Royal Rumble 2014

Royal Rumble certainly lived up to the hype, we saw title changes, Match of the Year performances and a very controversial end to the main event of the Royal Rumble.

The pre-show match was for the Tag Team Championships with the champions, Goldust and Cody Rhodes a.k.a. The Brotherhood, going up against Billy Gunn and Road Dogg a.k.a. The New Age Outlaws. We saw The New Age Outlaws become the new 6 time tag team champions of the world and this loss, one can assume, is the start of the long awaited Rhodes brother match at Wrestlemania 30.

The match that kicked off the actual PPV was Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt. This match will have to be considered as a match of the year candidate, it had everything a great match should have! Daniel Bryan's great work ethic and Bray Wyatt's athletic ability for a big man made this a match that needed to be watched by all fans of wrestling. Sadly Wyatt won the match but it was a great way to end the Bryan vs Wyatt feud.

This next 'match' was Big Show vs Brock Lesnar. The word match is in inverted comma's because you couldn't really call this a match. While Big Show was waiting in the ring while Lesnar made his way down to the ring, Lesnar attacked Show and pummeled him with chair shot after chair shot before the match had even started. Big Show got one knockout punch in but it only stunned Lesnar. Once the match had been started Lesnar F5ed Show for the win and then continued to beat Show with chair shots, breaking 3 chairs in the process. Lesnar looking dominant was the whole point of this match and the objective was achieved.

John Cena vs Randy Orton (c) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was the next match and this was probably one of the most boring matches I have witnessed between Orton and Cena. We all knew Orton was going to beat Cena and bar a few spots where Cena RKOed Orton and Orton AAed Cena it was a fairly slow match filled with finishers. What was great was the manner in which Orton won the title. Cena had Orton in the STF when suddenly that Wyatt Family sound happened and the lights went out and when they came back on, The Wyatt's had surrounded the ring. Cena went to attack them but when he turned around, Orton hit the RKO for the win. Bray then used Sister Abigail on Cena to set up a Wyatt vs Cena feud with it all culminating at Wrestlemania.

Now onto what we were all waiting for, the Royal Rumble match! There were a handful of surprise entrants as predicted, some returns and also some records being broken.

Here is the list of who entered where in the Rumble:

1. CM Punk

2. Seth Rollins 3. Damien Sandow 4. Cody Rhodes 5. Kane 6. Alexander Rusev 7. Jack Swagger 8. Kofi Kingston 9. Jimmy Uso 10. Goldust 11. Dean Ambrose 12. Dolph Ziggler 13. R-Truth 14. Kevin Nash 15. Roman Reigns 16. The Great Khali 17. Sheamus 18. The Miz 19. Fandango 20. El Torito 21. Antonio Cesaro 22. Luke Harper 23. Jey Uso 24. JBL 25. Erick Rowan 26. Ryback 27. Alberto Del Rio 28. Batista 29. Big E Langston 30. Rey Mysterio
 

And this is the list of eliminations: 

1. Damien Sandow eliminated by CM Punk

2. Kane eliminated by CM Punk
3. Alexander Rusev eliminated by Cody Rhodes and others
4. R-Truth eliminated by Dean Ambrose
5. Jimmy Uso by Dean Ambrose
6. Jack Swagger by Kevin Nash
7. Kofi Kingston by Roman Reigns
8. Dolph Ziggler by Roman Reigns
9. Kevin Nash by Roman Reigns
10. The Great Khali by Roman Reigns
11. Cody Rhodes by Goldust
12. Goldust by Roman Reigns
13. Fandango by El Torito
14. El Torito by Roman Reigns
15. JBL eliminated by Roman Reigns
16. The Miz eliminated by Luke Harper
17. Jey Uso eliminated by Harper/Rowan
18. Erick Rowan eliminated by Batista
19. Ryback eliminated by Batista
20. Alberto Del Rio eliminated by Batista
21. Big E Langston defeated Sheamus
22. Rey Mysterio eliminated by Seth Rollins
23. Luke Harper eliminated by Roman Reigns
24. Antonio Cesaro eliminated by Roman Reigns
25. Seth Rollins eliminated by Roman Reigns
26. Dean Ambrose eliminated by Roman Reigns
27. CM Punk eliminated by Kane (who came back out)
28. Sheamus eliminated by Roman Reigns
29. Roman Reigns eliminated by Batista

As shown above, there were surprise entries for Nash, JBL and Alexander Rusev, Sheamus returned from injury, Roman Reigns beat Kanes 13 year record of 11 eliminations in one Rumble with 12 and probably two even greater travesties of Bryan not being entered into the match and Batista winning the whole event after a 4 year absence from the company. As soon as Rey Mysterio came out as number 30 and crushing the dreams of everyone in the process due to Bryan's absence the crowd were not pleased in the slightest. Boo's echoed around the arena and Daniel Bryan chants rang out! People cheered when the number 30 entry, Rey, was eliminated from the match and when it came down to the final three of Sheamus, Batista and Reigns, everyone was behind Reigns for the win, but was all in vain. Batista won the rumble and is main eventing Wrestlemania 30.

