Royal Rumble 2009

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Punishing mid-carders > entertaining the fans

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I was at the show, even though I haven't really followed wrestling in four years.

 

- I've never seen anyone so consistently hated and adored simultaneously as John Cena. I've seen a few of his matches live and it seems like the split crowd spends the duration battling each other

 

- RVD return got a crazy pop. My friend thought it was just going to be Charlie Haas keeping up his gimmick.

 

- Detroit loves Jim Duggan.

 

- Detroit loves Santino.

 

- Everyone around me was chanting for Christian at the outset of the Edge/Hardy match.

 

- Wrestling fans are really embarrassing. According to the guys sitting behind us, Cody Rhodes is Dusty's son and Goldust is Dusty's brother. Mick Foley is also in "Bret Hart's wrestling league." They also thought they were hilarious starting the Rumble countdown during EVERY match. And they said they'd rather see Kurt Angle vs. Kevin Nash than anything on the Rumble card.

 

- My friends have a betting pool during each Rumble match that involves putting numbers 1 through 30 in a hat. Put in five bucks and you're in. There were five of us, so we each got six numbers. My only decent pick was The Undertaker. I had number 9, too, which means I was one off from Orton. We also had dollar pools for the first guy who got eliminated, which I also missed out on despite good odds (I had Carlito and Rey). I did, however, win the other dollar pool for having the guy that eliminated Shelton Benjamin. Things were certainly more interesting for me with money on the line. Though I knew Orton was likely winning from the start, I was PISSED when Taker and Show took each other out.

[Black Lushus 0]

Yes, the whole Cena reaction is a interesting thing to behold...whether he's booed or cheered, he generates more reaction than anyone not named Vickie Guerrero.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

- Wrestling fans are really embarrassing. According to the guys sitting behind us, Cody Rhodes is Dusty's son and Goldust is Dusty's brother. Mick Foley is also in "Bret Hart's wrestling league." They also thought they were hilarious starting the Rumble countdown during EVERY match. And they said they'd rather see Kurt Angle vs. Kevin Nash than anything on the Rumble card.

 

Bingo. This is why I haven't made the slightest effort to go to a live event in Cleveland including tonight's Raw in quite a while. I've only bothered to go to 2 events in the last 4+ years. I find the shows themselves to be entertaining and generally worth my money, but it's the turdburglars that sit near me that damn near ruin the whole experience. Doesn't matter if I'm on the floor or Section 224 or anywhere inbetween, these fans are everywhere.

 

Only exception to this was when I went to the old ECW shows in the late 1990s.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

The kid in front of me gave me the weirdest look for cheering JBL. I tried to explain to him that I wanted to see Shawn Michaels in the Rumble.

[bob_barron 0]

My friends have a betting pool during each Rumble match that involves putting numbers 1 through 30 in a hat. Put in five bucks and you're in. There were five of us, so we each got six numbers. My only decent pick was The Undertaker. I had number 9, too, which means I was one off from Orton. We also had dollar pools for the first guy who got eliminated, which I also missed out on despite good odds (I had Carlito and Rey). I did, however, win the other dollar pool for having the guy that eliminated Shelton Benjamin. Things were certainly more interesting for me with money on the line. Though I knew Orton was likely winning from the start, I was PISSED when Taker and Show took each other out.

 

We did the same thing last night. I got Kane, R-Truth and Big Show. I argued that since R-Truth was in an Oscar nominated picture, I should get some of the money. We kept joking that whoever gets Chavo Guerrero should get their money back, but he wasn't even in the Rumble.

 

Nothing will beat one of my friends screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOO as Dibiase charged HHH and got tossed

[King Kamala 0]

I find the dumb wrestling fans to be entertaining, but only in small doses. When I went to indy shows every month, it wore a bit thin. Didn't help that the wrestlers weren't much smarter (if I had a quarter, every time one of the heels would call me a "faggot" for no particular reason!) Now that I only go to a show every other year or so, I'm more entertained than annoyed.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

bob_barron was post #666. It all comes together.

 

Anyway, I'm just going to copy my live notes from the F4W feedback:

 

There were no tarped areas (except production) and every seat looked filled (or at the very least, purchased, possibly for the purpose of re-selling, with no one showing up).

 

The dark match was Paul Burchill losing to Jimmy Wang Yang via the moonsault. People seemed into Jimmy, either because the were or he was the first guy out of the gate.

