Hello,
Im writing in with some live notes from the Royal
Rumble Pay-Per-View in Miami that was held a few hours
ago. I read your site regularly but have never been
able to find any local input when a live WWE event
comes to town. Hopefully this will change that.
Shazad M Mohammed, ABD
I was at the American Airlines arena around 7 and the
lines were unbelievable outside. Lots of pro Cena and
Angle signs were visible with the occasional ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”Cena
Sucksââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ sign. Hot crowd with lots of excitement
running though the people. I got some great seats just
to the left of the entryway, on the lower level
(courtesy of my girlfriend Helen).
It seemed like there was an endless stream of people
coming in and the place was about 90% filled. Still, a
fairly decent section of the arena was tarped off
around the Rumble set to accommodate the ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‹Å“Tron and
the stage design. Even though the show was advertised
as being sold out for the last few weeks, there were
quite a few empty seats visible in the lower parts of
the arena.
This is my first time writing one of these so Ill
start at the top and give the crowd reactions and
opinions as we work our way down the card.
We start off with a ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”bonusââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ match of Brian
Kendrick and ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”My name is Finelyââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚¦.I like to
fight!ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ (Which I later find out was shown on Heat
leading into the big show). Nothing special with
Finley wailing into his opponent as usual. Crowd was
okay with this. Most people were still trying to find
their seats and buy merchandise or food.
We got the opening pyro, which was HUGE and we started
off with the cruiserweight open invititational (oh
joy). Mixed reactions as the participants came out one
by one; Paul London got the most positive response
(the ladies seem to love this guy) and almost dead
silence when Gregory Helms walked out. Decently paced
match with some good spots, particularly the shooting
star press by London to the outside. Obligatory
ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”Holy Shitââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ chant for that one. After that, it was
a fairly paint by numbers affair until Helms won the
belt with the Shining Wizard to almostââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â¡Ã‚¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â¡Ã‚¬Ã‚¦.zero
reaction. Does this mean hes going to be on
Smackdown now or will the Cruiserweight championship
be moved to Raw? Probably the former since theyve
all but buried Helms on Raw.
Funny stuff with the backstage skits and Vince
overseeing the drawing of the entry numbers. Saw the
ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”ballââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ jokes coming a mile away (whos bright
idea was it to use that color? Blue balls. Lame).
Surprising reveal by Mickie James to Trish that the
crowd ate up (like we dont get enough of that on
South Beach on any given day of the week) leading into
the Ashley/ Mickie match. Thisââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚¦was just bad. Ashley
needs some more work and Mickie needs to find some
ring gear that is more flattering to her body. The
timing was most of the match seemed off and the whole
affair was just awkward. A few ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”we want puppies
chantsââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ but mostly lots of ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”boringââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ chants as we
came to the end. Trish (who looked hot as usual)
hesitated in counting the pin after a bad powerbomb
(blown spot?) on Ashley by Mickie. Thank god that
ended when it did because it was truly painful to
watch.
JBL Vs Boogeyman was a decent match from start to
finish. Hated the character initially but the entrance
and funky gyrations start to entertain after a while
(plus the kids just loved it whenever Boogy brought
out the worms!). Lots of ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”lets go Boogy-manââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ
chants and a surprising win over JBL; the crowd really
hated that guy.
More backstage stuff that lead intoââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚¦..the Rumble? So
soon? Most people seemed a bit confused at first as we
though the two Title matches were next and the Rumble
would go on last, oh well.
Lillian Garcia starts to explain the rules and we all
settled in for the show.
Then the Spirit squad came in.
Now, I dont know how this came across live, but
these guys were just about booed out of the ring.
Truly atrocious stuff and the crowd turned on it
quickly.
Note: Miami likes the Dolphin cheerleaders and the
Heat cheerleaders. Thats it. I cringe thinking
about how these guys are going to be pushed into the
TV spotlight in the coming weeks in favor of other,
more well deserved talent.
