Chris Benoit gets #1 in the Royal Rumble. This is going to be great. Regardless of what happens, Philly's going to be giving him the love all night long. If Benoit actually wins it, that's icing on the cake. But, either way, he's going to get an ovation that'll put last year's to shame. Of course, I'm assuming the intent is to keep him in the match until the end. An honest-to-God real push for Benoit? Say it ain't so.
Let's not get our hopes up yet. Remember how we predicted a huge Michaels-Jericho all-night tussle after they got 1-2 in the Rumble? Michaels ended up being punked after about three minutes.
But I agree, seeing Benoit put in a Flair-esque performance would kick about nine kinds of ass.
Rob asks Dave and Ric if they want to go backstage to play Hungry Hungry Hippos and Flair and Batista immediately bail. Flair wants to be Green. Man, EVERYBODY wants to be green. Except the girl in the commercials. She wanted to be pink. That either means that the ad agency was sexist or that she was communist. Of course Hungry Hungry Hippos is a rather capitalist game isn’t it? No self respecting communist would play Hungry Hungry Hippos. Except Stalin. He LOVED Hungry Hungry Hippos. God, I’ve got no clue what the hell I’m rambling about anymore.-- Matt "Excalibur05" Hocking, Raw Satire writer extraordinaire
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That's it, they've convinced me to buy the Royal Rumble. Thank you, wrestling!
FLAMES: 19-10-3-3 TOP 10 FILMS OF 2003: [10] Finding Nemo, [9] Seabiscuit, [8] Matchstick Men, [7] Open Range, [6] Cold Mountain, [5] House of Sand & Fog, [4] Mystic River, [3] The Last Samurai, [2] Lost In Translation, [1] Return of the King
Originally posted by Big BadLet's not get our hopes up yet. Remember how we predicted a huge Michaels-Jericho all-night tussle after they got 1-2 in the Rumble? Michaels ended up being punked after about three minutes.
But I agree, seeing Benoit put in a Flair-esque performance would kick about nine kinds of ass.
There's one difference here, though. At last year's Rumble, the winner was already telegraphed. You knew ordering the PPV that Brock was going to win it to get the title shot with Kurt. In a way, that rendered Brock's actual victory to be a bit anticlimactic.
By putting Benoit in at number one, and also hinting that Cena's a viable contender as well, you put a little more doubt in the scenario. Yeah, Benoit was told that he'd never get a title shot again which almost guarentees he'd win the Rumble... but he's in at number ONE...
If he wins this one, the amount of momentum he'll have going into Wrestlemania will be huge.
The other development is that Kurt may be showing signs of a heel turn? If that's the case, then I might actually hope for a Holly win at the Rumble, only to have him drop it the next week to Kurt to establish Kurt as champion on the road to Mania.
You have to wonder if they're going to use the old "he came in at number 1 and is the last man standing" routine again. It's a bit overused. Then again, that hasn't stopped McMahon in the past.
Well I would never argue with a Benoit and ANgle title match at Mania. But I'd prefer Brock keeping the title. Brock has been the one keeping Benoit from the title for so long now and it wouldn't seem right unless he got the World Title shot against Brock. So I'm hoping it's Benoit vs. Lesnar at WM. But the Kurt heel turn looks like it's going to lead to Kurt vs. Eddie, if they can hold out the blowoff match until Wrestlemania then i'd order WM for Brock/Benoit and Eddie/Angle no matter what the rest of the card is. And considering they've hyped it so much they really do need five star caliber matches to go along with the other "big" matches that probably won't be big on the workrate.
And like Phantom said, even though my first guess would be that Benoit wins, I wouldn't count out Cena either. Or Angle just because he's Angle. Maybe HBK would have to go through the Rumble to get a rematch against HHH and you've got another contender. Or what about Kane? And Jericho? Really the WWE has so much talent that they SHOULD be able to make it totally up for grabs. But then again they had the same talent last year and everybody knew going it Lesnar was winning. But since there's not a WM match that we know for sure is coming like we did with Lesnar vs. Angle, then we don't definitely know who the winner is going to be.
Like many here, I'm VERY excited about this news. I just hope the WWE follows through with Benoit's push, this time. I was looking forward to him kicking the Rock's ass a few years back and winning the title from him, but of course, the WWE had him fued with the Rock for two months to no avail.
My only fear is that the WWE will screw this up with Benoit and Cena hitting the floor at the same time, much like Smackdown a few weeks ago or more historically Royal Rumble's dusty finish between the Rock and Big Show, which led to the #1 Contendership match at No Way Out 2000 and culminated to that Four Corners Match at Wrestlemania 2000 that we all enjoyed. :p
All pessimism aside, I will be ordering the Royal Rumble with hopes of enjoying Benoit's continued push... screw charm, personality, and promo ability. Just let his kick ass and sneer with his missing tooth.
(edited by Ticamo on 1.1.04 0844)
(edited by Ticamo on 3.1.04 2237)A confusing run on sentence.
This would be a great way for Benoit to win, but WWE doesn't like to fill us with much optimism, so I think they'll pull another "his best wasn't good enough" and have him get eliminated towards the end so some other guy can win.
