2005 Royal Rumble Review
Tonight im watching the 2005 Rumble and im reviewing as I go. We are live from Fresno and your hosts are JR and King for Raw and Cole and Tazz for Smackdown.
Match #1
Singles Match
Shawn Michaels Vs Edge
After what happened to Edge at New Years Revolution, this is the blowoff to their feud. Shawn gets a backdrop, then takes him out of the ring with a clothesline and skins the cat. Edge looks like he's on the verge of a mental breakdown. Shawn wins a punchfest and makes the mistake of putting his head down and gets a neckbreaker from Edge. Edge slugs him down, but Shawn fights back and Edge gives him an eyepoke for it. Shawn gives with a thesz press and tosses him, but misses a baseball slide. Edge gives him an edgeomatic on the floor as a result. Edge follows with his own baseball slide. Back in, Edge sends him into the turnbuckles and stomps away and blocks a rana from Shawn with a powerbomb. Edge with a chinlock. Shawn fights up, so Edge takes him down again and mocks him. Edge goes for a backdrop suplex, but Shawn falls on top for 2. Edge clotheslines him down again and we go back to the chinlock. Shawn fights out and makes the comeback, hitting Edge with an inverted atomic drop and blocking a blind charge with an elbow. Shawn pounds away in the corner and gets a sunset flip for 2. Catapult into the corner gets 2. Edge bails and decides to walk out, but Shawn chases him back in. They brawl on the floor and Shawn gets speared. Edge tries for a countout, but Shawn makes it back. Edge sets up for the spear, hitting it for 2. They head up and Edge gets knocked off and Shawn hits the flying elbow. Shawn goes for the superkick and in a nice spot Edge blocks with the electric chair drop for 2. Shawn gets a sunset flip, but Edge rolls through into the edgeucator but Shawn makes the ropes. Edge tries again, but Shawn counters for 2. Rollup gets 2 and Edge rolls it over and grabs the ropes for leverage and the win at 18:30. Good opener. 3 stars
Backstage GM's Bishoff and Teddy Long blow smoke up eachothers ass as usual when the GM's have a powow. Flair and Eddie show up to draw their numbers. Flair stops Eddie and wants to go first and pulls out a number that he is very pleased with. Eddie is not so pleased with his. Eddie wishes him goodluck and gives him a hug. Flair gloats and shows his number to the GMs and the tumbler ho's and they tell him to check it and he realizes that Eddie stole and switched numbers. Probably the most memorable moment from this show for me. Which really shouldn't be considered good. Elsewhere Heidenrich and Snitsky have a pyscho conversation about The Undertaker.
Match #2
Casket Match
The Undetaker Vs Heidenrich
Taker taunts him with the casket and Heidenrich tries leaving and they brawl. Heidenrich takes over by bumping Taker off the casket. They head into the ring, where Taker gets the deadly triangle choke, but Snitsky runs in and breaks it up. Kane to pop out of the casket and beats Snitsky to the back. Heidenrich whips Taker into the steps. He shoves the casket into Taker and it's a phantom hit really, and they head back into the ring and Heidenrich uses a cobra clutch and Taker fights off as expected. He rolls Taker into the casket, but Taker wakes up adn puts him i Taker sandwiches Heidenreich in the casket and drops a leg on it. Taker goes for a bulldog and John counters with a bossman slam. Heidenrich wastes time trying a pin then realizes his stupidity and tries to roll Taker into the box. They slug it out, and Taker gets a weak DDT and a weak chokeslam and a tombestone to finish Heidenrich and puts him in the casket at 13:21 by my watch. 1 star.
Backstage Long makes Eddie give up Flair's real number and makes him give up Flair's wallet aswell. Classic stuff. Back at the drawing room, Cena goes to draw his number and Christian interrupts and makes an ass of himself in a rap off.
