Post by Woo on Jan 13, 2010 21:36:43 GMT -1
So with the Royal Rumble this month I thought I would make a few Top 10 lists leading up to the event. This could be anything from Top 10 Rumble matches to Top 10 Wrestlers Never In The Rumble.
Today in honour of the Monday Night War that was and all the superstars that debuted/returned to TNA/WWE I'll list the Top 10 Returns (and one debut) to the WWE via the Royal Rumble match.
Now every year there is usually at least one entrant left unannounced fuelling speculation as to who this could be. And while it usually turns out to be a disappointment such as Hacksaw Jim Duggan or Tatanka, that never seems to stop the speculation the following year. The reason being that for every two Drew Carey's there is that one moment that is either a complete shocking return or a great moment.
Here is my list.
10. The Godfather- 2002
This wasn't a surprise entrant as they announced it on TV a few weeks earlier for reasons I never understood. Also announced were Val Venis and Goldust, but the Godfather's return was my favourite of those three. Gone was the extra O in the same and the RTC gimmick and back was the Hoooooo Train! Loved the fact his entrance lasted the entire two minutes too as he danced to the ring with his girls, even if it meant we didn't get to see DDP's elimination....
9. The Honkeytonk Man- 2001
Honky also returned in 1998, but this was better. In 2001 Kane looked dominant having thrown out Blackman, Saturn, Sexy, Raven & Al Snow- who can stop him?!!? The greatest IC champ of all time? Ummm, nope. Instead Honky played us his song, complete with Lawler hilariously singing along before Kane creamed him with the guitar. Awesome.
8. Vader- 1996
Not a shocking return. Or even a return in fact. This was the debut of the Mastodon. At first things looked really anti-climatic as Vader entered the ring and.... did nothing. Soon though we eliminated Jacke Roberts, Savio Vega, Doug Gillbert and the Swat Team before HBK eliminated him and Yokozuna at the same time. Damn that sucked. However Vader then snapped, attacked Yokozuna and then entered the ring and attacked EVERYONE inside- HBK, Owen Hart, HHH, Waltman etc. and threw them all out of the ring before Gorilla Monsoon and about a dozen suits had to restrain him and order him to leave. Vader sure made an impact!
7. Rowdy Roddy Piper & Jimmy Snuka- 2008
Snuka returning in MSG was great. Piper then following made the moment even better! Snuka's confused expression made the moment and then you got to see all the wrestlers mark out as the two fought (Punk and Morrison were caught on camera chatting for a second) before Kane dumped them. The party pooper.
6. Rob Van Dam- 2009
The rumour and speculation about this Rumble was all about one man- Christian! And because of that Vince got all prissy, made Matt turn on Jeff rather than the CLB and we didn't even get to see Christian in the Rumble. Major shame. The highlight of the night however was RVD's one shot deal! It got the biggest pop of the show and was played as a huge moment as everyone stopped to stare at him. Great.
5. John Cena- 2008
John Cena's return from injury has to go down as one of the biggest shocks ever since the age of the Internet. NOBODY thought Cena would return from injury anywhere close to this soon, let alone win the match (from No.30 no less!) It was such a great shocker than MSG forgot they hate him and marked out for a while.
4. Big Show- 2001
I remember this moment so well. I stayed up till 2 just to watch the start of this on Channel 4 and it must have been around 4 when this happened. I was sleepy and about to go to sleep when suddenly "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll! It's the BIG SHOW!" came on and the place went fucking ape shit!! Channel 4 then cut to a commercial in a cliff-hanger-before-the-commercials that shows like Prison Break and Lost would kill for! He then took out R-Truth and Test and then chokeslammed Albert, Bradshaw, Holly, Venis and even Kane! The Rock escaped his punishment with a low blow and then toppled the giant out the ring... but got a chokeslam through a table for his trouble. Now THAT's how Vader should have debuted. Nobody has ever looked more dominant yet still gone out before the next entrant as much as this!
3. Mr. Perfect- 2002
Val, Goldust and The Godfather weren't the only returns to the WWE this Rumble of course as Mr. Perfect came back for the first time in YEARS! What made this fantastic wasn't that he came back, but that he looked fantastic and even got to come third! What a return!
