The Royal Rumble has ended! The winners are listed in match order. I don't have the times, sorry.
TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH (Tazz/Spike v. Dudley Boyz)
-Tazz/Spike retains with Tazz using the Tazzmission.
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH (Edge v. William Regal)
-William Regal is the NEW IC champion using brass knuckles
WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH (Trish v. Jazz, Jacquiline (sorry, I can't spell it) is the guest referee)
-Trish retains with her springboard bulldogs.
STREET FIGHT (Ric Flair v. Vince McMahon)
-Ric Flair wins the street fight via figure four.
UNDISPUTED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (Chris Jericho v. The Rock)
-Chris Jericho wins after Rock takes a hard shot to the head on an exposed turnbuckle while Earl Hebner was out.
ROYAL RUMBLE
-First Entrant: Rikishi
-Second Entrant: Goldust
-30th Entrant: Booker T
-Winner: Triple H (Kurt Angle was clotheslined over the top rope at the end)
...Some fear the Pink... ...But many fear....THE MOUNTIE! (He's handsome, he's brave, and he's strong, you know)
I hope all the idiots who assumed the Rock would crush Jericho and that McMahon would put himself over Flair remember this show in the future.
I was amazed Spike/Tazz retained their titles.
"A lot of guys on this team have a lot of bark, but no bite. Guys have to just shut up and play." -- WR Keyshawn Johnson, following the playoff loss to Philadelphia
I hope all the idiots who assumed the Rock would crush Jericho and that McMahon would put himself over Flair remember this show in the future.
I was amazed Spike/Tazz retained their titles.
I hate to post so quickly, but didn't Undertaker go back into the ring with Maven (OK, he threw him in after whacking him hard with a chair shot. "Whatever, whatever, it's not important), and then throw him over the top rope? I think that constitutes an elimination, since Austin did a similar thing in 1997.
Oh, and Mr. Perfect farking owned in this Rumble
...Some fear the Pink... ...But many fear....THE MOUNTIE! (He's handsome, he's brave, and he's strong, you know)
It was one of the better PPV's in awhile. Dudley match was short and to the point. IC title match was alright. The womens match was even good. Nice to see Flair go over Vince, did Vince hit the roids or what, Flair looked better than I remember him being. Jericho wins!, in shady fashion and that's not a bad thing.
The Rumble match itself...I'd say the best part was Undertaker and his yard, his battles with The Hardys, and Maven... the most disappointing part was Kane getting tossed right away... I'd like to see Perfect stick around awhile longer...the Godfather's entrance sucked...Val looked like he was in good shape, hopefully he can land a gimmick now...one of my favorites Christian had a good showing as well...I would have liked at least one punking out and surprise entrant even if it was Superfly or Honky Tonk Man again...what the hell's up with RVD are we just not aloud to like the guy...I would have liked a surprise win then have the guy loose the stip later...Saturn's tights are just dumb, did he cover all his old tattoos...I'm a mark for the Royal Rumble and I enjoyed this one more than any other one in awhile.
But in 1997, the refs didn't "see" Austin get thrown out, and he won. So he was still in the match then. Undertaker was eliminated and out of the match when he tossed Maven, so I assumed that it didn't count. I'm almost certain the WWF has done something similar in the past, and the guy who got tossed by the already-eliminated guy got to stay in the match.
edit: Royalrumble.com says Undertaker eliminated Maven, so I guess that's the rule this year. "A lot of guys on this team have a lot of bark, but no bite. Guys have to just shut up and play." -- WR Keyshawn Johnson, following the playoff loss to Philadelphia
I hate to post so quickly, but didn't Undertaker go back into the ring with Maven (OK, he threw him in after whacking him hard with a chair shot. "Whatever, whatever, it's not important), and then throw him over the top rope? I think that constitutes an elimination, since Austin did a similar thing in 1997.
JR actually mentioned later on that Maven WAS in the Rumble - but not likely to be able to continue. So he was good and legal.
I thought most of the matches with the exceptions of Flair/Vince and Rock/Jericho were too short. Jazz probably will get the title tomorrow thanks to Jackies' poor referring tonight. Other than that, the undercard was good.
