2011 Royal Rumble: The Biggest Joke in Wresting History

Last night's WWE extravaganza was definitely one for the ages. After weeks of skepticism and speculation, the WWE did what they do best and that is deliver a real sucker punch to its faithful audience by delivering a pretty sub par PPV.

Opening Match: Edge vs. Ziggler for the WHC.

We opened the Rumble with a World Heavyweight Championship match between two competitors who have really been under each other's skin as of late. The champion Edge, who won the gold at last month's TLC PPV, taking on the new No. 1 contender and former Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler. 

I personally was happy to see this match taking precedent to the others because this particular match just seemed to be more of a gap filler than anything with no real potential for anything major to happen. We had some good back and forth wrestling between both stars, with Ziggler showing just how great of an athlete he really is. 

As per usual, the Heavyweight Championship Match that takes place on the Rumble is just something to get the crowd hyped up for the Rumble itself. It was a great match with Edge been the victor.

Randy Orton VS Miz for the WWE Championship

Next we get to the Raw side of things as The Miz defended his title against Randy Orton. Another clinical match with some good spots from both men. 

The match ended with The Nexus coming out and attacking Orton, allowing The Miz to capitalize on the advantage and pin Orton to retain the gold. 

Divas Title: Natalya vs. Michelle McCool vs. Layla vs. Eve

Another Championship match this time for the Women's/Divas Championship. Short match with not a lot going on, the crowd was pretty stagnant for this one as was I. However, it was interesting to see Eve win the match seeing as how she can barely wrestle. 

However, it was not he worst part of the night, although it did contribute.

Thoughts on the Rumble

I have no problems with Alberto winning the Rumble, I just feel that the whole Rumble match was a major let down. It never need to be 40 men, they never need to bring back Booker T and Diesel and, most of all, they should have never had Hornswoggle get such a big moment at the Rumble. 

I enjoyed watching the Nexus work together by eliminating superstar after superstar. However, whilst it was fun it did get somewhat repetitive, I personally was just waiting for someone to come in and eliminate these guys,

Firstly we had The Great Khali take a shot at the cake as he eliminated Huskey Harris. However, his celebration was cut short by new Nexus Member Mason Ryan.

We then witnessed the return of the six-time World Champion Booker T, who was looking very impressive especially seeing as how he has been away from the business for such a long time. Although we never see Booker T eliminate anyone, we did get to see some memorable spots from Booker T such as The Bookend, Scissors Kick and, of course, the spin-a-roo-ny.

After a while the whole Nexus thing really started to ware thin, I was thinking to myself, they better be going somewhere with this angle or else it will be far from entertaining. Cena then entered the Rumble and speaking from an anti-Cena fan, I had to admit I did mark out when his music hit, only because I just wanted this whole Nexus tirade to end.

As usual always bet on Cena. He managed to eliminate all members of the Nexus, except for Punk. The part that ticked me off was when the next participant Hornswoggle entered the Rumble. I enjoyed it when Punk kicked him to the floor, but after Punk for AA out of the ring, having the Nexus eliminate everyone from the Rumble did not look like such a bad idea.

For about 10 minutes, we saw Hornswoggle and Cena team up and start eliminating superstars together just like the Nexus before them. This for me was far from impressive. I mean you get Booker T to come back to the WWE then you have him eliminated after two minutes, yet Hornswoggle is kept and doing AA onto poor Tyson Kidd.  

After a while I thought I would never see Hornswoggle eliminated until Powerhouse Sheamus came to the part and axe kicked him out of the ring. For me it was the moment of the Rumble thus far.

We then had your usual performers who would work the Rumble for a good 5-15mins before being eliminated. Superstars such as Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Cena, Kofi and Rey all stayed in the ring so that some sort of control could be restored in the Rumble. 

Then another big blow on the WWE's part was the manner in which they brought Diesel into the Rumble. As soon as his music hit, the commentators reacted so late as did the camera crew that it ruined the experience for TV viewers.

Nash is looking in great shape for a 50+ year old wrestler. Great moment was when Wade Barrett and Shamus locked eyes with Big Daddy Cool, as both men know that off-camera Nash has not been to flattering towards them as seen in he following clip. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi7waEY_Jrk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xh7KWk2Od8

As you can see, both men definitely wanted to throw a punch or two before Diesel was eventually eliminated from the Rumble. I understand that Diesel is not going to win the Rumble but they could have at least shown some dominance on Diesel's part – for all newbies in the arena they must have felt who in the blue hell is this guy.

Nash eventually got tied up on the ropes after a failed Big Boot and Wade Barrett picked up the pieces and sent the big man crashing. Speaking of big men The Big Show and Kane both hard yet another horrid Rumble. The WWE do realize that they made Kane the World Champion for over six months, yet they still treat him like crap.  The Big Show barely hit a Chokeslam before being eliminated by Big Zeke. 

Another big moment in the Rumble was the involvement of Miz and Alex Riley. Throughout the night, both men made the lives of Orton and Cena a living hell. Earlier in the night, Miz defeated Orton to retain his WWE Championship after a little help from Riley. Then in the Rumble, after Alex got eliminated, he distracted Cena which allowed The Miz who was commentating at the time to in turn eliminate cena, a possible three-way at WrestleMania I feel. 

Santino Marella, the man who holds the record for the shortest ever Rumble appearance, .06 sec, played a big part at this year's Rumble as he entered 36 and ended up finishing second to Alberto Del Rio. For most of the match, he was knocked out to the floor after being thrown from the bottom of the rope.

He then reappeared after Alberto thought he had won the Rumble. Personally, I knew that Santino would never win the Rumble, but then I got so nervous watching the segment between him and Alberto that I felt anything was possible, Until he did his cobra/celebration and before you knew it Santino became the Drunken Village Idiot again.

Overall Verdict  

The Rumble for me was one of the biggest let downs in wrestling history, there was honestly no need for 40 men. The whole Nexus angle was so unnecessary, it started off great then ended miserable. When I realized Kane was No. 40, I knew the surprises were up and that we would have to wait for the return of Triple H and Undertaker in the weeks to come. 

Some people may have liked it and some people probably turned the TV off after Nash got eliminated, but I just feel that you need to treat those guys with a bit more respect.

It was like watching the 25 Divas Battle Royal at WrestleMania 25. You had all great Divas returning for the special occasion only to be ousted by Santino.

The Rumble was definitely more a comical factor than a serious one, but then again what isn't with the WWE these days. 

On a good note it was great seeing Alberto winning the Rumble. Hopefully he can make the next few weeks entertaining. 

For those who have watched the Rumble please comment below and share your feelings about the Rumble. 

Stars of The Rumble

1. CM Punk

2. John Cena

3. Diesel and Booker T (only the return)

Flops of the Rumble

1. All the men who were eliminated under a minute.