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  “Ladies and Gentleman, it is now time for the Royal Rumble! Earlier today the 30 participants who entered, drew numbers at random. In just a few moments the individuals who drew number one and number two will be in the Royal Rumble and every two minutes thereafter another individual will enter the ring according to the number he drew. Remember, in the Royal Rumble it is Every Man For Himself. And elimination occurs when a wrestler is thrown out over the top and both feet touch the floor. The one man remaining in the ring after all 30 participants have entered will be declared the winner of the Royal Rumble and will go on his way to face whoever the champion is at Wrestlemania!” - Howard “The Fink” Finkel The Royal Rumble is hands down my favourite WWE pay-per-view. I saw my first Royal Rumble way back in 1989 and it remains one of my favourite Rumble matches – it had an unpredictable winner (Big John Studd) and plenty of cool moments throughout (Demolition draw 1&2, Megapowers break up teased). We are now only a few weeks away from the 2015 edition of the Royal Rumble! So what makes a good Rumble? On face value, its an hour long battle royale with 30 dudes beating the snot out of each other. But once you’ve seen a few, you’ll pick up some signature spots that all the best ones have. Here are some of the best things about Royal Rumbles: Iron Man Performances In some of the earlier Rumbles, the iron man role was given to some pretty random candidates including Greg Valentine (1991), Rick Martel (1991) and Bob Backland (1993). Most of these performances didn't lead to any major push and I didn't mind that. It was just a neat opportunity to showcase a talent and see what they could do. The most famous of the early iron man performances is Ric Flair, who entered the 1992 Royal Rumble at #3 and made it all the way to end, outlasting the most stacked Rumble lineup of all time which included Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Sid Justice, The Undertaker, British Bulldog, Jake Roberts and Shawn Michaels. In the modern era the iron man spot is usually reserved for someone who is already a main eventer. I’d love to see an exception this year though. How cool would it be if Tyler Breeze or Xavier Woods got that spot? Cleaning House Diesel really became a star at the 1994 Rumble when he came in and eliminated everyone in the ring and then continued to eliminate a bunch more as they came down one by one. A dominating performance at the Royal Rumble can turn wrestlers who are on the cusp into major stars. I always enjoyed Steve Austin coming in and cleaning house in the Rumbles from 98-02 and more recently, the chickenshit CM Punk heel performances where he tosses a bunch of dudes before getting his come uppance from Triple H or John Cena are pretty entertaining too. That pop when Cena eliminated the entire Nexus leaving only a wide-eyed Punk in the ring…awesome. Mega Stars collide The crowd at the 1990 Royal Rumble became unglued when Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior cleared the ring and turned to face one another. An amazing moment in early Rumble history. It was replicated 11 years later when Austin and the Rock collided in the 2001 Royal Rumble as a precursor to their match at Wrestlemania 17. How would the crowd respond if this year's Rumble gives us a staredown between John Cena and Roman Reigns? Oh poo poo, That Guy is next! One of my favourite Rumble spots is when a heel cleans house, is desperate to catch his breathe, only for a huge face to come out next. In the early Rumbles, my favourite instance of this is 1992 with Flair’s reaction to Roddy Piper coming to the ring. Ten years later I also liked the cool visual of a bloodied Chris Jericho eliminating Edge and Christian only for the crowd to pop when Rob Van Dam’s music hits. Another classic variation of this is when an exhausted Steve Austin cleans house only for the next entrant to be Bret Hart (cue squeally guitar chord entrance). I like how Austin goes from OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT to 'Okay, lets do this' in a matter of seconds. Tag Team interaction Demolition drawing 1 & 2 in the 1989 Rumble and then proceeding to beat the crap out of each other was a great way to sell the Every Man For Himself concept. I also enjoy seeing former tag teams re-igniting old feuds. I thoroughly enjoyed Tito Santana rushing out and slamming Rick Martel’s head into the turnbuckle a