Rumble got off to a huge start when the Games music
hit and the crowd realized Triple H was going in at
number one. And the place just about exploded when
Mysterio came out in the lowrider at number two.
The crowd was pretty hot during the match with lots of
ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”Eddieââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ chants that went into overdrive anytime
Mysterio looked in jeopardy of going out of the ring.
Lots of favorites in the match tonight and we just ate
it up live whenever the countdown started and a new
guy came out. Holy crap! Is that Eugene? Road Warrior
Animal! RVD!!! The place went nuts with lots of Rob
Van Dam chants for damn near anything he did up until
Orlando Jordan (most reviled man in the match TM) came
in. Bad reaction to that one. Couple of ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”Eddieââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ
chants broke out for Chavo, especially when he broke
out the three amigos and the crowd really tore into
HHH when he eliminated him.
Great reaction to Shelton Benjamin and his (big) mama.
Not sure if it shows up on the screen but she wore
some big fuzzy house slippers that had me laughing for
some reason.
Goldust? WTF? Mixed reaction that seemed to settle on
the positive side, especially when he broke out the
corner goal kick to Carlitos apples. Huge heat from
the crowd on Shano Mac and Vince for the HBK
elimination. Can he be eliminated by someone who
isnt even in the Rumble?
Lots of cheers for RVD and Rey when we got down to the
final four and the crowd went over the top with the
Eddie chants when it was just Rey, Orton and Triple H
in the ring.
The place went nuts when Rey eliminated Orton and it
felt like the top of the roof was going to come off
during the whole sequence when he went to his knees
and thanked his ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”hermanoââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ for helping him pull of
the win. Good match with an ending that kept everyone
at the edge of the seats to the finish.
Main events were next and in between the backstage
reaction to Reys win some of the event staff
started to tinker with some kind of walkway rig that
was suspended over the front half of the entry.
Everyone in my area was wondering what was going on
and guessing the whole time until Cena came out. The
arena just exploded for his entrance. The crowd
reaction was very positive for Cena (why wouldnt it
be after that entrance?) and stayed that way
throughout most of the match. Heavy boos for Edge and
Lita when they slinked out. Not a bad match and an
actual surprise finish as it seemed like Litas
interference would have given Edge the win. Cena posed
with the belt after the tap out and got cheered all
the way to the back.
Howls of laughter for the Dugan ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”Hooooââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ chant that
got stopped as soon as the promo started running for
the Henry/Angle match. Terrible reaction for Henry
that only got worse after that focused promo by Angle.
Match was mercifully short and Kurt did his best to
keep it entertaining. A couple of TNA chants broke out
at this point and when Angle won so quickly I knew
something else was coming.
Isnt that funny, the Undertaker. The place went
apeshit for the entrance (druids, smoke and a horse
drawn chariot!?). Does the slow walk of death and
mimes wanting the belt. The crowd is going nuts with
the ââ¡Ã‚¬Ã…”Takerââ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ chants. It seems like everyone in the
arena is on their feet. Holy shit! The ring just
exploded and collapsed! Angle looks dazed and
Undertaker is doing his slow badass walk to the back.
After the show ended, Angles music is played again
and he celebrates with the World Heavyweight title
before leaving the ring. The lights came back up and
the ring announcer thanks us all for coming and being
part of the PPV.
Overall a great show that hopefully came off well
live. Unbelievable reaction to Reys win and his
t-shirt was sold out at the merchandise stand by the
end of the event. Hopefully he goes all the way to
Wrestlemania and gets the belt. I would like to thank
my girlfriend Helen for getting such great seats and
pushing me to attend the event even though we were
both sick.
Biggest cheers:
Rey-Reys big win
Cenas entrance and title win
Undertakers entrance
RVDs return
Your Olympic hero, Kurt Angle.
Biggest boos:
Spirit squad
Shano Mac and Vince eliminating Shawn Michaels
Mark Henry (what were they thinking?)
Edge
Mickie James/Ashley match