 

The usual WWE corporate video aired though the message from George W. Bush was added in since the last time I saw it. Some of the most heat of the night right there (though Obama got a good pop).

 

After the PPV intro, nothing happened until Matt's entrance. I don't know what was happening on TV, but since I don't recall seeing the usual announcer banter welcoming viewers to the show, I'll assume that was going on. There was another odd arena moment where the "Rumble Stats" video package cut out in the middle, everyone booed, then Justin Roberts announced the rules. Did this happen on TV?

 

I often find this hard to judge because it varies by section, but these were chants I thought were very loud:

 

1. RVD (pop of the night).

2. Santino (at one point during the Women's Title Match, he motion over the the people cheering him to be quiet, almost out of character, like "I'm a heel, guys", but then a few minutes later encouraged it).

3. "We Want Christian" in the opening seconds of Edge/Jeff. It seemed to start from the upperdeck, but as soon as I could hear it on the floor I joined in, then most of the floor section I was in seemed to be doing it to.

4. Jim Duggan - this guy seemed over to a frightening degree live. Kids, old people - you name it. I don't know if that came across on TV, but his elimination seemed to get the second most amount of boos (RVD's elimination getting the most).

5. Orton winning the Rumble. Even the kids who aren't into cheering the heels were going banana over this one.

 

[Silence 0]

There was another odd arena moment where the "Rumble Stats" video package cut out in the middle, everyone booed, then Justin Roberts announced the rules. Did this happen on TV?

 

Yes. My screen stayed white for almost 15 seconds.

 

[bob_barron 0]

There was another odd arena moment where the "Rumble Stats" video package cut out in the middle, everyone booed, then Justin Roberts announced the rules. Did this happen on TV?

 

Yes. My screen stayed white for almost 15 seconds.

 

We all nearly had a heart attack when that happened.

 

The We Want Christian chants were clearly audible, and Duggan did seem scary over. Everyone loves ol' Hacksaw

[Wrestlefreak 0]

Great to see RVD in the Rumble! I marked like crazy. The rest of the Rumble match was only half-decent, but at least Orton won.

 

Matt's heel turn was well done. I had a feeling it was coming soon, but I did not expect it last night. Matt will probably claim that Jeff's problems have been a distraction, and the real reason why he lost to Swagger. It should be interesting to see where this goes.

 

Jeff/Edge was good match, though obviously overshadowed by Matt. Edge is champ again, which is always good.

 

Melina getting kicked by her own foot was a nice touch. I hope she gets a decent title run.

 

The finish to JBL/Cena was pointless. HBK should have helped JBL last night, then turn on him at Mania and keep the money.

 

 

[AntiLeaf33 0]

There was another odd arena moment where the "Rumble Stats" video package cut out in the middle, everyone booed, then Justin Roberts announced the rules. Did this happen on TV?

 

Yes. My screen stayed white for almost 15 seconds.

 

We all nearly had a heart attack when that happened.

 

The We Want Christian chants were clearly audible, and Duggan did seem scary over. Everyone loves ol' Hacksaw

 

I was having issues getting the HD feed of the PPV (took like 2 minutes before it started coming in), so when that happened all I can think was "fuck off East Link...not now"

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

The success of the Matt Hardy heel turn will depend almost completely on the promo he cuts on Smackdown! this week. It's so important that I might err on the side of caution and have one of those taped backstage with Jim Ross deals rather than giving Matt a live mic in the center of the ring.

 

If they feel the need to put him in the center of the ring with a mic, I'd keep it really short - maybe say something as simple as "Everybody keeps asking me why? Why Matt? Why? Here is your answer - I am the good son" and then drop the mic and walk out. He'll have to deliver the promo of his career on Tuesday.

 

Partnering him with Edge and thus Vickie would help in the keeping heat on Matt department, but both seemed surprised last night as well.

 

There was a MITB match a few years ago where Matt encouraged Jeff to swanton Edge on the outside, essentially taking both out of the match - I'd like that "history" to be brought up, how Matt was jealous even then and was trying to sabotage Jeff.

 

I wonder if Matt will get new heel entrance music.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Alvarez pointed out that if they don't book it right, Matt's turn will be one of those TNA-like angles where if you sit back and look at the timeline, nothing makes sense (already noting if the jealousy aspect is supposed to date back to Survivor Series, why was Matt jealous when he was ECW champion and Jeff was nothing, and why didn't he just job to Kozlov so Jeff wouldn't have made it to Armageddon?) but I really am interested in what they do with it. It's kind of like the Shawn Michaels angle - it's weak on paper with many logic holes, but they do an awesome job working with it and it's really very interesting.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Can they explain why he made sure Jeff got in the Armageddon title match by keeping Kozlov from beating his time...or how he ran down during the Armageddon match to keep Kozlov out after he knocked Jeff off the turnbuckle...

