The 2008 Royal Rumble Thread

[bob_barron 0]

He got a pretty good pop, and I think a lot of people were unhappy when he got thrown out.

 

Cody Rhodes got 0 reaction. It was quite sad.

[bob_barron 0]

What did happen to Batista anyway? We never saw what happened to him, at one point the guys next to me were freaking out that Big Dave wasn't in the ring, and I realised he wasn't, wondering how we missed his elimination.

 

While it wasn't a great Rumble, seeing the Rumble live was incredible. There's really nothing like it. Cena's surprise was the craziest thing ever

 

Batista took a spike from Umaga and rolled out of the ring and apparently laid on the floor for a good amount of time. In other words, he Backlund'd it.

 

Do you remember when this was? I'm just curious.

 

As an aside, the Rumble is pretty hard to follow live. I missed Snitsky's elimination as well, and no one in the live crowd understood what happened with Finlay.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I managed to avoid spoilers, to download this until the last few hours when I could watch it.

 

I am so fucking glad I managed to avoid spoilers.

 

That was a fantastic PPV that moved all the storylines ahead.

 

And John Cena coming out? Easily one of the biggest mark outs I'VE ever had, and I'm an elitist fucker. I freaked out.

[Hawk 34 0]

What did happen to Batista anyway? We never saw what happened to him, at one point the guys next to me were freaking out that Big Dave wasn't in the ring, and I realised he wasn't, wondering how we missed his elimination.

 

While it wasn't a great Rumble, seeing the Rumble live was incredible. There's really nothing like it. Cena's surprise was the craziest thing ever

 

Batista took a spike from Umaga and rolled out of the ring and apparently laid on the floor for a good amount of time. In other words, he Backlund's it.

 

Do you remember when this was? I'm just curious.

 

As an aside, the Rumble is pretty hard to follow live. I missed Snitsky's elimination as well, and no one in the live crowd understood what happened with Finlay.

 

It was during the Finlay confusion. Looking back, Batista really spent a lot of time in the corner with Umaga during the match. They really should have had the angry black dudes toss Hornswoggle and have them chase him around the ring with Finlay flying in and jumping over the rope to save him. Would have worked just the same without a illogical DQ.

[Enigma 0]

I thought it was hilarious when they said Finlay was DQ'ed for using the Shilaleigh (sp?) when in all the Rumble hype clips, they showed Austin beating the shit out of Kane with a chair in the '01 Rumble. Also in the '01 Rumble, there were weapons all over the ring at one point.

 

And on a side note, can anyone believe that Jimmy Snuka (64) is only 6 years older than Ric Flair (58)? Snuka looks and moves like he's 80.

[bob_barron 0]

Thanks, Choken. No wonder we didn't catch it.

 

They also shouldn't have dumped Taker and HBK as Big Daddy V was coming in. That really threw a lot of people off

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

It was kind of a pisser that they made sure Taker and HBK were gone before HHH got in the ring, thus taking away some big star interaction, but at least I got some Foley / HHH interaction.

 

Taker / Michaels / Cena / HHH would have been a hell of a final four.

[Dandy 0]

Exactly what I was thinking about Taker/HHH. If they didn't want to have HH and Cena get rid of most of the ring by themselves, they could have left HBK and Taker in a bit longer and had:

 

 

Undertaker eliminate Umaga

HBK do the same elimination on Taker that he actually did

Batista eliminate Michaels

 

And the final 6 would have been Taker, HBK, Kane, Batista, HHH, and Cena, all in the ring after Cena's entrance. I wouldn't have known who to guess would win at that point.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

I agree that one of the funniest parts was the MSG crown cheering the hell out of Cena when we came out, then realising they were supposed to be 'smark fans' and going back to booing him by the end of the show. Really pathetic.

[Mike wanna be 0]

I agree that one of the funniest parts was the MSG crown cheering the hell out of Cena when we came out, then realising they were supposed to be 'smark fans' and going back to booing him by the end of the show. Really pathetic.

Marking out is "OMG I am part of a historic moment", not "OMG I love this guy!"

