Customer Reviews

WWE: Royal Rumble 2009

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

One of the best Rumbles I've seen for a long time.

The ECW Championship match with former champ Matt Hardy vs. then champion Jack Swagger. It was back and foward and good opener for the PPV and for me it gets a 3.5/5

Now we go to the Women's Championship match with Melina vs. Beth Phoenix, the girls always do a good job with Beth domonated most of the match with Melina coming from behind giving this match a 3.5/5

Now the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match with John Cena in his 4th championship run vs. his old rival JBL w/ his new "employee" HBK in his corner. Not much to say in this match cause like always John Cena wins until losing the title the next month in the Elimination Chamber. 2/5

Now we move on to the WWE Championship Match with Jeff Hardy in his first run as a World Champion vs. his old TLC "buddy" Edge. Before the match even stared then Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero makes the match no DQ so her nephew Chavo can get involed in the match for Edge. In the end Matt turned on his own brother so Edge can win his 8th world championship. 4/5

And now the MAIN EVENT the ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH with Rey Mysterio(who lasted a long time in there)and John Morrison staring at #1 and #2. This was an interesting Rumble because Orton kicked Vince McMahon in the head so it was unknown what will happen if he won or not. When Triple H who entered at #7 and Randy Orton #8 they got a huge pop from the fans like always. But to my surprise Rob Van Dam was a guest entrent at #25 and crowd went crazy! But in the end with help of Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton wins the match and will main event The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania!!! 5/5

WWE
ROYAL RUMBLE 2009

1.[ECW TITLE] JACK SWAGGER VS MATT HARDY-we start out with a really good opener that was for the now gone ECW title. Swagger of course wanted to make this a mat based contest working on Matt's arm. Hardy however tried turning this into more of a fight with more high impact blows and fists. Matt controlled most of the first half of the match but his arm was too worked over in the process. Swagger would retain the tile and defeat Hardy again.

2.[WOMEN'S TITLE] BETH PHOENIX VS MELINA-this match right straight up upset me and it still bothers me. I am a big fan of Beth. I think Beth along with Natie is the best female wrestlers in the WWE. This match showed off what both are really good at, with Beth showing off her strength. Melina showed off her agility but the best part was Beth beating her with her own foot. Still Beth ended up getting reversed and pinned loosing her title and many months long streak.

3.[WORLD TITLE] JOHN CENA VS JBL-now I know a lot of people were not expecting much out of this match. But to be honest this was a good match between the two with solid action that went back and forth. Of The Shawn Michaels storyline going into this was great and HBK getting involved added a lot to the match. After a super kick or two from Shawn, Cena was able to defeat JBL once again.

4.[WWE TITLE] JEFF HARDY VS EDGE-now I have to say from there tag team days all the way to now these two have good matches. This like the others was a well done match with a good pace and some good high spots due to Vickie making it a no DQ match. Also with Chavo on the outside to help Edge added to the atmosphere. Still the story here was the ending that was just wonderful Matt Hardy turning on his brother and costing him his title. Not only was it great to see that but it was even stranger to see who he helped become champ given the history.

5.ROYAL RUMBLE-I have never seen a Rumble match that I did not like and this is no different. There is just something special about the Rumble or battle royals for that matter. This Rumble was full of action with all kinds of high spots as usual. Some of the many great moments were the one night return of RVD and how Rey was able to stay in the match, you will see. But the story here was Legacy and their dominance and team work throughout the Rumble. At one point it looked like Randy Orton was eliminated but he stayed in there and moments later surprised Triple H to win the Rumble.

Over all this was a good event with a few missteps but it was a good Rumble event for sure. Of course I loved HBK being apart of this show in the way that he was, it added so much to that match. Also the Rumble was great as always. I recommend picking this up with the two pack with the 2010 Rumble as well. Special features include an exclusive interview with RVD after he was eliminated and Legacy on RAW.

This Royal Rumble will most likely be remembered for Randy Orton and his Legacy helping him winning the Royal Rumble Match. The past week on RAW, Orton has just taken out Mr. McMahon with a violent assault right after Vince was about to fire Orton. So with Randy Orton not being excluded from the Rumble Match, the winner of the Rumble became pretty predictable.

