Let’s Get Ready to Ruummmmblllllllllle!
Ask any WWE fan what their favourite time of year is and they’ll likely answer right now. This period, starting with The Royal Rumble and ending in Wrestlemania, generally known as The Road to Wrestlemania, has for some years now been associated with a general rise in the quality of WWE programming. For creative and backstage personnel, this is the time to step up one’s work since the success (or lack thereof) of Wrestlemania is the key barometer by which the overall success of WWE will be measured. For wrestlers and other on-screen talent, this is also the time to step it up, in order to ensure an appearance at Wrestlemania, and the prestige, not to mention additional payday, that goes with it. In short, this is the time of year in which everyone in WWE is, or should be, giving everything their very best.
Judging by this year’s Royal Rumble, the 23rd since Pat Patterson had what was quite possibly the greatest single match idea in the history of wrestling, this year will be no exception. Sunday’s pay per view was undoubtedly the best thing that WWE have put on for some time, and bodes very well for the future. The show opened with a good match between Christian and his challenger, Ezekiel Jackson, for the ECW Championship. The match sensibly played to the strengths of both men, the power and size of Jackson being contrasted with the veteran guile of Christian. It was nice to see that, even given the lowly position of ECW in the WWE priority list, the match was given a reasonable length of time. The only problem with it is that Christian has become such a dominant champion. It’s hard to see where we go next for him, which in turn, makes one question whether or not the ECW Championship will be featured at Wrestlemania. A strong feud is required to get the brand on the biggest show of the year, and currently it’s difficult to see where that is coming from. Certainly, Christian can give Jackson a rematch – the victory was hardly so dominant as to deny the big man that. Unless something happens to lift Jackson to another level, however, it’s hard to imagine that contest taking place on pay per view at all, much less on the grandest stage of them all.
Elsewhere in the WWE Universe, there are people with clearer futures. Next up, after some backstage “comedy” shenanigans, was an impromptu match between MVP and The Miz, for the United States Championship. One of the great success stories of 2009, it is nice to see that The Miz has not yet started to rest on his laurels. One just senses that he knows how close he is to achieving real success, and he is not going to let up until he gets there. This feud is also invigorating MVP, as well. Porter, once tipped to be a future top guy, has seemingly floundered for some time, particularly since moving to Raw. Going after the US Championship has helped restore his profile, which is no bad thing. This sort of feud is exactly what secondary championships are made for, in my opinion. One only has to look back at The Rock versus Triple H in 1998 or Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit in 2000 to see that these kinds of mid-card feuds can enhance the profiles of all concerned.
The match itself was entertaining without being a classic. There was good back and forth, and either man could believably have won. The booing from the crowd came after the match. The Miz won with a sneaky roll-up, and then began taunting MVP, who promptly nailed him with the Playmaker. Most of the crowd seemed to regard this as sour grapes, which also indicates the rising popularity of The Miz. One can’t help but remember that MVP was far more successful as an arrogant heel than he has been lately, so maybe this would be a good feud to accomplish a double-turn, when the time is right.
Staying with the Raw brand, we moved from the US Championship to the WWE Championship, with a rare heel-heel match, Randy Orton versus Sheamus. Before the match, both members of Legacy separately found Randy to assure him of their loyalty and support, while casting doubts on that of their team-mate. Understandably, Randy grew tired of this and told Ted DiBiase that he did not want help from either of them in his match. The match itself was fine, and featured a few nice moments, such as a brawl outside the ring where Sheamus sent Orton into the ring-post and, as Orton staggered back, shoved him straight into the same post again. A very simple manoeuvre, but one that looked effective and made sense. Orton appeared to have the upper hand when Cody blindsided Sheamus in clear view of the referee. Although Orton hit the RKO on the Irishman, the ref called for the bell and Orton was disqualified.
After the match, Orton attacked Cody, to the delight of the crowd, and dealt with Ted in similar fashion when he came out to intercede on his partner’s behalf. A recovered Sheamus then levelled Orton with a bicycle kick and left the ring. Obviously, Orton had the crowd during this match but I had to agree with Jerry Lawler when he remarked that the audience were not as vocal in Orton’s support as he (or I) had expected. To be honest, I have heard Orton garner bigger pops when wrestling faces (and not just John Cena). Orton got more cheers for his post-match attacks than anything in the match. It seems clear now that Randy is turning face again and I do believe that that is what the crowd wants. However, he has built up a very distinctive in-ring style that I believe is more suited to a bad guy. To really go over as one of the good guys, although it would be a mistake to alter too much of his character, Orton needs to adopt a faster pace in the ring.
