Hey guys, welcome to my first review of the year. I am collecting each pay-per-view this year so I can watch them whenever I want and I thought I'd contribute and write a review on Royal Rumble 2010. How does it stack up?
ECW Championship: Christian (C) Vs Jackson
The agility and speed of Christian against the power of Zeke combined with the presence of Regal would prove to make a awesome match. Christian gets some momentum in the opening, and pulls off a nice dive onto Jackson from the corner turnbuckle. Zeke begins to take control with repeated punches and clotheslines, one of which looked pretty cool. He went for a swing and Christian ducked, but he went back with the same arm and took him down, well rehearsed. The champ sells the challenger's power well, until he is thrown to the outside where Regal predictably takes a shot. After he does the crowd goes nuts when the ref sends him to the back.
A bunch of chain wrestling and a few spots later (involving a great DDT from Christian) we end up with Jackson working on the back of Christian and shoving him repeatedly into the corner until Christian slips through his hold and pulls off a brutal Killswitch, for the first defense of the night. Good pace, well worked solid effort by both men. However it lacked spots from Jackson and there wasn't much excitement in the match but it's worth a sincere 7.5/10.
US Championship: Miz (C) Vs MVP
Back and forth action with Miz and MVP trading blows, until Montel gets big momentum and delivers a pair of suplexes to the champ. Miz shoves him off the ring apron as he collides with the announce table and Miz goes on the offensive and brawls on the outside, before sending him back into the ring due to the ref’s count where he gets the upper hand and the match slows down a little. Miz gets in a submission hold and keeps MVP down for a long while uintil he stand up and it takes even longer for him to get out of it, the submission dragged out a little. MVP goes ballin’ and tries to follow up with the Playmaker but Miz kicks out. Later on MVP reverses the skull crushing finale and goes for three successive pins in a row the champ kicking out of each one.
MVP is in total control until he ends up on the ring apron and after putting a leg over the rope he is rolled up with a small package by Miz to pull off a unexpected defense. MVP looks shocked and plays out his emotions well as Miz showboats and gets in his face. Miz talks himself into a Playmaker as the challenger walks out of the ring pissed off. It was a little basic but well performed and both men demonstrated some great grappling. The story telling was the best part and it gave us a sign of things to come. 7.5 again, because this lacked the excitement.
WWE Championship: Sheamus (C) Vs Orton
Heel Vs Heel matches are always brutal, and this stayed strong to the formula. Orton gets the match started on a good note when he delivers a great drop kick (considering how big he is) before the duo lock up again, allowing Sheamus to gain the upper hand when Orton rolls out of the ring. Sheamus uppercuts Orton which sends him to the floor, and then proceeds to smash Orton’s hand into the steel steps which was well sold. More dominance from the champ until the challenger targets the legs of Sheamus. Orton manages to lose the momentum and gets shoved into the turnbuckle repeatedly, making both men look fairly even which made for a better atmosphere.
The two exchange submission holds to stretch out some length in the match which did appeal for me, as well as repeated punches as they take it in turns to excite the crowd. Orton delivers his signature DDT which puts the crowd behind him even further sending them crazy when he attempts a punt. Cody Rhodes jumps the security rail and beats down Sheamus which leads to Orton executing the RKO. However, he is disqualified because of the Legacy interference. Orton goes insane and beats Rhodes down screaming at him until Ted appears and holds him back. He then inserts his dominance into the pair and shouts “You’re done!†to both of them. Legacy are wimping out in the corner but Sheamus catches Orton off guard and delivers a pump kick to set up the disbanding of Legacy. Physical match up with a great finish making both men look strong, as well as the crowd being well behind the match. 8/10 because it was a solid effort with some great storytelling and a good amount of spots.
Womens Championship: Mcool (C) Vs James
Never been a fan of the divas because their storylines are a little pathetic and not really believable. Michelle cuts a confident promo before the match and makes a decent attempt at playing heel. Mickie James comes out and creams the “Piggy†impersonator that came out, and sends the champ on the defensive and pulls off a upset hitting her finisher in a matter of seconds. After three title defenses in a row, it was great to see one change hands. Lay-Cool get food shoved in their faces to end the feud with James taking the belt and showing the pair up. An extremely short match but the promo and buildup gave it a few marks. 3/10, but the enjoyment was there.