bunch of times and Christian hugging Edge in the 2003 Rumble and trying to convince him to eliminate Rey Mysterio. Royal Rumble Continuity No matter what the year and no matter how hard he was being pushed on the card, Macho Man Randy Savage totally sucks at Royal Rumbles. Also, there was a period where Shawn Michaels eliminated Shelton Benjamin three years in a row. Overconfident Heel A classic Rumble spot is when the heel thinks he’s eliminated someone, celebrates, then turns around and gets eliminated immediately after. A couple of great examples – Jeff Jarrett doing the Flair strut only to get tossed by Randy Savage in ’94 and Chris Nowinski emphatically crying out ‘two people!’ when he thinks he eliminates Edge and Rey Mysterio in ’03. Surprising eliminations Its weird watching Royal Rumbles in the past when you don’t have the context of where a wrestler is in their career or how hard they’re getting pushed at the time. It’s particularly strange when a legendary wrestler gets eliminated in unremarkable fashion. Of the most famous underdogs to eliminate The Undertaker is Maven in 2002 but I think its even weirder that he gets eliminated cleanly by Rikishi a year earlier in 2001. Rikishi just casually crescent kicks him out like its no big thing. Also, Jericho lights up the 2003 Royal Rumble until he is eliminated by...Test. Surprise Returns It took a while for Rumbles to introduce surprise entrants as the early Rumbles had all thirty participants announced in advance and everyone got a twenty second promo talking about why they’d win the Rumble. Some of my favourite returning wrestlers (and the ensuing crowd reaction) include Mr Perfect at 2002 and of course, John Cena at 2008 when Madison Square Garden lost its poo poo and for ten seconds, forgot they hated the guy. Chicken poo poo Heel Jerry Lawler is pretty famous for his chicken poo poo performance where he hides under the ring. I’d actually love to see someone utilize a spot of his from a mid-Nineties Battle Royal where he hopped around on the arena floor on one foot to ensure he wasn’t eliminated. Until Bret Hart punched him in the face that is. Everyone eliminates a big fat guy Why don’t they do this anymore? Its always a cool visual when Andre the Giant, Earthquake or Viscera gets eliminated in this fashion. We need more gigantically obese wrestlers in WWE so they can be eliminated by everyone in the ring. Find A Dance Partner Haven’t got anything planned for Wrestlemania? Why not eliminate the person who eliminated you and brawl back to the locker room! Then settle the score at the Grandest Stage Of Them All. Or if you weren’t entered into the Rumble, do a run-in and get revenge on that guy that cost you in that big match a few weeks ago. I think the first time this happened was with Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown in 1990. I also remember this was how Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar got its start too. Ten Great Rumbles Royal Rumble 1990  Competitors: Akeem, Andre the Giant, The Barbarian, Dino Bravo, Bad News Brown, Demolition Axe & Smash, Ted DiBiase, Earthquake, Haku, Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, Hercules, Honkytonk Man, Hulk Hogan, Marty Jannetty, Rick Martel, Shawn Michaels, Jim Niedhart, Roddy Piper, Red Rooster, Dusty Rhodes, Jake Roberts, Rick Rude, Tito Santana, Randy Savage, Jimmy Snuka, Ultimate Warrior, Koko B. Ware, & Warlord. Iron Man: Million Dollar Man Winner: Hulk Hogan WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31345259 The 1990 edition of the Royal Rumble is a terrific fast paced match played out in front of a red hot Orlando crowd that goes nuclear for every face and mercilessly boos every heel. There’s plenty to like about this match. The Million Dollar Man is a great iron man performer, outwitting a couple of jobbers in Koko B Ware and Marty Jannetty early on before getting worked over by the likes of Bret Hart and Dusty Rhodes. This match has a ton of my favourite types of Rumble spots in it. Everyone teams up to eliminate Earthquake, one of the biggest men in the match. There’s the memoral comedy spot with Luke of the Bushwhackers walking in, bushwhacking his way across the ring and then being dumped out on the other side straight away. And its the first instance of two mega faces colliding – Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. When those two clean house and end up facing one another, the entire arena rises to their feet in anticipation. The only