But, here's hoping. He's the best choice to win this year.
Originally posted by SKLOKAZOIDThis would be a great way for Benoit to win, but WWE doesn't like to fill us with much optimism, so I think they'll pull another "his best wasn't good enough" and have him get eliminated towards the end so some other guy can win.
But, here's hoping. He's the best choice to win this year.
If they pull that, an almost acceptable (to me at least) way would be for Brock to interfere and take out Benoit or such. While interference in a Rumble would suck, Benoit supposedly will get a title reign out of this whole situation, so Brock screwing him over now can make the storyline last longer perhaps.
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I don't know if this is much of a push. I mean, if it was a decent push, why number one? What are the odds of him lasting throughout the entire show?
I'd kill to see Benoit win the strap...but I somewhat get the feeling that he'll never rise above upper midcard status. So far, look at the shots he's had at the title, and how he's missed out. Seeing Benoit in the RR is a great thing, that's one step in the right direction. Now, all they need is a decent main event, and we're styling!
> I don't know if this is much of a push. I mean, > if it was a decent push, why number one? What are > the odds of him lasting throughout the entire show?
Duh, even if he don't win he's guarenteed to have a great rumble from #1, they never name a #1 who doesnt do well out of it. Personally I don't see him winning becasue it's Benoit even though it would be cool.
But I think thats the idea, the WWE has put forward cases for Cena and Benoit while not making either a favourite. When you add in the possibility of Angle winning you have the most open rumble for years. Of course a few Raw guys will be in the mix too and remember a Smackdown guy won it last year so maybe this year it's a Raw guys turn. I'm sure we'll see Kane in there and either Shawn Michaels or Goldberg (with the other taking on Triple H).
On my wrestlemania dream card I have Lesnar vs. Benoit vs. Cena vs. Angle in a double elimination match and while the stip is unlikely, the fourway could easily be made to work.
Originally posted by hackerjackDuh, even if he don't win he's guarenteed to have a great rumble from #1, they never name a #1 who doesnt do well out of it.
Shawn Michaels, 2003.
But I am inclined to agree...after all the build they've given Benoit over the past couple of months, from Brock tapping at SurSer to the "no more title shots" to giving him #1 in the Rumble, if they don't do something with it it will kill Benoit dead. You can only tease a guy getting close and blowing his chance so many times before his credibility goes for good.
But then, as I've said before, I've waited on the Benoit push many times like most of you...and I won't really believe it until I see the belt in his hands.
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Originally posted by hackerjackDuh, even if he don't win he's guarenteed to have a great rumble from #1, they never name a #1 who doesnt do well out of it.
See: Bulldog, British.
Still, though, it'd be nice to see Benoit go a LOOONG way, if not all the way. Maybe he wins the title shot during the SD PPV a month later? (They, uh, DO have it, right?)
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For the curious, the other #1 entries into the Royal Rumble: 1988: Tito Santana [lasted 10:41; 2nd man eliminated] 1989: Ax [lasted 14:37; 4th man eliminated] 1990: Ted DiBiase [lasted 44:47; 18th man eliminated] 1991: Bret Hart [lasted 20:33; 4th man eliminated] 1992: The British Bulldog [lasted 23:33; 7th man eliminated] 1993: Ric Flair [lasted 18:38; 4th man eliminated] 1994: Scott Steiner [lasted 9:00; 4th man eliminated] 1995: Shawn Michaels [lasted 38:41; Won the Royal Rumble] 1996: Triple H [lasted 48:01; 19th man eliminated] 1997: Crush [lasted 6:17; 3rd man eliminated] 1998: Cactus Jack [lasted 9:21; 2nd man eliminated] 1999: Steve Austin [lasted 56:38; last man eliminated] 2000: D'Lo Brown [lasted 6:08; 3rd man eliminated] 2001: Jeff Hardy [lasted 6:36; 4th man eliminated] 2002: Rikishi [lasted 13:39; 6th man eliminated] 2003: Shawn Michaels [lasted 2:29; 1st man eliminated]
FLAMES: 19-10-3-3 TOP 10 FILMS OF 2003: [10] Finding Nemo, [9] Seabiscuit, [8] Matchstick Men, [7] Open Range, [6] Cold Mountain, [5] House of Sand & Fog, [4] Mystic River, [3] The Last Samurai, [2] Lost In Translation, [1] Return of the King
Originally posted by darkdragoondoing the whole Flair thing would be nice... Hmm, isn't this the first time Benoit's been in the actual rumble itself?
2000--joined shortly after the rumble 2001-- vs. Jericho, ladder match 2002-- out with the neck surgery 2003-- Vs. Angle, WWE title.
Yep, just looked at the entry list for the 01 Rumble and Benoit did not enter. This to me is bullshit because I think all uppercard wrestlers should enter regardless of whether or not they had a match. After all, the Rumble is for the biggest prize in the game, and beats the IC title match by a mile. But ah, I'm complaining about a card from three years ago. Often times they do have guys do double duty.
It's hard for me to separate the "character" of JBL the Announcer being douchey towards Josh from everyting I've heard (ok, read) about the real John Layfield being a big ol' douche in real life.