ECW World Championship
Jack Swagger (C) vs. Matt Hardy
Very good opening contest. Hardy scored with some hard right fists to Swagger early going in the match. The match went at a good pace with Swagger targeting the shoulder of Hardy every second he got. A good match and a strong way to open up the show. 4/5

Women's Championship
Beth Phoenix (C) w/ Santino Marella vs. Melina
I felt this was a very good women's title match. During the match Beth seemed dominant and showing a great deal of strength. Even hitting Melina with her own boot. A little bit of a back and forth contest with a sudden end but doesn't equal to their "I Quit" Match last year at ONS. Listen for the "SANTINO" chants early in the match. 3/5

World Heavyweight Championship
John Cena (C) vs. JBL w/ Shawn Michaels
If you remember their Wrestlemania 21 match and their single matches back in '08, then you can recall them not being so good. But this time around Cena and JBL tried to have a "wrestling" match and it played out pretty well. The suspense factor was there and Shawn Michaels being at ringside and getting involved in the match certainly did more for the match then anything else. By far Cena's and JBL's best "wrestling" match together. 3.5/5

No Disqualification for the WWE Championship
Jeff Hardy (C) vs. Edge
Another good title match here but I don't think Edge and Hardy brought their best stuff. The No DQ rule added more to the match and it certainly came into effect with the shocking end. A couple of good spots here including Hardy performing the twist of fate to Edge on the apron of the ring and Hardy splashing Chavo Guerrero through an announce table. A good match for the title but I really expected and wanted to see more. 4.25/5

30 Man Royal Rumble Match
One of the best Rumble Matches from the past 5 years. As I stated earlier this Rumble has a predictable winner but the match really lived up to the hype. Randy Orton, Triple H, Rey Mysterio, Ted Dibiase, & Cody Rhodes all has impressive showings. All lasted over 30 minutes. This Rumble has some great moments as well. Including Randy Orton's Legacy being dominant, Santino setting a Royal Rumble record, the Brother's of Destruction reunion, the confrontation between Cody Rhodes and Goldust, and the return of the "Whole F'N Show". This was a great Royal Rumble Match. And it really delivered. 5/5

Royal Rumble '09 started the road to Wrestlemania 25 and it was a great start to the year. If WWE keeps rolling like this then 2009 should be one awesome year. I recommend getting this event. The Rumble match was solid and the mid card is pretty good too.

ECW Champion Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy - For Jack Swagger's PPV debut, he delievered a a solid wrestling match here with Matt Hardy and continued to showcase his inring potential with his storytelling on Hardy's arm throughout the match. Solid opening match.

Womens Champion Beth Phoenix vs. Melina - It just seemed like they weren't clicking here as you openily saw some botched moves, off timing, along with the crowd at one point more focused on cheering Santino at ringside than the match itself. One memorable moment though was when Beth stretched Melina's leg to the point where she had Melina kicking herself in the head with her own foot. In the end, this was their weakest match together as they were just off here but what's ironic is that their worst day is still a more watchable & better performance than you would get from some of the other divas on their best day.

World Champion John Cena vs. J.B.L. - If anyone remembers their matches from WrestleMania 21 along with Judgment Day & One Night Stand from 2008, you know not to expect much from these two unless it's a hardcore type match like Judgment Day '05 & Great American Bash 2008. But I'll give it credit as these two put on their best "wrestling" match here as it wasn't one sided here & both men trading offense. The wild card with Shawn Michaels at ringside helped this match more than hurt it as this was again, their best "wrestling" match that we should have gotten during their previous 3 attempts at a normal match.

No Disqualification Match: WWE Champion Jeff Hardy vs. Edge - Chavo Guerrero was in Edge's corner for this match & Vickie Guerrero made it a No DQ match. I can never remember Jeff Hardy (who looked very similar to the Joker from "The Dark Knight") & Edge having a bad match and this was no exception as they just worked well together with the No DQ rule making various highlights like Hardy's dangerous leap off the ladder onto Chavo before the ending that was a shock to everyone involved with the match. Great match between these two but again, when did they have a bad one?