Oh by the way, I never want to hear about Rock and his workrate or anything bad about him again, he jobbed as clean as you are going to get in the WWF. Now, Jericho can go to home to main event at Wrestlemania. Even Vince did the best selling of Flair's figure four in years and almost makes up for Russo's hideous performance when he was booking. I know it doesn't make sense, but it does to me.
The Rumble itself was both shocking and amusing. I didn't think HHH would go over clean without Austin in the ring while Mr.Perfect was still standing. Yes, Maven was never eliminated and does have a gripe about it. I doubt anything will come out of it though, because after eliminating Taker proved a lot of things. 1. Tough Enough kids will get pushes. 2. Tough Enough kids are legit. 3. Taker is nowhere near or ever will be a locker room cancer or anything close to the incoming disease. He is a class act.
Maven wasn't technically eliminated since Undertaker was already eliminated even though he was thrown over the top. I really thought for a second that he may come back at the end and push off HHH when he was celebrating on the turnbuckle...oh well.
I know it's cool and smarky to hate HHH and all, but... Did anyone else find the Rumble Finish to be kinda lackluster? I like HHH the wrestler and HHH the performer, but I don't like the booking that surrounds him. Maybe I'm overreacting, and maybe he was the best choice to win the rumble, but it seems that the guy is always, always on top, whether he holds the belt or not. And who didn't know HHH was going to win before this even started?
A good parallel is the Jericho situation. Despite holding the undisputed title, Jericho doesn't have that Top Guy feel that Rock/Austin/HHH have, and I think HHH kind of sucks the heat away from others. Before anyone jumps down my throat, I'm not trying to accuse HHH of holding anyone down, I just think things get a little more predictable when HHH is around.
"If you attempt to ignite a petroleum product on this ship at 0:00 hours, you will activate the fire suppression system, which would seal off this entire compartment." Cmdr. Data
And who didn't know HHH was going to win before this even started?
Umm...all the people who picked Austin, Angle or even Rob Van Dam?
"A lot of guys on this team have a lot of bark, but no bite. Guys have to just shut up and play." -- WR Keyshawn Johnson, following the playoff loss to Philadelphia
I like HHH when he is chasing. Even though he is a Monster that takes vitamins and with the bosses daughter, I think he projects an "everyman, ordinary" image. And the "ordinary man" is usually better as climbing the mountain, not being on top. Just my opinion.
January 4th 1999 - The day WCW injected itself with 10 gallons of Liquid Anthrax...AKA...The day Hogan "Defeated" Nash to win the WCW title in front of 40,000.
Eh... I suppose. I picked HHH, personally. Who was your guess? RVD, fan favorite that he is, was a pretty long shot. The way they've been jobbing him the past week or so (losing the curtain-jerker to Regal), do you really see him main-eventing WM? Nothing against RVD, of course.
"If you attempt to ignite a petroleum product on this ship at 0:00 hours, you will activate the fire suppression system, which would seal off this entire compartment." Cmdr. Data
I picked Triple H as well, but he was far from a unanimous pick.
"A lot of guys on this team have a lot of bark, but no bite. Guys have to just shut up and play." -- WR Keyshawn Johnson, following the playoff loss to Philadelphia
And who didn't know HHH was going to win before this even started?
Well, as usual I ran my monthly PPV predictions thing - and if those stats mean anything, I had 13 out of 17 people pick HHH.
I was quite annoyed with the finish. I love HHH to death. But it just felt to me over the course of the final 15 minutes that Hennig and Angle were completely fired up while HHH took it in stride.
Or maybe I'm just more of a mark for the (K/C)urt's...
Man, Hennig in the final 3 was mark-tastic. I haven't yelled that much at a PPV in ages.
"If you attempt to ignite a petroleum product on this ship at 0:00 hours, you will activate the fire suppression system, which would seal off this entire compartment." Cmdr. Data
Sure #86 is something to be proud of. For a wrestling show that competes with Friends and Survivor and the rest of the Thursday shows, plus not being on network tv and being shown to fewer households, they're doing pretty good with it. What do you want?...