 

I think Hogan's a no-talent politicking piece of garbage who got where he is/was due to looks and charisma alone, but damn if I wouldn't have screamed my head off if they cranked up Real American after the #30 buzzer.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

I agree that one of the funniest parts was the MSG crown cheering the hell out of Cena when we came out, then realising they were supposed to be 'smark fans' and going back to booing him by the end of the show. Really pathetic.

Marking out is "OMG I am part of a historic moment", not "OMG I love this guy!"

 

I think Hogan's a no-talent politicking piece of garbage who got where he is/was due to looks and charisma alone, but damn if I wouldn't have screamed my head off if they cranked up Real American after the #30 buzzer.

 

If they were prepared to cheer him for being part of such a historic moment for just coming out, then surely winning it was an equally historic moment?

 

It honestly just seemed like they got caught off guard, cheered their socks off because that was their natural reaction, then realized 'hey, we're the MSG crowd! The smarkiest of the smarks! We're supposed to hate this guy, remember?' and then gave a forced, unnatural reaction.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

People who hate Cena at this fucking point need to find a new hobby. So glad he's back.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

A nice touch was Cena and HHH pointing at the Mania XXIV sign with Cena reminding HHH he made him tap out at WrestleMania 22.

[Mike wanna be 0]

I agree that one of the funniest parts was the MSG crown cheering the hell out of Cena when we came out, then realising they were supposed to be 'smark fans' and going back to booing him by the end of the show. Really pathetic.

Marking out is "OMG I am part of a historic moment", not "OMG I love this guy!"

 

I think Hogan's a no-talent politicking piece of garbage who got where he is/was due to looks and charisma alone, but damn if I wouldn't have screamed my head off if they cranked up Real American after the #30 buzzer.

 

If they were prepared to cheer him for being part of such a historic moment for just coming out, then surely winning it was an equally historic moment?

 

It honestly just seemed like they got caught off guard, cheered their socks off because that was their natural reaction, then realized 'hey, we're the MSG crowd! The smarkiest of the smarks! We're supposed to hate this guy, remember?' and then gave a forced, unnatural reaction.

I didn't feel that way at all. The only two real pops he got were massive, obviously, but they were for his shocking entry and his equally shocking victory over the 'sure-fire winner' in HHH. Everything else he did garnered major heat.

 

As far as Snuka looking 80...well, I guess he's a great example of what can happen when you spend your career coming off the top rope.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Cocaine and steroids also factor in.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Cocaine and steroids also factor in.

 

 

And murder.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

How did Cena overcome the odds? He was #30!

 

That seems to be the universal exuse for why most of the internet hates Cena, yet HBK "overcomes the odds" more than Cena despite being the least threatening member of the roster and everyone's fine with him. At least Cena looks the part when he "overcomes the odd" and isn't a skinny, old orange guy trying to be 25 still.

Cena obviously overcame the odds of drawing #1-29 randomly..

[Slickster 0]

Also, not wrestling for at least six months is a factor no matter who you are.

[luke-o 0]

I managed to avoid all spoilers, but for some reason managed to call the Cena apperance. Just as a "Somehow I reckon Cena will still manage to win this whilst being injured".

 

I know it's now "cool" to like Cena nowadays, but the thought of that guy headlining and winning WM AGAIN pisses me off. The guy has great work rate I'll give him that, but as an in-ring star he's totally overrated.

 

I also call a HBK/Taker match at WM.

 

JBL/Y2J was alright, good choice for the ending, keeps the fued fresh.

 

Orton/Hardy was very good. Although I knew Hardy wouldn't win, I was really pushing for him to get the strap.

 

Overall, the Rumble was OK. It's certainly not the best. Cena's apperance was awesome, and the crowd pop was equally as awesome. But apart from that it was pretty non-event. There was no one else in that Rumble I would have wanted to win.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

The Rumble itself was so-so, with the action only really being any good when the more talented workers were involved. It got really unwieldy at the end with far too many people in the ring at once. Cena's return was a big surprise, and the reaction of the crowd, going from incredibly positive to incredibly negative was great. While it's good to have big surprises from time to time, I don't know that I'd have made the return of Cena one of them, because it negates the ability to build it up and draw money from it. Still, the reaction to his return was almost worth it.

