Rumble 02' to Rumble 03'

[Guest webmasterofwrestlegame]

No sure what happened above.

 

This is what I posted:

 

In normal January fashion and in anticipation for the Royal Rumble in a few weeks, I watched Rumble '02 the other day. As I watched I realised how little things had actually changed position wise in the organisation over the period of the past year.

 

So I decided to list the wrestlers in the Rumble and see if they had actually moved up the card in a positive way over the past year and stay there. And by this I do not mean a two month push, fight HHH, and then back to the same old crap. Yor winning a tag title...losing it, and then back to same old rubbish. You'd be surprised (or maybe not) over how little change there has been (at least in my opinion):

 

Rikishi - same old tired act. 0 for 1.

Goldust - has been elevated - a good year for him. 1/2

Boss Man - where is he? OVW? 1/3

Bradshaw - due for big singles push then got injured. Fair to say that the break-up of APA was not a success. 1/4

Lance Storm - got slightly more exposure, but hes not really doing anything. Jobbing to JR and King is certainly anything but an elevation. 1/5

Al Snow - Busy with Tough Enough. Nothings changed. 1/6

Billy Gunn - If not injured would have been a plus this year the way he was going with Chuck. 1/7

Undertaker - not really elevated at all, because he is just about as high as you can get. 1/8

Matt Hardy - 2/9

Jeff Hardy - I would say he hasn't been elevated at all. 2/10

Maven - 2/11

Scotty 2 Hotty - Injured. 2/12

Christian - still not taken seriously. 2/13

DDP - retired. 2/14

Chuck Palumbo - haven't tried to do anything with him post-Billy injury. 2/15

Godfather - released. 2/16

Albert - got something of a push but again back into old routine on Velocity 2/17

Perry Saturn - released. 2/18

SCSA - Lost his smile. 2/19

Val Venis - I'm gonna say he has riseni n stature. 3/20

Test - same old, same old. 3/21

HHH - same old, same old. 3/22

The Hurricane - they've not done anything with him. 3/23

Faarooq - I think hes retired. 3/24

Mr Perfect - Err... 3/25

Kurt Angle - still comedic heel. May be turning around the corner now but it is too late. 3/26

Big Show - I'm actually gonna say they have done something with him - only just though. 4/27

Kane - tried to, but that let him lose all momentum. Again. 4/28

RVD - See above. 4/29

Booker T - haven't really tried to do anything with him. 4/30.

 

So there you have it, by my reckoning, out of the 30 SuperStars in the Royal Rumble last year only 4 have been elevated properly in any way in which they have sustained their elevation (at least for now).

 

While an argument can be made that Main Eventers should not count because they are as high as they can get, I would argue their act can be freshened up. An argument can also be made that those that have left the company or been injured should not count, yet they were still with WWE and if they had left in a better position than they arrived then it would have counted. But none of them did.

 

4/30, as far as movement gos up and down the card, is pathetic. No wonder people are bored.

 

At least they have some new wrestlers in, but people will get bored of that in a hurry as no-one gives a crap about the wrestlers they are beating.

 

No doubt some people will disagree with some of my choices, but either way you look at it, the movement in the card over the past year is disgraceful.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

I'd say Test and Booker T are more over than they were a year ago. With Test it may just be gimmicks, but it still counts.

 

They may be on the same spot in the card, but card status doesn't really dictate anything other than what hour someone appears. Sure, it USED to be more important, but under current leadersHHHip it's nothing more than an ego stroke. Far more undercard guys are more over and getting more reaction than guys higher up the card.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Chuck and Billy definetly moved up over the past year. They spent the better part of the year as the dominant tag team and then got all attention focused on them for the wedding. To say they didn't move up is absurd. Chuck just got busted back down when Billy was hurt b/c they didn't have anything to do with him in singles.

So that makes it 6/30.

Kurt Angle had a great year. He beat Kane at WM, taught Edge a lesson, barely lost to Edge the next month, made Hulk f'n Hogan tap out, was part of a big WWE title controversy with UT when he made f'n UT tap out!, helped introduce Rey Rey, had a high profile feud with Benoit, and finally won the WWE title and now has a stable following him around. I'd say it's been a great year for Angle. Not to mention the fact that he's given a verbal blowjob by the announcers anytime he's in the ring.

