The Senator's Royal Rumble Review

[The Senator]

Ok, I bit the bullet and went along with some old friends to order a WWE PPV in the first time in some six to eight months or so. Can't pass up the Rumble, which even Vince can't yet find a way to screw up.

Match 1: Hardys vs. MNM
: Wow, I've never seen this before...it was competent, but nothing we've not seen at least three times before. No real reason for this match on the card, other than Mercury's revenge. Not horrible, not great.

Match 2: Lashley/Test
: A competently worked big man match, but the finish killed it. Killed it dead, overshadowing some solid work by both men, really.

Match 3: Kennedy/Batista
: Ok, I'm now convinced that Kennedy can work a match to at least three stars with his own shadow now. He practically did that in this match, with Batista blowing basic scoop slams horribly. Kennedy actually worked in progressive focused noint and neck work into the match, and made the match look decent, in spite of the giant Batistadon, who I wish would go extinct from WWE. Sheesh. the ending was bad, too, it looked as if Kennedy was supposed to counter the powerbomb, and Batista just goes ahead with it. Two moves from the massive waste of roided space negate a solid five minutes of offence.

Match 4: Cena/Uuuumagaaaa
: Overrated already. JBL had a much better match with Cena before. This was basically a big long of easily predictable lame spots, and Cena gets his big comeback, and stupid vicious"I'm crapping myself as I apply this move" finish. Lame, lame, lame. Cena is booked into oblivion, really, he's not as bad as Batista, or as green as Bobby Lashley, but his booking makes him look really bad.

Rumble
: Fun rumble with good spots, some annoying things, but overall, it's just like any other decent rumble, with an intense matchup at the end with HBK/Taker. I REALLY hope Taker doesn't now job to Batista, the least deserving guy outside of Mizannon on the roster to do that to the legend.

Overall, the best WWE PPV in about six to eight months, from what I could tell, from seeing recaps and streams of the previous ones. But that's damning it with faint praise. The Rumble had a lame undercard, but it was focused on the wrestling, unlike much of WWE TV, and that was refreshing. WM still looks lame, though.

[Thunderkiss]

The WWE has been on their "youth movement" push for quiet some time now and a lot of the Vets have been forced into pushing over the younger stars. The problem as I see it, the younger stars just dont have "it". Batista doesnt have it. Cena doesnt have it. Orton doesnt have it. I dont know when Vince will get it through his head that he doesnt have the next Rock, Austin or Hogan on his roster at the current time.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, since the UT won the Rumble, I'll be damned if they force him to job to Dave Boobtista, though I just have this feeling that wont go away that the streak is over. Tonight was actually fun at the end. When I saw HBK/UT finish it off, I felt they both deserve it, and quite frankly, I would make them BOTH champions at Wrestlemania to send one huge message.

"New guys, you suck."

[BK London]

*applauds Thunderkiss*

That, IMO, was the best thing you have said since you have came to ACW since "Hello".

[The Senator]

I think Kennedy can be one of them, though. He looked really darned good in that match, and has been entertaining on the microphone, and has a clearly defined character that can sell merchandise(Vince's #1 concern). I forgot to say, though, that I marked out HUGELY when Orton was eliminated, I jumped up and went nuts, practically taunting Orton through the television...

[Shawn]

I disagree. Cena has "it". He's just been overexposed for like three years. He may not be the best wrestler in the world, but he has charisma and he can hold up his end of the bargain.

[xs3]

Now I definitely have to get this year's Rumble when it comes out on DVD. It'll fill out my collection* quite nicely. Damn, am I ever glad Taker won the Rumble.

* Collection = every rumble from 2002 - 2006. '02 and '03 are on VHS, the others are on DVD.

[BK London]

You fail without 2001.

[starkweather]

Cena really has what needs to be there to become a good wrestler. But the WWE is honestly packaging him in too nice a package, is limiting his moveset (I GUARANTEE that he didn't invent the F-U but rather was told to use it during his feud with Lesnar) and is shoving him down the throats of fans. His sense of humor and mannerisms as a heel are what make him entertaining the few times is is as such, the last time this was to me was during an exchange between he and HHH and Edge where he referred to Edge as Skeletor.

[Jason Freeman]

I dont know what's with the Orton hate. I think he definately has "it". And I think he's a great wrestler, and a great heel. He's one of my favorites and he'll be really big in a year or two.

[The Senator]

You can blame me, partially, since I'm the extremely vocal Orton detractor:)

The others, well, they just have common sense and decent taste when it comes to wrestlers. Orton likely annoys me most for two reasons, one, he's a goof, and two, he could be so much better, but isn't. Plus(I said I'd stay to two reasons? I Liiiiiied!), his finisher is particuarly irksome, for reasons I've gone over too many times, he throws lame weak looking girl punches(and I know some girls can throw harder ones than he does), his love of the chinlock is a nice way to cure insomnia if you're watching, he fumbles over complex phrasing in his promos, and even when he's fed easy lines, he sounds like a dope, he often looks "lost" in the ring, as if he doesn't have a clue what to do before his opponent does something, the Orton Pose is vastly overrated(but I am glad it's in FPR, if only to duplicate his idiocy properly), he's a noted backstage instigator(but that can be forgiven if he put out in the ring), he outsizes many if not most of his opponents, but uses a style best suited to a smaller guy, never taking advantage of his size, his "intense" stares have all the inklings of constipation, sheesh, I CAN go on, but I choose not to at this point.

[Thunderkiss]

Lets take a step back in time and see what wrestling fans were saying at this very moment back in 2002!

hhhisthegame said:

He's one of my favorites and he'll be really big in a year or two.

[Dalton]

I agree with Shawn in that Cena CAN be great, but the way that WWE has set him up has doomed him.

I watched the RR via Yoko's Stream of Awesomeness, although it cut out about 10 minutes into the Rumble match . There was no sound either for a while, until I found a second stream to run in the background. All in all, it was a good PPV. I love the chat room for the streams Yoko provides =) I can say funny crap from like 3 years ago, and I'm loved. Mentioning Drew Carey as the surprise entrant got me a crap load of LOL's.

Speaking of which, who WAS the surprise entrant?

[Jason Freeman]

There was no surprise entrant...everybody had been announced for about a week.

Plus, the RKO is a great out of nowhere finisher if it's sold right. I loved his RKO on Shawn last night.

[double]

Diamond Cutter > rKo

[starkweather]

double said:

Diamond Cutter > rKo

Exactly.

BANG! > Posing for 5 minutes to wait for them to get up.