The Royal Rumble 2008

[MetalBlade]

Does chuck still have the bike-builder gimmick? It was a bit gay, the way he had the oily rag sticking out his back pocket. I guess that probably means something in cruising circles...

I really liked Big Daddy V. It was a great way to use Viscera I thought. He did look kinda awesome , in a Abdullah The Butcher kind of way.
I certainly don't miss the likes of Mark Henry, Khali and Hornswoggle.
They were three of the main reasons I switched off, with the latter's cruiserweight reign being the final nail.

I like the idea of having a jobber as a superstar. It reminds me of The Brooklyn Brawler and Barry Horowitz, two famous jobbers with great gimmicks - who even had heel turns.

Snitsky is just horrid. he makes me feel a bit ill when I see him. He's all sweaty, and spotty, and I can almost smell him through the TV screen.
He has been pushed way to much for a man of his talent.

Sounds like Tommy dreamer's been watching Samoa Joe too much. It's a shame that ECW became the parody I always knew it would.
One man I do mark for though is John Morrison - right up until he opens his mouth.
He needs a manager even more than Lashley did.
Do they still have the slo-mo when he enters the arena?

Cheers for the updates guys. I'm still not gonna order it though.
I think we're being screwed by Sky here in the UK.

[Knoxville]

Woo! Woo! Look at this gem.

CM Punk defeated Chavo Guerrero last night at the WWE Supershow in Providence to earn a spot in the Royal Rumble match tonight. The match was set to be for the ECW Championship but Armando Estrada changed it to a Rumble qualifier

[Woo]

Okay I have just finished watching the Rumble and wow that was bad. I'll get to the rumble itself in a bit because that was terrible, but first the undercard.

Flair vs MVP
I wasn't really paying attention to this but it seemed pretty good overall.

Y2J vs JBL
Not a great match but the DQ was sweet and Y2J's anger afterwards was brilliant and this should hopefully lead to a great rematch at NWO.

Edge vs Rey
Decent match this. The crowd were solidly behind Edge which was quite amusing. Edge wins with a great spear countering the west coast pop.

Before the main event we got a terrible segment with Ashley asking Maria if she wants to be in playboy. Santiono comes out and tries to stop her, which was amusing. But this went on far too long. Well it shouldn't even be on a PPV but whatever.

Jeff vs Orton
Never seemed to get going. Could have gone on for at least 5 more minutes. The quick RKO at the end looked amazing but the match was built in such a way that it looked like Jeff isn't good enough to be world champion.

Now onto the rumble and this is going to be a big rant...

#1 BONG BONG
Well Taker is here so my prediction of him winning is not going to happen. Nice Taker chant.

#2 HBK.
Okay now this is a great touch. The two last men in the ring last year start this year. Never happened before. I think it's a good move having two big names start it out but when I was watching it I thought "great, that means neither of these two will win. I guess that means it's out of Batty and HHH."

#3 Santino. He looks worried does a little pose gets sweet chin music and Taker throws him out. Awesome. So far this rumble rocks. In the background Santino stumbles to the back as if he is drunk, awesome. Taker and JBK continue to have a great battle.
-Santino out! Yay!

#4 Kahli. Awful, awful brawl between the two big men while HBK lays on the mat doing nothing. A "You cant wrestle chant breaks out" which is cool. Kahli might be upset by it, but he can't speak English so it's fine. Kahli is tossed out by Taker and it's back down to the first two.
-Kahli out! Yay!

#5 Hardcore Holly. I give him about 30 seconds. Taker and HBK tease good eliminations while Holly tries to look busy.

#6. Morrison. Awesome, awful music though. Wow, Holly survived until the next entrant came in. Morrison and HBK could have a great feud imo.

#7 Already. And it's Tommy Dreamer. Joey Styles says that unlike everyone else in the match Dreamer will chose to fight for the ECW title. Nice one Joey, you just said that nobody else cares about the ECW title. Btw all 6 commentators calling this match which I liked. "Tommy Dreamer" chant.

#8 Batista!?"
Damn 3 favourites here now. I don't think he has the stamina to last to the end. Batty kicks ass and we get a short Batty vs Taker rematch from last years Mania. Batty tosses out dreamer.
-Dreamer out! Boo. What was the point of his whole kayfabe online rant?

#9 Hornswoggle. Everyone in the ring freezes and Horny hides under the ring. Ala' Lawler in 96. Hey I realized that 3 of our commentators have been in a rumble match, though Tazz for 8 seconds.