So that brings it to 7/30.

Booker T. has moved up. Earlier this year he was seen as a jobber with a catchphrase. Now he's seen as a player with Goldust. So I think he's moved up.

That's 8/30.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

on one hand you can say that Jericho has gone from defending the WWE title against the Rock to a being a midcarder again, but on the other hand you too can say that the WWE title match this year is Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit...

[ChrisMWaters 0]

*sigh* One thing that I find dissapointing in this whole thing...

 

Mr. Perfect could have been SO much better used. I could easily have seen him as WWF/E Champion

[Guest Slapnuts00]

Don't worry Perfect's doing fine, he's sent Brock Lesnar to grab him some more beer off his truck as we speak!

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Don't worry Perfect's doing fine, he's sent Brock Lesnar to grab him some more beer off his truck as we speak!

<Dr Evil Voice>....riiiiiiight....

 

<Normal>Seriously though, I would have liked to have seen Mr. Perfect as a one time WWF (or E) champion. It could go with his 2 Intercontinental title reigns that he has

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Last year was the year of washed up old men that can't wrestle winning the title. I don't think we needed another one to disgrace it.

[Guest bob_barron]

Blame Perfect- had the guy not been a drunken asshole who knows where he could've gone.

 

HHH did change- at the beginning he was a bah gawd face who overcame all the odds and at the end of the year he was Satan himself. How is that same old...same old?

 

Angle also changed- He is the World Champion of Smackdown and is starting to be taken seriously.

 

In January Lance Storm was lucky to get on Jakked.

 

Since then he's held the tag titles for two months, defeated Hulk Hogan in a tag team match, went on an 8 match winning streak, was involved in a fairly over heel stable and he's not elevated at all??

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Last year was the year of washed up old men that can't wrestle winning the title. I don't think we needed another one to disgrace it.

There's a difference between that.

 

Even nowadays, Perfect is a pretty good wrestler.

 

I'd take Perfect over Big Show, Taker, and HHH ANY day.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

Blame Perfect- had the guy not been a drunken asshole who knows where he could've gone.

 

HHH did change- at the beginning he was a bah gawd face who overcame all the odds and at the end of the year he was Satan himself. How is that same old...same old?

 

Angle also changed- He is the World Champion of Smackdown and is starting to be taken seriously.

 

In January Lance Storm was lucky to get on Jakked.

 

Since then he's held the tag titles for two months, defeated Hulk Hogan in a tag team match, went on an 8 match winning streak, was involved in a fairly over heel stable and he's not elevated at all??

And hey, he's tagging with Regal now, right? If that's not a push then what is?!

[Guest creativename]

I'd say Test and Booker T are more over than they were a year ago. With Test it may just be gimmicks, but it still counts.

No it doesn't. He's talking about being elevated, not being over. Elevation implies a conscious push by management--and Test is not being pushed any more than in any of his other countless pushes; it's just that this one appears to be the first to meet with some level of success.

 

They may be on the same spot in the card, but card status doesn't really dictate anything other than what hour someone appears. Sure, it USED to be more important, but under current leadersHHHip it's nothing more than an ego stroke. Far more undercard guys are more over and getting more reaction than guys higher up the card.

 

Of course, but I don't see how you're contradicting his point. He's talking about elevation by WWE management--and what your saying is the same problem we've always complained about; that the people who are already over, are not the ones who are elevated.

[Guest webmasterofwrestlegame]

"HHH did change- at the beginning he was a bah gawd face who overcame all the odds and at the end of the year he was Satan himself. How is that same old...same old?"

 

He has a belt...is beating everybody....is holding people down. Has not elevated any talent. So I do not think anything has changed that actually matters, not what I would call asthetic things like being a face etc.

 

As for Storm...I could sort of see your point as it has been sustained, but I dare say it has as much to do with Regal and his office *cough HHH* friends than anyone else.

 

If he were to team with Christian, then he could say goodbye to any sort of push.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

Elevation implies a conscious push by management

In that case, the numbers are way off. Even Jeff Hardy got elevated by feuding with Undertaker for so many weeks.

 

It's just that, most of the time, all these elevations backfire.

[Guest Mole]

Perfect as WWE/World Champion? Eer, maybe in 1990, when he was still in his prime.

