumble since Mysterio did it in '06.

I could seriously go on and on about the RR match. And a lot of people are no different. When one match garners so much interest, there's little need for a big undercard. The RR match sells the ppv on its own ... something tells me that it's why they titled the ppv "The Royal Rumble."

 

[MaverickAZ]

my bad, i really didnt realize how the cards were for midcarders for the Rumble recently. And yes, i agree 100% that the new rumble total will mean for a good 1h 30min of the card

unless its Wrestlemania, even though the WWE schedules these PPV's for 3 hours, it rarely goes that far, anymore. Im fairly certain on that.

So lets break it down, approx

1h 30 min for rumble
20 min for each title match
20 min for backstories before matches, and backstage interviews
10 min for Divas

i guess that does sound about right

 

[Zeven_Zion]

heres a good way to put if u think the royal rumble this year is half-ass or not..if u rather watch a TNA show than the royal rumble..then WWE has a realll problem lol..whos wit me on this? lololol

Why do I never hear such stupid, ignorant and immature comments from TNA fans? It's guys like you who force me to generalize all WWE fans as idiotic pieces of shit.

On topic: I think it's pretty difficult to book a strong card at an event where 40 people of both brands are booked in one match. It's normal for the card to lack storyline focus aside from the title matches which have no storylines to them, they're just contest about the belt, not based on any problem between two individuals. WWE should strive to just give us a few good matches while we're waiting for the battle royal. Are they going to do it? I highly doubt that. WWE's style of wrestling is absolutely dreadful, so are the storylines and the wrestlers(and I use the term "wrestlers" very loosely, the only three that fall into that category are JoMo, Ziggler and Orton. Don't even mention Bryan Danielson because that motherfucker is a shell of the wrestler he actually is and it pains me to see him stoop to such low levels as to tarnish his work over the years for a pay-check and camera flashes). However, I do watch one WWE thing all year long and pay for it, and that's the Royal Rumble. I end up hating myself for doing it because it disappoints as it has in the last three to four years, but still, the half-dead WWF fan inside of me enjoys the anticipation and unpredictability of the battle royal. I hope for something awesome to happen, and once again I remember why I quit watching that shit in the first place - endless disappointment.

And yes, this was me bashing the WWE. It's a monthly thing.

Did I mention that the guy I quoted is a piece of shit?

 

[Y-2-Jay]

In my opinion, the Royal Rumble has ALWAYS featured a lackluster undercard

Royal Rumble 2000 says hello. The undercard on that event had the first ever tag team tables match which was very good, the great debut of Tazz and also probally the best match ever HHH vs Cactus Jack street fight. Not too lackluster there.

They half assed it because they know the Rumble match itself is the real draw of the event so they feel there is no need for anymore effort.

 

[kobrad]

Seriously dude? You have to be kidding me. WHO CARES about the rumble undercard. you are sitting there complaining because you think that it is cool to complain about every little thing that goes on in the company. If WWE had stayed at thirty guys you would probably complain about not having enough guys or something like that. Seriously give it a chance before you sit there and bash what you don't even know!

If the Rumble does have all the surprises that it has been advertised on the net then i am so excited for this rumble. If *****SPOILER******Nash and booker come back tonight how sweet would that be. I don't care if they are old and can't give you explosive matches but seeing Nash in a WWE rignt makes me happy. I think that we all need to stop complaining about nothing and enjoy the product because i would rather have it then have no wrestling at all.

 

[Cats Pajamas]

Go back and read justinept's first paragraph... I'd say that pretty much sums it up. The Rumble is the draw. As far as his picks for the winner goes... sorry bub, Funaki is going to win this one. End of story, green Rep for you.

Nextly, I will remind the OP of a certain title match involving a "Mr Ziggler"... of course he'll never make it past Edge the coke fiend, but it should prove an interesting match.

So who's the real Rumble winner? Same person who wins every year; Vinnie. He's got a crap PPV that sells itself year after year AND he doesn't even have to try making it interesting (citing the Miz here).

 

[The Brain]

I think it’s a safe bet one more match will be added to the card. The problem I have with that is we won’t know about it until we’re watching the event. I am not a fan of unannounced matches on ppv. Some people look at it as a nice bonus but I look at it as poor booking. There is zero point to an unannounced match on a ppv. Those watching have already purchased the show so why not just announce the entire card in the weeks leading up to the show? The reason is probably because the creative team doesn’t even know what they’re going to do until the day of the show, hence my opinion of poor booking.

Let’s take the US Title match from last year for example. In my opinion The Miz, MVP, and the title itself were all disrespected by the impromptu match. Years ago matches like Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett or Goldust were a big part of the show. Those IC matches were heavily hyped and as a result the fans really cared about them. If you wonder why people think the mid card titles have lost their prestige over the years you can look to the 2010 rumble as an example. If the promotion didn’t care enough to put any effort into the match then why should the fans care?

It’s obvious people buy the Royal Rumble for the rumble match itself. That doesn’t mean WWE needs to be lazy about the undercard. We’re probably only talking about one match so in the grand scheme of things it’s probably not a big deal. I just feel the ppv card itself and the competitors involved in whatever the announced match will be would benefit from a little more hype.

