Royal Rumble 2008 Review
I've seen this show quite a few times as I've had it on DVD for a while, but I'm still gonna watch it all the way through again to make sure that my opinion is still the same. Let's begin.
This show takes place in the greatest wrestling arena of them all, (at least in my opinion), Madison Square Garden.
MVP vs Ric Flair
If the Nature Boy loses this match, his career is over. Vince McMahon made that stipulation about a month previously. It was pretty obvious that Flair's career would not end against MVP in an opening match. Wrestlemania seemed much more appropriate and ended up being the best choice. This didn't seem like much of a match as Flair looked way too old in there, and MVP seemed limited with what he could do with him. The superplex was pretty good though, and the crowd was into it thanks to Flair. Overall it was a pretty solid match as MVP tapped to the figure four. **1/2
Chris Jericho vs JBL
Jericho had only been back for about a month, and this was the feud they had waiting for him? Seems a little strange. It wasn't much of a feud as this was their only real match together. The main reason as to why I didn't like this feud was because it JBL away from the announcing table, which is where he worked best in my opinion. The botched running bulldog is edited out. Jericho was pretty badly busted open here. The match wasn't bad, but the DQ finish was an abrupt ending that kind of ruined it. **
Edge vs Rey Mysterio
The World Heavyweight Title is on the line. Mysterio was really just the challenger to keep Edge busy until he faced Undertaker at Wrestlemania. That didn't stop this from being good though. The crowd was really against Mysterio and they were cheering for Edge. They must have still been pissed off about the Eddie storyline. Anyway this was a great match, as there was some great offense from Mysterio, Edge was a great heel as always, and Mysterio sold the leg very well. This feud wasn't over yet. ***1/2
Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton
WWE Title is on the line. Usually when people order this PPV, they have the Rumble match mainly in mind, but on this occasion, I think most people ordered this show to see if Hardy could win the big one. Hardy looked like a great underdog, and that's why he was in the same kind of storyline towards the end of the year and got great reactions from the crowd. I think most would have been disappointed by the outcome, but it was still a very good match. Not as good as the World Title match, but I'd say it's worth a watch. Orton reverses the twist of fate into the RKO to retain. ***1/4
The Royal Rumble Match
MSG is a great place for a Rumble, as the placement of the entrance area means that the camera can stay on the action in the ring, while a superstar is coming out. I loved the beginning of the match as it started with the last two entrants of the 2007 Rumble: Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Once again they showed their amazing chemistry and put on an entertaining show while the first few entrants arrived. Seeing Taker and Batista stare each other down after a year long rivalry was pretty awesome. They continued the Jamie Noble vs Chuck Palumbo feud here (I don't remember it either). Seems pretty small-time for the Rumble. One of my favourite Rumble moments is the surprise entries of Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper. Sure they couldn't work properly but it was a ton of fun. Although what everyone remembers from this match is the very surprising entry and return of John Cena who was meant to be out for another few months. He seems to have a habit of doing that. The final two of HHH and Cena was fantastic, and you didn't know who was going to win. One of my personal favourite Rumble's and overall I would say that it's great. It was never really boring and reached a fever pitch towards the finish. ****
7.5/10. Very good Rumble show here, as the Rumble was awesome and the two World Title matches were very good and worth a look. The first two matches weren't great but they were still entertaining. The stuff with Maria and Santino brought it down a bit. I never mentioned that stuff because it wasn't worth mentioning. Anyway overall it was a very good show worth watching.
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