WWE Royal Rumble 2004 Review

A date with destiny is on the line, the 2004 edition of the Royal Rumble match is one of the most star-studded in its rich history as so many stories intertwine on the route to WrestleMania. Also, Triple H defends his World Heavyweight Championship in a Last Man Standing match against Shawn Michaels.

Match 1: WWE World Tag Team Championship - Tables - Evolution (Batista & Ric Flair) (c) vs. The Dudley Boyz
To open up the night, The Dudley Boyz look to capture the World Tag Team Championships for the 319th time in their respective careers against Batista & Ric Flair in a tables match. Very quick opener here with Jonathan Coachman assisting Evolution and causing a distraction against The Dudley Boyz. Batista is able to capitalize off the distraction and hit a spinebuster on his former mentor in D-Von through a table to secure the win. Fine opener to get things rolling.
Winners: Evolution (Batista & Ric Flair)
Rating: *1/2

Match 2: WWE Cruiserweight Championship - Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Jamie Noble
With his girlfriend in Nidia being blinded, Jamie Noble looks to take advantage of the situation and use her to win the Cruiserweight Championship against Rey Mysterio. Noble dominated the majority of the match until Nidia inadvertently pulled Noble's leg thinking it was Mysterio's. Mysterio took advantage of the situation and hit a 619 to pick up the win and retain the gold. Another quick match to kick off the show. Maybe I'm being a little too generous here with my rating.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: *

Match 3: Chavo Guerrero vs. Eddie Guerrero
The family feud between Chavo Guerrero and Eddie Guerrero finally comes to a meet in the third match of the night. Man, you could really see the chemistry here between the two as all their holds and moves against each other looked as if they have done it about a million times before. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they actually have done it a million times against each other before. But for what it was, the match just didn't last long enough for me to really sink my teeth into and once I started thinking this match was going to be a gem of the night, Eddie had already hit Chavo with a Frog Splash. Just a few more minutes and this really could have been something. Afterwards, Eddie goes to town on Chavo beats him down to a bloody pulp in front of Chavo Guerrero Sr. Get ready, Eddie is about to get the push of his life...
Winner: Eddie Guerrero
Rating: **3/4

Match 4: WWE Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Hardcore Holly
After Brock Lesnar put Hardcore Holly on the shelf for months with a broken neck, Holly looks to score some serious revenge by winning Brock's WWE Championship... and breaking his neck in the process. Loved the intensity these two brought with Holly rushing Lesnar early on during his entrance and setting the tone for the match. They had a personal feud running here and they acted on it accordingly. Smash mouth style of wrestling with Holly managing to get the champ in some trouble before quickly falling to an F5. Lesnar escapes with the championship despite Holly putting up his best efforts. Sometimes, you don't need a match to go half an hour to get the point across. This is a perfect example of that. The two had major beef after the serious injury Lesnar caused upon Holly and they beat the crap out of each other for five minutes until Lesnar was able to land the final blow.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: **1/2

Match 4: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Last Man Standing - Triple H (c) vs. Shawn Michaels
Of all the legendary matches these two have had against each other, this one tends to be so forgotten about. Loved the idea of having these two in a Last Man Standing match and of course, they brought the goods here. With Triple H dominating early on and bloodying up Shawn Michaels, it looked like this was in the bag for The Game. Once Michaels was able to turn the tides, the blood started pouring on the other side. Evey count made by the referee made sense and they all inched closer and closer to a final count as the match progressed. Loved that considering we tend to get so many pointless counts for this type of match that really weight the whole thing down. After some brutal steel chair shots, Michaels was able to hit a Sweet Chin Music on Triple H as the two collapsed to the mat immediately. The referee then counted both of them as the match would end in a draw, Triple H retains. Very strong co-main event match with the perfect ending. There doesn't always have to be a winner for an ending to make sense. This perfectly sets up a rematch at WrestleMania with a little spice added to it...
Winner: n/a
Rating: ****1/4

Match 5: 2004 Royal Rumble
This is the first viewing I have ever had with this match and have always heard about so much notoriety over it. To my delight, this Royal Rumble match certainly delivered on so many different aspects that I couldn't help but feel like this was easily one of the strongest Rumbles I have come across. Of course, the biggest story going into this one was Chris Benoit getting the first spot in the match. Almost to the point where it was pretty predictable that Benoit was going to win. But let's be honest... the idea of him going over in 2004 was kind of a long shot. The match was structured around him and if he was going to be able to last all the way through. But in between, there were so many different stories that all made sense leading into WrestleMania XX. From something as small as Chris Jericho eliminating Christian to The Undertaker toying with his brother Kane with a gong after one of the countdowns before Spike Dudley ended up going out and getting Chokeslammed on the ramp for his troubles. One of the other biggest shining points in the match saw Mick Foley make his way to the ring and eliminate both himself and Randy Orton as the two brutalized each other on the outside afterwards with Orton delivering some nasty chair shots to the head. Later on, Goldberg entered the match last and was quickly dominating throughout before Brock Lesnar makes another appearance and gives him an F5 before Kurt Angle picked up the pieces and eliminating Goldberg as the crowd ate it up. However, the biggest story of Benoit was placed back under the spotlight as the highlight of the match saw him eliminate The Big Show in dramatic fashion to score the biggest victory of his career as Jim Ross on the call made it that much more special. Perfect ending to the match that unfortunately has become tainted which perhaps prevented me from giving this match the full *****. The match served so many purposes in building up so many different feuds for the biggest show of the year without skipping a beat throughout.
Winner: Chris Benoit
Rating: ****3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
With a really weak start to the show, the second half really closed things out with a bang. The two championship matches both delivered and the Royal Rumble match itself was one of the best constructed Rumble matches I've ever seen. A perfect way to set up the road to WrestleMania XX. 
Rating: 7/10