PPV BY THE NUMBERS - ROYAL RUMBLE 2008 REVIEW
By Joel C Croyle on 1/29/2008 10:26 AM
Intro:
Regularly I never use PPV by the numbers as a way to talk about a PPV after it has aired. But this was a special case. I really thought The Royal Rumble had some definite plusses and minuses. I also was fairly close in predicting the entire card…
JBL vs. Y2J
Now, I had said that Y2J would win but in fact JBL did get his hands raised. However I think we all can agree that really Y2J got the last laugh. I have a couple good things to say and a couple not so good things to say about this bout. The bout didn’t have a good storyline heading in but the two competitors did play out a great story in the ring. They had some great moments and that chair shot JBL took was brutal (in a good way). The two problems were very dissimilar to me. One, both men missed a ton of spots and this was not the place to have that happen. They both needed a great match and didn’t get it. Two, I’ve spoke about this before. I hated the use of the electrical wire when JBL got Y2J with it earlier this month and I especially hated it last night. When you consider what happened with Chris Benoit and how he personally died, when you consider that Chris Jericho was good friends at one time with Benoit, when you consider that so was JBL, when you consider that Jericho’s first name is Chris and that JBL did a promo a week ago proposed to “Chris’s kids”….it was just in bad taste in my opinion and I really hope they can put this one to bed.
Ric Flair vs. MVP
I thought this was a tremendous match and both men handled themselves really well. In fact, overall I thought this was the best singles match of the evening. I don’t really have much to say about it except that I pretty much called this one exactly right!
Edge vs. Rey Mysterio
Well, I didn’t see that New York crowd Edge chant coming but hey the choice is yours fans! This was a good bout and I absolutely loved the ending. Vicki has really improved throughout her short reign as Smackdown’s Queen B**ch. I know Rey was trying to sell the leg but that old really quickly and quite honestly it has been done to death especially when it comes to Rey. I also called this one except I didn’t think Edge would win clean. I was glad he did. Rey wasn’t made to look weak either which helps him.
Orton vs. Hardy
This was a solid match however, just as I predicted when Orton is on offense it is truly scary. His final move to retain the gold was fantastic. The match was well orchestrated from beginning to end. I do think they should have put the strap on Hardy but after seeing the result of the rumble I now know why they did not. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Jeff moved to Smackdown this Friday for a feud with Edge.
The Royal Rumble
Good:
- All 30 men deserved to be in this rumble (31 if you count Finlay)
- Many Feuds were furthered or capped off
- Shawn and Taker beginning the match was pure genius and if they are by chance heading for a Michaels/Taker match at No Way Out or WM24 then my hat is off to whomever thought of that one
- HHH and Batista were absolutely fantastic and sold this match to the fans
- The stuff with Horny was kept to a minimum and was done well with one exception I’ll get to later. I loved the moment with BDV and Henry picking up Hornswoggle.
- I liked that because of a weapon Finlay was tossed out
- Roddy Piper and Superfly’s moment in the sun was classic
- Cena returning was fantastic and a great surprise. Him winning was awesome as well.
Bad:
- Hornswoggle was never eliminated! I watched that portion of the rumble three times just to make sure. Horny was under the ring. Then he entered the ring. Then he went under the rope to leave with Finlay. Then J.R. told us at home that FINLAY had been eliminated…Horny was not mentioned. So either this was a HUGE mistake on WWE’s part or we are going to see a #1 Contender’s match tonight or very soon on RAW.
- I wished Piper and Superfly had more time in the ring and there was absolutely no reason for Kane to be the one to eliminate them. BDV, Umaga or even CM Punk could have done the honors. It made Kane look stupid.
- Shawn gets a bloody (maybe broken?) nose and continues the match. Props to him for doing so, however, Shawn didn’t need to keep going. Morrison could have thrown him over. Now, if Shawn and Taker are going to have a feud than I see why Michaels stayed in, but if that is not the case he didn’t need to stay because he was not important to the ending of the match.
- At one point I believe HHH, Michaels, Kane and Taker were all in the match…a perfect time to have DX vs. the Brothers of Destruction and yet, it didn’t happen. To me this would have been great as the end of the match (before Cena showed). Think about this…Batista down on the mat. Shawn throws Taker over…Kane throws Michaels over…and we still get the same stare down and prior to all of it we could have had a classic moment.
- UT and BDV and Henry have been battling for weeks but there was hardly anything between them at the Rumble…why?
- And my biggest issue of the rumble this year…CHAVO GUERRERO. Can someone explain why a WORLD CHAMPION was in the Royal Rumble? And don’t tell me it was for lack of talent. Deuce and Domino, Yang and Moore…Nunzio…anyone could have filled that spot. It would have made it look like he was EQUAL to Edge and Orton. Instead it seemed like he was gunning for their titles. It didn’t help the storyline of CM Punk either since he could have been final five and people may have thought he might win so he could have Chavo at Mania. Absolutely horrendous.
So that’s it I guess. I’ve said my peace. Thanks for reading PPV by the Numbers. Ohh…and the Maria/Santino/Ashley segment was really funny….Go NY Giants…that cracked me up.
