Who should win the Royal Rumble 07?

[Guest Anubis]

Hi there,

 

though we still don't even have had christmas, the Royal Rumble is on fast approach. And being the one PPV that finally commences the glorious "Road to WrestleMania", the outcoming of the traditional Royal Rumble match is of great importance.

 

Whilst rumble matches used to be quite predictable in the earlier past, last year already had at least three possible winners: HHH, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio, who could finally get the gold back at WrestleMania 22. This time around there seem to be even a few more potential WrestleMania headliners possible: Following latest rumors, John Cena vs. HHH and Undertaker vs. Batista are said to be very presumable WrestleMania headliners. Taking into account that both Cena and Batista seem to sit quite solidly on their thrones, HHH and Undertaker seem very likely to win this years Battle Royal.

 

Despite being on of the absolute top dogs in the business for the last 16 years, The Undertaker has never won the Rumble and his final chance to eventually do that seems to have come. With Batista having no real heel to feud with (except Booker or Mr. Kennedy perhaps), such outcome of the PPV would benefit SmackDown! quite well. Furthermore, as the old rule saying that the Rumble winner should be in the final WrestleMania match seems to have been forgotten (Rey Mysterio was only in the third from last match last year), John Cena could headline WM23 even though a SmackDown! guy won the Rumble.

 

There are few more wrestlers that could be considered being underdogs. Edge, who had a fantastic year 2006 and in many eyes would have deserved the big WrestleMania spot back in April, could be one of them. On the other side, Randy Orton could be a possible option, too, as he could easily feud with both John Cena and HHH, whom he still has several things to clarify with. Other possible winners could be King Booker or D-Generation X's members HHH and HBK, although both of them already have won a Royal Rumble match.

 

 

So who should, in your opinion, be the one to win the Royal Rumble?

 

And why?

[iliketurtles]

Taker.

 

He's never won it.

Batista sucks as champion.

Taker's due one more title run.

Smackdown is in desperate need of something fresh, and a Deadman title run would probably do that.

Smackdown has had SO many new guys that they need to spend some time on an actual established name, character, and wrestler people remember who can still go despite his age.

Batista/Taker has possiblity of being somewhat decent, and probably Batista's best match yet (which isn't saying much.)

When Taker loses the title, he can put someone over big.

Can lead to a feud with Edge when he takes a break after he loses the title and returns before Wrestlemania 24 in an Undefeated vs. Undefeated match.

 

 

 

 

With that said, Randy Orton will win it.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski]

I put Edge down because he has heat. Most likely if he wins, he faces Cena at WM. This sucks because they been feuding on and off for the last year.

[Man Who Sold The World]

Eh, why not let the ol' Heartbreak Kid do it again in his hometown? One last Rumble win. Probably won't happen, but for nostalgia sake (and WWE seems to be high on that lately), it'd be pretty big. HBK/Cena or HBK/Batista won't likely be big Mania matches, unless HBK turns heel on Cena, but it'd be nice to have. My dream pick would be CM Punk. But he doesn't pick the ECW champion. It'd be great if he did a total heel turn after his shocking win (where he'd get the biggest pop) and turn into his Straight Edge heel character. He could have a good little program with Cena. The problem with Cena's contenders for his title are that - aside from Umaga- they are generally carbon copies of one another (Nitro and Edge). They need a different kind of challenger that pops out of nowhere and goes for the gold. It'd be fresh and exciting and get people talking (Like "who's that guy with the pepsi tatoo?").

 

 

With that said, Randy Orton will win it.

[Insanity]

Eh, why not let the ol' Heartbreak Kid do it again in his hometown? One last Rumble win. Probably won't happen, but for nostalgia sake (and WWE seems to be high on that lately), it'd be pretty big. HBK/Cena or HBK/Batista won't likely be big Mania matches, unless HBK turns heel on Cena, but it'd be nice to have. My dream pick would be CM Punk. But he doesn't pick the ECW champion. It'd be great if he did a total heel turn after his shocking win (where he'd get the biggest pop) and turn into his Straight Edge heel character. He could have a good little program with Cena. The problem with Cena's contenders for his title are that - aside from Umaga- they are generally carbon copies of one another (Nitro and Edge). They need a different kind of challenger that pops out of nowhere and goes for the gold. It'd be fresh and exciting and get people talking (Like "who's that guy with the pepsi tatoo?").

