One of the most looked forward to PPV's of the Year

The Royal Rumble is one week away and I am hyped for it like I am every year for it. I truly believe that the Royal Rumble and especially the match is one of the most looked forward to shows of the year. So I'm looking back at my personal favourite Royal Rumble shows ever I'll go over the highs and lows of the show, now I want to note that this is the overall show and not just the Rumble match which would likely be a very different list.

10) Royal Rumble 1997-January 19th 1997 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
Highs:
The Royal Rumble match-Won by Steve Austin, who entered number 5, the match was pretty solid from his entrance onwards. The finish saw Bret Hart eliminate Steve behind the referee's back leading to him coming back in and eliminating the final 4 guys including Hart.
Shawn Michaels vs. Sycho Sid for the WWF title-Maybe not Shawn's best match but one of Sid's for sure. This was Shawn's revenge for losing to Sid at Survivor Series but did you know that was meant to be Vader? The duo was meant to wrestle at Summerslam, Survivor Series and the Rumble trading wins but Shawn shut it down after the first match because of how Vader worked.
Lows:
Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq-The hype video got you hyped, sadly in the ring the work failed mainly because of Ahmed who has become a running joke to fans now.
Luchadore 6 Man tag-Being in Texas WWE decided to use a lot of luchadores on this show, sadly the fans didn't care one bit (except for Mil Mascaras) and personally I'm just not a fan of that style.
Notes:
WWE took a massive gamble by doing this show at the Alamodome, which is a big stadium instead of an arena, having Shawn as the focal point helped draw a big crowd of 60, 525 but still not a sell out. What's funny is that TNA will be running Lockdown there and if they get a 10th of that crowd they'll call it a good turn out.


9) Royal Rumble 1994-January 22nd 1994 in the Providence Civic Centre in Providence, Rhode Island
Highs:
Quebecers vs. Bret & Owen Hart for the WWF Tag titles-A very good tag match which was only let down by the bad finish of the ref ending it out of no where. After the match Owen Hart turned on his brother which lead to one of the best Wrestlemania matches of all time. The Quebecers are a very overlooked tag team in my view especially Jacques Rougeau.
The Royal Rumble-Not the greatest Rumble match looking back but it was the first time that you had a wrestler dominate the match in Diesel who became the first man to wait for an opponent to come out. This is also the rumble which saw co-winners in Lex Luger & Bret Hart, a finish that has been copied many times but it's never worked as well as in this match.
Lows:
Razor Ramon vs. Irwin R. Schyster for the Intercontinental title-You just can't take IRS seriously and Ramon was good in the ring but not great. This match was really only there to build to Ramon/Michaels Ladder match at Mania.
Yokozuna vs. Undertaker in a Casket match for WWF title-Taker may have become a better worker over the past few years but back here he was awful and Yoko wasn't the best worker outside look how big he is. A very slow moving match with an insane finish of the entire locker room beating up Taker leading to him being taken of TV for months and coming back as the Purple Taker.


8) Royal Rumble 2010-January 31st 2010 in the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia
Highs:
Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio for the World title-I said Taker became a better worker and here's an example of that. Just the visual of these 2 facing off made you think it would be one sided but they put on a great match and really made it look like Rey could win.
Christian vs. Ezekiel Jackson for the ECW title-Without a doubt Jackson's best match and Christian showed how good he truly is. Now Jackson is pretty much doing nothing and we're all better off.
The Royal Rumble-Won by the surprise return of Edge the match was only highlighted by the return, Shawn Michaels who showed so much in this match and by CM Punk's domination of the ring at the beginning where he would cut amazing promos.
Lows:
Miz vs. MVP for the US title: This was basically a one sided squash in favour of MVP until Miz rolled him up when he was getting into the ring, not a good way to build the man they were planning to push later that year.
Sheamus vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title-Sheamus was not ready for this run and the match was pretty bad. Orton can put on good matches and Sheamus has improved greatly but back here they just didn't click. Also the "break up" of Legacy was just awkward at best. Basically everyone left this match looking weak.


