Every year I look forward to WWE’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view. In my opinion it is the second best event that WWE does all year long only to that of WrestleMania. The 30 Man Royal Rumble match is always entertaining and no matter how “smart” of a fan that you are, there is always some anticipation on who is going to come out to ringside next. This year’s Rumble had a stronger undercard than usual so I expected the Rumble match to not be as good. To my pleasant surprise, I was very wrong.
Last night WWE put on one of their best pay-per-views in a long time. Not only did we have some very solid wrestling matches but we had some surprises that were not even leaked online. When WWE is able to surprise the Internet, they pull off a major victory and are able to deliver a show with shock value. One of the best things about last night’s event was the live crowd from Madison Square Garden. The sold out crowd of over 20,000 was on fire throughout the entire event as I don’t believe that I have ever heard a crowd as into a match as they were when Triple H and John Cena squared off in the Rumble match finals. Whenever you have a hot crowd in a world famous venue you are almost guaranteed a special event. It left me wondering – could WWE creative deliver? Last night, I felt like they did in a big way.
Before I get into the matches I wanted to voice my opinion about my only major complaint for the night. I’m not an expert of Standard Definition vs. High Definition broadcasting nor do I understand the different camera angles and shots like a lot of you do. However, during the Rumble feed that I watched in SD, the camera angles were awful. For some reason the shots could never get wide enough as there were numerous times in the Rumble match when all of the superstars were fighting in all four corners and I couldn’t see anything. In one spot I could hear HBK tuning up Sweet Chin Music, but I couldn’t even see it. This is a problem that I feel like must be corrected due to the fact that less than 40% of WWE’s viewing audience is watching the product in High Definition. While I feel like HD is big for the company they have to figure out a way to make SD customers able to get the same quality that we are used too. Last night the camera shots were the worst that I may have ever seen on a WWE pay-per-view.
MVP vs. Ric Flair was an excellent way to open the event. Flair delivered a good promo about his history wrestling in MSG and I liked how it came off as his “farewell” to the building and the crowd. I felt like the match wasn’t given enough time but due to the Rumble match I knew that some matches were going to be limited. With that being said I’m glad that they limited this one instead of making a more meaningful match shorter. I was surprised to see MVP tap in the Figure Four but I guess WWE creative felt like it won’t hurt his character with Flair being the legend that he is. If I were booking I probably would have had Flair win by being the “dirtiest player in the game” as I would not book an up and coming superstar to tap to a guy as old as Flair.
The one match of the night that I could have given a rip about was John “Bradshaw” Layfield vs. Chris Jericho. JBL is in terrible shape and should have stayed at the announcer’s table. If I were Jericho I would already be rethinking my decision to come back. I felt like it was a decent match for what it was and it gave the event a chance to have some color (blood) in it but I still do not really care about the feud. I understand how they have made it personal with JBL bringing Jericho’s kids in it and they let Jericho return the favor by strangling Bradshaw but I still don’t care. I would rather see Jericho work a program with someone like Mysterio where they could have some very solid wrestling matches. JBL is a solid worker but I feel like his style limits Jericho.
Rey Mysterio proved once again last night just how special of a performer that he is. I really enjoyed the World Heavyweight Championship match between him and Edge. It was booked perfectly in that they let Mysterio his 619 twice but had Edge “screw” Rey in the end. Mysterio was all over the place in the ring, selling his “knee injury” and still defying gravity with his aerial style. Edge, whose work level hasn’t been the best as of late, worked very solid with Rey and they had match that was much more than an afterthought. At any other pay-per-view this match had main event potential. The near falls from Mysterio made it very entertaining. I’m not sure if Edge worked so much better or if Rey just made him look a lot better. You will never be able to convince me that Rey Mysterio is not one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. There is no one in the world right now better than Rey and I mean that with all sincerity.
With a tough act to follow, Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton proved that they are very capable of working an outstanding match. This was my pick for singles match of the night. There were a lot of near falls which kept me wondering if WWE would do what I felt like was the right thing and put the belt on Hardy. However, I figured that they would play it safe and let Orton retain. One can only hope that Hardy does not get buried with John Cena back, although that is always a possibility. Hardy’s ring work was outstanding as his high flying antics complimented Orton’s picture perfect drop kicks and supplexes. As dry as Orton might be on the mic, he is an outstanding talent from a wrestling perspective. These two did an excellent job of telling the story in this bout and I felt like it could have gone either way throughout the duration. The best part of the match was the finish where Hardy went for Twist of Fate but Orton blocked and hit the RKO.
A lot of people asked me going into last night’s Royal Rumble match what was my favorite Rumble match ever. I always said that it was Royal Rumble 2004 until last night. Finally WWE gave us something that was not completely predictable and in what I feel like was the best Royal Rumble match of all time. There was a lot of storytelling in the match and WWE did not ruin it with humor as they left Hornswoggle out of it for the most part and added little bits of comedy when needed. They didn’t do anything stupid like book Great Khali over everyone or make Snitsky look like the next World Champion. Eliminations were slow for the most part, causing the ring to get crowded and that is one of my favorite parts about the match.
The surprises – “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, Chavo Guerrero, Elijah Burke, and John Cena were fine by me as the two legends made for a nice touch to give the match a nostalgic feeling and adding Guerrero and Burke made up for the lack of ECW on the show. John Cena was one of the biggest surprises that WWE has ever pulled off and I’m glad they waited until #30 to introduce him. I also enjoyed how the commentary was handled with everyone being involved. When The Undertaker was eliminated I knew that plans had changed but I fully expected Triple H to win it. They brought Cena out and I figured we were in for a dandy. Mega props for Batista who worked solid for over 37 minutes!
The final sequence of the match with Batista, Triple H, and John Cena was a lot of fun to watch. You have three of the company’s biggest stars all in the ring with one of the hottest crowds in several years. It was perfect and I thought that it was the right call having Batista go out to setup Triple H vs. Cena. Cena had to get booked over since he made such a shocking return but I felt like Triple H worked very solid to try and convince us otherwise. Like I mentioned above – when Cena and Triple H were exchanging right hands, the crowd reaction gave me goose bumps. It certainly appears we will see Cena vs. Randy Orton at WrestleMania XXIV.
All and all the show was worth $40. I don’t say that often but there was nothing bad from a creative standpoint. There were the annoying camera shots for me watching in Standard Definition but I wouldn’t let that stop me from watching this one again. I didn’t mention this above but WWE is doing the right thing by involving Santino Marella with Maria as his gimmick has more steam than just about any other gimmick in WWE. Order the Rumble replay and make sure that you do not miss this event. You may disagree with some of the outcomes (Hardy not getting the title or John Cena returning early) but you cannot disagree with the quality of wrestling, storytelling, and drama that Royal Rumble 2008 provided. WWE put on one of their best PPV efforts in a long time and hopefully they will not disappoint as we continue on the Road to WrestleMania.
Richard can be contacted at richard [at] grayinternet.com
Richard Gray is a professional wrestling journalist and frequent contributor to Rajah.com. He has been covering the world of professional wrestling since 1999 and has had the opportunity to cover ground breaking stories such as the demise of ECW, the WCW buyout, the Benoit tragedy, Bobby Lashley leaving WWE, and more. For more on Richard check out his web site, Wrestling News World.