downside is that I would have preferred Mr Perfect to win the whole thing but I believe Hogan played some politics to ensure he was the last man standing. Royal Rumble 1989  Competitors: Akeem, Arn Anderson, Andre the Giant, The Barbarian, Ron Bass, Big John Studd, Brutus Beefcake, Big Boss Man, Tully Blanchard, Bad News Brown, Demolition Axe & Smash, Ted DiBiase, Ronnie Garvin, Mr. Perfect, Hercules, Hulk Hogan, Honkytonk Man, Marty Jannetty, Rick Martel, Shawn Michaels, “The Natural” Butch Reed, Red Rooster, Jake Roberts, Tito Santana, Randy Savage, Greg Valentine, Koko B. Ware, Warlord, & The Bushwhackers. Iron Man: Mr Perfect Winner: Big John Studd WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31345253 Royal Rumble 1989 is the second ever Rumble match and the first on PPV. In my opinion, its one of the most solidly booked Rumble matches with lots of clever little booking decisions to help sell the concept of the event to first timers. Being the first PPV edition, the crowd doesn’t even catch on to the idea of counting down the entrants until about four or five wrestlers in. The match sells the concept of ‘every man for himself’ straight away with Ax and Smash drawing 1 & 2 and proceeding to beat the crap out of each other until Andre the Giant arrives at #3 at which point they turn their attention to him. There’s hardly any alignment between heel and face in this match. Plenty of heels team up to try and eliminate Andre because strategically, it makes the most sense. The break up of the Mega Powers is teased mid-Rumble when that no good Hogan (the face) dumps Savage (who ends up heel) out of the match from behind. The match has an unlikely winner in Big John Studd but even though I don’t find him to be a particularly memorable wrestler, I think it goes a long way to selling how important the ‘luck of the draw’ is. Hogan and Savage eliminated more wrestlers but Studd was luckier. Finally, one of the best storylines involves Ted Dibiase buying the #30 spot from Slick. He must have had a couple of bad years with his stocks and bonds after that because he drew #1 & #2 in the 1990 and 1992 Rumble matches. I love Rumble storylines that span multiple years like that. Royal Rumble 1997  Competitors: Cibernetico, Crush, Diesel II, Farooq, Flash Funk, Terry Funk, Goldust, Henry & Phineas Godwinn, Bart Gunn, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Jesse Jammes, Ahmed Johnson, Latin Lover, Jerry Lawler, Rocky Maivia, Mankind, Marc Mero, Mil Mascaras, Pierroth Jr, Razor Ramon II, Jake Roberts, Davey Smith, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Sultan, The Undertaker, Vader, and Savio Vega. Iron Man: Stone Cold Steve Austin Winner: Stone Cold Steve Austin WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31348181 My first thought when revisiting this Rumble is holy poo poo thats a lot of people. The 1997 Royal Rumble emanates from the Alamodome in Texas where a Wrestlemania sized crowd of 60,000 came to see favourite son Shawn Michaels in a title match against Sid Justice. 1997 was a weird year for the WWF as they had lost a lot of high profile talent to WCW. As a result, this Rumble features one of the weirdest array of performers, many of whom are luchadores from Mexico. This Rumble is fine example of making chicken feed out of chicken poo poo however. It doesn’t have a cast of recognizable names but instead we get a story that spans almost the length of the entire Rumble as Stone Cold Steve Austin goes from #4 to win the whole thing. King of the Ring 1996 is often cited as the making of the Stone Cold character but I think Royal Rumble 1997 is when he really starts to hit his stride and win fans over with his anti hero character. Austin is just ruthless in this match, absolutely punishing whitemeat babyfaces like Savio Vega and Bart Gunn, tossing them out unceremoniously like yesterday’s garbage. He cheap shots people left and right, kicks people in the junk, delivers stone cold stunners all over the place and then he show boats to the crowd by looking at his imaginary time piece. His reaction when Bret Hart arrives is perfect. He goes from ‘holy poo poo’ to ‘okay, I got this’ in a matter of seconds. Austin wins the match when he gets eliminated in a spot that is missed by the officials. He slides back in the ring, dumps everyone else and declares himself the winner. Bret goes ballistic at Vince, the seeds are planted for the double turn and it leads to months of a classic blood feud between Austin and Hart. It’s wonderful stuff. Royal Rumble 2003  ]i]Competitors: A-Train, Batista, Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin, Booker T, Bull Buchanan, John Cena, Christian, Bill DeMott, Tommy Dreamer, Edge, Goldust, Chavo Guerrero, Eddie Guerrero, Charlie Haas, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Jamal, Chris Jericho, Kane, Maven, Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, Christopher Nowinski, Rikishi, Rosey, Yoshihiro Tajiri, Test, The Undertaker and Rob Van Dam.