Second Batch of Reader Feedback to The Royal Rumble

Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy

In what wasn’t a surprise the night started off with the ECW Championship match. I’ve got to say this was really my first time getting to see what Swagger can do and although I don’t agree with him getting the belt so soon, he really did impress me. If he is to be the new face of ECW I believe they did make the right choice of the new guys, seeing as how Evan Bourne is out right now and when he does return will more than likely be back in the story line with Rey Mysterio and Mike Knox.

The match exceeded my expectations, and really had me locked into the PPV right away.

7.5/10

Beth Phoenix vs. Melina

In my eyes since the return of Melina she has definitely improved what she can do, and you can tell she only wants to get better. You put her in a match with The Glamazon and my friends you have me interested in the Womans Title Match. Usually I get anxious during their matches just wondering if one is going to make a mistake, and although some moves seemed not so polished, I was into this match.

I was waiting for Rosa to interfere or Santino to get involved, and I believe without any interference made it so much better. A great clean finish that caught myself off guard, and made me throw up my fists cheering, not just for the winner, but more so for an excellent match between two divas who are able to bring their A-game.

7.5/10

John Cena vs. JBL

There was so much going into this match making one wonder what could happen as far as HBK was concerned.

For a while I was convinced that JBL would walk away with the World Title, which I honestly wouldn’t have minded. HBK was what kept me glued to the match. I’ve seen what JBL and Cena are capable of and well..this wasn’t too bad, but I don’t think if they had the HBK storyline with it, it should have been on the Rumble card.

When HBK hit both men with the sweet chin music I found it very interesting to see that he was not showing where his complete loyalty is, but still showed that he wants to do what’s best for his family.

Cena retains, but 12 rounds will still suck

6/10

Jeff Hardy vs. Edge

Match of the night, what else can I say? With the inevitable return of Christian, it definitely gave me a strong feeling of Jeff losing the title, especially when Vickie Guerrero made the match No DQ. The ladder spot onto Chavo was great, had me worried though cause I didn’t think he got the push off that he needed, but it paid off.

I am excited to see this brother vs/ brother feud, should produce excellent matches and with Matts heel turn it has me asking why? And is he now officially aligned with Edge?

I can’t wait to see how this one unfolds. But I will go on record of saying Jeff Hardy deserved a longer run with the belt, as the most over guy in the company its almost a slap in the face to him, but hey that’s scripted entertainment folks.

9/10

ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH

I had picked Orton from the start, this guy is awesome no matter what, however I was on the edge of my seat wondering who could win. Cause sure you can pick people and speculate but out of 30 guys…okay really only what 8-9 actual probable picks, you never know which way creative has decided last minute to go.

I hated seeing The Brian Kendrick go so fast, especially hearing that its most likely due to backstage heat, this kid is talented and I want to see him go far.

Orton winning in the end was great but I was more so hoping for a two man show down of him and Triple H.

I love reading people said Orton winning was predictable…however when I read Predictions over the weekend, no one predicted him….hmmm is it really THAT predictable?

8.5/10

Overall a great PPV to start off the year, and I am very excited that the Road to Wrestlemania has begun, should be an interesting one with many exciting (hopefully) storylines coming into the fold

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I’ve been a WWE fan since Wrestlemania 6. I’ve been to just about all events that come to Detroit and the one event i’ve always wanted to go to was the Royal Rumble. One of my favorite pay-per-views of the year. My friend and I were excited to hear the Royal Rumble was coming to Joe Louis. We both went all out and purchased front row tickets on camera side, right by the steel steps. We were so excited for this event because it was something we’ve always wanted to go to and we finally get to go. And sit FRONT ROW too. After we arrived downtown my friend and I braved the cold and sat with the rest of the WWE fans for an hour 1/2, but was the price of the ticket and standing out in that weather really worth it?

Matt Hardy vs Jack Swagger(C) for the ECW Title

I thought this was a very decent match to open up the Royal Rumble. Both men worked very well together in the ring. Swagger had a lot of heat on him which was good to see from a young superstar. Hardy of course had the fans behind him with the "Hardy" chants. There was a good flow during the match, the crowd seemed to be in it. Swagger has got a lot of potential. It’ll be interesting to see how WWE uses him.

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars.

Melina vs Beth Phoenix(C) for the Womens Title

Just your typical Womens match. Best part of the match was when the crowd chanted Santino’s name he just smiled and tried to get the crowd to quiet down. His comments at ringside were better then the match.

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars.