2. Mick Foley- 2004
This is probably my favourite feud ever so I was bound to include this. Randy had dared Foley to come to the Rumble and even reserved a seat for him. Foley however no-showed and Tazz called him a coward. Orton looked great in the match, coming in at No.2 and making it over halfway when Test's music played. However Test was nowhere to be seen and we cut to him laying on the ground backstage with a furious Sheriff Austin forcing his attacker to enter the match. That attacker was of course Mick Foley and Orton did a sublime reaction to him and we then got a wild brawl between the two with Mick eliminating both Orton and himself, showing that this meant more to him than potentially winning the match. Perfect moment. Also this was Mick's first match since 2000. What can top this?
1. Bob Backlund- 1993
Of course it's Backlund! Yes he was one of the best WWF champions ever, but most of the young fans in the crowd who grew up with Hulkamania probably had no idea who he was.... boy was that about to change.... the year before Flair famously came in at No.3 and went on to win it. This year Flair drew No.1 and fans were no doubt wondering if he would go one better. Sadly for Ric Mr. Perfect eliminated him from the match and then from the WWF the following night. However that chap who came in at No.2 Mr. Bob Backlund was still there....
Big names came and went and the match stopped as Taker was attacked by Giant Gonzalez who wasn't even in the match, while Bob was slammed onto the exposed floor.... but Backlund was still there.... Yokozuna then came out and started eliminating several people, but STILL Bob was there and made it to the final four with Yoko, Savage and Martel. It was at this point where the fans were going nuts for Bob as he was trying to be the first person to coast to coast the Rumble. Despite being in the ring for over an hour Bob then managed to eliminate Martel sending the place into a frenzy! Perhaps running on adrenaline Bob charged into Yokozuna and was eliminated from the match.
But Bob's performance in that match lives on. He entered 2nd, came 3rd and lasted one hour, one minute and 10 seconds. A record that lasted for eleven years. Also unless you like wrestlecrap and like Gonzalez/Taker Backlund's performance is the ONLY good thing in this Rumble match!
Here's to you Bob!
Today in honour of the Monday Night War that was and all the superstars that debuted/returned to TNA/WWE I'll list the Top 10 Returns (and one debut) to the WWE via the Royal Rumble match.
Now every year there is usually at least one entrant left unannounced fuelling speculation as to who this could be. And while it usually turns out to be a disappointment such as Hacksaw Jim Duggan or Tatanka, that never seems to stop the speculation the following year. The reason being that for every two Drew Carey's there is that one moment that is either a complete shocking return or a great moment.
Here is my list.
10. The Godfather- 2002
This wasn't a surprise entrant as they announced it on TV a few weeks earlier for reasons I never understood. Also announced were Val Venis and Goldust, but the Godfather's return was my favourite of those three. Gone was the extra O in the same and the RTC gimmick and back was the Hoooooo Train! Loved the fact his entrance lasted the entire two minutes too as he danced to the ring with his girls, even if it meant we didn't get to see DDP's elimination....
9. The Honkeytonk Man- 2001
Honky also returned in 1998, but this was better. In 2001 Kane looked dominant having thrown out Blackman, Saturn, Sexy, Raven & Al Snow- who can stop him?!!? The greatest IC champ of all time? Ummm, nope. Instead Honky played us his song, complete with Lawler hilariously singing along before Kane creamed him with the guitar. Awesome.
8. Vader- 1996
Not a shocking return. Or even a return in fact. This was the debut of the Mastodon. At first things looked really anti-climatic as Vader entered the ring and.... did nothing. Soon though we eliminated Jacke Roberts, Savio Vega, Doug Gillbert and the Swat Team before HBK eliminated him and Yokozuna at the same time. Damn that sucked. However Vader then snapped, attacked Yokozuna and then entered the ring and attacked EVERYONE inside- HBK, Owen Hart, HHH, Waltman etc. and threw them all out of the ring before Gorilla Monsoon and about a dozen suits had to restrain him and order him to leave. Vader sure made an impact!
