My Royal Rumble 2013 Review

I was so disappointed with this years Royal Rumble. It was nothing like what I was hoping for and expecting. The build up seemed like it was leading towards something great, but it was such a letdown. 

The opening match was a rematch for the World Championship, between the current champion Alberto Del Rio and the former champion Big Show. They had a rare championship match on Smackdown which is where Del Rio won the belt. It was a great match with a great finish. This match did not live up to that one. Instead of a great finish it was a horrible finish. Richardo duct taped Big Show's feet to the bottom rope and the fat giant couldn't even do a sit up to reach the tape. It was pathetic to watch. 

Other matches before the rumble weren't even worth mentioning. Team Hell No kept the Tag-Team Championships in a weak match. The Divas match was on Raw the week before, so Kaitlyn already won the belt, and Eve already quit, so they had nothing for the Divas at the Rumble. 

That brings me to the Royal Rumble match itself. Before the match Dolph Ziggler announced he was choosing spot number one. This was epic, because he is the one guy I could see lasting from number one all the way to number thirty and winning the whole thing. That is why I announced earlier on this blog that he was my pick to win. He also said exactly what I wrote in a previous post that he should win the Rumble, and cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase to win both World Championship and WWE Championship and be the Undisputed Champion at Wrestlemania. 

The big shock that made the whole PPV for me was the person who drew number two... Chris Jericho. The man who's career was supposedly ended by Dolph Ziggler last year made his return to show up the show off. And that is what Jericho was doing all through the match. Jericho was always one of the best and my favourite Royal Rumble wrestlers.

Other great surprise appearances were Goldust and the Godfather. Goldust made a great appearance and fought against and worked with his brother Cody Rhodes, thought I wish he would have used his big moves, particularly the Shattered Dreams on Cody. Godfather embarrassed himself with about a 3 second appearance. I was almost worried he broke Santino's record but he fell over the rope in slow motion which probably took a few seconds. 

Kofi tried to steal the show again with another great recovery like last year when he walked on his hands. This year he landed on Albert's back and climbed onto the announce table. I thought he was going to make a huge jump to the ring which looks about ten feet away. But instead he just bounced over on top of JBL's chair. It was kind of lame I thought. And he was eliminated as soon as he got back to the ring. 

As the match drew closer to the end I started thinking about what big epic surprises they could come out with at the end. I thought Brock Lesnar would be the best one. He could come out at the end and start clearing the ring like a monster, only to be eliminated by Ryback! Can you imagine if those two were left in the ring, the crowd would explode. And if Ryback eliminated Lesnar it would be a major push for him. It would be like when Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior were the last two in the ring. But Lesnar didn't come out. The other surprise I was hoping for was Triple H. I know he cut his hair, and kind of stepped down, which was good since his last couple matches were embarrassing to watch. But it wouldn't have taken much for him to come out and make a short appearance. Again, it would have been cool to see him in the ring with Ryback, they could have really used this match to put Ryback over by having him eliminate major names like those. Or have Triple H find himself in the middle of the ring with Randy Orton again. The biggest shock of the night could have been the Undertaker! If he came out the place would have went nuts, faces would have been in a frenzy. I thought the Undertaker could be in the same ring as Triple H again. Or he could be eliminated by Kane, that would be a huge moment for Kane. But I guess the Undertaker is sticking to his once a year commitment. 

I think the highlight of the whole match was when Randy Orton started taking out everyone in the ring one by one, with power-slams, DDTs from the middle rope, and of course RKOs. But then he was eliminated and the match just went downhill. 

I was happy to see Dolph Ziggler make it past number 30 and be in the final group. I was also happy to see Jericho there to. My second choice to win was always Ryback but I worried it would be too big of a push too soon. 

The final five were: Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, Randy Orton, John Cena, and Ryback. 

I thought they might have Ryback eliminate Orton and Cena to really put him over but then have Jericho and Dolph team up to eliminate Ryback. That would make the number one and two the final two. That hasn't happened since Shawn Micheals and Davey Boy Smith. Then I would have had Ryback snap and come back in the ring and do the double finisher he used to do with the jobbers on both Ziggler and Jericho at the same time. That would have gave Ryback a huge pop at the end and he could have walked away stealing the show. Then I would have had Ziggler's team of AJ and Big E come out and help Ziggler eliminate Jericho to give Ziggler the win but make Jericho look like the star. 

Then I would have Jericho win the World Championship Elimination Chamber match on the next PPV, only to have Ziggler cash in his Money In The Bank Briefcase to win the title after the match, making Dolph Ziggler the World Champion heading into Wrestlemania to challenge the WWE Champion!