Royal Rumble Battle Royal: This Rumble heavily made up for last years as we got a bunch of welcomed suprizes here in terms of either performances or special appearences and at one point, we had the most wrestlers in the ring at the same time during the match that I ever remember seeing. Various highlights include the opening minutes with the young talents getting the spotlight for a while, Cryme Tyme's coin flip, how Mysterio re-entered the ring after being tossed out, the "Rhodes Family Reunion", Rob Van Dam's appearence & "no ring rust" performance including one awesome looking double team move he did with Mysterio at one point, Santino's Rumble performance, "Hi I'm Dolph Ziggler", seeing the 400 pound Big Show "skin the cat" at one point, and the dominance of Randy Orton's Legacy. Great Rumble match overall that delievered.

In the end, this was a very enjoyable Rumble overall with the only bad match being Melina & Beth having an off night so I recommend overall.

One of the best shows of 2009. All the matches were in high quality that night. It had the best surprising results like HBK Superkicking Both JBL & John Cena & heel turns like Matt Hardy bashing his brother(Jeff) with a chair. The Royal Rumble bout itself was superior then last year's and almost as good as the 1992 Royal Rumble even though Randy Orton's win in the Rumble was obvious & predictable. I give this PPV a 9 out of 10.

Seeing that the royal rumble 2010 ppv is a few weeks away, i thought i should review 2009's edition. Unfortunetly, this wasn't one of the best royal rumble ppv's, as my favorite editions still stand to be 2000, 2001, and 2007. This wasn't bad by any means, as almost every match was above average, but it just had a few problems, so lets start. Thanks for reading!

ECW Championship
Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy
Unfortunetly, wwe has now "givin up" on jack swagger, so we proboly won't get to see more matches like this, where is showed his unlimited potential. While i don't like his gimick, he can put on some good wrestling matches and he and matt hardy had one right here. Swagger worked on the arm of hardy throughout, so there was alot of amateur takedowns, which i didn't mind seeing. So overall, it was a good way to open up a show.
3.5/5

Women's Championship
Beth Phoenix vs. Melina
Melina was fresh off her return here, so throughout the match, here and beth just weren't clicking on some moves, which had really bad timing, which we all know leads the crowd to take a bathroom break or just sit there in silence and that is what they did, though i couldn't blame them. So overall, this was their worst match together in my opinion, with melina still possesing ring rust, so if you want to see a better match between the two divas, take a look at extreme rules 2008.
2/5

WWE Championship
John Cena vs. JBL
Thats right, even this was solid. If you have seen some of their previous encounters, they have been so slow and just pathetic with jbl dominating and cena coming back, well this is nearly the same way, so at this point you are proboly thinking what in the world am i talking about, well the added factor of shawn michaels made this match more interesting than the others. Hbk added a good element to the match, not enought to make this match to solid, but just enough to make it decent. As for cena and jbl, they worked a little harder, but still couldn't pull it off, but hey, it had a pretty good ending, and now, you proboly think i am insane, right?
3.25/5

No Disqualification
WWE Championship
Jeff Hardy vs. Edge
This match had very good buildup and hype, with someone causing jeff many problems, including a pyro "accident" and a "car wreck", so it looked good coming in and it was, but i had one huge problem with the match. That problem was that the no dq stipulation was done porley, mostly because it would have been good for this match, but it wasn't, because this was more slow paced than their other encounters and they didn't go right for the weapons. But their were some good spots in this match, even with no weapons, this match was very physical with hardy unleashing his anger, and the usual "calculating risk" spots from edge, so you get a good mix and a huge splash off a ladder by hardy through edge's partner chavo. The ending is very neat and unexpected, so while this matchup was pretty good, i must ask the question of when have they ever had a bad one? So hopefully you get the idea, this is a very good match, but not their best.
4.25/5