 

[Cats Pajamas]

Seriously dude? You have to be kidding me. WHO CARES about the rumble undercard. you are sitting there complaining because you think that it is cool to complain about every little thing that goes on in the company. If WWE had stayed at thirty guys you would probably complain about not having enough guys or something like that. Seriously give it a chance before you sit there and bash what you don't even know!

Head on out, buy a stamp, and mail Vince your wallet. What's wrong with making him earn money by putting on a show that's worth the 40 something bucks?

Why do I never hear such stupid, ignorant and immature comments from TNA fans? It's guys like you who force me to generalize all WWE fans as idiotic pieces of shit.

Ha ha ha ha ha! I like you more and more every time you post. Agreed, Stunner=RKO doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

If the promotion didn’t care enough to put any effort into the match then why should the fans care?

This statement needed repeating, and I advise folks to reread the Brain's entire post, esp. the point about impromptu matches. I don't mind impromptu matches on a PPV card quite so much, but I don't mind taking a bathroom break or rolling another joint while an impromptu title match takes place. Why should I have to hype a match to myself? That's the WWE's job.

 

[Y2JChrisJericho]

I agree with you entirely. We've seen before wrestlers have both a singles match and appear in the Rumble, and Bryan is one of those wrestlers capable of doing that. I would love to see Ziggler in the Royal Rumble, have him lose to Edge and have Vickie give him a late entry, only for him to be eliminated. I don't know what they can do, usually PPV's are 2 hours and 40 minutes now a days, and I don't know how they're going to make it work. I would've also loved to see Kofi defend his title too.

I don't think Alex Riley is in the Rumble, and he could have a match with Bryan for the US title. Miz and Bryan did have a personal feud before, and also Miz is world champion. Riley could also want the US title and prove that he is also better than Bryan. That could work and it can show what Riley has, he looks weak as Miz's lackey.

Plus, Kofi can have a match with a guy like Reks or Barretta, they could've made that work too. Reks always loses steam, he had a great run but than doesn't appear on certain weeks, and this annoys me a lot.

Or they could've just thrown in a tag match, it limits every man in the ring as they don't have to do too much, and Kozlov and Marella can continue their feud with the New Nexus.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I don't think it's half-assed, I think it FEELS like it's lacking in star power. There's no John Cena title match or promised return to win the Rumble. Instead we have Dolph Ziggler vs. Edge, which may not be a huge deal but I've enjoyed the program and I'm glad somebody fresh is getting a shot at the title. We've also got the Miz as WWE Champion, and while he's been doing a good job, his reign has been overshadowed by Michael Cole, the GM, and the whole Nexus thing. The Rumble match itself has so many possibilities and outcomes that I find it very exciting. It's going to be a simple PPV, but they've done a good job in building it up, and it's always a great event.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

This statement needed repeating, and I advise folks to reread the Brain's entire post, esp. the point about impromptu matches. I don't mind impromptu matches on a PPV card quite so much, but I don't mind taking a bathroom break or rolling another joint while an impromptu title match takes place. Why should I have to hype a match to myself? That's the WWE's job.

And that's what they rely on. Have you noticed that each time there's the possibility of something nice happening, the fans hype it more than the actual company? Here you have Nash and Booker potentially being in the Rumble. People automatically go "Oh shit! Nash is the mystery GM!" "Booker will win the Rumble"! And when it doesn't happen, simply because WWE just hates a nice product NOT based around absolutely bromidic and basic storylines between people that somehow end up losing to Cena in the end, no matter what the storyline is or who's in it, they don't say anything and move on. But when they over-hype something TNA, and TNA doesn't magically read their minds and do it - they cry like babies.

My only concern about this year's Rumble is that it could end up being a big fat clusterfuck. Thirty people is a lot, fourty is over the top (get the pun?). My prediction is that the whole "40 people" thing was just a way to sell the PPV as something more than it actually is, 10 people will get elimianted super fast and we'll suck some major dick for the rest of the show.

 

[Undertaker the 5th]

I don't think it is lack luster. I prefer the way it is now to it having 6 or 7 matches and making all of those lack luster. This will just give the matches other than the rumble some more time and have Ziggler get more time in front of a wider audience. He could really show that he belongs in the main event and he makes the match look credible. I would hate to see the IC or U.S. titles defended in any way shape or form at the rumble. I think that would be pretty lame and would not even be a long match. Just a short match where the introductions of the wrestlers take longer than the match itself. I will buy the Rumble because it is my money and I feel like it regardless of the under card. I buy it to see the Rumble, not mid-card matches out of now where.

 

[The Idiot]

The WWE and the wrestling world in general feels half-assed to me. There's too many PPVs...and that gets in the way of building feuds. When you have a PPV every month you have no choice but to rush the feud, and when you do that it doesn't have any meaning to it.

Complaining about it won't do a damn thing because it'll never chance. PPVs create money, and in the end, that's all that matters (to them).