7) Royal Rumble 2008-January 27th 2008 in Madison Square Garden in New York, New York
Highs:
Edge vs. Rey Mysterio for the World title-2 fantastic workers who you knew were going to have a great match. Edge was the ultimate heel and Rey was the ultimate underdog and it worked great. Edge would win by hitting a mid-air spear to Rey after Vickie Guerrero interfered leaving it open to a rematch.
John Cena return-The Rumble match was not the best but the surprise return at number 30 was something to see. The place exploded from surprise, sadly soon after Cena would begin to wrestle and it became business as usual towards him and boos would arise.
Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy for the WWE title-Jeff was one of the hottest guys in wrestling at the time and they probably should have pulled the trigger on him here instead of waiting a year, although he was still as over then. When it comes to the match it was a really good affair, I think Randy put in some effort as he wasn't in there with Cena or Triple H who dominated the title picture at the time.
Lows:
JBL vs. Chris Jericho-Jericho had just returned the previous month and wasn't back into the swing of things, JBL had just came out of retirement and needed to get the rust off. It was a hard hitting match but it just wasn't good.
MVP vs. Ric Flair-This was nearing Flair's "end" and while he could survive of the Career Threatening gimmick it could only go so far. No one believed MVP would win and Flair didn't put much effort it.


6) Royal Rumble 1995-January 22nd 1995 in the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida
Highs:
Jeff Jarrett vs. Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental title-This is a personal favourite of mine and I don't know why. I think I secretly loved the Double J gimmick the flashing hat & jacket, the promos, the ring gear and so much more. But on a serious note I thought these 2 flowed really well. Jeff originally won by countout after the Roadie attacked from behind but Razor wanted to continue and Jeff would roll him up out of the Razor's Edge to win the title.
Diesel vs. Bret Hart for WWF title-Diesel's best matches were with Hart and Michaels. Diesel was only champion for a matter of months here but the match suffered by several false finishes. During the match interference happened on both men at different times in front of the ref and the match continued. It ended in a draw when both men were attacked at the same time but besides that fact it was a very decent match.
Lows:
Undertaker vs. IRS-These 2 were pretty awkward in the ring together and it just didn't come off well. The storyline was beyond stupid and the match was even worse.
The Royal Rumble-While Shawn Michaels gets a lot of praise for this match it wasn't that great. The match is the fastest in Rumble history and Shawn only wrestled for 40 minutes. However the beginning 2 becoming the final 2 was a first.
Notes:
The Royal Rumble match was done with new wrestlers coming in every 60 seconds for one reason the lack of star power. Vince was afraid that the fans wouldn't recognise the names they had so they kept it fast to keep the fans attention, he had a point as during the match even Vince forgot who some guys were. The Rumble winner was meant to win Pamela Anderson for wrestlemania however Shawn Michaels would come out with Jenny McCarthy and Diesel got Anderson, personally Shawn won there in my view.


5) Royal Rumble 2000-January 23rd 2000 in Madison Square Garden in New York, New York
Highs:
Triple H vs. Cactus Jack in a Street Fight for the WWF title-Jack was getting ready to retire and this was his final push in the main event. To me this was the program that made Triple H a true main eventer as Jack made him look great. An insane bloody brawl which Triple H barely survived is remembered as one of the best WWF title matches ever.
Hardys vs. Dudleys in a tables match-This was when tag team wrestling meant a lot and these were 2 of the 3 key teams of WWE at the time. This match is remembered as a classic tag encounter and it really was great, you made 2 teams look fantastic in one night.
Tazz vs. Kurt Angle-This may not have been a long match but what an debut for Tazz. The fans loved it and Tazz looked amazing. Sadly he would quickly die down but going from this you would of thought they had a superstar in the making.
Lows:
Miss Royal Rumble-This was a massive waste of time. Oh look how hot these women are and then Mae Young goes "topless" leading to the win.
New Age Outlaws vs. the Acolytes for the tag titles-This wasn't long or good. And when you take into account this was for the tag titles you should have got more.
Chris Jericho vs. Chyna vs. Hardcore Holly-Not only was Chyna in this match, a women who wasn't that great in the ring, but Holly was as well (one of my all time most hated wrestlers for many reasons). Jericho must have been shaking his head and thinking "I left WCW for this"


4) Royal Rumble 2011-January 30th 2011 in the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
Highs:
Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler for the World title-This kicked off the show and was a fantastic match. Dolph showed he was a main event guy and this was early 2011, he should have been World champion by now and I mean a long reigning champion. Edge was just a few months from having to retire but at the same time he was producing some of the best matches of his career.
The Royal Rumble-The only time 40 men would compete in the match and it worked extremely well. In my view it kept you interested from start to finish. It began with the New Nexus dominating the match until Cena came in and cleared the ring, it became bad for a bit when he & Hornswoggle buried many wrestlers but it picked back up soon after. I also loved the false finish with Santino Marella coming up from out of no where, people really thought he had a chance to win but Alberto Del Rio ultimately won.
Lows:
Fatal 4 Way for the Divas title: This was one of the many Kharma teases that went no where, especially when Eve Torres came out. No one cared and while there were the odd cool spot it wasn't anything worth of note.
Miz vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title: The 2nd year in a row that Randy would work with someone who wasn't really ready for the title. I personally liked the Miz's heel title run but he had a lot against him and just didn't click at first.