#10 Custom Chucky P! Not a huge reaction after his heel turn so that sucks for him. Morrison is doing a great job of faking being thrown out. Why is Holly still in?

#11 Noble! Look out Chucky! Chuck tosses out Noble.
- Noble out! Meh, continues their feud though does anyone care about it? Noble needs EMT's to help him. Morrison continues his great job.

#12 CM Punk!! He comes in like a house on fire until Taker clotheslines him. Punk eliminates Chucky.
Chucky out- yay! Punk tossed someone!

#13 Cody Rhodes. He looks pretty good, but surely he would try and help his partner Holly? Apparently not. Punk and Morrison continue their awesome feud from last year.

#14 Umaga! Okay here we go. He is going to clean house.
Holly out! Yay! Taker and HBK have both looked good here.

#15 Already this is to quick. Snitsky's in, who cares? Since his entrance Batty hasn't done anything. Nice fake elimination with Rhodes and Snitsky.

#16 Miz cool. Unlike the Raw champs Miz and Morrison team up to take on Punk. Batty lays on the floor. Umaga and Taker pair off and that would be a great feud too. Miz and Morrison rule.

#17 Shelton!!!! AINT NO STOPPING HIM NOW! Shelton does an amazing spot where he leaps onto the top rope and attacks the SD champs. HBK sweet chin music to Benji.
-Shelton out!! WHAT THE F**K?!?! What happened to his big push?!! That was so gay!

#18 Snuka!!!! I called it on MSN! Snuka is our first of 5 surprises. Taker head buts Snuka....how long has he been in the WWE?!

#19 Piper!! A very fat Piper, but Piper. Good to have him back after his fight with cancer. Snuka and Piper renew their feud from decades ago while everyone watches. Very funny spot where Morrison and Punk laugh about it until Morison kicks him in the head. John's made me a big fan of his tonight.

#20 Kane. We get the "he has the record elimination” stuff we always get and he tosses out Piper and Snuka
-Piper and Snuka out- It was a pretty good rumble moment and one of the few good things this will be remembered for.

#21 Carlito!! He runs into the ring and spits his apple, which he must have been eaten backstage into Rhodes' face. Great spot. We then get an amazing exchange between him, Punk and Morrison. Move him to SD.

#22 Foley! Great pop from the NY crowd. Foley and Umaga are the only two standing at one point and I think we see them fight, but sadly now. Batty lays on the mat some more and why is Snitsky there.

#23 Kennedy! Yay..... He looks smart as he takes his time and chooses who he attacks wisely. Looks good here and seems quite over. Batty appears to fight the middle rope at one point...odd nobody anywhere near him.

#24 Big Daddy V
-Taker tosses Snitsky out- Yay!
-HBK kicks Taker our- What?!
-Kennedy tosses HBK- No!!
Well two of the bug favourites are out. That leaves KK, HHH and Batty as potential winners. KK almost tosses Rhodes and then almost goes himself. Rhodes is looking good here.

#25 Mark Henry! I'd like to know in all the rumbles how many tag teams have drawn back to back numbers, quite a lot I'd guess. KK tries to eliminate Miz and Hornswoggle leaves the ring and pulls him out before hiding again. Loved it!
- Miz out!- Good showing here by Miz. He's come along way.

#26 is our 3rd surprise entrant and it's Chavo. I guess this means that Styles was right about Dreamer being the only person who wants the ECW title as even the champion clearly wants one of the other two. No surprise that he and Punk fight it out.
-Kane kicks Morrison out- Great showing by John. MVP of the match.

I look up and see Batty not doing much, great. Wait he's just come alive. Henry tries to eliminate Rhodes when Horny again leaves the apron and tries pulling Henry out lol. Mark is not impressed and pulls him into the ring where Henry and Vis look like they are going to kill him. Finlay is here! Fin's hitting everyone with his weapon thing. He rules. Him and Horny leave the ringside area.

- JR then tells us that Finlay has been DQ'd! What?!?! DQ'd in a rumble?! So Funk trying to use a chainsaw in 98 was fine? The hardcore rumble in 01 was ok, but not this?! Very disappointing. Also Hornswoggle doesn't come back either so what was the point of this?

#27 I think was meant to Finlay, but he jumped the gun and then got DQ'd so let's move on.