Match #3
Smackdown Championship Triple Threat Match
John Bradshaw Layfield Vs Kurt Angle Vs The Big Show
Bradshaw goes after Show to start and Show beats him up in the corner. JBL tries a high cross body, but Show catches him and drops a leg for 2. Angle jumps Show and gets whomped. Show suplexes JBL and boots angle then clotheslines both heels out to a pop. They fight on the floor and JBL eats post, while Show props a table. He sets up the steps and brings JBL up with him and tries a chokeslam but Angle interferes with a lowblow then bops him with a monitor and Show crashes through the table. Angle beats on JBL and chases him into the ring. JBL tries a big boot, but Angle takes him down with an armbar. Bradshaw with a corner clothesline, but gets german suplexed. He tries to counter with the CFH but Angle ducks and gets another german. Angle Slam is countered with a boot to the face. Show wakes up and gets back into it and clotheslines them both a couple of times then slams Angle onto JBL. He puts them both in the corner and butt drops them in a sandwitch job. Double clothesline sets up a double chokeslam. Angle and JBL fight him off then Angle suplexes JBL. Angle Slam on Show, and JBL gets 2 from that. Show comes back with a chokeslam for 2. JBL bails, and Show goes after him and tackles him through the barricade! Angle sneaks a chair in the ring. Show flapjacks him on his own chair, but Mark Jindrak and Luther Reigns attack Show. JBL's cabinet shows up to help him while Angle's goons beat on Show. Jordan helps JBL into the ring and he gets a suprise CFH on Angle for the pin at 11:59ish. Im going 2 1/2 stars. Didn't care for the finish.
Match #4
Raw Championship Match
HHH Vs Randy Orton
Orton spends too much time trying for the RKO. They fight outside andHHH sends him into the stairs, but charges and hits boot. Bad thing ahead as the crowd starts to turn on Orton. HHH clips the knee and wraps it around the post. Back in, HHH clips him and drops an elbow on the knee. He keeps working on it, but Orton gets a cradle for 2. HHH goes right back to it, and tries a figure. Orton reverses to escape then and HHH goes right back to the knee. Orton kicks him out of the ring, and gets his backbreaker move as HHH comes back in. Neckbreaker gets 2. Another one gets 2. Powerslam gets 2. HHH comes back with an atomic drop out of the corner and goes up, but gets slammed off. Orton goes up with a high cross body for 2. HHH tries a pedigree but Orton counters with a catapult. HHH counters the RKO again and follows with a high knee for 2. Another pedigree is countered with a clothesline, which gets 2. They fight outside and Orton sends him into the stairs, and back in Orton slugs away in the corner. He tries a DDT, but HHH blocks and Orton knocks himself silly somehow and the ref checks him out. The referee gets knocked down by HHH and he goes for the sledge hammer. Orton fights him off. Orton goes for the hammer but HHH catches him good with a clothesline and a pedigree ends it at 21:29. This was about that time when ALOT of people started turning on Orton and were calling him a flash in the pan and that he peaked too early. ****, I thought he peaked too early with the IC title. But I never liked him much anyway. Match was pretty good though. 3 stars.
Backstage Angle steals Nunzio's number and makes him look like a punk. If it was HHH doing this the internet would **** all over it.
Match #5
2005 Royal Rumble
Eddie has #1 (I understand why he would try stealing someone elses) and Benoit is #2. They do some mat stuff to kill time which is a good idea. Then #3 Daniel Puder shows up and BS's on the mic then they instigate a hazing and chop his chest raw. #4 Hardcore Holly is in and he asks for a turn. They chop the punk silly and an alabama slam and Holly tosses him as #5 Huricane shows up. Benoit and Guerrero toss Holly as he just stands there and lets them do it then they take turns chopping Huricane until Eddie trise pulling a fast one on Benoit and only suceeds in pissing him off. Hurricane hits Eddie with the Blockbuster, but gets' chopped down by Benoit. Eddie backdrops him out and Huricane lasted longer in his third attempt than his previous two combined showing I think. Kenzo Suzuki is #6, and he gets double teamed. Benoit suplexes him and they pound him in the corner, then Eddie gets a backdrop suplex before Benoit tosses him to the apron. Edge is #7 which is kinda suprising. Edge tries to dump Eddie as Kenzo hooks up with Benoit as Rey Mysterio is #8. He goes after everyone and bulldogs Edge, then dropkicks Benoit in the corner. Kenzo tries to dump him, but Rey hangs on and headscissors him out. Eddie hits Rey with a nasty looking tiltawhirl backbreaker to slow him down. Shelton Benjamin is #9 and it looks like this year they are shooting all their iron men out early. orkrate really starts to flow. He goes after Edge with an elbow and backdrops Eddie as Benoit fights with Rey on the ropes. Rey does a headscissors on Shelton, and Booker T is #10. He pounds Edge down and gets a leg lariat, and Bishoff shows up to cheerlead the Raw guys. Rey springboards in from