[/i] Iron Man: Chris Jericho Winner: Brock Lesnar WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31353939 The 2003 Royal Rumble starts off with an expected surprise – Chris Jericho dumping Shawn Michaels in under 2 minutes – and keeps delivering the hits from there. There are some absolutely fantastic sequences in this match up (Chris Nowinski mistakenly thinking he eliminated Edge and Mysterio) and some not so fantastic (Test eliminating Jericho). Y2J’s iron man performance in this match is thoroughly entertaining and during a hardcore sequence he gets busted open the hard way by a kendo stick shot from Tommy Dreamer which leads to Jericho losing his temper with Dreamer and absolutely whaling on him. This is just a fun Rumble all round. Popular wrestlers like Tajiri, Booker T, Rey Mysterio, Rikishi and Edge all get to hit their signature spots and there’s pretty much a top tier wrestler in the ring at all times. The ending is a wee bit predictable but other than that, this is one of most entertaining Rumble matches of its era. Royal Rumble 2002  Competitors: Albert, Kurt Angle, Steve Austin, Booker T, Big Bossman, The Big Show, Bradshaw, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Farooq, Godfather, Goldust, Billy Gunn, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Hurricane, Kane, Maven, Chuck Palumbo, Mr. Perfect, Rikishi, Perry Saturn, Scotty Too Hotty, Triple H, Al Snow, Lance Storm, Test, The Undertaker, Rob Van Dam, and Val Venis. Iron Man: Stone Cold Steve Austin Winner: Triple H WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31352185 I think the 2002 Royal Rumble is pretty underrated and doesn’t get enough love. The match starts with a huge pop for surprise entrant Goldust and things roll on from there. This is a Rumble that features an excellent iron man performance from Steve Austin who dominates the middle portion of the match, has an excellent come back performance from Triple H after his quad injury and has one of my favourite nostalgia pops for Mr Perfect who has a great little cameo at the end. It’s also a memorable Rumble for Maven eliminating The Undertaker. I wish more Rumbles would have upset eliminations like that. Royal Rumble 2004  Competitors: Kurt Angle, A-Train, Shelton Benjamin, The Big Show, Bradshaw, John Cena, Christian, Rene Dupre, Spike Dudley, Mick Foley, Bill Goldberg, Billy Gunn, Charlie Haas, Matt Hardy, Mark Henry, Hurricane, Chris Jericho, Kane, Ernest Miller, Matt Morgan, Nunzio, Randy Orton, Rhyno, Rico, Rikishi, Scott Steiner, Booker T, Yoshihiro Tajiri, and Rob Van Dam. Iron Man: Chris Benoit Winner: Chris Benoit WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31356695 It goes without saying that nowadays, a match starring Chris Benoit from start to finish is never going to feature particularly highly in the WWE’s own highlights reel of Rumbles past. Mores the pity because the 2004 installment is one of the best ever. It has one of the most star studded line up of competitors, second only to the 1992 edition. You’ve got Kurt Angle, Big Show, John Cena, Mick Foley, Bill Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Randy Orton…the list goes on. I count fourteen World Champions in that contest which is pretty ridiculous. The story of Benoit’s performance in this Rumble perfectly suits his journeyman storyline of an underdog chasing the gold. Everyone he eliminates in this match (Rhyno, Mark Henry, JBL and Big Show) are all enourmous wrestlers, typically the type of wrestler who he would be overlooked for earlier in his career. The end sequence of this match where Big Show monsters his competition is a fantastic piece of booking and Benoit is only able to eliminate Show by using his smarts and Big Show’s own weight against him. Royal Rumble 2008  Competitors: Batista, Shelton Benjamin, Big Daddy V, Elijah Burke, Carlito, John Cena, Tommy Dreamer, Fit Finlay, Mick Foley, The Great Khali, Chavo Guerrero, Mark Henry, Hardcore Holly, Hornswoggle, Kane, Mr. Kennedy, Santino