BOOKING THE 2010 ROYAL RUMBLE
By Zach Levine on 1/1/2010 11:58 AM
Hey everybody. Welcome to a very special edition of This Week In Wrestling. I apologize for the lull in the columns, been a bit hectic with the holiday season. But I am back, and with me I bring one of my favorite columns of the year to write. Booking the 2010 Royal Rumble. I did a similar column last year, and got 23 out of the 30 superstars in the Rumble correct, as well as the eventual winner, Randy Orton. Don't believe I had the placement correct of any of the wrestlers, but figure the odds of getting that are slim to nill. Anyhow, let's get to this years, in my Howard Finkle voice, ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH!
Before we begin, let's take a gander at the undercard of the match. What excites me about this year is that it looks like all main eventers will be competing in early matches, thereby taking them out of the Royal Rumble itself.
On the Smackdown side, I believe we are headed for a triple threat between three past Rumble winners - Batista, Rey and the Undertaker. For Raw, it makes sense that we have a Sheamus-Cena rematch.
I believe with the impending demise of ECW, Christian will be defending the title against probably the biggest star the show has produced and my pick for the winner of the Homecoming tournament - CM Punk.
I also think we can knock the tag champs out of the Rumble too by having them face the Hart Dynasty in a match handpicked by Bret Hart.
So, we lose DX, Cena, Taker, Rey and Batista, all previous Royal Rumble winners. I have a feeling we get a first time midcarder making the leap in the Rumble match. So lets get to it!
When these matches begin, I like to think they start with 1-2 being athletic heels and faces combating. My choice for the #1 entrant is R-Truth, mainly because I think the WWE is high on him right now, and he could do his rap to begin the rumble, rather than have to cut it in the middle of the road. Just something quick to think about.
For #2, I think we get Randy Orton. I always feel like they will have a Raw guy and Smackdown guy oppose, and with so many main eventers in other matches, Orton can bring starpower to the event. The announcers can also play up the fact he won last year and drew this number this year.
#3 I think is going to be WWE's current laughingstock, Chavo Guerrero. Expect him to be tossed within a minute.
#4 goes to Ted Dibiase and #5 goes to Evan Bourne. I'd expect R-Truth to get tossed some point around here by Orton.
#6 goes to Regal, #7 goes to Mark Henry, and #8 goes to Dolph Ziggler. I have a feeling Ziggler gets last year's Kendrick treatment, being promptly tossed after a world's strongest slam and SSP from Evan Bourne. After Bourne does his SSP, he gets tossed by Orton.
#9 goes to Miz, #10 goes to John Morrison, and #11 goes to Cody Rhodes. Once Rhodes enters, Legacy promptly gangs up and tosses Henry.
#12 goes to Matt Hardy, #13 goes to Shelton Benjamin, and #14 goes to Kofi Kingston. Here is where it gets interesting, as somewhere along the line, Dibiase eliminates Rhodes. Orton gets pissed, shoves Dibiase who shoves him back, right into a trouble in paradise from Kofi that knocks the Viper out of the match. Orton then rolls back in the ring, clotheslines out Dibiase, and brawls with him on the way to the back.
Let's go with #15 MVP, #16 Chris Masters, #17 Jericho and #18 Big Show. Jerishow promptly bands together and eliminate Hardy and Benjamin. I think around this point too we have Miz eliminated by Morrison.
#19 Zack Ryder, #20 Yoshi Tatsu, #21 Mike Knox and #22 Kane. And the Big Red Monster ousts Knox and Regal quite quickly.
At this point, I know the Rumble loves surprises, and I think at #23, Jerry Lawler's music plays and he leaves the announce desk and makes his way into the ring for the match. He promptly squares off with Ryder, sending him over the top with an atomic drop. The King is then quickly tossed by Kane, who is then tossed by Jerishow.
#24 Finlay, #25 Drew McIntyre and #26 a returning Lance Cade. McIntyre tosses MVP, Tatsu and Masters, while Cade eliminates Finlay.
#27 Santino comes in and gets decked by Big Show while on the apron, leading to his again insanely quick elimination. Coming in afterwards are #28 Carlito and #29 Jack Swagger.
So at the moment in the ring are Morrison, Kofi, JeriShow, McIntyre, Cade, Carlito and Swagger. Kofi tosses Carlito and Swagger, and Morrison tosses McIntyre, leading to only five left with #30 to go.
The bell hits for #30, and you think you know me blares through the speakers. Audience goes crazy as Edge sprints down the ramp and makes a beeline for Jericho. Cade steps in the way and is promptly thrown out. The Rated R Superstar spears Big Show and Jericho, then throws out Jericho. Jericho grabs Edge's ankle on the outside, leading to Show eliminating him. Edge retaliates with a chair shot to the Big Show's back, leading to a double dropkick elimination by Kofi and Morrison.
So the last two are Kofi Kingston and John Morrison. I say we get three minutes of fast paced, high octane action, finalized by the two men trying to simultaneously skin the cat. Mid air, Morrison kicks Kofi in the ribs and knocks him out, leading to Jo Mo as the 2010 Royal Rumble winner.
Order of Entry - Eliminated by
- R-Truth - Randy Orton
- Randy Orton - Kofi Kingston
- Chavo - R-Truth
- Ted Dibiase - Randy Orton
- Evan Bourne - Randy Orton
- Regal - Kane
- Mark Henry - Legacy
- Dolph Ziggler - Mark Henry
- Miz - Morrison
- Morrison - WINNER
- Rhodes - Dibiase
- Hardy - Big Show
- Shelton - Jericho
- Kofi - Morrison
- MVP - McIntyre
- Masters - McIntyre
- Jericho - Edge
- Big Show - Kofi/Morrison
- Zack Ryder - Jerry Lawler
- Yoshi Tatsu - McIntyre
- Mike Knox - Kane
- Kane - Big Show
- Jerry Lawler - Kane
- Finlay – Cade
- McIntyre – Morrison
- Lance Cade – Edge
- Santino – Big Show
- Carlito– Kofi
- Jack Swagger – Kofi
- Edge - Big Show
Phew, well hope you all enjoyed that. Any questions or comments feel free to e-mail me at
zachlevine86@gmail.com. Thanks for reading all and have a great 2010. - Zach
