The Rock's heading to 'Mania. Photo credit: WWE.com
Antonio Cesaro (c) pinned The Miz to retain the United States Championship in a largely stellar pre show bout. It exceeded my expectations with more impressive action than I was expecting, credit is due to both men for putting on fine displays. Cesaro retained after pulling Miz into the steel around the ring on the outside, then applying the Neutralizer.
Before he went out for his title contest, Del Rio came across Bret Hart backstage, who claimed the champion reminded him of a "Mexican Bret Hart." Alberto was very flattered by 'The Hitman's' kind words.
Alberto Del Rio (c) defeated Big Show to retain the World Heavyweight Championship in a Last Man Standing match. Yet again these two delivered a terrific LMS match, giving efforts to be proud of as they dramatically battled back and fourth. In the best spot of the bout, Show chokeslammed his opponent from a section of the stage set onto and through a table below.
Del Rio grabbed the victory after he cracked the giant's arm with a chair onto steel steps, then applied his signature armbreaker as Ricardo Rodriguez taped Big Show's feet to the bottom rope, much like Cena did to Batista a few years back in their LMS battle.
Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) (c) bested Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow) to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles in an enjoyable outing. From the opening bell it was simply a fun watch, with every man giving a worthy effort and making the most of their time, especially Bryan who as usual was on solid form. I wasn't expecting anything that memorable here, but I'm pleased to say that it's definitely worth checking out. Good stuff.
Before the Royal Rumble began, the first entrant Dolph Ziggler claimed that the final scene of the match will be the same as the start, him standing on his own as the victor. But as the lights then went out, Chris Jericho made a very popular return as number two in the Rumble. As the match begun chants of "You still got it" reigned down on Y2J, to which he retorted "I never lost it baby!" Hard to argue with that.
Cody Rhodes was next in, who soon teamed with Ziggler to take out Jericho. Kofi Kingston was entrant number four, who helped even the odds. Is it worrying that I actually forgot about Kofi? His recent push really died out. Santino Marella was next to join in. After he attempted to eliminate all four men, they then turned their attention to the Italian for retribution and quickly eliminated him.
Drew McIntyre and Titus O'Neil were the next two entrants, who received indifferent responses from the fans. McIntyre was the next one over the top rope after a missile dropkick from Jericho. Much to his brother Cody's dismay, Goldust then entered the RR to a big pop. Filler competitors David Otunga and Heath Slater were next out.
Last year's winner Sheamus then came out in force as he took down all the men in the ring, quickly eliminating Otunga and O'Neil. Big men Tensai and Brodus Clay were next to enter the hectic bout. Cody then eliminated his brother Goldust, which didn't go down well with the crowd in Phoenix.
Rey Mysterio entered next as number fourteen. Brodus Clay was then thrown over the top rope after a load of the participants joined up to get him out, followed by Tensai who was taken out by Kofi. Kingston was then chucked out by Ziggler, but once again gave us a memorable Rumble moment as he landed on the back of Tensai and onto the announce desk without touching the floor. But to make his way back he had to amusingly hop across on a chair, he then also eliminated Young by pulling down the top rope.
NXT regular Bo Dallas was next to join in after earning a spot by winning a battle royal at the Royal Rumble Fan Axxess. Unfortunately after all his effort Kofi was then taken out of the match after receiving a disaster kick from Rhodes.
Another throwback in The Godfather was the following entrant, much to the pleasure of a jubilant JBL, but was then quickly eliminated in a second after a dropkick from Ziggler. However he went out in style with his pimping outfit (yes, I said "pimping") and two girls in hand. Wade Barrett then came out to a decent response.
John Cena then made his anticipated (by some) entrance to a mixed response and in standard fashion for him began taking out everyone in his path, eliminating Rhodes and Slater. After a close call Barrett then pushed Mysterio out of the match. Rey hadn't been at his best, and still looks fairly out of shape.
Damien Sandow and Daniel Bryan were next out, with Bryan eliciting huge chants of "Yes!" as he kicked in a few fellow competitors. US Champion Cesaro next followed the countdown, then the stiff Great Khali. One of the all-time Rumble greats Kane then made his way down, along with Zack Ryder.
After eliminating Khali, Kane was then chucked overboard by his own tag partner Bryan, but he soon got payback as Bryan was thrown over the top rope and into his arms, so Kane dropped him. I imagine this is the start of a split between the two and a probable encounter at WrestleMania.
One of my favourites to win, Randy Orton then exploded on to the scene and quickly eliminated Ryder. The final member of 3MB Jinder Mahal was next out, just before Cena eliminated Cesaro to the dismay of quite a number of fans. Just before Miz then made his way in he tanged a bit with his opponent from earlier in the night.
Jinder Mahal was next to be thrown out by Sheamus, with Sin Cara then making his return from injury as number twenty-nine. In a surprise exit Bo Dallas then took Barrett over the top rope, could this be his stepping stone onto the main roster and challenging for the IC Title? But before he could think about that, Barrett helped eliminate Dallas and cracked him with a Bull Hammer Elbow for good measure.
The final entrant Ryback then made his way out, taking Damien Sandow, Sin Cara and The Miz out of the match. Ziggler then made an unpopular elimination as he superkicked Jericho as he stood on the outside of the ropes. In quick succession Orton was then clotheslined over the top rope by Ryback and Ziggler taken out by Sheamus.
So then there were three. After Sheamus and Ryback then battled it out, Ryback managed to toss the Irishman over the ropes as he came in for a Brogue Kick. No consecutive RR win for him then. Cena then latched on an STFU onto Ryback, afterwards dragging his body over to the ropes. Ryback fought back a bit but Cena then managed to force him out to the floor and stand shocked as the 2013 Royal Rumble winner. Not a surprising victor but one that makes sense I guess.
Overall it was an enjoyable Royal Rumble match. But I think I'm always going to say that about them. You had the drama, excitement and a lot of nice action and old faces returning to make up a match that every year I'm sure I will greatly anticipate. It was a step up from last years for me, but not quite as high a standard as the previous two before that. Still it was a fun ride and did not disappoint. People will no doubt complain about Cena winning but who come on now, who really believed he wasn't going to 'Mania anyway?
The Rock defeated CM Punk (c) to obtain the WWE Championship in a tremendous main event that lived up to the hype. The high quality and drama the match delivered was hardly a surprise considering the talent and how proud both men are of their work in the ring. Punk and Rock must have meticulously planned out the bout beforehand and paced it just right.
Punk dominated for most of the first half, logically targeting Rocky's midsection which he had injured after The Shield attack last Monday night. Of course Rock made a comeback, also targeting a part of the champ (his leg) which he had injured slightly as he came off the top rope for a flying dropkick. But as 'The Great One' was about to hit the people's elbow, the lights went out and we were informed by Michael Cole and Lawler that The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) had triple powerbombed Rock through the announce desk.
A smug Punk then dragged Rock's body into the ring and had the ref count the one-two-three. But this was far from other. Vince McMahon then came out, reminding the champion that he had added a stipulation to the bout that if the Shield interfered then he would be stripped of the title. But as he was about to do just that, a beaten down Rock told Vince to instead restart the match and not end the night like that, so McMahon agreed. Once again The Rock then made a comeback and this time managed to finish off the people's elbow for the win and the strap.
Overall I felt Royal Rumble was a hugely successful show. I enjoyed every single bout, some weren't up to the standard of others but I still had fun watching them. The main event and actual Rumble match itself were the predictable highlights of the card, with the WWE Title contest especially bringing the excitement and drama. For me it was one of the best all round wrestling PPV's in a while.
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