I really did enjoy the Royal Rumble this year, we were treated to some awesome matches (The Rumble itself being my favourite of the night by far) and some classic backstage segments. Christian trying to “out rap” John Cena, was , well, very Christian and he never fails to be entertaining in those sort of segments. Tyson Tomko’s simple “no” when Christian asked him to give him a beat was hilarious. I loved seeing Eric Bishoff and Theodore Long trying to outdo one another all night long and trying to show that their brand of Wrestler’s are the best. It gave a real sense of competition and all of the Superstars involved in the Rumble showed a great deal of pride for their respective shows. I just hope that the trend is set to continue as it makes for some interesting match up’s and segments. It gives the Raw and Smackdown Superstars not only the opportunity of wrestling one another but it gives the fans a great sense of rivalry between the two shows.

As always, I loved the Rumble match, its one of the few times a year that we get to see the Raw and Smackdown Superstars doing battle and this year there was that feeling of a real battle of the brands. Yes, it was the West Coast Rumble! and it was a nice touch seeing both Eric Bishoff and Theodore Long come out to ringside to rally their troops in battle. I cannot tell you how much I loved seeing the battle line drawn with Raw Superstars Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Edge and Shelton Benjamin on one side and Smackdown Superstars Rey Mysterio, Luther Reigns, Eddie Guerrero and Booker T on the other. The fans in the Arena just went crazy for this and it was awesome to see and I have to admit, it was my favourite moment of the Rumble. The other highlights of the match for me was seeing Daniel Puder being taken to the Wood Shed (as JR puts it) and being given a baptism of fire (literally) courtesy of Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Hardcore Holly. The Raw and Smackdown Superstars teaming up against Mohammad Hassan (obviously Smackdown don’t like his attitude either (lol)) and dumping him over the top rope after he was treated to the 619 from Mysterio. I actually found the segment with Simon Dean really funny with him warming up in the ring only to be dumped out by Shawn Michaels who then took great pleasure in mimicking him. Chris Jericho’s impression of the French tickler after he threw out Rene Dupree (I wonder if he will get to hear Tazz’s comment about him not being able to dance or SING!!!! - obviously not a Fozzy fan!!!). Ric Flair trying to get Batista out and then trying to apologise when he failed was just so funny, Paul London taking that incredible clothesline on the ring apron from Snitsky and turning himself inside out was just amazing and seeing Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin teaming up for old times sake was a nice reminder of the World‘s Greatest Tag Team. I just loved everything about the Rumble although the ending seemed a bit rushed. With a little extra time I think we could have seen Batista and John Cena really take it to the wire as it was Batista’s win in the end came over a little flat even though he was impressive in the match itself. Kudos to all the tremendous athletes from Raw and Smackdown for giving us another Rumble match to remember.

WWE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH

I did enjoy this match even though I never thought for one moment that the title would change hands. Even though all outside “personnel” were banned from ringside, I knew that they would end up getting involved before the end. The sad thing is that JBL does look impressive in his title defences right up until the inevitable outside interference giving him the win, for me it takes something away form the match. Yes, I know that he is a heel and heel’s cheat to win but he looks more than capable of fighting his own battles most of the time and all this interference makes things messy and hard to follow because of the huge number of people involved. All that said he will be very much on his own at No Way Out when he has to face Big Show in a Steel Cage in a barbed wire match, that will really show fans just what he is made of.

CASKET MATCH

I really don’t like watching Heidenreich in the ring but I have to admit that I enjoyed this match a lot more than I thought I would simply because of the involvement of Gene Snitsky and Kane. The backstage segment between Snitsky and Heidenreich was just plain weird to the point of being incredibly funny (in a good way) and they certainly make for a very interesting duo. I think they are “soul mates” (well, definitely out of the same mould anyway!). I really didn’t expect to see Kane come out of the casket, I figured when Snitsky got involved he wouldn’t be far behind but I didn’t see this one coming I have to admit and it made for a nice surprise especially seeing the reactions of the referees when they opened the casket and Kane sat up. It was so good to see The Undertaker and Kane back together in the same ring and that really made this match all the more special. You have to give Heidenreich his due, he takes one hell of a beating from Taker in their matches and this one was no exception. I am interested now to see what the next chapter in this storyline will be especially now Kane and Snitsky are involved.

I enjoyed this match and it was only fitting that Edge got the win by cheating. It leaves this feud wide open and I really hope that HBK and Edge haven’t finished with each other yet. Edge now has his title shot at next week’s Raw in Japan but I am betting that Shawn Michaels will put a stop to his plans of walking out with the World Heavyweight Title adding even more fuel to this already intense feud.

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

I did enjoy this match although I felt it ran on a little long by the time we got to the end, time that would have been better served for the Rumble match. I would have been extremely surprised to see Randy Orton walk out of The Rumble with the title but there was a speck of hope at the beginning as all members of Evolution were banned from ringside. I thought that Triple H and Randy Orton put on a very entertaining match with some great spots by the concussion angle used towards the end for Orton did confuse me. Orton played his role so well that I was convinced at first he was concussed but whether I blinked or lost concentration for a moment, I really couldn’t see how he got his concussion in the match. So seeing him spaced out was strange for me, but that’s just me as I think I missed the punchline (so to speak). So, Triple H once more retains his title but then we have been programmed not to expect anything different these days. The only bright light on the horizon is Batista vs. Triple H at Wrestlemania, now that will be one hell of a battle and Triple H won’t escape easily with his title on that night (if at all).

Take Care

Di