Royal Rumble 2006

[rezinda 0]

I just watched Royal Rumble 2006, I know I'm a little behind. It was probably the worst rumble match ever. The winner, Rey Mysterio, spent the ENTIRE match laying on the mat. The first 20 minutes saw Rey & HHH laying down while the other guys went at it. At one point towards the end when Shane McMahon eliminated Shawn Michaels, you actually see a ref bring Rey a bottle of water. The match itself finally took on the rumble form towards the end when they actually had more than 3 people in the ring at the same time, but otherwise pretty bad if you ask me.

[Aero 0]

I wouldn't call it the worst ever since 1995 and 1999 are much worse, but it isn't one of the better Rumbles either. The biggest problem is that it's just boring as nothing particularly exciting happens throughout. And like you said, Rey just lays around the entire match (the total opposite of his 2005 performance), so his iron man role is wasted.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

It was pretty exciting to watch live on PPV, just because I was really pulling for Rey to win.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

It's not the worst Rumble match, vuz Vince didn't win.

 

That said, I remember it being pretty bad. The psychology was really piss-poor if you think about it, because Rey jr. was literally laying around selling for 5 minutes at a time by the time they got to like, #4, and yet he was somehow supposed to win? The fuck? Besides that, it made it painfully obvious that he was going all the way to the end.

 

I also hated that they felt that they HAD to break the Iron Man record. And that HHH was in the whole goddamned time too. That also pissed me off, that they almost did the Bulldog/HBK think again, where #1 and #2 are the last guys in.

[Ravenbomb 0]

'95 and '99 were worse, but '06 was up there. But even a bad Royal Rumble match is still pretty good.

[Black Lushus 0]

no way, Rave, 1999 was just plain BAD.

 

1995 wasn't THAT bad...at least two of my favorites at the time went wire to wire, so it gave me something to root for.

 

1998 was pretty bad...it was basically the Steve Austin show with some decent bits from Mankind and the Rock thrown in there.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I haven't seen a Rumble since 2001, but 99 was the worst I've ever seen. Wrestlers allowed to leave the ring and run around the entire arena..

 

The whole thing was sold around Austin or Vince winning, it was the most pointless Rumble ever.

 

The Rumble's always won buy guys 1-3 or 27-30 it seems. Never anyone anywhere near the middle

[cabbageboy 0]

It's tough to tell a story with a Rumble winner in the 15 range though. With the first 5 guys you can sell it with the longevity aspect, and with the last 5 guys you can say "these guys are fresh." They probably should mix it up and have a Rumble winner in the 10-20 range though, just to show it can happen.

 

As far as 2006, it's not the worst Rumble but it's far from a favorite of mine too. My main problem is that I can't buy a runt like Rey lasting 60 minutes in a Rumble. Couldn't someone simply pick him up and toss him into the 5th row? The whole "Do it for Eddie!" storyline was dreck as well. Being a big RVD fan I was hoping he would win since that was his return, but he finished 4th.

[Hawk 34 0]

It's not the worst Rumble match, vuz Vince didn't win.

 

That said, I remember it being pretty bad. The psychology was really piss-poor if you think about it, because Rey jr. was literally laying around selling for 5 minutes at a time by the time they got to like, #4, and yet he was somehow supposed to win? The fuck? Besides that, it made it painfully obvious that he was going all the way to the end.

 

I also hated that they felt that they HAD to break the Iron Man record. And that HHH was in the whole goddamned time too. That also pissed me off, that they almost did the Bulldog/HBK think again, where #1 and #2 are the last guys in.

 

Well, they likely would've had someone break the Iron Man streak this year anyways if Mysterio didn't do that in 06. I'll be honest, I couldn't remember this particular version outside of Rey's complete lack of drama and that Mark Henry main evented a PPV. It's far from the worst rumble because the finish was fine and there were a couple decent spots here and there. 1999 was absolute garbage and failed to offer a single redeeming moment. 1995 gets a deserving bad knock for the lack of starpower beyond Shawn, Bulldog, Owen and Luger in addition to the 30 minute format. It does redeem itself to an extent for having a memorable finish (although it's been repeated quite a few times in other rumbles/royals).

 

I think it'd be easy to sell a story of 10-15 guy winning the rumble. Shawn won in 1996 @ #18 and they still managed to sell the return, Owen and Bulldog's interaction with him and the finish with Diesel (although that was another lackluster edition). They typically go with the early or late numbers for the dramatic element. This year was about the surprise and last year was to finally validate the importance of #30. However, with the proper built in storyline, someone can draw a middle number and still present an engaging story for the Rumble.

[Epic Reine 0]

They kind of had to have Mysterio last that long. With his size, if he would have entered in the 25-30 range his win would have just been considered a fluke so they gave him the #2 spot just so they can hype him up being in the match so long (despite what others have said, he didn't do much at all in this time) and sell the fact that it wasn't a flash in the pan win. They kind of booked themselves into a corner in that respect.

 

Anyway, the rest of the card wasn't anything great. JBL got squashed by the Boogeyman and Edge's 3 week world title reign came to and end. I did like the cruiserweight invitational though but only because London damn near killed himself with that SSP. Another thing I hated was the Rumble match being so low on the card.

[bob_barron 0]

Stop starting threads n00bs!

 

2006 is a horrible Rumble, but as everyone else has said, 1999 and 1995 are much worse

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I actually think 1995 was a hair better. At least it had flow and action. 2006 was just a spotfest with multiple participants laying around if they didn't have a spot to do. 1999 was the absolute pits with horrible booking all around.