7. Rowdy Roddy Piper & Jimmy Snuka- 2008
Snuka returning in MSG was great. Piper then following made the moment even better! Snuka's confused expression made the moment and then you got to see all the wrestlers mark out as the two fought (Punk and Morrison were caught on camera chatting for a second) before Kane dumped them. The party pooper.
6. Rob Van Dam- 2009
The rumour and speculation about this Rumble was all about one man- Christian! And because of that Vince got all prissy, made Matt turn on Jeff rather than the CLB and we didn't even get to see Christian in the Rumble. Major shame. The highlight of the night however was RVD's one shot deal! It got the biggest pop of the show and was played as a huge moment as everyone stopped to stare at him. Great.
5. John Cena- 2008
John Cena's return from injury has to go down as one of the biggest shocks ever since the age of the Internet. NOBODY thought Cena would return from injury anywhere close to this soon, let alone win the match (from No.30 no less!) It was such a great shocker than MSG forgot they hate him and marked out for a while.
4. Big Show- 2001
I remember this moment so well. I stayed up till 2 just to watch the start of this on Channel 4 and it must have been around 4 when this happened. I was sleepy and about to go to sleep when suddenly "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll! It's the BIG SHOW!" came on and the place went fucking ape shit!! Channel 4 then cut to a commercial in a cliff-hanger-before-the-commercials that shows like Prison Break and Lost would kill for! He then took out R-Truth and Test and then chokeslammed Albert, Bradshaw, Holly, Venis and even Kane! The Rock escaped his punishment with a low blow and then toppled the giant out the ring... but got a chokeslam through a table for his trouble. Now THAT's how Vader should have debuted. Nobody has ever looked more dominant yet still gone out before the next entrant as much as this!
3. Mr. Perfect- 2002
Val, Goldust and The Godfather weren't the only returns to the WWE this Rumble of course as Mr. Perfect came back for the first time in YEARS! What made this fantastic wasn't that he came back, but that he looked fantastic and even got to come third! What a return!
2. Mick Foley- 2004
This is probably my favourite feud ever so I was bound to include this. Randy had dared Foley to come to the Rumble and even reserved a seat for him. Foley however no-showed and Tazz called him a coward. Orton looked great in the match, coming in at No.2 and making it over halfway when Test's music played. However Test was nowhere to be seen and we cut to him laying on the ground backstage with a furious Sheriff Austin forcing his attacker to enter the match. That attacker was of course Mick Foley and Orton did a sublime reaction to him and we then got a wild brawl between the two with Mick eliminating both Orton and himself, showing that this meant more to him than potentially winning the match. Perfect moment. Also this was Mick's first match since 2000. What can top this?
1. Bob Backlund- 1993
Of course it's Backlund! Yes he was one of the best WWF champions ever, but most of the young fans in the crowd who grew up with Hulkamania probably had no idea who he was.... boy was that about to change.... the year before Flair famously came in at No.3 and went on to win it. This year Flair drew No.1 and fans were no doubt wondering if he would go one better. Sadly for Ric Mr. Perfect eliminated him from the match and then from the WWF the following night. However that chap who came in at No.2 Mr. Bob Backlund was still there....
Big names came and went and the match stopped as Taker was attacked by Giant Gonzalez who wasn't even in the match, while Bob was slammed onto the exposed floor.... but Backlund was still there.... Yokozuna then came out and started eliminating several people, but STILL Bob was there and made it to the final four with Yoko, Savage and Martel. It was at this point where the fans were going nuts for Bob as he was trying to be the first person to coast to coast the Rumble. Despite being in the ring for over an hour Bob then managed to eliminate Martel sending the place into a frenzy! Perhaps running on adrenaline Bob charged into Yokozuna and was eliminated from the match.
But Bob's performance in that match lives on. He entered 2nd, came 3rd and lasted one hour, one minute and 10 seconds. A record that lasted for eleven years. Also unless you like wrestlecrap and like Gonzalez/Taker Backlund's performance is the ONLY good thing in this Rumble match!
Here's to you Bob!
