General Royal Rumble 2008 Discussion

[TheOneBigWill]

TheOneBigWill's 'Take' on the Royal Rumble 2008:

The Matches:
1. Career Threatening Match: M.V.P. v. Ric Flair: So basically, every month building up to a career threatening match, we're basically going to have a 10-15 minute promo by Flair, about how much he's loved being in the company, how much he loves being a Professional Wrestler, and how much he doesn't want to leave, but is grateful for the time he's had there. That about sums it up. Then, before each p.p.v. match another 10 minute promo about if he does lose, he's happy to go out in "insert local city's name here."

Anyways, the match honestly showed me one thing.. everyone talks about Past meeting Future.. well, you have it here. This match proved to me one thing, and it saddens me to say it. Ric Flair.. needs to retire, now. M.V.P. is quite possibly one of the best technical wrestlers the W.W.E. has on its roster, and Ric Flair in his day was damn good himself.. but this match had botches, and just poor timing everywhere. I felt bad, because all that really happened in the end, was M.V.P. cleanly putting Flair over via tapping out. Great respect on a personal level.. bad decision on a business level.

2. Grudge Match: Chris Jericho v. J.B.L.: I figured this match would end the way it did, and it didn't surprise me. Bradshaw used a very low tactic via the storyline/angle with Jericho's children, as a result, and from personal feelings.. if I were Jericho, I would've wanted to kill Layfield too. The ending didn't hurt either man, and allows for a rematch.

In my opinion, it was a good match for J.B.L. to return to. He was very crisp in the ring, seemed like he didn't really miss a beat. Although he hit the Clothesline from Hell (apparently) very early, and it was basically nothing more than a clothesline. So with that said, are they giving him a new finisher?

Final thought.. the deal with choking a wrestler via a cable is just getting stupid to me. Beat the shit out of him with a chair, ram that chair into his throat.. now THAT would've proved a solid point. Choking seems to fake, especially when J.R. is saying "I can tell how much he's pulling by the expression on his face." That had to be the stupidest line of the night.. simply because anyone can fucking groan and make a angry face, doesn't mean any pressure is being applied at all. That was a Micheal Cole statement, if I ever heard one.

3. World Championship: Edge v. Rey Mysterio: Possibly the overrated match of the night, that could've been worse, but could've went better too. First, my annoyances with the match.

The "Edgeheads" come to ringside, so naturally you know they're gonna get involved. Instead, on the first attempt they get caught and kicked out.. so ultimately, what was the point? Wouldn't it of made Edge look even more of a heel for them to have attacked Rey a couple times, and it would've made Rey look more of an underdog to take the beating. Instead, they make a cameo, get caught & sent to the back.

The overall match to me, was great. I loved the flow of both guys, unfortunately they should've worked together a bit more prior as the botches were unfortunate. The finish of the match was amazing though, and I loved the mid-air spear.. reminded me of the Edge of old. Great finish.

4. W.W.E. Championship: Randy Orton v. Jeff Hardy: For whatever reason, the most anticipated build-up to a Championship match in some time. Ultimately, for what? All I'm going to say is this match was Jeff Hardy's career in a very bunched together outlook.

The man gave all he had, hit every move he has to perfection, had the entire match in his favor. Randy Orton had very little, if even any offense the entire match.. and bam.. one R.K.O. after being completely squashed.. and then the 1, 2, 3.. and Jeff Hardy's bumped (most likely) back down to mid-card level, feuding with Umaga, or if he's lucky.. Mr. Kennedy, tomorrow night on Raw.

Honestly, this shows me how much W.W.E. truly thinks of Jeff Hardy. Sure, they'll let him pop the crowd as loud as they can get. But when it comes to him winning the "big one," he'll always fall just short.

Royal Rumble: The build up was very nice, because for once in a long while, no one Superstar was being pushed to be the definate winner. Triple H., Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Batista.. all four had a great shot. The Great Khali, Mark Henry, Big Daddy V.. all powerful assumptions. Mr. Kennedy, C.M. Punk, Shelton Benjamin, Hornswoggle.. all dark horses to be possible winners. Even the opening for the mystery spots, on who could possibly be.. The overall feeling I had, is this..