[bob_barron 0]

1995 is so bad that I could barely finish watching it. At least 2006 attempts to tell a story, and has a great finish. Plus the intervals aren't one minute long

[RepoMan 0]

Shouldn't this be in General Wrestling?

 

I personally enjoyed the '06 Rumble just because I could mark out when Rey won in front of a bunch of marks who just thought he was a midget unworthy of the Main Event (of course these kind of marks really undermined Rey's push).

[cabbageboy 0]

Actually I think those marks were the ones who ended up booking Rey's actual title reign. They never wanted the belt on Rey anyway, he only got it because Orton was a total douche and screwed up.

 

Am I the only one who doesn't really mind the 1999 Rumble? Vince winning is utterly foolish, but that at least led to the wildly fun match with Austin. I do think the 99 Rumble is the epitome of Russo almost out thinking himself. Just let the Rumble happen and let the guys wrestle. I wonder, would so many have been pissed if they hadn't done the "Austin and Vince are 1 and 2" storyline and had Vince at #30 and he screwed Austin over in the same fashion.

 

The 1995 Rumble is to me, as a Bulldog fan, the purest form of agony I've ever seen in wrestling.

[Hawk 34 0]

It wasn't just the Austin-McMahon debacle. The entire match was horrible. Absolutely zero flow, no dramatics, a entry list that almost made the 1995 version look like 1992. You can't qualify this being a passable rumble because the finish led to a good match in the future. Russo booking was all over this match which did no favors at all.

 

Why are we discussing a Royal Rumble in June?

[King Kamala 0]

Shouldn't this be in General Wrestling?

 

Technically, any WWE that happened in the past five years is supposed to be discussed in the WWE Folder.

[Anakin Flair 0]

Actually, I hated the last Royal Rumble more than any of the previous ones. It was just boring, and evn the cameos by Superfly and Piper didn't really bring up the enjoyment factor for me.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

I thought 2006 was decent. Too bad Orton fucked up back then, I was rooting for him at the time.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Am I the only one who doesn't really mind the 1999 Rumble?

 

I like that match. Though it may be more of an "I remember having a really good time that night" type of thing more than anything else. The attitude era was a time where I could hang out with a large group of people and watch wrestling. And the Rumble match is perfect for that. Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad. But I think it's at least fun.

[bob_barron 0]

Actually, I hated the last Royal Rumble more than any of the previous ones. It was just boring, and evn the cameos by Superfly and Piper didn't really bring up the enjoyment factor for me.

 

How was it boring, considered it had one of the coolest surprises in WWE history?

 

While it has the usual Rumble lulls, it has a very strong beginning and a terrific ending.

[cabbageboy 0]

Someone's enjoyment of the 2008 Rumble is based on how much they like or dislike Cena. If you are a fan, then his comeback surprise is a treat. If you are sick of him, then it is groan inducing.

 

The 1999 Rumble is the total Russo experience. Just totally mad overbooked insanity, people running in, leaving the match, coming back, even literally having men with the white coats and nets come after Kane. It's certainly not good by any means, but it DOES matter and was relevant. Both of the HBK Rumble wins are just dreary, dull, offensive, have a weak roster, and so on.

 

 

[King Cucaracha 0]

I didn't mind 1999 either, but maybe I'm bias since that was one of the first PPVs I was able to watch the day after it happened. The $100,000 bounty wasn't a bad idea but would have been better if Austin were in the match longer. The Austin/McMahon stuff in isolation isn't bad, it's just the other madcap stuff going on around it.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

This year's Rumble had quite a few great points. Michaels attempting to toss Undertaker every time Taker attempted an elimination. The Hardcore Holly/Michaels/Undertaker interchange. Piper and Snuka.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

Well, they likely would've had someone break the Iron Man streak this year anyways if Mysterio didn't do that in 06

 

True enough; it just bothered me that the record was broken so soon, while the previous one had stood for like, years and years.

[Black Lushus 0]

has any main eventer and eventual world champion been booked worse than 2006 Rey Mysterio?

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

has any main eventer and eventual world champion been booked worse than 2006 Rey Mysterio?

 

No.

 

Sting was really fucked in his title reign(s) in 97/98.

 

Orton's first reign was bad, and it took him years to recover from it.

 

But nobody has been given a more condescending World Championship reign than Rey. Not even close.

[Black Lushus 0]

It saddens me because some of you may recall I pushed for a Mysterio title win through like all of 2005...he finally gets it and it's all sorts of stupid. Not to mention he technically shouldn't have been in the title match at WM22 in the first place due to his own stupidity.

[Hawk 34 0]

has any main eventer and eventual world champion been booked worse than 2006 Rey Mysterio?

 

No.

 

Sting was really fucked in his title reign(s) in 97/98.

 

Orton's first reign was bad, and it took him years to recover from it.

 

But nobody has been given a more condescending World Championship reign than Rey. Not even close.

 

I think Jericho deserves a mention here. Mysterio had a bad reign but he never babysat a dog during it.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

Rey's reign in 2006 was bad, but that was easily his best year of in-ring work in WWE and maybe in his career. The Finlay match, the phenominal Orton match, two shockingly good matches with Angle on Smackdown, the fantastic JBL match, the Sabu match(sans ending), the RVD match, the King Booker match, the Chavo series...