Marella, Shawn Michaels, The Miz, John Morrison, Jamie Noble, Chuck Palumbo, Roddy Piper, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Gene Snitsky, Jimmy Snuka, Triple H, Umaga, and The Undertaker. Iron Man: Shawn Michaels Winner: John Cena WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31288271 I’ve got a real soft spot for Rumbles that take place in Madison Square Garden. That tiny entrance way makes the crowd feel like they’re jammed in that much closer to the action and as a result, it gives the matches that much more atmosphere. The 2008 installment is wonderful from start to finish. It starts out with the most star studded #1 and #2 entries you could possibly have (Undertaker and HBK) and goes from there. By far my favourite nostalgia routine of any Rumble is the surprise appearance of Jimmy Snuka and Rowdy Roddy Piper who resume their famous feud from two decades earlier in this match up. You know a Rumble has been well booked when the surprise return of John Cena draws a pop from a New York crowd. For five minutes, the most hardened wrestling fan base forgot they hated the most vanilla babyface in the modern era. Royal Rumble 2011  Competitors: Wade Barrett, The Big Show, Booker T, Daniel Bryan, John Cena, Ted DiBiase Jr., Diesel, Justin Gabriel, The Great Khali, Chavo Guerrero, Husky Harris, Mark Henry, Hornswoggle, Ezekiel Jackson, JTG, Kane, Tyson Kidd, Kofi Kingston, Vladimir Kozlov, Santino Marella, Chris Masters, Michael McGillicutty, Drew McIntyre, John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, David Otunga, CM Punk, William Regal, Tyler Reks, Alex Riley, R-Truth, Mason Ryan, Zack Ryder, Sheamus, Heath Slater, Jack Swagger, Yoshi Tatsu, and Dolph Ziggler. Iron Man: CM Punk Winner: Alberto Del Rio WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31301541 To date, the 2011 Rumble is the biggest ever, with forty competitors in the match. I wish they’d return to that number in future editions. It allows for much greater scope with surprise entrants and people cleaning house. Anyway, I love this Rumble for the early dominance shown by CM Punk who not only eliminates a handful of stars by himself, he also puts together his Nexus faction and dominates the middle portion of the match with the entire stable eliminating performers one after the other. Of course, all of this gets undone when John Cena arrives. Other reasons I like this Rumble are that it has relatively few periods, has a healthy number of fun surprise entrants and a rather unpredictable winner. Props to whoever booked this match for going with a comedy spot to end the whole thing too. Royal Rumble 2000  Competitors: Bob Backlund, Steve Blackman, Big Bossman, The Big Show, Bradshaw, British Bulldog, D-Lo Brown, Christian, Brian Christopher, Chyna, Edge, Farooq, Gangrel, The Godfather, Billy Gunn, Headbanger Mosh, Crash Holly, Hardcore Holly, Chris Jericho, Kane, Rikishi Phatu, Prince Albert, Road Dogg, Al Snow, Scott Taylor, Test, Val Venis, Viscera, and X-Pac. Iron Man: Test Winner: The Rock WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31345807 Ask a bunch of wrestling fans what their favourite period of wrestling was and most will probably tell you its the Attitude Era. To that end, I think the definitive Attitude Era Rumble is the 2000 edition in Madison Square Garden. It was at the height of WWF’s domination of WCW where every single talent that they had was over with the fans on a level that most performers today would kill for. This motley crew of talent put together one of the most entertaining Rumble matches of all time in which Rikishi became an unexpected star and The Rock cemented himself as one of the all time greats. Royal Rumble 1992  Competitors: The Barbarian, The Berzerker, Big Boss Man, Ted DiBiase, Jim Duggan, Haku, Hercules, Hulk Hogan, Sid Justice, Rick Martel, Shawn Michaels, Col Mustafa, Roddy Piper, Repoman, Jake Roberts, Jerry Sags, Tito Santana, Randy Savage, Irwin R. Schyster, Skinner, Sgt Slaughter, Davey Smith, Jimmy Snuka, The Undertaker, Greg Valentine, Virgil, Nikolai Volkoff, Kerry Von Erich, & Warlord. Iron Man: Ric Flair Winner: Ric Flair WWE Network Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31345295 The most star studded Royal Rumble of all time and featuring the most famous iron man performance in history. Other wrestlers have come in early and gone the distance – Shawn Michaels (1), Steve Austin (4), Rey Mysterio (2) and Chris Benoit (1) – but none have captured the magic of Ric Flair’s performance in 1992. Flair was still viewed as a WCW heel, a hated intruder on the WWF landscape. And here he was in the only Royal Rumble match in history where the winner would be handed the world title. After weeks of trash talking he drew #3 at a time when no one who drew an early number made it to the end. I think it was a terrific piece of booking to give him #3. #1 would have been too obvious. Flair then spends the next fifty minutes perpetually on the brink of elimination, with every new entrant bigger, badder and gunning for Flair. Ultimately, he outlasts everyone. Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, Sid Jusice, The Undertaker, Jake Roberts, Kerry Von Erich, Hulk Hogan. All of them. When he wins, he collapses in exhaustion. I can’t say enough about the star power in this match. It’s more or less every major wrestler of the late Eighties and early Nineties in a single match. I don’t think we’ll ever see a Rumble with such a wide array of potential winners ever again. Nowadays, we’re happy if there’s two potential winners. This match really had it all and it is put over the top by the outstanding commentary from Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan who do a perfect job selling the high stakes of this match. It is by far my favourite, most watched and most highly rated Royal Rumble. What are your favourite memories and moments from the Royal Rumble pay-per-view?
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Jan 2, 2016 05:07
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I'm in the middle of a four-day weekend and I figured I would marathon all the Rumbles. While 1988 is a really boring match, it is kind of hilarious how in the end, McMahon completely spoils it. The last two are Hacksaw and One Man Gang. Ventura on commentary wonders aloud how Hacksaw could even win the match. McMahon suggests that he could just let Gang run at him, duck down and let the momentum carry Gang over the top rope. Ventura starts rambling about how Hacksaw should get the two-by-four, but seconds later, Hacksaw ducks as Gang runs at him and wins. As for your list, I'm surprised you don't have 2001 on there. At the very least, it's better than 2000.
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Jan 2, 2016 05:19
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I was about to get real upset that the 92 Rumble wasn't on you list and instead I'm just mildly annoyed that you put it last
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Jan 2, 2016 06:01
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IcePhoenix posted:I was about to get real upset that the 92 Rumble wasn't on you list and instead I'm just mildly annoyed that you put it last Gotta save the best for last
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Jan 2, 2016 06:18
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"Who could possibly eliminate The Great Khali?" *gets eliminated due to gentle breeze and incredible top-heaviness*
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Jan 2, 2016 06:40
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I do hate when they just lie to us. For instance, presenting Kane, Show, and Henry, who have zero rumble wins between them in I'm sure is around 40 total appearances, as obvious favorites who could never be eliminated. You can't play that card more than like three times, man, that's not right.
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Jan 2, 2016 07:04
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Last years rumble loving sucked
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Jan 2, 2016 07:13
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Mercury Crusader posted:Gotta save the best for last Nah because I skipped his whole post looking for it then didn't bother with the rest Maybe if it was listed as a ranking from 10-1 it would be ok 
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Jan 2, 2016 07:20
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NienNunb posted:Last years rumble loving sucked I missed watching last year's Rumble live, but when I got home, I made sure to stay away from social media, turn on the Network and start the event at the beginning. Due to a glitch in the system, instead of the beginning, it had me at Roman Reigns, Big Show and Kane in the ring with the entire crowd booing. I got it to go to the beginning, but I knew what horrors I was moving towards and I knew it wasn't going to be a good trip.