 

 

With that said, Randy Orton will win it.

 

HBK would be a great choice. And it would be nice to see him take the belt off either of those losers.

 

And everyone says Orton's the one to take it, but they've pussied out on his second title run so much that I can't even imagine it happening now.

[Jaxxson Mayhem]

It comes down to 3 people.

 

 

1. HBK. It's in his hometown.

 

2. Taker. He's never won one and i want to see the belt back on him.

 

3. CM Punk. I think he really deserves a HUGE push.

[normam]

i would like to see kennedy win it

[King Cucaracha]

Finlay is the only guy who can put together a match with Batista I'd be interested in watching at a WrestleMania. (Except maybe Benoit.) The match they had on Smackdown a couple of weeks ago was surprisingly good and given the chance they could do something better on a big stage.

 

Plus, Finlay proved at the Armageddon press conference he's capable of being a main event player, at least on Smackdown.

[Hawkius Maximus]

Personally, if I were in WWE's situation, and the main event scene was so weak, I'd use the Rumble to skyrocket someone to the top.

 

The problem is, all THREE champions are faces. That limit's possibilities a little more.

 

The key would be that the wrestler choosen for this has to have been getting somewhat positive responses, and can carry the ball. Otherwise, I'd have Monty Brown come out and Pounce ten people out to win. He has the look, and arguably the charisma, but they missed their chance to do a similiar thing on the Raw Battle Royale. The major problem with Brown, is he's not that good of a worker.

 

So keeping that in mind, we've narrowed it down to a heel, who is upper midcard at best, and can work. Now we gotta factor in Age. Arguably, WWE fucked up by pushing Batista so hard at his elevated age, and their next major pushee has to be able to carry his end of the ball for awhile. This eliminates even more people, including someone like Finlay.

 

So, now that we've got Age, Status, Working, and alignment factored in...there's really only one choice for Royal Rumble winner.

 

Kevin Federline.

 

or if you wanna be a puss about it. Johnny Nitro. Now here's why. Johnny Nitro is one of the best heel workers in the E, on top of that he is fairly hot right now, he's never won the big title, AND he's very young with many years to go. The other option is a freshly heel turned Carlito. Same thing either way. It doesn't really matter if Nitro/Cena or Carlito/Cena or whatever is the WWE title match, because Wrestlemania is going to draw no matter what, FURTHERMORE, Hunter will likely have the top slot even if he doesn't have the title. So you take the title shot, and you god push the fuck out of a hot new heel and you get a new star. If you have Nitro beat Batista, then you have a major feud for the rest of the year, with Mercury returning and what not. Nitro's a good enough worker that he could have passable matches with Batista, and that's really all you need from him at this point. You could have Nitro form a stable, Batista form a stable, and Booker form a stable. There's SD's main event scene for the rest of 2006. I just pretty much booked better then the E in five minutes.

 

WWE's most likely going to have either Hunter, or Orton win the RR this year, but this is probably what they should do to bolster their main event scene more.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh]

Taker wins it.

[Use Your Illusion]

Shawn's not winning it, people. He may be in the final four, but there's no way in blue hell he is going to win the thing. Orton or Hunter are my picks.

[Guest Toddiwod]

I'd like to see CM Punk win it... but I'm also not foolish enough to think that he will.

 

 

 

My prediction? Undertaker.

[spman]

The final four will likely be Undertaker, Orton, Kennedy, and Michaels. Michaels will dump Orton after he gives Undertaker the RKO. Kennedy will dump Michaels while he is being distracted by Orton. Undertkaer will do the zombie sit and toss out Kennedy to win.

[EricMM]

Punk.

 

And, failing that, I'd like to see him in the final 4, at least.

[Boon]

Chris Jericho is a legend?

[Guest Anubis]

Chris Jericho is a legend?

Okay, he may be just kind of a legend. Since he retired year and a half ago, I thought he would fit in this category best although he is no legend compared to Hogan, Austin or Rock.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Randall Orton.

[haVoc]

I voted HBK in hopes it leads to him turning heel on the way to WM.

[Enigma]

Meltzer says the current plan is UT winning.