This was a sad day for Daniel Bryan fans and one can assume it seems to show the fans that WWE will do what they think is "best for business" and not what the fans want. Stay tuned for the fallout from the post Royal Rumble Raw.

Wrestlemania 29 *RESULTS*

The Miz vs Wade Barrett (c) for the Intercontinental Championship (Pre-show)

The Miz beat Wade Barrett using a figure-4 leglock. Was a match that was good in spots but too short to have a lasting impact on your memory.

The Shield vs Randy Orton, Sheamus and The Big Show

The Shield beat the magnificent trio after it looked like The Big Show couldn't give a toss about what happened to his team mates. It seemed that Orton and Sheamus didn't trust tagging Big Show in which seemed to of really pissed him off. After the match Show WMDed his team mates. Was a good match which  had a few good spots such a rolling senton by Sheamus on Dean Ambrose and then Seth Rollins on top of the already floored Ambrose. This was a match that I thoroughly enjoyed, though I would of liked a Orton or Sheamus heel turn, not Show.

Mark Henry vs Ryback

This was on of the matches I was looking forward to since it was announced. I will probably get flamed for this but I am a big Ryback fan! It was slow and rest heavy but was still an okay match to watch. The finish was completely not as everyone had predicted. Henry won the match after he fell on top of Ryback after Ryback had got Henry up for the ShellShock finisher. After the match Ryback successfully executed the ShellShock finisher. He may of not won the match but he did get his Wrestlemania moment!

Team Hell No (c) vs Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston with AJ Lee for the Tag Team Championship

This match let us witness the debut of Big E Langston on the grandest stage of them all. This match was a solid match that was very enjoyable to watch though it was nothing we had not seen before. Team Hell No retained their championship which was bound to happen but the reaction that Bryan got after the match was unreal! All eighty thousand plus people were chanting Bryan's trademark "Yes! Yes! Yes!" in unison.

Chris Jericho vs Fandango

This match didn't come off as great as many had hoped, especially Vince McMahon. The crowd wasn't really behind the match very much and the finish was partially botched on behalf of Fandango and if it wasn't for Jericho's experience and ability to improvise then the match would of ended very very poorly. Fandango didn't position himself correctly within the ring which meant when he tried to counter Jericho's lionsault with two high knees, Jericho completely missed. Luckily Jericho faked a knee injury which helped Fandango get the win.

Alberto del Rio (c) with Ricardo Rodriguez vs Jack Swagger with Zeb Colter for the World Heavyweight Championship

In my opinion this was a good match between two great amateur wrestlers, but it just did not come off very well. Del Rio retained the belt through submission but there isn't much else to say.

The Undertaker vs CM Punk with Paul Heyman

This had to be the greatest match of the night which the mostly dull crowd was fully behind. It didn't match up the Triple H vs The Undertaker from Wrestlemania 28 but it was pretty close. Undertaker won after landing a tombstone piledriver to CM Punk. 

Triple H with Shawn Michaels vs Brock Lesnar with Paul Heyman

A very physical match which was mainly foucsed on showing off the animal like mentality of Lesnar. Lesnar dominated most of the match. HBK didn't play as large of a role within the match as was first thought and to be honest there was no need for him to be at ringside. As predicted Triple H won. Great...

John Cena vs The Rock (c) for the WWE Championship

The match that had split the WWE Universe. Everyone knew what the outcome would of been due to the part-time nature of one of the competitors. This match was on par if not better then last years match when it came to the wrestling, but outcome wise, it was not as good as its former counterpart. The Rock looked in better ring shape then what was seen from his other matches since his return, but there were still many rest spots. Cena didn't seem to even break a sweat during the match and in my opinion was carrying Rocky the whole match. Cena inevitably won in the end to a chorus of boo's but I was very very happy!

Overall Wrestlemania 29 was a good event though most of the matches had a very predictable outcome. All I have to say is I can't wait to see the fallout on Raw Tonight!

Elimination Chamber **SPOILER**

Ryback, Sheamus and John Cena vs The Shield at the Elimination Chamber PPV has been set up.

This match was set up after we witnessed the final segment of Raw when The Shield had just triple power bombed Brad Maddox and John Cena's music hit. This led to Sheamus, Ryback and Cena making a Shield like entrance through the crowd and cornering The Shield in the ring. The Shield then tried to escape up the ramp but the members of the Raw locker room, who had been attacked by The Shield before, blocked their way and made them run back into the ring. Sheamus, Cena and Ryback then put the beat down on The Shield of which then The Shield ran away through the crowd thus closing Raw with the 3 top babyfaces standing tall in the ring!