Ok, back from the Royal Rumble. This show started off SOOOOO bad... but then it got SOOOOOO good! I'll say it now, GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE EVER!!! (Even better than the 1992 one) My voice is really out of it now cause I did so much screaming. I'll post all my screams in bold. Hehe.
At around 6 pm last night, I drove to my friend Chris' house in South Philly. From there, it would be a short trip to the Wachovia Center for the show. We had planned to make signs but in the end, we thought it would be too much of a hassle. We wanted to enjoy the show, instead of having to hold up a sign all the time, so we went without one. We didn't park in the arena lot, saved us some cash. We parked a few blocks away for free, hehe, we beat the sytem.
We got there and looked around. I wanted a t-shirt but they didn't have any I liked. Hmph! I wanted a "King of the World" shirt or a "Highlight of the Night" shirt. They didn't even have the Rock's "How's Your Lips?" shirt, that would have been awesome. Anyway, we got to our seats, 13th row, center section. Awesome seats, perfect view of everything! No one had signs in our area so nothing blocked our view, yay!
Ok, on the the show. The first hour was just terrible! We had a dark match, a match that's not televised before the show to warm up the crowd, it was Molly Holly vs. Victoria with hometown boy Steven Richards by her side. The crowd got into it a bit, it was ok. Then the show started. First real match: Tag Team Championship Tables Match - Ric Flair and Batista vs. The Dudley Boys. Batista came out and bashed the Eagles. BOOOOOOOO!!! Hometown boys, Bubby Ray and D-Von, took it upon themselves to defend Philly's honor. It had the potential to be a really fun match but it was just sooo short. Lots of "WOOOOO!!!"'s in the match though. Flair and Batista won pretty easily. Then it was the Cruiserweight Championship Match between Rey Mysterio and Jamie Knoble. No one cared about this match and it was soo quick. Chris went to the restroom at the start of the match, it was over by the time he came back. Mysterio retains the title. Next was Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero: A Family Affair. This match had a lot of build up to it but really didn't deliver. No one cared. Eddie won and preceeded to bloody Chavo in front of his helpless father... nice! Next was the WWE Championship Match between Brock Lesnar and Hardcore Holly. NO ONE CARED ABOUT HOLLY. People cheered Lesnar, hoping he'd destroy Holly and get the match over with, which he did. This was the first hour. Pathetic, I'd say. I think the match people were into most was the women's match, yeeesh!
Then came the match we all knew HAD to be good. Triple H vs Shawn Michaels for the World Heavyweight Championship - Last Man Standing. The match did not disappoint, the ending, however, is something else. The match was great, everyone was so into it. Everyone was stomping their feet chanting "HBK! HBK! HBK!" HBK got busted open early and spent like 20 minutes just bleeding profusely. I think he surpassed Austin at WM 13 bleeding so much. His face was so red, it looked like he was wearing a Kane mask. Eventually, his blood got all over his chest. A little blood is cool but this much... EWWWW. There was an awesome spot where HBK accidentally flew into the Spanish Announce Table. HHH got bloody too. HHH's chairshots on HBK were just SICK! There were so many nearfalls. In the end, HHH pedigrees HBK but HBK doesn't go down for the count and gets up and hits HHH with SWEET CHIN MUSIC!! Both men go down. The ref counts, he's up to 8. HHH is moving at all. HBK is getting up, he's going to win the title!!! Everyone in cheering... then HBK collapses at 9. NOOOOO!!! The ref counts to 10... it's over, both men are knocked out, it's declared a draw. No way! No Friggin Way! HHH retains the title. Everyone was upset and booing. This was horrible, just horrible! Their last match ended in a draw, that's why this match was made. And now this ends in a draw?! Unbelievable! I then began chanting "BULLS**T! BULLS**T! BULLS**T!" and Chris joined in, then the people around us joined in, then the whole arena joined in on the chant. We were furious! The show was terrible. The first hour was just pathetic and what was to be a great match ended horribly! Not a single title changed hands. For a major show like this and no titles changing, that's ridiculous!