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Jan 2, 2016 07:28
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When was the last good Rumble, 2011? 2014 and 2015 are memorably bad, but I can't remember anything that happened in 2012/13.
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Jan 2, 2016 08:17
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NienNunb posted:Last years rumble loving sucked Bray Wyatt sure did eliminate Daniel Bryan.
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Jan 2, 2016 08:26
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*obese man waddles out* WHOOOOOOOAH, THERE'S YOUR FAVORITE RIGHT THERE!!
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Jan 2, 2016 10:24
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Benne posted:When was the last good Rumble, 2011? 2014 and 2015 are memorably bad, but I can't remember anything that happened in 2012/13. 2015: Utter garbage. 2014: Outside of the tone-deaf ending and seeing CM Punk sleep through it, it's not that bad. 2013: You're right not to remember anything. The winner was depressingly obvious and nothing of note happened. 2012: One of the worst Rumbles. This is when they had such a thin roster that nearly half of it was just surprise entrants like the commentators, Ricardo, Kharma, Road Dogg, Foley, etc. Slightly saved by a fun ending, even if the wrong guy won. 2011: A big mixed bag, but rounds up to good. 2010: Probably the last great Rumble. Poor, poor Shawn Michaels.
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Jan 2, 2016 10:26
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Yeah the Rumble has been pretty loving bad for the last five or so years, capped off by two consecutive Rumbles that are probably in the top 5 for worst ever. I didn't think the 2006 Rumble would be topped for horribleness so easily.
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Jan 2, 2016 12:47
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Gavok posted:2012: One of the worst Rumbles. This is when they had such a thin roster that nearly half of it was just surprise entrants like the commentators, Ricardo, Kharma, Road Dogg, Foley, etc. Slightly saved by a fun ending, even if the wrong guy won. I still think it's hilarious that they changed the ending just because they were so shocked that everyone knew what was going to happen even though they had literally zero build for anything else. And in the end absolutely nothing else changed.
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Jan 2, 2016 12:56
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Every year I wonder if maybe the shine is gonna finally start to come off the Ric Flair Rumble. Every year it doesn't, and every year I'm glad. Ya gotta be fair to Flair.
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Jan 2, 2016 13:56
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The thing was, 2015's rumble first half was really good. Steady stream of surprises, Wyatt running wild only to have his elimination streak stopped by D-Bry... only for it to all go to piss the moment he got eliminated.
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Jan 2, 2016 15:01
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Ric Flair loving rules
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Jan 2, 2016 19:04
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The rumble is my favourite PPV
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Jan 2, 2016 19:30
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Frankston posted:The rumble is my favourite PPV same, and now it's a bad show that sucks
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Jan 2, 2016 19:45
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Last night I had a dream that Tajiri was a surprise entrant in this year's Rumble. That's my Royal Rubmle story.
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Jan 2, 2016 20:08
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Better than the Rumble, the Elbmur Layor
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Jan 2, 2016 20:13
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can't believe people still get hyped for the rumble
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Jan 2, 2016 20:14
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You gotta STAY hyped for the Rumble.
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Jan 2, 2016 20:16
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Benne posted:When was the last good Rumble, 2011? 2014 and 2015 are memorably bad, but I can't remember anything that happened in 2012/13. 2013 was a good rumble match but was overshadowed because Punk/Rock happened that same night. Other than that the last great rumble was 2008
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Jan 2, 2016 20:19
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Big Coffin Hunter posted:2013 was a good rumble match but was overshadowed because Punk/Rock happened that same night. Other than that the last great rumble was 2008 Rumble 2010 and 2011 were both great IMO.