[Dobbs 3K]

Sooooo don't have interest in Undertaker vs Batista at Wrestlemania...

[Mike wanna be]

Taker's never been decisively put over at the Rumble. He's lost every time he was in the actual Rumble match, and his only two "wins" were a DQ over the champ thanks to interference, and a clean pin on IRS only to get laid out by Bundy.

 

Methinks it's his year, just as a precaution in case he hangs it up, as I'm sure they don't want him going out with such a poor Rumble record (even if they let him keep his WM streak)

[razazteca]

I predict whoever gets the #4 spot and stays in for 45 minutes.

[humongous2002]

Hey RVD is missing from your list of options.

[Kahran Ramsus]

Taker/Batista is definitely the match I'm most interested in seeing at Mania, so I would have to say Taker to win his first Rumble. Kennedy as the dark horse.

[Hawk 34]

I said this the other day, I expect Edge to draw #1 with Matt drawing #2. Edge will go 45 minutes.

 

Undertaker's probably the best way to go but not leading to a match with Batista at WM because nothing is gained from that.

[Hawkius Maximus]

I'm not down with Taker taking the match.

 

The Royal Rumble is traditionally used to do one of two things: Make a new star, or cement a star. That's it's primary function. In the history of the traditional rumble, it's only been used as a plot device or used for no gain only a handful of times. You can trace the Rumble and see that it's main focus has been to do one of those two things.

 

I mean, look at the traditional PPV history (Duggan emitted):

 

Big John Studd - Cemented for a future main event run, that had to be nixed due to his illness. Whole point was to re-establish Studd.

Hogan - No real gain. Although it does cement the legacy of the Rumble by having a huge name win it.

Hogan - No gain.

Flair - Cemented as WWE main eventer.

Yokozuna - Skyrocketed to the top.

Bret & Luger - Arguably both cemented. Also used as a plot device for Luger.

Shawn - Skyrocketed to the main event.

Shawn - Cemented as maineventer.

Austin - Skyrocketed to the top.

Austin - Cemented as top guy.

Vince - No gain.

Rock - Arguably no gain.

Austin - No gain.

Triple H - Re-established, therefore re-cemented.

Brock - Cemented as main eventer.

Benoit - Skyrocketed to the main event.

Batista - Skyrocketed to the main event.

Rey Mysterio - Sky rocketed to the main event.

 

You can't cement Undertaker as a main eventer, nor can you "skyrocket him", so he basically becomes like Hogan's wins, and Austin's third in that nothing is gained by it ultimately, although granted not as bad as Vince's win. A Royal Rumble win will not help sell Wrestlemania, and doesn't even make a whole lot of sense since Undertaker shows between little, to no interest in the title right now. It would just be another accomplishment for him, that's about it. If it were my choice, I'd go with who I already selected, Nitro, or I'd give it to Edge to give him more credibility. Orton's actually not that bad of a choice either if you keep the historical significance of the Rumble in mind, he'd be cemented as a main eventer. WWE should think about more then the now, and what will benefit them the most six months a year down the line. Undertaker winning the Rumble has no long-term benefits, only short term.

[death_by_burrito]

I voted the Legend option, cause I was thinking the other day that it'd be sweet if Jericho returned at the Rumble. I'm gonna be there, so I'd mark like crazy.

 

Punk would be cool, but I also don't believe it'll happen. I think it's prolly gonna be Taker.

[billdynamite]

keep this...

 

If CM Punk wins the Royal Rumble 2007 i will post a video of me in the spirit squad get-up giving a cheer to whoever predicted it. I'd love to see it (not now obviously) but it SO isn't gonna happen.

[NoCalMike]

I agree with Hawk's assesment of why UT should not win it. Basically, he DOESN'T NEED TO. They can find any reason to put UT in a Smackdown title match, and people will go with it, simply because he is the UT.

 

The Rumble needs to elevate someone, especially in the current state of WWE where the Main Event scene is stale as fuck.

 

Monty Brown debuting, and pouncing out a bunch of people for the finish would be a great idea, and I don't see how "not being that good of a worker" matters in the WWE ME scene.

[billdynamite]

By the way, i would just like to add, that i called the "pouncing" of rumble participants by Brown in the raw thread... kinda.