[Jericholic82 0]

Had a great time at the Rumble. Got there early (freaking parking was 42 bucks!!)and got my event shirt (the pics on the front looked cheaply done to me, Edge looks weird) Went across the street to Nathan’s for a bite (food sucked lol) Back across the street, a line had formed down the block. So we kind of merged in halfway, but it still took forever. The NY Titans mascot was bugging us by dancing around. A “Lets Go Giants” chant started out of boredom I guess. Plus of course “whooing” for no good reason. Getting in took forever, it was like herding cattle and the MSG security did a pitiful job. We saw people coming in for the Kathy Griffin show at the Theater downstairs and they were kind of laughing at us. (yea real high class people they are) anyhow the garden crowd was rabid from the moment they got in line. Finally got to our seats and they were better then expected since they were right over the ring (though up pretty good in 322 sec), with the entrance to our left. Cool to see the old school setup). They showed the wm 23 highlight video first (with MVP edited over Benoit in the opening montage and their match edited completely out of course of the highlights) Then a sweet Flair music video tribute.

 

Lillian hit the ring and introd the dark match of Moore and yang vs. Deuce N Domino, which was a brisk tag match. Lillian then butchered the anthem as usual, and I was clamoring for the Fink. Great to take in Flairs last night in MSG (we think) what a moment after the match with a standing ovation.

 

 

Of course some young kids had to be sitting next to me, marking out and screaming for the faces and singing the theme songs. I felt bad for them when they were near tears when Rey and Jeff lost. Then some lady behind me was annoying us asking lots of questions about the wrestlers.

Best match of the undercard was Rey vs. Edge; It appeared to me that Edge was the crowd fav in this one as Rey got serious booing up here. The Hardy-Orton match was a near carbon copy of their match at the house show I went to Jan 4, right down to the finish.

 

Seeing the Rumble live was great, though the guy next to us was annoying with his countdowns. The crowd popped huge for taker and Shawn. Buffer was a nice touch (but does this mean hell be edited out of the DVD?)

Piper and Snuka got nice big pops, as did Local boy Tommy Dreamer.

Cenas entrance took everyone by surprise. Great swerve by WWE here. A few people around though Lashley would be the 30th man But man were they pissed off when he won (I countered this by saying “you’d rather have HHH win again?”) So I loudly applauded to piss them off. As we left it was back to the cattle herd again and annoying people trying to see bootleg t-shirts

 

All in all a great time, pretty good show. I can now say I saw a Rumble live.

 

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

anyone else get a Royal Rumble email survey today?

[bob_barron 0]

I agree that one of the funniest parts was the MSG crown cheering the hell out of Cena when we came out, then realising they were supposed to be 'smark fans' and going back to booing him by the end of the show. Really pathetic.

Marking out is "OMG I am part of a historic moment", not "OMG I love this guy!"

 

I think Hogan's a no-talent politicking piece of garbage who got where he is/was due to looks and charisma alone, but damn if I wouldn't have screamed my head off if they cranked up Real American after the #30 buzzer.

 

If they were prepared to cheer him for being part of such a historic moment for just coming out, then surely winning it was an equally historic moment?

 

It honestly just seemed like they got caught off guard, cheered their socks off because that was their natural reaction, then realized 'hey, we're the MSG crowd! The smarkiest of the smarks! We're supposed to hate this guy, remember?' and then gave a forced, unnatural reaction.

 

Absolutely not. It was a huge surprise, which got a big pop and then once the shock wore off, of course the people who don't like him are going to start booing

[Lil' Bitch 0]

This was one of the best Royal Rumble PPVs the WWE has ever booked! I'm glad Cena won. I haven't been that surprised to a WWE PPV ending since Edge first won the WWE Championship.

 

To answer somebody's question earlier in the thread, Orton also has clean wins over HHH and HBK since winning the WWE title.

 

By the way, anybody know the name of the song that was playing in the Hardy / Orton build-up video? As the video was playing, WWE actually got me to believe that Jeff might actually win the damn thing.

 

Edit: Nevermind, it was "Rooftops" by Lost Prophets