There was one match left, the big one, the Royal Rumble Match itself. 30 men, 1 chance at immortality. After the disaster this show had been so far, we really hoped the Rumble match would make up for it... and DID IT EVER! First, Eric Bischoff came out and started to gloat. He then bashed Philly's ECW. The crowd responded "E-C-Dub! E-C-Dub! E-C-Dub!" Paul Heyman then came out to defend Philly's honor yet again and jumped Bischoff. Glass Shatters!!! It's Stone Cold Steve Austin! Austin comes out and stunners both Bischoff and Heyman and drinks a few beers to the delight of the crowd responding with "WHAT?" to whatever he said. The ring was sooooo stained with blood from the previous match that the crew had to come out and replace the ring canvas for the Rumble. And now the Rumble begins.
Chris Benoit came in as #1, Randy Orton as #2. The first half of the Rumble match was just dominated by Benoit and Orton. It was so fun, we just couted down the clock every 2 minutes waiting to see who would come out next. Orton eliminated like at least 6 or 7 guys. It was great because all the scrub wrestlers got eliminated quickly while all the real contenders stayed in. Except Matt Hardy, he was in there for way too long. I was sreaming "GET MATT HARDY OUT OF THERE!" Kane came in and just destroyed everyone. Who could stop this monster? Time's up! BONG!!! The light's go out... It's the UNDERTAKER!!! Wait... lights come back on... where is he? Everyone is looking for the Undertaker, including Kane. He's not there, it's only a distraction, one to get Kane thrown out, which he did. Hehehe. About halfway through the match, everyone got thrown out but #1 and #2.. AWESOME! Then came the funniest moment of the night. With Benoit and Orton lying dead in the ring, "The Cat" Ernest Miller comes out and instead of fighting, he just dances in the ring. It was HILARIOUS. He just danced for like a whole minute. Benoit and Orton eventually got up and threw him out. Orton was really dominating but then Test's music plays but no one comes out... how odd. Car Crash!!! It's MICK FOLEY!!! He's Back!!! Orton is shocked, Foley comes in and eliminates both Orton and himself and goes on to beat Orton senselessly outside the ring. It's crazy Foley!!! But Orton fights back, and they fight up the entrance way. Foley pulls out SOCKO!!! But he's distracting by Nunzio and Orton gets away. Back to the match, there were only a few wrestlers left, we were reaching the mid 20s now. Where's my wrestler? Then... Break the Walls Down! I jumped up with my arms in the air and yelled JERICHOOOOOO!!!. The King of the World has arrived! All this time, Nunzio was hiding from the match, until John Cena, dressed in Phillies Gear, came and threw him into the match. Goldberg was last, #30. He came in and destroyed everyone. He threw out like 4 guys immediately. But then Brock Lesnar ran down and F5ed Goldberg. This distracted Goldberg long enough to be thrown out by Kurt Angle. Eventually, everything cleared out and it was down to the final 6, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Rob Van Dam, and Big Show. It was 5 heroes against 1 villain! It was just a 5-on-1, all the babyfaces were trying to work together to throw Show out to no avail, he was just too big. There was this awesome spot where all the faces hit their finishers on Show. So cool! But Show fought back and threw out Cena.
I was shocked, I picked Cena to win the thing. Show then threw out RVD! Show then threw out Jericho, I went "NOOOOO!!!!. Show then got rid of Angle. It was now just Big Show and Chris Benoit! The crowd is chanting "BENOIT! BENOIT! BENOIT!" Show has Benoit ready to be throw out but he fights Show off and throws Show out. Benoit wins! Benoit wins! Everyone is going crazy! I couldn't believe it! Everyone is on their feet giving Benoit a standing ovation. Glass Shatters! Austin comes out and congratulates Chris Benoit. Here, I think the cameras went off and this was just for the fans in the arena. They both celebrate, going through TWO coolers of beer. Benoit then gets on the mic and says how it took him 18 years to make it to this point in his life, in Philadelphia. Everyone cheers! He says he's going to Wrestlemania and he's going to become the Champion!
Wow, what a match. That was the greatest Royal Rumble match ever. That 90 minute match was worth the price of admission alone! It made up for the rest of the card stinking. The match was so well written, with so many different storylines in it, each elimination was almost perfect. Incredible! My voice still hasn't fully recovered from all that screaming. :lol:
That was my report, I'll post pictures I took later today.