30 Man Royal Rumble Match
Well, of course this is match of night, as to me, it made up for last year's kind of lackluster rumble. We get a few suprise entrences including an appearence from "mr. ppv" rvd and he had a very good showing for not being in a wwe ring in a couple of years. That was one of the highlight spots like many others, one i mostly wanted to point out was the domination of the legacy, rhodes, dibease, and of course, randy orton. The match once again, just as other's in the past, had believable eliminations as the best showings also came from triple h, big show, y2j, and the undertaker. If you get past a couple of problems, this is a very good rumble match, that i came to like alot, and the domination of legacy lead to the second coming of "The Age of Orton", even tough that was predictalbe, it didn't hurt the match to much.
4.5/5

Hopefully you get the point, that this was a very solid rumble, not 4 star solid, but 3 star solid, and hopefully wwe can top the '09 version and present us a better 2010 version, but, we will just have to wait and see.

"It's not the destination that matters. It's how you get there that counts."

Mark those words before you watch this one. A lot of surprises went down at the 2009 ROYAL RUMBLE PPV, and all of them worked. A couple titles changed hands, and many loyalties were tested. But even though I'm satisfied with where ROYAL RUMBLE 2009 has brought me, I didn't always enjoy the ride there.

1) ECW Championship
Matt Hardy v. Jack Swagger (champion)
---As expected, both men delivered a crisp opener to get us excited. Hardy has been a very reliable singles talent for quite a few years now, and Swagger's physical talents are well utilized. Amateur-style takedowns seem to be a trend in the WWE today, as Swagger often used some collegiate maneuvers to turn into suplexes. Matt Hardy's signature moves are becoming a little predictable now, but his resilience and timing are still crisp enough to keep us on the edge of our seats. All in all, this was my favorite of the four singles matches on tonight's card.
"7.0 / 10"
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2) Women's Championship
Melina v. Beth Phoenix (champion)
---This was one of the most unpredictable and unorthodox matches I've seen in quite some time. That's both a good thing and a bad thing with this match. There were quite a few moments when the ladies would pick up the pace, and their speed seemed to overcome their timing. Several slams and counters were off. However, the reason I overall liked this match was because there was some very strange offense from both women. Melina used kicks from every conceivable position to stay in the fight, while Phoenix implemented some very vicious power offense. There's a particularly savage leglock that you've got to see to believe. I think most will be able to sit through it, but I've seen these ladies do better against each other.
"6.0 / 10"
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3) World Heavyweight Championship
JBL (w/ Shawn Michaels) v. John Cena (champion)
---Pick a Cena/JBL match besides their "I Quit" Match a few years ago, and you've pretty much seen this one. This is getting ridiculous now, because JBL just pummels and torques Cena's body, yet the champ remains in the fight using only his signature moves. The only reason I'm not beating this one to death is because the angle with Shawn Michaels and JBL continues to be very good TV. It's a well-acted, well-constructed storyline that has kept me interested. Also, I will give credit to the match's interesting finish. However, the one-on-one match itself was average at best. I kinda enjoyed myself; then again, I was in a very comfy chair.
"6.0 / 10"
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4) No Disqualifications - WWE Championship
Jeff Hardy (champion) v. Edge (w/ Chavo Guerrero)
---Vickie Guerrero came out and announced that there would be no rules for the title bout. And boy, I thought I had good reason to expect a knockout display of carnage. But then, Edge and Jeff started off with a relatively slower-paced contest. "Okay," I thought to myself, "This is a necessary way to begin, so that the weapons spots will mean more." But quite frankly, this one just never gets off the ground. Not only is there very little "No-DQ" action, but also some of the more hardcore moments are dull. For example, there's a spot where Chavo Guerrero is lying on a table, and Jeff dives from a ladder onto him. That whole spot was ruined because Chavo was resting on the table after a few weak punches, just waiting for Jeff to crash on him. In fact, Chavo looked confused, because he'd cheat behind the referee's back in a No-DQ Match! The last 5 minutes include some nice counters and close calls. And as neat as the finish was, I don't think it'll hold up months from now. As it turns out, the "No-DQ" stipulation was good for the storyline, but didn't make the match any better. I was very disappointed with this display from these two gifted wrestlers.
"6.5 / 10"
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5) 30-Man Royal Rumble
---Anytime I watch a Royal Rumble on live PPV, I get a little exhausted when it's over. The suspense of the entrances, the close calls, the pile-up of wrestlers, and closing moments will always get me exhilarated on a first viewing. So I ask this: will the 2009 30-Man Rumble hold up on repeat viewings? The answer is, "Yes".