3) Royal Rumble 2003-January 20th 2002 in the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia
Highs:
Ric Flair vs. Vince McMahon in a Street fight-The only way you could get a good match out of Vince was in a street fight or gimmick match. But this was a great match and it was a back and fourth match which made sense as Vince was bigger than Flair and with the hardcore rules added more could take place. This was Flair's wrestling debut and it went great. Very surprising that this stole the show.
Chris Jericho vs. The Rock for the Undisputed title-I loved Jericho as the champ, this run and his entire 2001/2002 run is very underrated in my view. These 2 just had magic in the ring together and they are known as 2 of the best of the modern era of wrestling. The promo package showed exactly what the fans thought and that was that Jericho would be over looked as champ and while he tried his hardest to not make that true I think that's sadly the case.
The Royal Rumble: A lot happened in this rumble and it kept you entertained throughout. There were big moments like Maven eliminating Undertaker, surprise returns like Mr. Perfect and great action. Triple H would ultimately win by eliminating Kurt Angle.
Lows:
Dudleys vs. Spike Dudley & Tazz for the WWF tag title-Honestly not a lot of lows on this show but this was a low. In ECW putting Spike against the Dudleys was a sure fire thing but here it just wasn't great. Spike & Tazz as champs just looked silly to me.

2) Royal Rumble 1992-January 19th 1992 in the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York
Highs:
The Royal Rumble-Without a doubt (in my mind) the best Royal Rumble match in the history of WWE. It has to be the most packed Rumble in terms of star power and it's one of the best in terms of quality. It also has to be one of the best called Rumbles with Bobby Heenan being amazing in his role. This match was really the Ric Flair show he put on an outstanding performance as well as a great pre-match promo and a great post match promo. Even Hogan being a glory hog couldn't hurt this match.
The New Foundation vs. The Orient Express-WWE tried to copy the previous years rumble by putting a tag match in the opener and while it wasn't the classic last years was it was a pretty solid match. This really was Owen's showcase match and while he wouldn't become a star round this time you could see the potential there.
Lows:
Beverly Brothers vs. the Bushwhackers-What was this? How did the Bushwhackers get a run in the WWE? Seriously I don't see the appeal. Beyond stupid and beyond bad, this match just sucked.
Natural Disaters vs. the Legion of Doom for the WWF tag titles-Oh this was brutal, none of these guys were great workers and both work better as heels. You had 4 big men who didn't want to sell for the others.


1) Royal Rumble 2007-January 28th 2007 in  the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas
Highs:
John Cena vs. Umaga in a Last Man Standing match for the WWE title-I believe that John Cena's best year was 2007 he was just amazing in the ring that year and it started here. An insanely brutal match that built well and it not only made Cena look great but Umaga looked great as well because of how far Cena had to go. There were insane spots like Umaga running across all 3 announce tables and Cena locking on a STF with a loose tope rope.
Batista vs. Mr. Kennedy for the World title-Much like Cena Batista had a great year in 2007. Kennedy was so close to becoming a world champ and this match was the testing ground. The fans were into it, the action went well and because of JBL on commentary Kennedy came off as a winner in losing (something WWE should seriously look into doing more often).
The final 2 of the Rumble-Honestly this years Rumble wasn't great and is probably one of the worst ones in history until you get to the final 2 of Taker and Michaels. These 2 put on a mini match for 10 minutes which was outstanding. A saving grace to say the least.
Low:
Bobby Lashley vs. Test for the ECW title-WWE tried so hard to get Lashley over as the next guy but he just sucked so much in pretty much every aspect. Test also had to be in there with the right guy to get a real good match and Lashley wasn't that guy. Combine that with an awful countout finish and you got one seriously bad match.

Looking forward to next weeks Royal Rumble PPV I have to say I'm really looking forward to it. I always love the Rumble just for the look and the surprises, I think Punk/Rock will be great and I'm interested to see who will win. I do plan on watching if I can and I should be able to. I hope this blog has hyped you up for the Rumble as well.

