Monday, January 26, 2009

Quickie Royal Rumble thoughts

I don't usually share wrestling thoughts on here, but since I plunked down money on this show, I figured I might as well spout off on what I thought about it:

ECW title match - This was my first real chance to see new ECW champ, Jack Swagger in action and I'm moderately impressed. It seems that while he may not have the flashiness of a true WWE superstar, he appears to have a lot of raw talent. I'm not sure if making him a 'world champion' five months into his tenure is a wise move, but let's face it, ECW clearly is a glorified developmental league at this point, which is fine for the most point; it's just unnecessary for them to have a World champ. Anyways, the match itself was well worked and it provided the necessary storytelling seeds for what was to come later.

Women's title match - Why oh why take the title off of the Glamazon, especially when you don't factor Santino or Rosa Mendez into the finish even though you've been using them as major factors in the build to this feud. There is no reason to give the title to Melina when I haven't seen her wrestle one match where she doesn't blow several spots. I don't know how many times it has to fail before Melina realizes that she cannot properly sell a sidewalk slam. The highlight of the match comes from Beth literally (and I'm not using that term like Gorilla Monsoon uses it) literally was beating Melina with her own foot. You have to see it to believe it. Aside from that, it was you typicaly subpar effort from the women.

Cena vs. JBL - They had even set up so perfectly. JBL said he would pay HBK in full plus guarantee him a spot in the Rumble if he guarantted him a title victory. What is the downside to this?!?! Hurting Cena's feelings? Disappointing a handful of 10 year olds? Shame on Shawn for not seeing this through. Of course he had to superkick both of them and then leave before seeing everything play out. And of course Superman Cena was able to 'overcome the odds' and still leave as champ. A fully disappointing outing, but one that I've come to expect from all Cena matches.

Hardy vs. Edge - And so the Hardy experiment ends as his first title defense also is his last. I'm torn here as I like Edge and am always glad to see him win the title, but I'm not sure if now was the best time for it. Seeing Matt Hardy turn on his brother and cost him the title was and was not a surprise. They've planted the seeds of jealousy, but we've been expecting a returning Christian to be behind this all along. His no-show was certainly a disappointment. Overall this was an entertaining brawl but nothing memorable.

Royal Rumble match - The Rumble match suffered the same problem that the previous two also suffered from. There have just been too many guys in there without sufficient eliminations. It's like they can't figure out how to tell decent mid-match stories and they're too afraid to make anyone look weak, so they'll have practically everyone stay in until the end and then do a mass exodus before finishing things off. There were a couple of nice moment this year including several guys doing awesome jobs of avoiding elimination (Mysterio, John Morrison, Chris Jericho). You also had a returning RVD, which was a shocking surprise and I have no idea if it was a one time deal or leading to a full time return. Orton winning it was pretty disgusting and apparent about halfway through the match. I would be more upset about it, but I've learn that it's pointless to get worked up over something that has been a long-time that has no apparent chance of being rectified. Once again Orton manages to find a way to back himself into a top spot (this time thanks to Batista's injury). This guy truly is the epitome of failing upwards.

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