First the good stuff:
* The first half of this Rumble was non-stop excitement. The first 25 minutes has to be the most action-packed of any 30-Man Royal Rumble. There was so much going on that I couldn't keep up!
* Seeing Rob Van Dam return to action was a genuine thrill. He entertained the Detroit crowd, got to show off some stuff, but also allowed the other wrestlers to do their jobs.
* A lot of big names in this one. I knew who was going to win, but I kept second-guessing myself. That's never a bad thing.
* I've never seen so many near-eliminations in a Royal Rumble in my life. The number of times a superstar ALMOST touched the floor has to be a new record. Tons of suspense.
* Randy Orton's victory celebration was perfect. He raised the hands of Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase for their assistance for getting him the win, and the final shots of Orton pointing to the WRESTLEMANIA 25 signs & pyro couldn't have been better timed. Orton knows how to use the camera to his advantage. Priceless!

Okay, so what's not so good about the 2009 30-Man Royal Rumble?
* The pileup became ridiculous. I think this Rumble featured the most superstars ever to be in the ring during a Rumble. This wouldn't have been an issue if the eliminations were more frequent.
* Terrible way to use The Brian Kendrick. 15 seconds?! Just stupid!
* The showdown between the final six competitors was good. But as entertaining as it was, it was pretty obvious who was going to win. In hindsight, I should've paid more attention to how Orton was being talked about backstage.

So, overall I think the 2009 30-Man Royal Rumble was on the verge of being the absolute best. The first half is non-stop excitement, and I challenge anybody to argue over that. But after a while, the match begins to drag, and gets pretty good in the final stretch. A very good 30-Man Royal Rumble. Not the best, but definitely one of my favorites.
"7.5 / 10"
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ROYAL RUMBLE 2009 is a decent PPV. The biggest problem is that in every match, the finish overshadows the contest leading up to it. Matt Hardy and Jack Swagger delivered a solid match, but the camera lingered on Hardy afterwards, rather than pushing Swagger. Melina won the title in a very surprising fashion, but perhaps almost too surprising.
Cena and JBL must stop working together, especially if you have Shawn Michaels at ringside. Let's face it: we knew he was going to get involved at some point. The whole time we're thinking about HBK, rather than Cena & JBL.
Edge and Jeff Hardy have no excuse for their average display. I liked the betrayal finish as much as everyone else will, but considering how intense this storyline has gotten, the match was surprisingly soft.
Thankfully, the 30-Man Royal Rumble is one of the better ones. It drags a bit in the middle, and might be predictable by some people's standards. But battle royals don't always entertain on repeat viewings; the 2009 30-Man Royal Rumble will stand the test of time.

"It's not the destination that matters. It's how you get there that counts." ROYAL RUMBLE 2009 does a good job setting up the months to come, but suffers as an individual chapter.

I bought this on PPV and was upset and the end and I will explain why.

ECW Championship Match
Jack Swagger (c) vs. Matt Hardy

I liked this match as average and very traditional as it was. I particularly dont like Jack Swagger and believe Swagger as their champion fully turns ECW from EXTREME CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING....to just another stable for underdeveloped stars who arent ready for Smackdown and Raw stardom. Why do you think ECW matches are always on first. That aside this match was good Swagger complimented Hardy well and Hardy led the definition of this match as the more educated of the two. Swagger retains and Hardy looks downtrodden. Swagger remains undefeated
3.0/5.0