#28 Elijah Burke. Yay. Why they didn't announce him I dunno, but he is our 4th surprise entrant. Batty is now laying on the outside and again doing nothing/
-Chavo eliminate Punk- Boo! Enough of that feud already! Great showing by Punk though, makes up for last year.

#29 is the winner HHH! Booo!
-HHH eliminates Rhodes. He also looked good here.
-HHH tosses Big Daddy V! Yay! V was useless here. They should have had him and Henry team up, but they didn't. Foley and HHH have a far too brief exchange of punches until Hunter throws him into Burke and they both go over.

I asked why they put Foley into this match and wondered if he was going to start a feud with a guy like Umaga in it. After watching it I still don't know why the hell he was here. Utter pointless waste of Mick. HHH isn't moving around very well, I thought he had injured his leg again, but I think he just sucks. Kane is laying on the mat not doing much and nor is Batty, but that should go without saying now.

#30 will now be our final surprise entrant. Welllllllll, well it's the Big....Cena?!! Mostly cheers from the crowd and everyone in the ring looks shocked. Well I guess Cena fooled everyone. HHH looks heelish here shouting at Cena.

Cena tosses Carlito (boo!) and then Chavo right after (meh) and Henry too (yay!) So we are down to 6. Batista, Umaga, Kane, Kennedy, HHH and Cena. HHH still looks terrible in there. Batty suddenly comes alive and spear's Umaga.

- KK clotheslines out by Batty. Shocked Umaga and Kane beat him in this. I guess he tossed out HBK though, so that keeps that feud going.

-Batty takes out Umaga now Booo! Umaga was booked strong.

-Batty and HHH eliminate Kane and we get a great final 3 here I have no idea who is winning! I think HHH sadly. The crowd seem to be behind Hunter, why?

-HHH clothesline's Batty just like he did to Angle to win in 02. Cena and HHH exchange punches with the fans cheering HHH's and booing Cena's. Eventually after several FU and Pedigree teases Cena wins and I cheer.
-----

So in the end I liked the winner, but like last year it was very dull until the last few guys. Foley wasn't used at all, Finlay and Honry should both still be in there, Shelton going out so stupidly early and Taker/HBK not being there at the end were bad decisions imo. I am just a bit relived that HHH didn't win, I'd be fuming then. I guess this leads to Orton vs Cena at Mania. Fine by me.

[Knoxville]

I thought the PPV was very good in itself, the rumble match was okay, although most suprises were predictable. Apart from Cena, now that was a suprise. 2 months from a torn pectoral muscle, is this guy super-human or what? It was only last night I was saying that'd I'd welcome Cena back. Of course this now leaves the whole Wrestlemania main event in shambles, I don't think anyone could of called that. So if Cena is on Raw and he chooses Orton (which he will.) Thet leaves SD with the Chamber match. Anyone lese think HHH could jump brand and we could see Edge vs. HHH on the SD side?

The Finlay - Hornswoggle stuff was gay. I have a feeling it could end up being Vince vs. Finlay and Hornswoggle at WM myself. Right now to the stuff that really did piss me off, wtf was Chavo the ECW World Champion doing in the rumble. That makes no sense in itself and shows that WWE don't treat the ECW Title as a world title as they seem to make us think they do. Obviously Chavo knows he can do better than that, but come off it Chavo, if Rey can't do it again I think I'll wave my hat at you.

The undercard itself was really strong, but I agree with you Woo when you say they built up to be almost as if Hardy wasn't good enough to be champion. I would of loved it for him to win last night, but I guess we can rest all hopes of that happening now until at least May. I'm calling him for MITB winner right now.

I liked the Flair/MVP match, didn't go long enough in my opinion. The Y2J/J "Boring" L match was decent, I liked the ending, even though on other sites I visit you got other people going "the choking was too much since Benoit." Those people are idiots. It added to the match imo, and I really liked the match itself, even if JBL's boobies did fly around a bit too much. Seriously, the guy needs the gym.

Edge vs. Rey was good, would of been better if it wasn't for that god awful Vickie Guerrero being there. Seriously, take her off screen, she can't act and she looks even worse in HD. Also, why the hell isn't Teddy GM again, Vivkie was just acting why he was getting married to his now fired on screen wife.

Overall, Royal Rumble was a good PPV. I'm hoping WWE can keep this going throughout the whole year, I'm liking these dual branded PPV's alot more.