At around 6 pm last night, I drove to my friend Chris' house in South Philly. From there, it would be a short trip to the Wachovia Center for the show. We had planned to make signs but in the end, we thought it would be too much of a hassle. We wanted to enjoy the show, instead of having to hold up a sign all the time, so we went without one. We didn't park in the arena lot, saved us some cash. We parked a few blocks away for free, hehe, we beat the sytem.
We got there and looked around. I wanted a t-shirt but they didn't have any I liked. Hmph! I wanted a "King of the World" shirt or a "Highlight of the Night" shirt. They didn't even have the Rock's "How's Your Lips?" shirt, that would have been awesome. Anyway, we got to our seats, 13th row, center section. Awesome seats, perfect view of everything! No one had signs in our area so nothing blocked our view, yay!Ok, on the the show. The first hour was just terrible! We had a dark match, a match that's not televised before the show to warm up the crowd, it was Molly Holly vs. Victoria with hometown boy Steven Richards by her side. The crowd got into it a bit, it was ok. Then the show started. First real match: Tag Team Championship Tables Match - Ric Flair and Batista vs. The Dudley Boys. Batista came out and bashed the Eagles. BOOOOOOOO!!! Hometown boys, Bubby Ray and D-Von, took it upon themselves to defend Philly's honor. It had the potential to be a really fun match but it was just sooo short. Lots of "WOOOOO!!!"'s in the match though.
Flair and Batista won pretty easily. Then it was the Cruiserweight Championship Match between Rey Mysterio and Jamie Knoble. No one cared about this match and it was soo quick. Chris went to the restroom at the start of the match, it was over by the time he came back. Mysterio retains the title. Next was Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero: A Family Affair. This match had a lot of build up to it but really didn't deliver. No one cared. Eddie won and preceeded to bloody Chavo in front of his helpless father... nice! Next was the WWE Championship Match between Brock Lesnar and Hardcore Holly. NO ONE CARED ABOUT HOLLY. People cheered Lesnar, hoping he'd destroy Holly and get the match over with, which he did. This was the first hour. Pathetic, I'd say. I think the match people were into most was the women's match, yeeesh!Then came the match we all knew HAD to be good. Triple H vs Shawn Michaels for the World Heavyweight Championship - Last Man Standing. The match did not disappoint, the ending, however, is something else. The match was great, everyone was so into it. Everyone was stomping their feet chanting "HBK! HBK! HBK!" HBK got busted open early and spent like 20 minutes just bleeding profusely. I think he surpassed Austin at WM 13 bleeding so much. His face was so red, it looked like he was wearing a Kane mask. Eventually, his blood got all over his chest. A little blood is cool but this much... EWWWW. There was an awesome spot where HBK accidentally flew into the Spanish Announce Table. HHH got bloody too. HHH's chairshots on HBK were just SICK! There were so many nearfalls. In the end, HHH pedigrees HBK but HBK doesn't go down for the count and gets up and hits HHH with SWEET CHIN MUSIC!! Both men go down. The ref counts, he's up to 8. HHH is moving at all. HBK is getting up, he's going to win the title!!! Everyone in cheering... then HBK collapses at 9. NOOOOO!!! The ref counts to 10... it's over, both men are knocked out, it's declared a draw. No way! No Friggin Way! HHH retains the title. Everyone was upset and booing. This was horrible, just horrible! Their last match ended in a draw, that's why this match was made. And now this ends in a draw?! Unbelievable! I then began chanting "BULLS**T! BULLS**T! BULLS**T!" and Chris joined in, then the people around us joined in, then the whole arena joined in on the chant. We were furious! The show was terrible. The first hour was just pathetic and what was to be a great match ended horribly! Not a single title changed hands. For a major show like this and no titles changing, that's ridiculous!