 

I could of seen him as the IC champion, but that is gone now.

[Guest Your Olympic Hero]

HHH did change- at the beginning he was a bah gawd face who overcame all the odds and at the end of the year he was Satan himself. How is that same old...same old?

Because in either persona he never ever loses.

 

I agree with your argument on Angle and Storm though. Angle is being treated better, and Storm is much better even though he did job to JR.

[Guest subliminal_animal]

Blame Perfect- had the guy not been a drunken asshole who knows where he could've gone.

Nowhere. He was languishing on Heat. They would've probably cut him anyway.

[Guest the 1inch punch]

[ and Storm is much better even though he did job to JR.

Regal did the actual job, but your point stands

 

Me being nit picky, i guess

[Guest MixxMaster]

Okay, here's my view on the previous Royal Rumble participants progress: (Note: This is based on the WHOLE year, and also taking into account the PREVIOUS year.)

 

Rikishi -unfortunately, he's still around...luckily, he's also in the same spot on the card. 0/1

Goldust - a great year for Dustin, due to some good character development. 1/2

Boss Man - off of our TV's is a GOOD thing, but doesn't count towards his progress.

1/3

Bradshaw - because of his upward mobility until the injury, he counts as elevated 2/4

Lance Storm - been an UP and down year, hey he did make tag champs with Regal. Never mind the latest stuff. 3/5

Al Snow - been still doing the TE thing, he return to the ring is kinda in limbo, he did seem to have a potential feud w/ Nowinski. 3/6

Billy Gunn - Even though he is most likely retired, he went through a LOT of growth, and brought mainstream attention with the Gay Wedding angle, which is a BIG step from the previous year. 4/7

Undertaker - Been the main man on Smackdown!, didn't have anywhere to move up to, he was already around the top. 4/8

Matt Hardy - OBVIOUS. 5/9

Jeff Hardy - no elevation, no effort, etc... 5/10

Maven - OVW, Right? He can still get a good pop, which means people remember him, but who knows when he comes back? 5/11

Scotty 2 Hotty - Injured, and hopefully for a LONG time. 5/12

Christian - has moved to the top of the tag team ranks with Jericho, a nice improvement over the abyssmal singles push. 6/13

DDP - retired. 6/14

Chuck Palumbo - he's on the 3rd rate shows, which is a GOOD THING 6/15

Godfather - released. 6/16

Albert - his 2,316 push should now be considered a failure. THANKS, LORD 6/17

Perry Saturn - released(dammit!). 6/18

SCSA - Same situation as Taker, unfortunately, he will also most likely be back, to keep the other younger guys down...yeah, I hate him. 6/19

Val Venis - he's not in obscurity now. Hell, he's on RAW at least, I would've picked him to be gone before Saturn. 7/20

Test - Big year for the Testicles, good to see this push is doing some good, even though his matches are the pretzels. 8/21

HHH - see Taker and Austin... 8/22

The Hurricane - has shown some sparks here and there, but nothing near main event. Of course, he will NEVER get that high anyway. 8/23

Faarooq - vanished. DAMN. 8/24

Mr Perfect - Buh-Bye, pops. 8/25

Kurt Angle - Great past year for Angle, being one of the top dawgs on Smackdown, and proving that he has the most skills all around in the WWE. 9/26

Big Show - He has moved up, like it or not. 10/27

Kane - too many pushes, and he needs a totally new gimmick, STAT. 10/28

RVD - bigger year for RVD, as he's always on the cusp of Main Event, and has had some really good matches this year, including Main eventing two PPV's. 11/29

Booker T - has gone from upper midcard, to Main Eventing, and back to tag ranks. Now will most likely move up again. Not a bad year for the BookerMan. 12/30

 

Seems like some good progress for the ones that have deserved it. Now, imagine how many wouldn't have seen ANY elevation without the split?

OF course, once Taker and Austin come back, look for some of these guys to disappear...sad, but true.

[Guest creativename]

Elevation implies a conscious push by management

In that case, the numbers are way off. Even Jeff Hardy got elevated by feuding with Undertaker for so many weeks.

Jeff then got depushed and is not back on Heat, jobbing to uber-jobber Hurricane. He was never elevated, though the attempt was made. Just another in a long line of temporary pushes that don't result in anything.