World Heavyweight Championship: Undertaker (C) Vs Mysterio
Unfortunately Mysterio against any other big man is rather predictable. The bigger man dominates him and Rey has to fight the odds and show a decent showing. The result was predictable however because of the Shawn Michael events. Regardless, Undertaker manages to get a decent showing considering his age. He slams Rey into the barriers and throws him out of the ring right at the start. Rey makes use of his agility and delivers several blows to the head before being punched out of the ring once again and falling victim to the leg drop. Taker catches Rey’s 619 attempt and reverses it into a tombstone which the crowd goes nuts for, but Rey flails about and escapes the finisher. Mysterio goes for a moonsault outside the ring and lands it well and then gets shoved into the barricade. Taker and Rey work very well together, and work to each others strengths. Taker’s got a little blood on him, but they trade blows and continue things back and forth. Mysterio begins to look like he’s taking the belt, doing a springboard leg drop and then later hitting a 619, a drop kick followed up by a consecutive 619. He attempts one last move but the Phenom catches him in the Last Ride, for the fourth and final defense of the night.
Great match considering how bland some Rey matches can be. He takes Taker to the limit and the strength and speed of each star was highlighted and a fantastic finish put Mysterio away…8/10.
30-Man Royal Rumble Match
Alright so it’s the main event of the night and it’s once year…it’s the over the top royal. As this is such a long match it would be very hard to review the whole thing, so I’m going to review the three “parts†of the match. Each part has a turning point that splits the match apart, so I’ll go through each one.
Ziggler and Bourne start things off and open the match very well, until CM Punk comes in alongside Serena. He eliminates the duo very quickly and cuts an epic promo straight edge style. He is then “rudely interrupted†and goes through Khali, Phoenix, JTG and Ryder. HHH comes out and the crowd goes nuts, tired of Punk’s epic promos. Drew Mcintrye comes out very slowly and draws the Game’s attention and charges into the ring when he is occupied…HHH reverses the GTS and eliminates Punk and begins brawling with Mcintrye and Dibiase who double team him in the corner. The ring begins to fill up when Morrison enters and hits the starship pain on Drew. Kane makes his appearance and tries to eliminate Dibiase until Rhodes enters…
The pair divide and conquer, dominating the competition but no one is eliminated. MVP comes out with Miz behind him knocks him out with the belt, still angry over the match earlier. MVP doesn’t get to enter, and is replaced by Carlito two minutes later. He hits three backstabbers in a row but takes a Skull Crushing Finale from Miz. He doesn’t last very long however as MVP charges in taking advantage but he sacrifices himself to eliminate his rival, they both go flying over the rope. Hardy comes out to a massive pop but Kane eliminates him but then is eliminated by HHH straight after. Shawn Michaels comes out and he and HHH clean house. Carlito, Rhodes, Dibiase, Morrison and Mcintyre all eliminated by DX. Cena comes out to break up the party however…
He dominates the team with numerous shoulder blocks and a double five knuckle shuffle. HHH saves Michaels from being eliminated but he has other plans, and sweet chin music’s his partner out of the ring. Benjamin and Yoshi Tatsu are disposed of by Cena but Big Show comes in and nearly triggers a earthquake much to Cena’s annoyance. Mark Henry and Chris Masters both come into the ring, however both of them along with Big Show are eliminated as R Truth takes the largest athlete and strongest man out of the match. Swagger enters and nearly eliminates Michaels but the ring evens out when Kingston enters the mix and eliminates Swagger and R-Truth. Things get even better when Jericho appears and beats the crap out of everyone and hits the code breaker on Cena when he eliminates Kingston. Edge’s music plays and everyone goes insane playing off the shock return. The commentators are still excited even after Batista appears and eliminates HBK who is full of emotion. Cena eliminates Batista but Edge clotheslines Cena and wins…ROYAL RUMBLE 2010! 8/10 because it was a little short compared to the others.
Legacy feud all set up and four champions retaining their belts. Strong showings from all of the guys who worked their asses off to make a solid show. Edge inserts himself into Wrestlemania 26 while numerous feuds are bound to be continued…great show and maybe there were one or two matches that lacked a little…but the quality and confident performing of the Royal Rumble talent of 2010 made it worth buying. 8/10, final score.
], in the end I think he was wasted and could have lasted longer. Bits of it were predictable, like the whole DX thing, and Cena eliminating a lot of guys, but it was a pretty open field which kept you guessing. And for me the suprise of Edge entering and winning was a shock!