20 Years and 20 Matches

First off happy new years everyone. We're offically in 2013 so those Mayans were complete idiots it seems. But the celebration is set to continue as like I mentioned in my last blog Raw is turning 20 years old this month. Last time I looked at the best moments and now I'm looking at the best matches in the shows history. Now like the last post I'll add videos where I can just because it's easier to see than explain, plus these matches deserve to be watched in my view.

20: Trish Status vs. Lita for WWE Women's title-6th December 2004

In 20 years of Raw a women's match has closed the show twice. First was when Lita beat Stephanie McMahon for the title and then this one. And safe to say this match was 1000% better than the previous one. 2 of the best women wrestlers ever showing what they can do. Imagine if they tried this today? I don't think they could at all as the division is pretty much dead.

19: Cactus Jack vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley in Falls Count Anywhere-22nd September 1997
Nothing but WWE '13 is coming up in the search but lets be honest we've probably all seen this match. This was the reintroduction of Cactus Jack with the great 3 way promo between Jack, Mankind and Dude Love. Luckily for them the fans knew who he was otherwise this would of fell flat. The 2 had a really good feud in 97 and this was the blow off match, it really help put Jack over as something special.

18: CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan-30th January 2012

Every indy wrestling fan was drooling over this match, myself included. This was the first time these two had met in WWE before they would overkill it the rest of the year. To make things better this was champion vs. champion both were World champions and the story of no one thought this would ever happen was great to see. When it comes to the match it was awesome these two always had great matches but it got let down by the DQ finish.

17: Shawn Michaels vs. Shelton Benjamin-2nd May 2005

This moment is probably the biggest part of the match. This was a one off match in a tournament and I don't believe they did it again. Benjamin was getting a big push at the time, sadly it would go no where but Benjamin showed how good he could be in this match. Also this is the first of many Michaels match on this list he truly is one of the best wrestlers of all time.

16: Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena-23rd April 2007

Over an hour! No one expected these 2 to go so long on Raw. They had a great match at Wrestlemania 23 and this was the rematch. First off they did this in front of the right crowd as we English fans are insane for wrestling and come off as one of the best crowds to work in front off. But the reason it's so low on my list is just because of how long it went, it just dragged at points I found.

15: Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler-29th August 2011

This shows that Dolph was ready for the main event years before his current push. He's one of the best wrestlers WWE have and as much slack as Randy Orton gets he's still a pretty good wrestler especially at this time as he was having a great feud with Christian and would make Mark Henry look so much better than he actually is. These 2 clicked so well and they still did during their recent feud.

14: Chris Jericho vs. Christian in a Cage-10th May 2004
Chris Jericho Vs Christian Steel Cage Match 2004 - Video Dailymotion
These 2 just had magic in the ring I thought. They could have stole the show at Wrestlemania 20 if Eddie/Kurt and Benoit/HBK/HHH weren't on the show as well. The follow up at Backlash was just a good and they continued to put on fantastic matches. This was the feud ender mainly because Christian suffered a bad back injury during the match.

13: Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Janetty for the Intercontinental title-17th May 1993

The 1993 match of the year is still a great match today. This was one of the first big matches to happen on Raw. As much as people joke and the difference between these 2, we've all heard the "Which one's Shawn and which one's Marty" when a tag team splits, this match showed how great Marty was. The match flowed so well and was a shocker at the end.

12: CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler-21st November 2011

I had much higher hopes last year when these 2 had a feud for the rumble and this match is partly the reason why. The match itself at that Rumble wasn't bad but was overshadowed by Punk vs. Johnny Ace. But this match was great the only downfall was the small botch near the end but these 2 are so good they covered it quickly and it didn't hurt the match.

11: Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle in a Cage-11th June 2001

These 2 always put on fantastic matches. The biggest shame about WWE removing Benoit from history is that some of the best matches in history are overlooked. Of course the biggest moment in this match was the missed moonsault from Angle and 12 years on I bet Angle would do that spot in a cage match again even though he's older and a physical wreck. And if he ever reads this I was hacked!

10: Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy in a Ladder match for the Undisputed WWE title-21st May 2002
Jeff Hardy vs Undertaker Ladder Match - Video Dailymotion
I remember this time being very busy when it came to TV. The draft had only just started at the beginning of the year and the only superstars who could be on both shows were the Women's champion and the Undisputed champion so there would often be two feuds going on at the same time leading to odd matches like this happening. It was a great match that made Jeff look fantastic, shame he's a drugged up idiot and blew so many chances he's been given otherwise he could be making so much money in WWE. The biggest story of the match was that Jeff just continued to fight back no matter what making him look great even in a lose, something WWE hasn't done in a long time.