There was one match left, the big one, the Royal Rumble Match itself. 30 men, 1 chance at immortality. After the disaster this show had been so far, we really hoped the Rumble match would make up for it... and DID IT EVER! First, Eric Bischoff came out and started to gloat. He then bashed Philly's ECW. The crowd responded "E-C-Dub! E-C-Dub! E-C-Dub!" Paul Heyman then came out to defend Philly's honor yet again and jumped Bischoff. Glass Shatters!!! It's Stone Cold Steve Austin! Austin comes out and stunners both Bischoff and Heyman and drinks a few beers to the delight of the crowd responding with "WHAT?" to whatever he said. The ring was sooooo stained with blood from the previous match that the crew had to come out and replace the ring canvas for the Rumble. And now the Rumble begins.
Chris Benoit came in as #1, Randy Orton as #2. The first half of the Rumble match was just dominated by Benoit and Orton. It was so fun, we just couted down the clock every 2 minutes waiting to see who would come out next. Orton eliminated like at least 6 or 7 guys. It was great because all the scrub wrestlers got eliminated quickly while all the real contenders stayed in. Except Matt Hardy, he was in there for way too long. I was sreaming "GET MATT HARDY OUT OF THERE!" Kane came in and just destroyed everyone. Who could stop this monster? Time's up! BONG!!! The light's go out... It's the UNDERTAKER!!! Wait... lights come back on... where is he? Everyone is looking for the Undertaker, including Kane. He's not there, it's only a distraction, one to get Kane thrown out, which he did. Hehehe. About halfway through the match, everyone got thrown out but #1 and #2.. AWESOME! Then came the funniest moment of the night. With Benoit and Orton lying dead in the ring, "The Cat" Ernest Miller comes out and instead of fighting, he just dances in the ring. It was HILARIOUS. He just danced for like a whole minute. Benoit and Orton eventually got up and threw him out. Orton was really dominating but then Test's music plays but no one comes out... how odd. Car Crash!!! It's MICK FOLEY!!! He's Back!!! Orton is shocked, Foley comes in and eliminates both Orton and himself and goes on to beat Orton senselessly outside the ring. It's crazy Foley!!! But Orton fights back, and they fight up the entrance way. Foley pulls out SOCKO!!! But he's distracting by Nunzio and Orton gets away. Back to the match, there were only a few wrestlers left, we were reaching the mid 20s now. Where's my wrestler? Then... Break the Walls Down! I jumped up with my arms in the air and yelled JERICHOOOOOO!!!. The King of the World has arrived! All this time, Nunzio was hiding from the match, until John Cena, dressed in Phillies Gear, came and threw him into the match. Goldberg was last, #30. He came in and destroyed everyone. He threw out like 4 guys immediately. But then Brock Lesnar ran down and F5ed Goldberg. This distracted Goldberg long enough to be thrown out by Kurt Angle. Eventually, everything cleared out and it was down to the final 6, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Rob Van Dam, and Big Show. It was 5 heroes against 1 villain! It was just a 5-on-1, all the babyfaces were trying to work together to throw Show out to no avail, he was just too big. There was this awesome spot where all the faces hit their finishers on Show. So cool! But Show fought back and threw out Cena.
I was shocked, I picked Cena to win the thing. Show then threw out RVD! Show then threw out Jericho, I went "NOOOOO!!!!. Show then got rid of Angle. It was now just Big Show and Chris Benoit! The crowd is chanting "BENOIT! BENOIT! BENOIT!" Show has Benoit ready to be throw out but he fights Show off and throws Show out. Benoit wins! Benoit wins! Everyone is going crazy! I couldn't believe it! Everyone is on their feet giving Benoit a standing ovation. Glass Shatters! Austin comes out and congratulates Chris Benoit. Here, I think the cameras went off and this was just for the fans in the arena. They both celebrate, going through TWO coolers of beer. Benoit then gets on the mic and says how it took him 18 years to make it to this point in his life, in Philadelphia. Everyone cheers! He says he's going to Wrestlemania and he's going to become the Champion!Wow, what a match. That was the greatest Royal Rumble match ever. That 90 minute match was worth the price of admission alone! It made up for the rest of the card stinking. The match was so well written, with so many different storylines in it, each elimination was almost perfect. Incredible! My voice still hasn't fully recovered from all that screaming. :lol:
That was my report, I'll post pictures I took later today.