The opening with Shawn Michaels & Undertaker was bad. Not because it wasn't classic for the final two to be the first two, but because neither man should've been "jobbed" out like that. I pushed so hard for Shawn to win, because had he of done it.. he would've been the only man in history to win both starting at #1, and #2.

Another thing that bugs the shit out of me, is the ordeal regarding Finlay. He was disqualified for "jumping the gun/using a weapon." Apparently that "rule" was just added this year, seeing as to how weapons have been used more and more in Rumbles over the course of the previous few years.. and in 2001, Al Snow completely jumped the gun on entering the Rumble, yet he wasn't DQed from it..

Also, Hornswoggle was NEVER eliminated.. he should've at least been helped "over" the top rope, because the non-elimination thing just bugs the shit out of me. Whats the point in having a 'Last man standing' battle royal, if not everyone is going to be eliminated properly?!

Finally, the mystery entrant of the night.. John Cena! Seriously, I'm glad he's overcome a major injury, and apparently it was bullshit considering he wasn't even suppose to be back fully until AFTER Wrestlemania.. yet he makes a 2-3 month recovery, in record time?! However, in all honesty.. in what could've been one of the most exciting ending to Rumble history, turns into one of the most predictable finishes of all time.

Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Triple H., Batista, Kane, Foley, Khali, Kennedy, Umaga, Punk, Big Daddy V, Mark Henry.. ALL of them could've been the final guys in the ring.. and it would've been a who's who of possibilities for winners. Instead, Cena returns, Triple H. is "shocked" & Batista somehow becomes the 3rd wheel?! How horrible is that?

Overall Thoughts: I admit I was down right shocked with the return of John Cena, as well as Roddy Piper & Jimmy Snuka.. but overall, unfortunately I wasn't impressed with the finish of the Royal Rumble. It has nothing to do with me not being a John Cena fan, it has everything to do with it not being what it should've been, in surprising.

Cena's return = surprising. Cena's sudden victory & Wrestlemania Main Event title shot instantly upon return = predictable the second his music hit.

Match of the Night: Randy Orton v. Jeff Hardy: Jeff Hardy gave quite possibly the performance of a lifetime for him.. and albeit came up short, as predicted, it was still a good match, and to me, the best of the night.

Biggest Pop: John Cena's Return: Seriously, the exact words out of my mouth the second his theme hit were.. "no.. fucking.. way." I still believe that was Bobby Lashley's spot, before he apparently just quit without any reason? And I'm still pissed that Cena just randomly upon return gets shoved into that spot.. for what reason?

Because he deserves it? And people bitch that Triple H. plays politics backstage.. PLEASE! Cena's hand still had Vince's sperm on it from the handjob he gave to get that Rumble victory.

 

[rockofhysteria]

Well well well what a suprise Vince Mcmahon and the wwe built up Jeff Hardy all this time for this big title match get all the fans hopes up then at the ppv they screw him and the fans I was looking for two things last night when I was watching the Royal Rumble. (the first one I saw live on ppv since the 2001 rumble.) I was looking for a great finish to the rumble match and I was looking forward to seing Jeff Hardy become champion Finally someone who actually deserved the title would get his chance instead of the same five people. But suprise suprise WWE pulls the same old shit they have been doing since 2005 First they squash hardy in the title match which in and of itself was a great title match suprisingle Orton won it clean. So me and most of the fans got screwed there. then came the Royal Rumble and we got screwed again this time by that Wigger John Cena so now once again its the same old people going for the wwe title instead of actually getting to experience something new involving the wwe title for a change. This was the first WWE pay per View I have ordered in 7 years (Rumble 01 was the last one) judging by the way it went down last night It will be another 7 years before I order another one if ever again. Looking back now I guess it's my own fault that im pissed about the rumble stupid me I actually thought Vince Mcmahon would actually award great talent with a world title reign. But once again Vince got me good. Good one Vince Id like to say I won't fall for that one again but I probably will LOL.