JBL w/ HBK vs John Cena(C) for the World Heavyweight Title

I don’t know why WWE used JBL to face Cena at the 2nd biggest Pay-Per-View of the Year. I just cannot stand seeing JBL main eventing. Especially at the Royal Rumble. If you want to do it at the Great American Bash or whatever smaller pay-per-view, thats fine. I’m just sick of seeing JBL being in these main events. As for the match…I thought it was an average match. Again…nothing special. Ending was alright. We’ve seen it many times. HBK lining up for the Sweet Chin Music as Cena is getting up, then connects with JBL’s chin. And i’m pretty sure we all seen the Sweet Chin Music coming to John Cena too. Now my question is why did it take so long for a ref to get down to the ring? Even after HBK left the ring it seemed like almost a minute til a ref came out. Well anyway typical ending with Cena kicking out, then ending it with The Throwback for the win.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Edge vs Jeff Hardy(C) for the WWE Championship

Probably the most anticipated match of the night. Vicki came down and made the match a No-DQ match. Almost everyone thought this would mean Christian is coming. These two have a long past together. Both work very well with eachother during matches. It was hard for me to keep my focus on this match, I was right in the aisle way and I just kept turning around to see if Christian was coming. A huge tease was when edge was on the outside and grabbed 2 chairs. Now the one thing I didn’t like was when Hardy did the leap onto Chavo on the announce table. Why go through all that for a guy thats NOT EVEN IN THE MATCH?!?! Anyway the finish of the match was kinda predictible. I guess this is Matt Hardy’s push? I don’t know what they plan on doing with this angle. I was very dissapointed as im sure a lot of others were too. A lot of us were awaiting the return of Christian.I do like Matt Hardy turning on Jeff Hardy, but I still wish it was Christian that cost Jeff Hardy the title.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars.

ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH

Why did Kozlov only last 2:40? Why did Mike Knox last 32:42? Why was Goldust, Hacksaw Jim Duggan in the Rumble? Why have JTG if Shad isn’t in the Rumble? I just feel like WWE really dropped the ball with this years Royal Rumble. Only surprise was Rob Van Dam, but I saw it coming because a lot of people were talking about seeing him arrive. I thought the ending was terrible. We’ve seen the ol’ im eliminating someone, and i’m going to come behind you and throw you over. Now i’m not a Triple H fan, but it still would of been nice to see HHH and Randy Orton go at it for a few moments. Just an average Rumble at best.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Final Grade: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I was very dissapointed with the 2009 Royal Rumble. I feel there were a lot of let downs, especially no return of Christian. The matches were average. Nothing really stood out. I really feel like tonights edition of Monday Night Raw could be better then the Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View which is very sad. I really feel like WWE knows about the rumors regarding Christian, which is why he didn’t appear. If so, then thats good I guess. Now they got everyone wondering when he’s going to make his return. I think this is going to be a lot like Jericho’s return. What I mean by that is…we wait awhile. Well thats all I have, thank you for taking time to read.

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One of the better ppv’s in a long while.  Matt Hardy losing his match is the only thing I found wrong with it, mainly because Jack Swagger of all people is the one who is still champion, but I guess it’s supposed to further the Hardy hatred storyline…while we’re on the subject, I didn’t hear about the prediction of Matt betraying Jeff and costing him is title, so that came as a complete surprise to me.  I kind of figured Christian would come out in one of the old gold Luchador costumes, but I guess that was just a pipe dream.  Either way, the Jeff/Edge match was awesome…including the ending.  JBL/Cena was pretty much what I expected it to be, but that’s not to say it was a bad match…just a little too predictable.  The one thing I didn’t expect was Undertaker showing up before the match to deliver his wisdom.  ("Sometimes, it’s Hell getting to Heaven"  my new favorite quote.)  Before I forget, the Women’s title match was good, but the ending was confusing at best.  King and Cole even said that Beth was blatantly in charge the entire time, so to have Melina deliver only one move throughout the match-a roll up pin-and win the title that way just doesnt cut it for me.  Maybe they were going for a realistic approach where the guy in charge can suddenly lose because of a simple slip-up, but it just doesnt work. (…lol-stop kicking yourself!)  Finally, the Royal Rumble Match itself.  too much to talk about, but King and JR said it best-that all of the wrestlers have trained themselves in the art of going over the top rop and NOT touching the floor.  Rey walking on Miz and Morrison was priceless…speaking of which, I don’t think Rhodes and DiBiase should have lasted as long as they did.  It made for an interesting end, but they shouldn’t have had them last from number 10 and 12 or whatever.  Glad to see RVD return, although I’m not sure why wwe keeps giving him random paychecks every now and then. Also glad to see Big Show NOT be the last person eliminated like he’s already been about 4 times, but I don’t think he should have been number 30. I was kind of hoping to see a shattered dreams on Cody Rhodes.  Lastly, I was VERY glad to see Trip not win, he doesnt need a Royal Rumble win push………..And am I the only one who realized that Orton is the first ever heel to win the Royal Rumble match? (I might be wrong…was Yokozuna a heel in 1993?)  Overall, the night started pretty good, and just got better and better and better, and the grades I gave prove it. (these are the hones grades…the pattern was not intended.

Grades:

Matt/Swagger——-6.5/10

Melina/Beth———7/10

JBL/Cena———–8/10

Edge/Jeff————9/10

Royal Rumble——-9.6/10

segments(1)———10/10

Overall Grade——-9/10…………..