Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Da Wrestling Board. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Scrooge Revisits some Royal Rumbles
Topic Started: Jan 14 2015, 11:55 PM (1,770 Views)
Scrooge McSuck
I'll get you next time, toilet!
[ *  *  * ]
2014 Royal Rumble Match
#1: CM Punk, #2: Seth Rollins, #3: Damien Sandow, #4: Cody Rhodes, #5: Corporate Kane, #6: Alexander Rusev, #7: Jack Swagger, #8: Kofi Kingston, #9: Jimmy Uso, #10: Goldust, #11: Dean Ambrose, #12: Dolph Ziggler, #13: R-Truth, #14: Kevin Nash, #15: Roman Reigns, #16: The Great Khali, #17: Sheamus, #18: The Miz, #19: Fandango, #20: El Torito, #21: Antonio Cesaro, #22: Luke Harper, #23: Jey Uso, #24: John "Bradshaw" Layfield, #25: Erick Rowan, #26: Ryback, #27: Alberto Del Rio, #28: Batista, #29: Big E., #30: Rey Mysterio


- CM Punk is #1, in typical "punishing the rebelious babyfaces" booking, courtesy of Corporate Kane. Seth Rollins was my pick for #2, so it was cool to see him coming out to start the match (and again, it's 2 strong workers carrying the early portion). My original prediction was a Shield member coming in at 2, 15, and 29, but Ambrose and Reigns came in at the halway mark and clear the ring. Works for me either way, I just figured they would keep Reigns in there for a short period until I realized they were out there to break the record set by Kane.

- I miss "intellectual savior of the masses" Damien Sandow. Unfortunately I don't think there's going back after the jobbing as "Dress Up As Other People" run, and now as the Miz's stunt-double.

- It's fairly obvious that CM Punk gets hurt mid-match, as he spends a lot of time just laying around dead. I figured it was him being lazy (especially when he walked out the next night), but working a match with a concussion is probably not the greatest feeling in the world, and he stays in there for another 20+ minutes after I notice his behavior. This explains the camera accidentally catching Kane hanging around ringside midway through for a possible elimination before they decided to keep Punk in the match until the planned spot later.

- Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow have a go at it, a little nod to their alliance and breakup in 2013.

- Alexander Rusev makes his WWE Debut, unadvertised and without Lana. Michael Cole puts him over strong, and he has a good showing, but doesn't eliminate anyone. It wouldn't be until after WrestleMania when he was formally added to the main roster. He's allowed to look stronger than Bo Dallas in 2013.

- Kofi Kingston with probably his greatest "holy crap" saved-from-elimination spot, somehow finding himself placed on the security barrier away from the ring, and somehow making the long jump, which has be to somewhere around 8-10 feet, onto the apron.

- Remember when Jimmy and Jey Uso came to blows? You don't? But... Jimmy said it happened, despite never being in the ring at the same time. Damn my memory.

- The smark heavy crowd pops huge for Dolph Ziggler, despite being an afterthought for months and relegated to C-Show duty. I guess you can say he survived being "Zack Ryder'ed" with crowd support still going strong for him. Another sign we have a smark heavy crowd: "Fandango'ing" along with Fandango's music.

- Kevin Nash makes a surprise Rumble appearance for the 2nd time in years. I think the pop was bigger when he came out as "Diesel" in 2011 (was it '11?).

- Thank goodness we won't have to suffer watching Khali painfully walk to the ring for another Royal Rumble appearance. How was that man passing a physical in his condition?

- Sheamus returns from injury and gets a strong babyface reaction taking the Shield on in a 3-on-1 situation.

- The Daniel Bryan chants come out at the #20 spot. It's El Torito. Once El Torito and JBL (entering instead of Bad News Barrett) came in as wasted "surprise" entrances, I knew the fate of the match. There wasn't any available spots left with the announced names left to enter, unless they pulled someone from the match (which they didn't).

- JBL constantly announces "so-and-so won at this number!" and it gets old, fast. Lawler asks if someone has won from every number... Um... this was what, the 26th Rumble? I don't think so.

- The crowd boos the crap out of Batista from the second he enters until the PPV goes off the air.

- Poor Rey Mysterio. The crowd eagerly anticipates the arrival of Daniel Bryan, and they don't get Daniel Bryan. They would've boo'ed anyone in this spot. I boo'ed him. I boo'ed the rest of the match and enjoyed the hell out of the crowd's response to the lack of their chosen one. To the credit of everyone involved, the work is still solid, but it doesn't matter. NOTHING was making the crowd happy at this point... and then Kane shows up to eliminate CM Punk, leaving the crowd to cheer wildly for ROMAN REIGNS (a heel) by default, because it's not Batista (and he did dominate the match with 12 eliminations).

- Poor Roman Reigns. He gets to be this years Batista unless we get some strong, creative booknig to save face.


- Roman Reigns elimination tracker: Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Nash, Great Khali, Goldust, El Torito, JBL, Luke Harper, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Sheamus



Taking out the crowd rejecting the last 10 minutes, this was a mostly uninspired match, especially from entries 21-30 where very little was done outside of Cesaro's swinging people. If not for the backlash, this would be a forgotten Rumble, and possibly in the bottom of the pile for overall rating, but the "enjoyable in a bad way" factor bumps it a bit.
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
« Previous Topic · Reviews and Columns · Next Topic »
Add Reply