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Jan 2, 2016 21:21
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Gavok posted:2010: Probably the last great Rumble. Poor, poor Shawn Michaels. Edge's return and win was an awesome moment  Even if it was way too soon and his match with Jericho at WM wasn't super great Speaking of Gavok and Royal Rumble appreciation, you should link all your cool RR writeups over the years to help with the appreciation  I found 3 http://www.denofgeek.us/other/wwe/232290/the-20-worst-royal-rumble-moments http://www.denofgeek.us/other/wwe/232093/the-15-best-and-5-worst-wwe-royal-rumble-one-timers http://www.denofgeek.us/other/wwe/232367/the-top-100-royal-rumble-moments
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Jan 2, 2016 21:26
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It will be very sad when Axel is eliminated and we have to hear King excitedly scream "well he's definitely out this year!!!" What do you guys think the best final four was? I really don't think it got any better than the storytelling and drama of Edge/Orton/Undertaker/Michaels (despite the flub during the final elimination).
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Jan 2, 2016 21:41
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How can you have the Rumble without this video package https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N48raNltRio
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Jan 2, 2016 21:48
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21 Hoot Salute posted:Speaking of Gavok and Royal Rumble appreciation, you should link all your cool RR writeups over the years to help with the appreciation Thanks, though those first two are way out of date. Especially the one-timers list. Here's one from last year where I ranked the Rumble winners from worst to best based on story, performance, endings and follow-up. I really need to add Roman in there.
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Jan 2, 2016 21:56
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Started watching around 98/99 and the 00 Rumble was the first I ever taped off myself, as we didn't have Sky Sports and it was being shown on normal telly for once. Before that I just had to watch Livewire or save up to buy a tape in ASDA (usually way late) to catch up, to actually have my own show to watch all the way through was very exciting haha. Of course the parents were guaranteed to walk into the room just as Mae Young's tits happened...
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Jan 2, 2016 21:59
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I just want to point out that 12-13 (depending on whether you count Nash) of the competitors in the 2011 Rumble are no longer with WWE, and a few of those (Chavo, Masters) were only around for a few months after. Granted that one had an inflated number of guys in it
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Jan 2, 2016 22:00
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I always watch the Rumble. I hate WWE, but that's my love for the Rumble. It truly is in my eyes the greatest event in sports entertainment. I don't care about Mania, I'm in this for the Rumble. To me the best part of the Rumble is the surprise entrant. When the countdown ends and the buzzer sounds off you don't know who is going to come through that curtain. When it is not someone on the main roster or someone returning from a hiatus? That is when I get the most excited. Problem is WWE doesn't do the return pop anymore, just the nostalgic ones. But here is to hoping Daniel Bryan suddenly shows up during the Rumble and cleans house.
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Jan 2, 2016 23:04
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The key ingredient to a good rumble in my mind is having a lot of potential winners involved. The more guys who can realistically come out on top the more unpredictable and chaotic you can make it.
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Jan 2, 2016 23:08
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surprise returns and an uncertain future make for the best rumbles and this year we're primed for both
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Jan 2, 2016 23:15
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the good thing about this year is that a returning cesaro will be the daniel bryan and even be eliminated by the same person. meant to say bad thing, but it's too late
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Jan 2, 2016 23:24
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Yes, Cesaro will come back 3 months early just to make you mad.
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Jan 2, 2016 23:43
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NienNunb posted:Last years rumble loving sucked Actually it ruled because of how bad it was. Seeing Dbry get tossed out and just being like "oh ok we're doing this huh?" and just watching to see how bad it could possibly get was fun. Only bad rumbles are forgettable ones.
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Jan 2, 2016 23:46
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Abroham Lincoln posted:Actually it ruled because of how bad it was. Seeing Dbry get tossed out and just being like "oh ok we're doing this huh?" and just watching to see how bad it could possibly get was fun. Same. 
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Jan 3, 2016 06:44
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| # ? Jun 7, 2024 08:18 |
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i'm going to the rumble with my buds and we're gonna drink beer and root for the new day
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Jan 3, 2016 08:29
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