[bob_barron 0]

He thought that if Jeff choked, he wouldn't get anymore title shots and thus he'd be the dominant Hardy?

 

Why he attacked Koslov....b/c Koslov beat him up earlier in the show, and he doesn't like him

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

He may be a treacherous heel, but he still loves America.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

I'm hoping that the Matt turn and the previous attacks are two separate things. Although I don't know how they would do Edge, Christian and Matt vs. Jeff.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

Matt helped Jeff out so many times, but where was Jeff when Matt lost to Swagger twice?

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah I somehow think Matt's frustrations have to be almost solely due to losing to Jack Swagger. None of this makes any sense otherwise, since he basically helped Jeff win the title with that Kozlov match. Perhaps Matt's heel turn was a purely jealous deal and they can still reveal Christian to be the culprit who has been stalking Jeff.

 

Either way, I do like the idea of Ross conducting an interview with Matt on TV. If they put Hardy in the ring with a mic and no one to guide him through it, it's likely going to suck. It will be the same as that promo Matt cut on Edge when he returned in 2005.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Maybe it turns out Jeff was drunk in November and fell down the hotel stairs on his own, the hit and run was an accident, and no one tampered with the fireworks (it just looked that way due to some crew incompetence). Probably not.

 

And because I'm my own biggest shill, my Rumble photos: http://flickr.com/photos/sgray21/sets/72157613011325162/

 

I was happy with how this one turned out (though out of focus) because at the time I thought I was just going to get a ref obstructed Conchairto shot.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Hey Venkman, how big was MVP's pop in your arena? It seemed like he got a huge reaction on TV, and I heard loud boos when he was eliminated.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

MVP is the man in Detroit. We made sure to yell "BALLIN!" at the elbow drop, just like Mania 23.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

MVP is the man in Detroit. We made sure to yell "BALLIN!" at the elbow drop, just like Mania 23.

 

The best part of the "ballin'" last night was he stops and chucks Mysterio in the middle of it, then continues on with it.

 

Regarding Matt's motivations - maybe it's personal jealousy rather than professional. Maybe he always tried to do the right thing by the fans, but the screw up Jeff always got the fan support. It will be the tired - the fans like you better so screw them bit, but it would explain why he was still trying to help Jeff win the title - the more he helped Jeff, the more the fans liked him. Also Matt could have been conflicted - he acted one way in secret, but another way publicly. If he didn't help Jeff the fans would wonder why - but if Jeff was taken out behind the scenes, then nobody would suspect Matt when Edge is around.

[LuckyLopez 0]

I think Matt's turn can easily be explained with basic frustration as long as you don't tie him to the accidents. And his frustration could have built for a long time. Him helping Jeff only adds to that if Matt makes it a deal where Jeff was never there to help him. And losing to Swagger with Jeff nowhere to be found is what really hammered it home for him.

 

Of course if Matt threw Jeff down a flight of stairs months ago and kept helping him? Then its a bit ridiculous.

[goldengreek 0]

I'm hoping that the Matt turn and the previous attacks are two separate things. Although I don't know how they would do Edge, Christian and Matt vs. Jeff.

Christian will be coming back as a face

 

Edge- Matt / Christian - Jeff

[King Cucaracha 0]

Or Christian can be behind the attacks, but Edge didn't know about it and is all pissed, leading to Edge vs. Christian vs. Matt vs. Jeff.

 

And to keep everybody happy and before everybody chimes in like the Wrestlemania thread, it'll be a 60 minute Ironman TLC Match because heaven forbid they move on with their careers instead of being stuck with what got them over in 2000.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

I still don't see them having a TLC match and Money in the Bank match on the same card, and I think they'd keep MitB over a TLC match.

[Mike wanna be 0]

I still don't see them having a TLC match and Money in the Bank match on the same card, and I think they'd keep MitB over a TLC match.

Have Edge drop the belt in the Chamber at NWO, find two more people to stick in the feud and call that the MitB match. There's gotta be another blond Canadian and daredevil North Carolinian on the payroll somewhere...

[Black Lushus 0]

Guys...this is the WWE...Matt will totally be behind the accident...like he cut his brake lines or some shit.