Next up was the conclusion to the “Piggy James” feud over the Women’s Title on Smackdown. I have enjoyed this feud a lot, more than any women’s feud I can remember for a long time. It’s the same formula as Miz and MVP – take two characters that can’t stand each other and give them a championship to fight over. Works every time. In this case, Women’s Champ Michelle McCool was being challenged by Mickie James, so, she decided to combat this threat by undermining the challenger’s confidence. For the last few weeks, McCool and her friend Layla (LayCool) have subjected James to increasingly nasty and brutal taunts regarding her weight. Many fans have taken offence at this, proving two things. One, that the issue is a good one since it clearly gets under people’s skin and two, that many wrestling fans seem to forget that it is the job of wrestling villains to be hateful, nasty and un-likeable. LayCool managed this very well. In this case, the match was extremely brief, which was not really a bad thing, since this story was not about the match, it was about retribution and vindication. Swiftly winning the championship (her fifth) with a typically brutal looking DDT, James was joined by the other baby-face women of Raw and Smackdown, led by her friend and ally Maria, bearing an enormous cake. As her friends held down LayCool, Mickie smashed the cake in their faces, gaining her final revenge. The two heels sold the humiliation beautifully, so this was a segment that was satisfying.
After that it was back to the business of world championships, specifically The Undertaker’s World Heavyweight Championship. Rey Mysterio, who has really been on fire for the last few months, was challenging the Deadman in a match that I was really looking forward to. The awesome video recap of their feud only heightened my anticipation. The match itself was, far and away, the best match of the night thus far, a classic case of little man with heart taking on dominating big man. Mysterio kept coming, ‘Taker kept swatting him down, Mysterio kept coming back again. The two men worked numerous and inventive counters and reversals and Undertaker did a wonderful job of selling Mysterio’s offensive moves. Finally, ‘Taker nailed the victory with The Last Ride but honestly, Mysterio came out of this defeat looking more credible than he did any of his world title victories a few years back. I would happily watch these two again.
Finally, then, The Royal Rumble Match itself, one of the most hotly anticipated matches of any year. At its worst, this match is always entertaining. This year, it was a long way from its worst. Many people complain nowadays that the prize for the Rumble, a shot at a title at Wrestlemania, makes the match more predictable, guaranteeing that only a handful of entrants have any chance of winning. So what? In any real sporting contest – be it a golf major, a tennis championship or whatever – only a handful of the entrants have a genuine chance of winning. The dream, however, is there for every entrant, however faint it may be. Moreover, the Rumble isn’t just about the winner. Done right, this match can elevate a number of guys, and that is exactly what this year’s Rumble did.
Firstly, we had CM Punk, who dominated the opening stages of this Rumble. Fair enough, Punk lasted only a few minutes and got nowhere near victory. The point was what he was allowed to do with his time. He eliminated five competitors personally and he underlined every aspect of his character by virtue of his little speeches in between waiting for opponents – his cowardice, his arrogance, his dishonesty and his skill. This was Punk’s fourth Rumble but it felt like his first as it was the first time he was in the match as a major star. Further, his elimination at the hands of Triple H, coming hot on the heels of their excellent match on Smackdown last week continues a potential feud that I would love to see played out further.
No one, with the possible exception of Matt Hardy and Zack Ryder, really came out of this match looking weaker than they had going in and almost every entrant was allowed to hit at least one finishing move on somebody, if not score any eliminations. Several guys were allowed to be extremely dominant, if only briefly, including Carlito and Kane. Beth Phoenix popped the crowd big-time when she eliminated the gigantic Great Khali with a kiss, in what has to be one of the greatest bits of booking I have ever seen. Nobody wants to see Khali main-event Wrestlemania but this allowed him to be taken out of the match while in no way diluting his aura as a dominant giant, gave the crowd a good laugh and gave Phoenix a major feather in her cap all in one moment. The feud of MVP and The Miz also continued to heat up. First, Miz regained his status as bad guy by blasting MVP in the back of the head with the US Title belt, before MVP could even get to the ring, then later, a recovered Porter eliminated both himself and Miz from the match with a clothesline, before they continued to fight on the outside. These two characters now really hate each other.
R-Truth did his cause a world of good by simultaneously eliminating both Mark Henry and The Big Show, which comes as a welcome addition to his recent victories over Chris Jericho and proves that he is moving in the right direction. And, of course, there is Shawn Michaels. HBK was both dominant and desperate in his quest to win the Rumble and challenge The Undertaker at Wrestlemania for the second year running. The moment when he eliminated his tag-team partner Triple H with a blindsided Sweet Chin Music underlined both his determination to win and the growing tension between DX. Once again, it also allowed Triple H to be eliminated while in no way detracting from his status as a dominant ass-kicker. When Michaels was himself eliminated by Batista, he played it beautifully, moving from disbelief to frustrated rage very quickly. Re-entering the ring, he super-kicked referee Charles Robinson, who was attempting to persuade him to leave, only to seemingly be overcome with remorse as he realised that he was reacting badly. This story is fascinating, and could go in many directions as yet.
But the ultimate story was, of course, the return of Edge. His shocking return from an injury that, we were told, might even keep him out of ‘Mania itself may have been reminsicient of John Cena’s 2008 victory but so what? Edge’s return shakes everything up and gives a whole host of new possibilities for ‘Mania. I also love the fact that he has opted to postpone his decision as to who he faces until after The Elimination Chamber in three weeks. The tension should only continue to rise. All in all, then, this was a cracking pay per view, with an excellent conclusion. We had both conclusions and beginnings on the show and, as The Road to Wrestlemania stretches out before us, it looks both exciting and unpredictable.
Marshall Law 