2. Women's Championship Match
Beth Phoenix (c) w/ Santino Marella vs. Melina

This match had a decent hype to it and i was....well as excited as i could get to see a womens match. when it started it was absolutely horrible. I have seen Beth and Melina work before and usually its above average but they must have drank too much before hand as it was just REALLY REALLY sloppy! moves were missing everywhere and it was just not called right. Beth pulls a very humorous move during the match that had me rewinding my DVR just to see it again. that in itself merits a star.. Melina wins with an horribly conencted finisher for the win and is new womens champion.
2.5/5.0

3. World Heavyweight Championship Match
John Cena (c) vs. JBL w/ Shawn Michaels

Now I have read alot of reviews on this PPV and agree with one of them (slightly) I think JBL should have won this match, and not only just because haveing John Cena as champion makes me want to punch babies but from a business perspective would have set the tone for JBL and Shawn Michaels angle to go into Wrestlemania climacting in a match for the title ( My opinion) However its apparent HBk doesnt want the responbility and burden of champion to be with him anymore. Anyway thats not the way this match ended and HBk ended up superkicking both of them which i thought would have been an amazing finish if he just walked out of the ring and washing his hands of the mess however he puts jbl on cena and long story short SUPERCENA kicks out and gives JBL his patended whatever the hell they are calling his finisher these days for a victory.
3.0/5.0

4. No Disqualification WWE Championship Match
Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Edge

As much as I respect EDGE and love his matches and love seeing Jeff Hardy's charisma I just thought this match was rather boring for a while. with an ending just as yawning. I enjoyed the spot where Hardy swantons Guerrero off the ladder. amazing move. When I was expecting Captain Charisma to make his long awaited return i Saw Matt Hardy come down. ( I knew it was going to be either or) however I saw the ladder and of course he lays out Jeff and Edge gets his title back. Very predictable, could have played out better but when you have a creative team like WWE has...what can you expect? I however business wise think putting the championship on Edge leads to some great storylines for Wrestlemania 25. Edge can do that for the title and a smart decision for once.
3.5/5.0

30 Man Royal Rumble Match
Unlike most people i liked the match all the way through. I did think they could have unclogged the ring midway through when it seemed all the participants were fighting in the ring. But i still enjoyed the nice spots. CM Punk displayed some great moves staying in when it seemed he was eliminated and Punk eliminating Regal was a nice move for their angle. seeing RVD back for one night only brought a shred of credibility to a floundering ECW. and Rey Mysterio did an amazing job working hard for over 50 mins in the rumble as he seems to do alot these days. I knew ling before going into the Rumble Orton was going to win. He had alot of heat going in and a huge story to build on, with his punt to vince on the raw a week before, so it seemed only logical to give him the win. Orton has coe along way and is finally given the spot he deserves. a good final 6 i saw with legacy supertrips undertaker and big show.
worth a rental at best though.
4.0/5.0

ECW Championship match
Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy
This match was more of a grounded wrestling match. These two put a good match on though. Swagger's title reign came a little too early though. But Hardy's reign was a little long. This match is slow but fun to watch.

The next match is nothing special but Melina is your NEW Women's champion.

World Heavyweight Championship
JBL with Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena
A very bad match with no purpose but to push the Michaels/JBL storyline. These two have had bad matches and this one wasnt any different. Bad match

No Disqualification Match for the WWE Championship
Edge vs. Jeff Hardy
This match was pretty dissapointing if you ask me. Hardy wasnt prepared for this match as Edge pretty much dominated this one. There were some good spots in this one as Hardy put Chavo through the announce table. The ending was pretty shocking!

Royal Rumble 2009 match
A very good rumble that tops most rumbles. This one wasnt boring and always had something entertaining every minute. Everybody had a good spot in this one. It had some returns in it. It had a new record set. This one didnt dissapoint. The only problem with this one is Orton winning. That was a given for like two weeks. That one basically spoiled this one. I think Jericho or Triple H should have had this one but this Rumble didnt dissapoint.