 

[the_phenomenal1]

I was annoyed that Cena won, because I am far from being a fan. However I think the crowd can make a match SOMETIMES and to be fair when he come out #30 (which surprised me, and I think will have surprised many other people too, even those who say it didn't) he got a huge reaction and it did make the end actually somewhat exciting, with the crowd back & forth HHH>>Cena. It reminded me of boxing, when half the crowd is behind one and the other half behind the other and I think it's great.

Wrestling has always been about cheering one and booing another, but the idea of the crowd being split is ace, like Rock v Hogan, and the Mysterio v Orton v Angle triple threat match.

But overall I thought it was ok as a PPV, I could see Vickie getting up out of the wheelchair in the WHC match, but I had no idea who was going to win the Rumble. I thought that HBK & Undertaker were going to stay in until the end.

I thought the Orton v Hardy match was very good aswell and unlike many others was satidfied with the result. I'd rather see Orton win clean than another ridiculous DQ or No Contest call

JBL v Jericho was an enjoyable match too, even if the botch on the vulldog was huge! This could build into a good long feud, but if they end it for no reason it will be crap because it wasn't a proper finish to the match

Did anyone think Flair was going to lose??? No, me neither (Is it the first match he has won properly since his win or fired stipulation??? oh no, he won one before i think. (just asked and answered my own question)


On a side note, I wasn't happy with the Finlay DQ thing. Old Royal Rumble's have had weapons being thrown about all over the place. 2001 sticks out especially with Raven using allsorts, Bowling Ball, Cane etc.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

I didn't see the other matches, just the Royal Rumble itself, so I can't fully criticize them. However, from what I've heard, the MVP/Flair match was abysmal and proves once again that Flair just can't wrestle anymore, Y2J/JBL was as bad as it seemed like it was going to be since JBL is in it, Edge/Mysterio was good for Edge fans like myself, and Hardy/Orton was good enough to be given another run even though Hardy's push is clearly over due to Cena winning...which sucks for Hardy.


My thoughts on the Royal Rumble....in as organized of a fashion as I could do...so its by entrance and then overall key points:

