2004 The Forgotten Rumble
Here we come across the most controversial Rumble ever. Well, nothing controversial happened during the Rumble itself, but of course the match was won by Chris Benoit. I am going to try to avoid talking about things that people might disagree on regarding Benoit himself. For the most part, I will try to look at the match as it is. But I want to mention I haven't watched this one since the incident until now and it really was an entertaining match. It wasn't as hard to watch as I thought it would be.
This would be the second time that a wrestler drew number one and won the match. This feat was more impressive than Shawn Michael's win in 95 though because his Rumble was the shortest ever (thank God they never did THAT again). It was the Benoit and Randy Orton show in many ways, but watching the match, you might not even notice Benoit as much as you might think. He spends a lot of time on the mat off to the side, not really taking part in the main action.
This was the first PPV that I bought after my 5 year wrestling hiatus. So I consider it the time I became a full fledged fan again. The show was good and it set up a great main event for Wrestlemania 20.
Winner: 8/10
I am looking at this through the context of the time and not anything else. Benoit had a story going, he had the fan support and he had the underdog theme leading him to work toward going to Wrestlemania. Not only did he go from 1 to win it, he had one of the best final eliminations ever. He got rid of the big show using a guillitine that he would not let go of. It was a good performance.
Match 9/10
I really enjoyed this Rumble and every time I watched it back in the day, I enjoyed it just as much. It was a great story, as I mentioned before. There were interesting surprises. In addition to Benoit, Orton put on a great showing during the match. It almost looked like the two were going to make it to the end. Big Show, who was always the recipient of bad luck for a big guy, was showing what a giant should be like. Everyone was ganging up on him and he was channeling his inner Andre by beating them down.
Nunzio had a string of bad luck. I mean, getting attacked by Mick Foley on his way to the ring and being thrown into the ring by John Cena after hanging outside for a long time (leading to an almost instant elimination), it just wasn't his night.
I might be the only person in the world who is upset that Spike Dudley never made it into the match. I always enjoy the scrappy young guy and would have liked to see him. it was not to me.
Toward the end, when everyone was using their finishers on the Big Show, I really liked when Show recovered from it though and started kicking some butt. It was the kind of Big Show that everyone had wanted to see. He was agressive and effective.
Surprises: 10/10
Two big surprises during this match:
1. Kane buried Undertaker alive at Survivor Series and he hadn't been seen since. When Kane was dominating in the ring, Undertaker's music played as if he was entering the Rumble. This distracted Kane enough to let Booker T eliminate him. Then, when Spike Dudley came out, Kane blamed him for the music playing and took Spike out of the match with a choke slam on the ramp.
2. Test was supposed to enter at 21 but someone unseen knocked him out. Steve Austin made the unseen person the number 21 entrant in the Rumble. Earlier in the broadcast, because he said he woud say it if Mick Foley didn't show up, JR was forced to call Foley a coward. But Foley was the 21 entrant and he came in and took out Randy Orton. Foley got very violent with Orton outside the ring and a great brawl ensued for several minutes. It was the perfect surprise at the time.
So, the forgotten Rumble is one of the better ones in my view. It is a shame that a lot of people likely won't watch it because of Benoit because it really is an enjoyable show. But, of course, since it was hard for me to decide to watch it, it makes sense. But so far, one of the best ones I have reviewed.