Overall I thought this was a good show, more like a 3.5 out of 5, but I rated down because I would personally place this in the disappointment category. Not so much for the overall in ring work, which was good, but more for the booking direction that WWE took with this show. I thought going in that there were many interesting possibilities for Wrestlemania matches and feuds, and it seems like WWE took a very simplistic and obvious approach to Wrestlemania. That's just my opinion, and like I said this was a pretty solid show, but from a booking standpoint I have to disagree with some of the outcomes. Matches are rated out of 5 stars (*****).

1. ECW Championship Match
Jack Swagger (c) vs. Matt Hardy

Good opener and the crowd was hot for the whole match which helped it out a lot. Swagger is still pretty green but he worked a very solid, technically sound match as he worked over Matt's arm for most of the duration. Pretty predictable as I did not expect Matt to win this match, but still a good opener. I think Swagger has a lot of potential. This is borderline between **3/4 and ***, but I'm in a pretty generous mood so I'll go with the latter. ***

2. Women's Championship Match
Beth Phoenix (c) w/ Santino Marella vs. Melina

Decent for a women's match but it was not given a lot of time. There were actually some cool spots but don't worry, there were botched ones as well. Not bad for what it was, and I expect this feud to continue. Not sure I agree with giving the belt to Melina, but in the end, I really don't care. *3/4

3. World Heavyweight Championship Match
John Cena (c) vs. JBL w/ Shawn Michaels

A lot of people may disagree with me, but I really thought JBL should have won this. This is simply because the thought of a JBL VS. Shawn Michaels blowoff match at Wrestlemania does not sound like a winner to me unless there is gold riding on the line. This is not to say that I think JBL vs. Shawn Michaels for the title is a real winner either, as I don't care for this ridiculous storyline and I don't think a match between the two would be anything amazing. However, if they are going to go through with this, I'd much prefer a title to be on the line, otherwise it's just a waste of Shawn Michaels. Crowd didn't like JBL but most of them didn't like Cena either, with the typical dueling Cena chants between the girls/kids and the guys. The match itself wasn't anything special but it was pretty decent considering who was in it. Crowd was hot and that helped, but most people were waiting for the obvious ref bump followed by Michaels having to make a decision on who to help. This was exactly what you would expect, as the sole purpose of this match was to continue the storyline between JBL and Michaels. **1/4

4. No Disqualification WWE Championship Match
Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Edge

Vickie announced this was to be no DQ right before the match started. This was a very good match, and I agree with Edge winning the belt and it's exactly what I thought would happen. Where I disagree is with Matt turning on Jeff. There were very noticeable "WE WANT CHRISTIAN" chants, and if I was there, I would have joined them. I was very disappointed when Christian never showed up, and having Matt turn to me was very anti-climactic. I thought this was simplistic booking and again, a Matt vs. Jeff match at Wrestlemania doesn't quite do it for me. When Matt hit the ring, it was so obvious he was going to turn on Jeff. This all bothered me, and I'm sorry for the rant, so I'll conclude by saying that this was a very good match that should definitely be watched. Lots of great spots and good near falls. Edge rarely disappoints. (author's note: I want Christian!). ***3/4

5. Royal Rumble Match
Winner: Randy Orton

Rumbles rarely disappoint and this isn't one of them. It was not the best rumble match I've ever seen, but it was certainly a good one. I did not think Orton was going to win, simply because he seemed like such an obvious choice going in. I am happy he won, don't get me wrong, I felt he SHOULD win, but again I feel the booking was pretty simplistic going with such an obvious choice this year. I guess I should be happy that Orton won instead of complaining that it was too obvious for him to win, but whatever. The only other complaint I have is that there really was no final standoff between the last two competitors (which was Triple H and Orton), as Triple H quickly got eliminated after he eliminated Cody Rhodes. I thought this took a lot of heat off the match (I will admit the crowd was pretty dead for most of it anyway). It was nice to see the legacy put over so strong though. Good rumble match, will not disappoint. ***1/2

Overall this was a good show, but I still think it was disappointing, mostly because it did not make me particularly excited for Wrestlemania. I thought the direction they took with this show was simplistic and obvious but things could always change. I just hope Christian makes his debut soon. Personally, I would save my money for something else other than this dvd, but it's good for a rent and if purchased you might be pretty happy with it.