1) Undertaker – If he had to be eliminated, it makes the most sense for HBK to take him out, if not just out of respect for the job they did last year and their careers as a whole. Still, I’m really pissed that he didn’t win, and I’m even more pissed that he didn’t last until the final four. Spot on performance in all aspects.
2) Shawn Michaels – Again, I’m pissed that he didn’t last until the final four. However, it’s good that Kennedy eliminated him. Like the Undertaker, he proved…once again…that he is one of the very best wrestlers in history by his showing in this rumble match. Spot on, for everything.
3) Santino Marella – Great job. He wasn’t supposed to be a huge player, so he got eliminated quickly.
4) Khali – I hate the guy, and I pray that they’ll fire him asap, but it was stupid how quickly he got eliminated, especially when he’s involved in a storyline with Finlay/Hornswoggle/McMahon. He served absolutely no purpose being thrown out as early as he was.
5) Hardcore Holly – Holly has always been good in the rumble, as he’s never taken seriously, so he’s just an expert at being one of the “filler guys”.
6) John Morrison – Fantastic job. He sold the shots he took, he used his agility to evade eliminations, and he WORKED. He also didn’t try to upstage people like HBK. He lasted a long while as well, which he definitely deserved. Due to the high number of HUGE stars in this rumble, he didn’t deserve to be in the final four, but he got the nice spot that he should’ve.
7) Tommy Dreamer – He did his job. He got in early where people were still excited, got his pop, left early enough that he could be forgotten.
8) Batista – Did he REALLY have to be in the final three? Screw Dave, lol.
9) Hornswoggle – Ridiculous that he was even in this, on top of how he wasn’t eliminated. He should’ve been thrown over the top rope into Finlay’s arms on the outside. That would have continued the storyline, which was absent.
10) Chuck Palumbo – Meh, he served his purpose.
11) Jamie Noble – Nice job, but it would’ve been better if he had lasted longer.
12) CM Punk – I’d have had him last a little longer, but he showed that he should be a main event guy in the next few years. Impressive job last night, definitely proving that he has a nice spot carved out for himself in the WWE in the coming years.
13) Cody Rhodes – Nice job for such a newbie.
14) Umaga – Meh, he did alright. He hit a few good moves, went around the ring in terms of competitors, and so forth. He doesn’t have as much momentum as he did this time last year, so its natural that he wouldn’t be in the final four. Nice job, though.
15) Snitsky – Useless in the long run. Didn’t eliminate anybody, didn’t seem like a “big guy” or a real threat either. Since I’m not fond of Snitsky, I didn’t care, but fans of his would be just in being annoyed.
16) The Miz – He served his purpose. Getting eliminated by Hornswoggle is a shame, as he’s been improving, but I doubt it’ll hurt his career. The Miz was pretty solid in his role throughout the match as a whole.
17) Shelton Benjamin – A DAMN shame what they booked. Shelton being eliminated almost immediately? That’s bullshit. Way to bury the guy. He should’ve been in the final 10.
18) Jimmy Snuka / 19) Roddy Piper – Though they clearly can’t wrestle like the younger guys, this was a nice section of the rumble, how they all stop to watch the old hall of famers.
20) Kane – I don’t see why he was in the final four and not the Undertaker, but at least they had him eliminated by two people instead of just some quick Triple H elimination.
21) Carlito – Not too bad for the guy, being one of the fast eliminations from Cena, but still lasting a while.
22) Mick Foley – Clearly you knew he wasn’t going to win, so he did what he set out to do, which is to get a pop, have some fun, and then get eliminated.
23) Mr. Kennedy – He should’ve been given more to do. Didn’t expect him to win in the slightest bit, but he should’ve been given more to do. For a while there, he just sat on the sideline.
24) Big Daddy V – As useless as Snitsky was. He eliminated nobody, never stood tall in the ring, never seemed like a threat, and he was eliminated so easily by Triple H that it felt as if he was light as a feather. He had to succumb to the “Triple H aura”, where it doesn’t matter if it’s feasible, as long as it’s Triple H doing the deed.
25) Mark Henry – Again, with Snitsky and Big Daddy V, he was devoid of the “monster credibility”, eliminated nobody, had nothing worthy of mentioning, and just ended up taking up a ton of space.
26) Chavo Guerrero – Why was he in this match? Can someone explain that to me? He’s one of the top champions, so he shouldn’t have been allowed in there. They could’ve just given this spot to Kendrick and given the kid some rumble experience.
27) Finlay – Let me get this straight…he’s disqualified for using the shillelagh, when the Royal Rumble has no disqualifications, and in the past people have used chairs and they were legal? They did an INCREDIBLY bad job on this elimination, which was a simple cast of lazy booking and underestimating the intelligence of the crowd.
28) Elijah Burke – Poor Elijah Burke, being the entrant before Triple H, which meant that he was able to get into the ring, land a few punches, and then be thrown out as if he was nothing. They need to send Burke over to Raw and have him contend for the Intercontinental title as soon as possible.
29) Triple H – Typical Triple H.
30) John Cena – Though I don’t like the fact that he won, as I obviously wanted the Undertaker to, I’m not incredibly pissed off about him winning. What I’m most annoyed about with his return is that it’s going to ruin Hardy’s push.