9: Bret Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid for WWF title-11th July 1994
Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid-WWF Title - Video Dailymotion
I personally feel that Sean Waltman is one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time, he was just so good in the ring and could make anyone look great. So when you combine that with one of the best wrestlers of all time you get a fantastic match. This match really made the Kid as it looked like he could hang with the WWF champion.

8: Shawn Michaels vs. Rey Mysterio-15th November 2005

This was a tribute show to Eddie Guerrero who had only just pasted away and what a way to do a tribute to one of the best ever by putting 2 great wrestlers in there together. Much like Orton I feel that Rey gets too much hate, he does have a lot of issues but he's great in the ring and can make guys look great. This would be the beginning of the Rey push to the World title for Eddie so the win was there to help him and during Shawn's 2nd run with the company he wasn't against putting anyone over.

7: Edge vs. Ric Flair in a TLC match for the WWE title-16th January 2006
TLC: Ric Flair Vs Edge RAW - Vidéo Dailymotion
In my last blog I mentioned how Edge claimed he was the most watched WWE champion of recent time when he first won the title. His live sex celebration was one of the reasons and this was another. Much like they did with the Miz/Lawler TLC match on Raw years later they used this extreme match and the whole angle of "This legend has never done anything like this" to help make the match that more important. This was the right crowd on the right night with the right guys, Edge looked like a true evil heel and you couldn't help but admire Flair's drive.

6: John Cena vs. Edge in a Cage for WWE title-2nd October 2006
Edge vs John Cena Steel Cage Match - WWE RAW - Video Dailymotion
I just remember the heat of this match being incredible. Edge was the first guy that really clicked with Cena at that main event level to the point that fans actually booed Edge at a time when fans were turning on Cena. The 2 had just come off an amazing TLC match for the title and this was ending the feud. My biggest let down back then was that Edge didn't win as the angle had it that Cena would go to Smackdown if he lost and that show really needed the big name talent on there but that didn't happen and he's still on Raw today.

5: Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair in a Loser Leaves Town match-25th January 1993

This really was the first big match in Raw history the show had only been on for a matter of weeks when it occurred. 2 of the best ever wrestling meeting during their prime. Perfect looked great here and why he never got a WWF title run is beyond me. Flair was off back to WCW and had promised to put Perfect over before he left, not only that but Bobby Heenan helped put this match over huge while on commentary.

4: Shawn Michaels vs. Edge in a Street Fight-28th February 2005
HBK vs. Edge - Street Fight - 2005 - Vidéo Dailymotion
A brutal and bloody match that we might see again in the future if this end of PG era rumour is try. This is the final Shawn Michaels match on this list and he was working with a great wrestler in Edge. Not much can be said here except go and watch it.

3: Chris Jericho vs. Triple H for WWF title-17th April 2000

I remember losing my mind when I watch this back then. I loved Jericho and I thought he had won the title. These 2 put on a great match and the fans were losing their minds as well as it built and built. Triple H was actually really good in 2000 and it was the little things of going against the unlikely guy and making them look like he could win, he would do this with Taka Michinoku and Rikishi while as champion.

2: Edge vs. Randy Orton-30th April 2007

I LOVE this match. I don't know what it was but I just love it. Earlier I highlighted the Cena/HBK match and this match was meant to go on the same night but as it went an hour it didn't happen. While this was heel vs. heel it was worked great with Orton being subtle face. We got an insane spot with the spear from the apron onto the announce table from Edge to Orton and we even got hard way blood on Orton. They built up the finish great with the fact they knew each other so well, they had be tag partners, so it was counter after counter until the final blow. Seriously I just love this match.

1: Steve Austin & Triple H vs. Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit for the WWF tag titles-21st May 2001

What a match. The fans were hot from the get go, the action in the ring was fantastic and even Triple H getting injured didn't slow things down one bit. This was a match that started out great and just got better. I loved the team of the Chris' but they wouldn't last long as Benoit would get injured at the next Smackdown in fact. Probably the best tag match in Raw history and in my view the best match in Raw history.

Well there you go. Hope you like my list and it's hyped you up for the actual 20 year celebration, however WWE decides to celebrate it.