But that's not how it happened. Orton was eliminated, Jericho was eliminated, Ziggler was eliminated, and that left Ryback and Cena alone in the ring. At this point I didn't care if it was too soon for Ryback, just don't let Cena win. But that's what happened. That's what always happens. Cena won the Royal Rumble again. The worst thing that could have happened, happened. Now Cena will be in the main event of Wrestlemania for the WWE Championship again. FML. 

That just leaves the main event for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, between the Champion for over 400 days CM Punk, and the returning Rock who hasn't been Champion in 10 years.

This match could not live up to all the hype. They downplayed all the interference stuff with Brad Maddox and the Shield. All they did was have the lights go out and the Shield power-bombed the Rock through the announce table, which you could see because of all the camera flashes. CM Punk put Rock back in the ring and got the pin. Vince came out to disqualify Punk and strip him of the title, but Rock said re-start the match, which Vince did. Rock just hit the spin-buster and the People's Elbow for the win. 

I am extremely excited to see the Rock as the WWE Champion, but I think they could have done it better. 

They should have left out the part about the automatic disqualification if the Shield got involved and about how Vince would strip Punk of the title. But then have the Shield come out at the start of the match and attack the Rock, before the match even started. Have them power-bomb the Rock through the announce table. Make it seem like there is not even going to be a match. Then have Vince come out and say that because of the interference and not being able to have the match at all Punk is stripped of the title. The crowd would be ready to riot because they weren't going to have the match. That's when you have the Rock get up and say he still wants to have the match and he wants to win the title from Punk. That's when you have security come escort the Shield from ringside so they can't cause anymore trouble. 

I would have the match start with Punk in his corner, Rock in his corner, and as the referee rings the bell I would have Heyman grab the Rock's ankle holding him in the corner distracting him just long enough for Punk to run across the ring and hit the Rock with the Punk Knee right to the chin. Rock would stagger out of the corner half dazed allowing Punk to pick him up on his shoulders and deliver the GTS to start the match. The crowd would panic thinking the Rock was going to lose as soon as the match started, but I would have the Rock kick out of course. Punk would continue to hit the Rock with every move he has but the Rock just keeps kicking out like he's super-human. The crowd would just build up more and more each time he kicks out. Then just as the Rock turns the tables and goes on the offense, his first big move causes the referee to get knocked out. The Rock would be calling for another referee and Heyman would walk over and wave to the back with an evil look on his face. That is when Brad Maddox would come running out in a referee shirt. The crowd would be ready to riot again. Punk would have grabbed the belt and as the Rock turned around he knocks him out with the belt just in time for Maddox to slide in the ring and count the three!

As the crowd is ready to riot, Vince would come back out with more security for Maddox and tell him he is not an officially referee, that the pin didn't count, and they were re-starting the match yet again. Only the Rock is still knocked out. Vince would say he has a very special referee waiting in the back. The glass would shatter and Stone Cold Steve Austin would come out. The crowd would explode. He would hit the ring, and first thing he would do is hit Maddox with a Stone Cold Stunner. Then Punk would shove him and Austin would hit him with a Stone Cold Stunner. As Punk lay unconscious on the mat, Austin would be ready for the count as the crowd cheered the Rock to roll over and cover Punk. As the Rock finally did, Austin would start the count, but Punk would kick out! Then as the Rock got to his feet, and Punk got to his feet, the Rock would hit the Rock Bottom and make the cover, and this time Austin would make the three count for the win, and the Rock would be the new WWE Champion... standing in the ring with Stone Cold Steve Austin raising his hand as they both stand over Punk flat on his back on the mat. 

Either way, the Rock is the new WWE Champion. So it looks like the main event of Wrestlemania will be a rematch between the Rock and John Cena, only this time for the WWE Championship. I guess the WWE lied when they called their match last year "once in a lifetime" because its going to happen again. 

If they want that match so bad, which I don't want to see, they should just have the Rock drop the WWE Championship in the Elimination Chamber and have the Rock vs Cena a non-title match. Then the winner of the Elimination Chamber could have dropped the WWE Championship to Dolph Ziggler and he could have won the Royal Rumble. 

Wrestlemania should have Rock vs Cena, Austin vs Punk, Ziggler (World Champion) vs WWE Champion. Hopefully they will also have another Undertaker match and finally have it against Sting! That would be a great Wrestlemania. But I have a feeling I am just setting myself up for disappointment yet again.