HIGH POINTS OF THE ROYAL RUMBLE
1. Triple H, Batista, and Cena giving each other their taunts.
2. Cena’s surprise entrance. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a mark for the guy. In fact, I wish that they wouldn’t push him as much as they do, and then I might actually like him, since my biggest issue with him has been that they sometimes act as if he’s the only guy in the company (ala what they did with the Rock and Austin for a while, which made me stop watching the WWF). But still, that was something none of us were expecting, so props to them for actually shocking us…even though we all knew that he’d win once he popped up.
3. Shawn Michaels performing top notch with a broken nose when he’s not even the man scheduled to win. Class act, as always. HBK is the best.
4. Everyone stopping to watch Snuka and Piper, even though there are some other retired wrestlers that I would’ve enjoyed seeing much more.
5. Mick Foley receiving the pop he deserves. Too much lately I keep hearing about how “the WWE fans don’t care about Foley anymore”, and that’s a shame if that ends up happening.
6. John Morrison. Morrison proved himself to be easily one of the top five wrestlers in this Royal Rumble in terms of the art of wrestling, not just “being booked to the final five”. Yeah, he can improve on the mic, but this guy is gold in the ring.

LOW POINTS OF THE ROYAL RUMBLE
1. Ignoring the Undertaker. What, are they just going to give up on the Edge storyline now? It sure seems like it. Ridiculous, as this could’ve been the best match of Wrestlemania 24.
2. Shelton Benjamin being eliminated so quickly right when he’s in the middle of potentially his biggest push.
3. The Hornswoggle epidemic. Khali is involved, but is eliminated before there’s any interaction, making it a useless point for him to be in the match at all. Hornswoggle hides under the ring the entire time, until he’s led out of the arena by Finlay, who gets disqualified in a match that has no disqualifications. Horrible job with this storyline, even though I absolutely hate the storyline anyway and I’m hoping that we just saw the very last of it.
4. The so-called monsters being thrown out of the ring as if they were those Mexican guys from the 1997 Royal Rumble. Snitsky, Khali, Big Daddy V, and Mark Henry were equally as pointless in this match in comparison to how bad they are in the ring.
5. Chavo Guerrero being involved, while he’s the ECW champion. That makes no sense. By that rationale, why doesn’t Edge just muscle his way into the #30 spot, win it, challenge himself, and have a solo match at Wrestlemania, making sure he doesn’t lose his title until at least the day afterwards? Stupid move. They should’ve given this spot to someone else.
6. Mr. Kennedy and Elijah Burke not really doing anything.
7. Cena’s win is going to take away all of Jeff Hardy’s steam and demote him back down to the Intercontinental division.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Royal Rumble 2008

Flair Vs MVP
Ugh...it pains me to admit it...but goodness gracious, Ric Flair is just plain embarassing. He is terrible. I dont think ive ever seen anyone carry a match as one sidedly as MVP carried this one. Flair did some chops, fucked up just about every roll up/small package that happened, and is just nearly utterly decrepit in the ring right now. I must really comend MVP though, as it was a fine preformance from him. Match was kept short, which was probably good, becuase as I sad, flair was just pitiful. It kinda made me angry they had MVP tap, as I thought they couldve done it in a way that didnt make him look as weak, but at the same time I think people overrate the whole "looking weak" thing. No one will remeber this when MVP is winning world titles later this year, and next year, I promise. It worries me that it seems like Kennedy will be next in this angle, becuase he isnt good enough to carry flair like MVP did, at least not right now. Bad match, bad finish. Great job MVP....2/5

Jericho Vs JBL
Oh WOW this was bad. another case of someone absolutely carrying another. Jericho, for the record, is still EXCELLENT, and did all he could to make this passable, but ultimately failed, becuase JBL sucks so badly. Jericho really did work his ass off here, and I commend him, I really hope he can escape this angle soon. Awesome fuck up from JBL on the bulldog towards the end. Pretty good blade jonb from Jericho. 1.5/5

Rey Vs Edge
this, to me, was a huge dissappointment. Honestly, how could WWE only give this 10, 11, 12 minutes??? For what time they DID get, the two guys used it very very well. Couldve been much better in my opinion, as I think there couldve been a lot more high speed, high impact action in this, VS the limb pshycology that was emphasized. AWESOME heat for Edge, I loved it. I wonder if he will now regularly get what I refer to as an "angle pop" in that even though his chracter is blatantly heel, he will get huge pops and cheers becuase he is THAT DAMN GOOD. Pretty sick spear, and good finish, just wish it wouldve come at least 5 minutes later than it did. 3.5/5