the apron to break up Benoit's boston crab on Eddie as Jericho is #11. Yeah, theyre sending out the good one's early tonight. Teddy Long shows up for Smackdown. Luther Reigns is #12 and everybody stops fighting to have an even Raw Vs Smackdown rumble which stops abrubtly when #13 Muhamad Hassan shows up and as usual, racial overtones prevail and they mug the guy and hit some finishers before giving him the heave ho. Orlando Jordan is #14 and nothing happens. #15 is Scotty 2 Hotty and the whiny bitch Hassan shows up and beats him up so he can't enter. I hate cheap crap like that. Charlie Haas is #16 and he teams up with Shelton for a Worlds Greatest Tag Team reunion which the crowd likes. Booker dumps Reigns then tosses Jordan in a split second and is feeling so good he does a rumblerooni and he falls victim to a dropkick from Rey and Eddie pulls down the ropes and he spills out. Rene Dupree is #17 and what's up with this guys posture? He goes after Rey and chokes him down in the corner, but Haas hotshots him and double teams him with Benjamin. Shelton gets sent to the corner and does a spring up to the top rope and gets shoved off. Simon Dean is #18, and he takes his time and does some warmups. Rey counters Eddie with a facebuster and Edge chucks him and the crowd ****'s all over it as Edge mocks him. #19 is Shawn Michaels (dammit we were about 30 seconds apart from seeing Shawn/Guerrero fight just one time). Dean gets in the ring and Shawn knocks him out. Shawn goes after everyone and gets slugged down by Haas. Rey plays hide and seek with Edge as Shawn dumps Haas and JR screws up the call saying it was Dupree. They both got similiar hair style and same tacky tights. Kurt Angle is #20 and he destroys everyone with suplexes and angle slams. HBK tries a superkick but Angle counters into the ankle lock and Shawn grabs the ropes to counter out and superkicks him out of the match. Coach is #21.........god...Raw sure had some **** entrants this year didn't they? Mark Jindrak is #22 and Angle returns and dumps Shawn in cheap fashion then tries to break his ankle. Viscera is #23. Jindrak tosses Rey, but he hangs on. Paul London is #24 and Dupree attacks. He stops to do the dumass dance and Jericho throws him out in similiar fashion to last year. John Cena is #25 and gets the lowdest pop so far. He goes nuts and hits everyone, then gets rid of Viscera. Snitsky is #26. London tries a sleeper on him, Snitsky puts him on the apron and in the most memorable spot of the show for me he clotheslines him off and London does a shooting star flip bump to the floor. Snitsky boots Cena down and Kane is #27. Gene goes after him and gets clotheslined, and Kane chokeslams some peopl and then throws Jindrak. JR screws up the # of eliminations by Kane in 2001.....10.......it's 11 JR you have called it as 11 for every Rumble since then. Coach wussy hits Kane then almost gets chokeslammed but Snitsky saves. He gets a pumphandle slam as #28 Batista shows up to a monster face pop and he sends Snitsky out on his as quickly. He faces off with Kane and batista bomb soon follows. Jericho tries a halfassed cross body and gets sent out. Christian is #29 with Tomko and he goes after Cena. Cena FU's Kane out of the ring. Flair is #30 (and I can understand him being pissed about Eddie stealing THAT #). He teams up with Batista and they pick on Coach and finally get rid of the turd. Then Batista singles out Christian and press slams him onto Tomko outside. Short night for Christian. Batista kills Benoit with a spinebuster and Benoit's selling abilities are phenominal. He's gone. Flair tries to pull a fast one on Batista and he has to beg for forgiveness and Edge and Rey team up like 2002 and dropkick Batista back. Flair gets speared and tossed by Edge after doing next to nothing. The final 4 are Edge, Rey, Batista and Cena.
Batista goes after Edge, but gets speared, so does Cena. Edge goes for Rey, but misses, and Rey follows with the 619. But that puts him on the apron, and Edge spears him off. Edge has been HOT tonight!! So of course he's eliminated on a double team right away and the super faces duke it out and they fall backwards out of the ring on a batista bomb attempt at the same time and we have to sit through 1994 all over again. Vince McMahon storms out acting all pissy and makes the twist worth while by blowing out both his quads, both knees, his pink and knocking out a tooth by rolling into the ring. He sits their on his ass as the refs plead their cases for who they think won and I gotta give Vince credit for being able to sit their in pain and look relatively calm. But it serves him right for trying to grandstand. The match is restarted and Cena tries an FU but Batista counters and knocks him silly with a spinebuster and tosses him at 54:50 by my watch. Not one of my favorite Rumbles, but fun nontheless. 3 1/2 stars.
Overall Opinion: An solid card pretty much. But with only 5 matches it's gonna suffer on the grading system, which isn't really fair.
Final Score: With only 5 matches this show only gets a 4.4 star rating out of a perfect 10.0, but I give it a recommendation.