WWE™ "Royal
Rumble"
A RAW™
& SmackDown!™ Co-Production
Location: Save Mart Center, Fresno, California
by 'Rockin' Robin Drodge
Event
Date: January 30, 2005
Report Date: January 30, 2005
Match Number One - RAW: Shawn Michaels Vs, Edge. This was the opening match for the Royal Rumble. This match was not the greatest. Michaels rolled up Edge, however Edge reversed the roll-up and used the ropes to pick up the pin-fall victory.
Match Number Two - SmackDown!™: Casket Match - The Undertaker Vs. Heidenreich. The rules for this match are that you have to place your opponent into the casket and then close the lid. This match was interesting. While the match was going on, Gene Snitsky from RAW™ came out to help Heidenreich. Both of them attempted to place the Undertaker into the casket. When the casket was opened, Kane, also from RAW™, was inside it. He immediately sat up and then attacked Snitsky. They ended up fighting all the way back to the dressing room. Later in the match the Undertaker had hit the choke slam on Heidenreich and then followed-up with the tombstone. Heidenreich was placed into the casket and the lid was closed. This resulted in the Undertaker winning the match.
Match Number Three - SmackDown!™: No Disqualification (DQ) Triple Threat WWE!™ Championship Match.
WWE!™ Champion, John "Bradshaw" Layfield Vs. Kurt Angle and the Big Show. This match was very good and the fans seemed to have enjoyed it. JBL hit the clothesline from hell on Kurt Angle to pick up the pin-fall victory to retain his championship.
Match Number Four - RAW™: World Heavyweight Championship.
World Heavyweight Champion Triple H Vs. Randy Orton. This match was a good match. Later in the match the Referee got knocked down and then Triple H brought in a sledge hammer from outside the ring. I believe that Orton used the sledge hammer on Triple H. Towards the end of the match it saw Triple H clothesline Orton into the sledge hammer and then hit the pedigree to pick up the pin-fall victory to retain his championship.
Match Number Five - The Royal Rumble™ Match.
The rules for the Royal Rumble™ are the following: Two superstars start the match and then every 90 seconds thereafter another superstar enters the ring until all 30 superstars have entered the ring. Elimination occurs when a superstar is thrown over the top rope and both feet have to hit the floor in order for that superstar to be eliminated. The last person in the ring, after all 29 other WWE!™ superstars have been eliminated, will win the match. This person will wrestle in the main event at Wrestlemania and will receive a title match at either the World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE!™ Championship. It is then up to the superstar to choose which championship he wants to wrestle for at Wrestlemania. Both RAW™ and SmackDown!™ have 15 superstars to represent their perspective Brand. After explaining all the rules for the Royal Rumble™ match, things got underway with the introduction of the first two superstars. Eddie Guerrero from SmackDown!™ drew number one; while Chris Benoit from RAW™ drew number two.
After that, the rest of the superstars entered the ring after 90 seconds had expired. The Order of the Superstars are as follows:
Daniel Puder, Hardcore Holly, The Hurricane, Kenzo Suzuki, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Shelton Benjamin, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Luther Reigns, Muhammad Hassan, Orlando Jordan, Scotty 2 Hotty, Charlie Haas, Rene Dupree, Simon Dean, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Jonathan "the Coach" Coachman, Mark Jindrak, Viscera, Paul London, John Cena, Gene Snitsky, Kane, Batista, Christian, and Rick Flair
Scotty 2 Hotty did not get to participate in the Royal Rumble™ because after Mohammad Hassan had been eliminated, he returned and attacked Scotty, which resulted in Scotty being taken to the dressing room to be looked at by the EMT's. Batista and John Cena were the two remaining superstars. Batista and John Cena went over the top rope at the same time. The referees could not decide on who had won the match. Two referees from RAW™ said Batista won the Royal Rumble™ match; while two referees from SmackDown!™ said Cena had won. Vince McMahon came down to the ring and ordered that the match be restarted. After this, Batista hit his sit-down power bomb on Cena and then eliminated him to win the Royal Rumble™.
Some additional comments regarding the Royal Rumble™.
The WWE!™ did not announce how many fans were in attendance for the Pay-Per-View, so I can only assume that this was not a sell-out.
It seemed that for the Shawn Michaels vs. Edge match, the fans were rather quiet. They did boo Edge and cheer for Michaels but it was not as much as you would expect for this match.
It also appears that the WWE!™ are setting up a tag team match for Wrestlemania between the Undertaker and Kane against the team of Heidenreich and Gene Snitsky. They started this feud in the casket match so it appears that this match will take place at Wrestlemania.
In the Triple H vs. Randy Orton match for the World Heavyweight Championship, the fans sent a message to the WWE!™ saying they are getting tired of Randy Orton being a "baby face". They even started a chant in the match - Randy sucks! Randy sucks! They also booed him in the match and cheered loudly for Triple H. So I would not be surprised in the near future on RAW™ if the WWE!™ will turn Randy Orton back as a "heel".
The WWE!™ started to set up some feuds that could lead to matches at Wrestlemania, but at this point I'm not certain if this will happen, but here are some good possibilities:
Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle, John Cena and Christian, Eddie Guerrero and Ric Flair, Edge and Rey Mysterio.
It seems that by Batista winning the Royal Rumble™, he will wrestle Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania, where he is expected to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
Before the Royal Rumble™ match took place, the General Manager of SmackDown!™, Theodore Long, announced that at the next WWE!™ Pay-Per-View, (No Way Out), which will be a SmackDown!™ only one, that the main event will be John "Bradshaw" Layfield defending the WWE!™ Championship against the Big Show in the first-ever barb wire steel cage match.
Another interesting point I want to mention here is that Kurt Angle ended up taking Nunzio's spot in the Royal Rumble™. However, Nunzio was not scheduled to be involved in this match, so I am not sure why the WWE!™ had shown Nunzio trying to find out what number he had drawn; only to have Kurt Angle take it from him. There was one spot left for the SmackDown!™ roster and Angle ended up taking it.
Overall, the Royal Rumble™ was a good Pay-Per-View.
(This page was last updated on 2007-01-01 )
© 2004 Robin Drodge, All Rights Reserved
WWE™™, WCW™, Wrestlemania™, SummerSlam™, Survivor Series™, the names of its events, superstars and finishing moves are all registered trade marks of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