Orton Vs Hardy
Crowd was very hot for this one as well, and it was pretty decent action. I feel as if Hardy showed he can put on a pretty decent high profile non gimmick match. Very well done whisper in the wind, as both men executed their role in the manuever to perfection. I really hated the finish, and the time they were given as well. All that build, and all that heat created, just for a 11 minute match with such a sudden end??? hardly the payoff we all wanted/expected/deserved to see. The finish wouldve been OK if it wouldve come afterabout 4 or 5 close calls, and about 5 to 7 more minutes. But it didnt. Stupid WWE booking. 3.5/5

The Rumble
Excellent. The Taker and HBK showing why they are true living legends. Shelton having a small microchosim of his WWE carreer...comes in, astounds everyone with his athleticism, and potential, then is pushed aside, eliminated, and forgotten about. Saying that batista was the "ironman" of the match is bullshit, he layed on the fuckin floor for about 20 damn minutes. I thought Morrison represented himself very well in this. Kennedy didnt play that great of a role, somewhat disappointing, but at least he was there near the end. I like that they had Kane as a part of the final four. I loved the pop piper got, and seeing he and Snuka square off, in MSG was pretty surreal. Just seeing piper in that role in general was surreal, knowing that he survived cancer.

The final moments, with Cena, Batista, and Trips all psyching up, was great, and the showdown between Cena and Trips was awesome. And of course, the Cena suprise entrance was probably the most badass thing the WWE has pulled off since Edge turned in the first MITB shot. I, and I think many many people, went into serious mark mode when that music hit. Amazing pop for Cena. A surreal, awesome, classic moment. 5/5. This rumble was money, it fuckin owned.

 

[Show188]

I was at the Royal Rumble Live and it was a surreal show

Flair vs. MVP
Flair got a massive pop and chorus of woooos.. the garden was on its feet for this man. MVP also had great heel heat and the clean tapout got another good pop from us

Edge Vs. Mysterio
Edge got one of the biggest pops all nite.. we had chance of "lets go edge"
and "same old sh*t" for rey mysterio who was heavily booed at alot of points in the match. edge retaining the title after that sick spear was great and he left to another pop

Santino proved he can work crowds.. we went from cheering for him to absolutely booing him and starting the lets go Giants chant

JBL vs. Jericho
there was a nice pop for jericho but the fans didnt seem to care about this match and there were various "Boring", and "this match sucks" chants.. the end got a good reaction though

The rumble match itself was phenomenal and the biggest reactions were for undertaker, michaels, batista, Kane, Piper, Snuka, Mick Foley, HHH and the surprise pop of the night for John Cena

overall a great event live and us fans from NY know how to make a ppV shine

 

[darroncullen]

TheOneBigWill's 'Take' on the Royal Rumble 2008:


World Championship: Edge v. Rey Mysterio: Possibly the overrated match of the night, that could've been worse, but could've went better too. First, my annoyances with the match.

The "Edgeheads" come to ringside, so naturally you know they're gonna get involved. Instead, on the first attempt they get caught and kicked out.. so ultimately, what was the point? Wouldn't it of made Edge look even more of a heel for them to have attacked Rey a couple times, and it would've made Rey look more of an underdog to take the beating. Instead, they make a cameo, get caught & sent to the back.

The overall match to me, was great. I loved the flow of both guys, unfortunately they should've worked together a bit more prior as the botches were unfortunate. The finish of the match was amazing though, and I loved the mid-air spear.. reminded me of the Edge of old. Great finish.

U][/B][/I]

My only beef here was the lack of DQ for Vickie's interference. They ejected the edgeheads and then didn't DQ Vicky. Perhaps they should have explained it better, something like 'Vicky just told the ref if he counts another pin on Edge he's fired. Screwy finish.