Tuesday, January 19, 2016

WWE Royal Rumble 2006 Review

Match 1: Cruiserweight Championship - Open Invitational - Kid Kash (c) vs. Funaki vs. Jamie Noble vs. Nunzio vs. Paul London vs. Gregory Helms
This is an open invitational for any former or current Cruiserweight champions as Gregory Helms enters the match as the only superstar from the Raw brand. Action was good and you get your cool spots here and there to get the crowd going. The SmackDown guys all made sure to take out Helms but the teamwork didn't last long as Helms was able to win the match when he hit a sweet Shining Wizard to Funaki. The ending was predictable but I liked it. Helms plays his role great as a heel and him being a Raw guy makes things more interesting. As for the match, it wasn't the most spectacular thing in the world but it certainly wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. Nice opening match to set the tone for the night.
Winner: Gregory Helms
Rating: **1/2

Match 2: Mickie James vs. Ashley
Before the match, Mickie James confesses her love to Trish Stratus. Oh, and Trish is the special referee for this contest. This is actually one of the only times that a Divas storyline intrigued me. I love how great Mickie James is in her role as the psycho lover to Trish who wants to have no part of this crush. Even during the match, James just looks so psycho, it's amazing how great she is here. Seeing her smile after ramming Ashley into a ring post was just brilliant. James scored the win when she slammed Ashley from the corner of the ring along with a handful of tights. Trish reluctantly made the count as James gave a huge hug to Trish after. The match was pretty horrid but the storyline progression was great.
Winner: Mickie James
Rating: 1/2*

Match 3: The Boogeyman vs. JBL
How the mighty have fallen. JBL went from headlining WrestleMania the previous year to being squashed by The Boogeyman. Boogeyman starts the match by spitting worms onto Jillian Hall before JBL ambushed him from behind. However, Boogeyman ended up scoring the win in less than five minutes. Wow.
Winner: The Boogeyman
Rating: 1/4*

Match 4: 2006 Royal Rumble
So many stories going into this Rumble and that is the exact way this match needs to be. From Shawn Michaels feuding with Vince McMahon, to Rey Mysterio representing Eddie Guerrero with Randy Orton in his way, or to Triple H meeting his former enemies in Ric Flair and The Big Show. They also had the two perfect guys starting the match in Triple H from the Raw brand and Mysterio from the SmackDown brand who is dedicating this match to Guerrero. I love when two big stars open up the match and I especially love when it's two guys from two separate brands. It almost felt like the match centered around these two and personally, I felt like it made the match work. The flow marched to a better beat of the drum and you knew it was going to be one of these two guys to win the match. The entrants kept piling on but it never really felt like there was a serious threat aside from those two and the #30 entrant in Orton. The final four came down to Rob Van Dam, Triple H, Orton and Rey Mysterio before Michaels was eliminated by Shane McMahon when Vince McMahon came out as a distraction. When Van Dam got eliminated, it was down to Triple H, Orton and Mysterio. The odds were definitely against Mysterio but after eliminating Triple H, it was down to Mysterio and Orton. Triple H rammed Mysterio into the steel steps before leaving to the back. All Orton had to do was toss Mysterio out. However, Mysterio defied the odds and flipped the switch on Orton and tossed him out to capture a shot at gold at WrestleMania 22. Aside from the predictability, I loved this Rumble. Great flow, great action, and a fantastic story told with Mysterio overcoming all the adversities. It's a simple story that always works when used correctly.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: ****1/4

Match 5: WWE Championship - Edge (c) vs. John Cena
It's almost hard to believe that these two would go on to have the biggest feud of their careers just months later after this match. We all know the story here with Edge being the first to ever cash in the Money in the Bank contract against John Cena at New Year's Revolution after the Elimination Chamber match. Considering this match was ten years ago, it's also interesting to see how much Cena has improved in the ring. It almost felt like Edge was leading the pace throughout the match and Cena was just catching up. The chemistry wasn't yet there and while the match was good, it wasn't great when taking into account the matches they would have later in the year. Cena would eventually emerge victorious despite Lita doing her best to help Edge who would submit to the STFU. Edge capturing the gold for the first time in his career was spectacular but it came to a crashing halt to set up the main event for WrestleMania 22.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ***

Match 6: World Heavyweight Championship - Kurt Angle (c) vs. Mark Henry
Take a step back and understand what the main event for this show is. This is Kurt Angle defending his newly won World Heavyweight Championship against Mark Henry. It sounds weird now but Mark Henry's brand new character was hot at the time and this match here against Angle made sense. They built the match around Angle doing everything in his power to take out the bigger monster in Henry. It made sense, but nothing about this screamed main event and in no shape or form should this match be the headliner over the actual Royal Rumble match. What boggled me even more was how Angle won. He exposed a turnbuckle, he hit a low blow and finally hammered the stake with a chair shot to the head. Oh, and he held onto the ropes for leverage as the referee counted the pin. I get that they wanted to protect Henry... but what the hell?! That really didn't help Angle, either. And to think this was the main event of the show. The Undertaker then comes out on a chariot led by a horse and motions his hands around his waist to signify that he wants a shot at the gold. The Undertaker's appearance was cool and really washed the bad taste left in the audience's mouths.
Winner: Kurt Angle
Rating: *3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Can you believe this show was ten freaking years ago?! This is definitely one of WWE's weakest Royal Rumble offerings. The Royal Rumble match itself delivered, aside from the predictability. The undercard was pretty bad and the two championship match offerings fell flat. Regardless, the Rumble match was definitely a memorable one and one everyone should still check out!
Rating: 5.75/10

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