Roundtable Reviews of the January 25 WWE Royal Rumble PPV

James Caldwell, PWTorch.com assistant editor (7.0)

I thought this was a largely exciting PPV event with some great drama from Shawn Michaels to highlight the undercard and the right winner in the Rumble match to set up several weeks of storyline follow-up for Randy Orton and the McMahons leading to WrestleMania 25. There were some satisfying conclusions on this show (the presumed end of Cena-JBL) and a not-so-satisfying decision to go with the brother vs. brother feud between the Hardys.

First off, a chairshot to the head is not excusable in any circumstance, even if it's to generate heat on a major heel turn. It's lazy to simply say there was no other way to get the point across. Nevertheless, the little thought in the back of my mind that TNA is working with Christian Cage continues to grow with each passing day Christian doesn't appear on WWE TV. Hardy vs. Hardy was inevitable a few weeks ago on Smackdown and especially clear on ECW TV this past Tuesday when every question was about Jeff's health, not anything Matt was doing. "I'm not my brother's keeper," Matt might say. Follow-up is key.

The Rumble match had its high and low points, especially when there were far too many men in the ring before setting up the finish. Some cool highpoints were RVD's return, Big Show skinning the cat after Rey did it about 15 times, Cody Rhodes showing his mean streak against brother Goldust, and Orton's mid-air RKO on Rey. Orton was the star, Hunter was SuperRumbler as expected, and the lack of HBK involvement took this down a notch.

Shawn Michaels was certainly the star of the John Cena vs. JBL match, which was a good main event heavyweight style match. WWE got away with two title matches containing outside interference because it fit in the context of both matches. Related to Hardy vs. Edge, there was certainly dumb logic that Matt waited 20 minutes to turn on Jeff when Jeff could have scored a pin anytime before that, but HBK's involvement in Cena-JBL was spot-on and made Michaels the ultimate babyface in nailing superkicks on both men. If only the ultimate babyface (HBK) vs. the ultimate heel (RKO) could happen at Mania. That would be a major headline match, but we'll see what WWE has in mind for Michaels on Raw the night after the Rumble.

Sean Radican, Torch columnist (8.0)

This was a very good show from top to bottom. Everything seemed to serve a purpose and initiated some interesting developments as the Road to WrestleMania kicks into gear. The big thing coming out of the show is that Randy Orton is being positioned to become a true superstar in this business. It's just too bad there doesn't seem to be a babyface in position to go head up with him at this juncture.

I really liked what I saw out of Jack Swagger. He's a physical freak who seems on the cusp of being a main event star within a few years. He's good an incredible look and his match against Hardy served as a good opener and set the stage for Matt's turn on Jeff later in the show. Heck, even the Melina-Phoenix match had the crowd popping huge where I was watching the show with the spot where Beth drove Melina's boot into her own head. I've seen that spot in a fantastic promotion called SHIMMER, so I guess the ladies of the WWE are doing their homework.

The storytelling in the WWE is getting really good as we get closer and closer to WrestleMania and the last two matches prior to the Rumble match were both great storyline-enhanced matches. If you told me I'd be watching another Cena-JBL match in 2009 with any interest, I'd tell you I'd rather see more of James Caldwell's photo collection pop up on my Facebook news feed. The HBK influence on the match made it exciting the entire time and I really enjoyed the finish of the match.

The Hardy-Edge match was also really good. I didn't see Matt's turn coming on Jeff until they went outside of the ring to get a second chair to hit Edge. I know a lot of people were expecting Christian to return, but this match could turn out to be a huge opportunity for Matt to finally elevate himself into the top-tier of the WWE roster, although the last time Matt and Jeff feuded, the results weren't great.

The Rumble match was really good. It wasn't the best I've seen, but it easily ranks as a must-see match. I thought the athleticism on display here was particularly remarkable with all of the near eliminations and fast-paced exchanges that were sprinkled into the match. RVD's surprise entrance got the biggest pop of the night at the bar where I watched the show. A huge "RVD" chant broke out and the fans in the building were also clearly thrilled to see him. I really liked the finish of the match, as Orton and The Legacy got a huge push coming out of the finish. I can't wait to see where the Orton storyline goes from here. Thumbs way up!

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Smackdown specialist (7.0)

This event was certainly high on drama. The Rumble match itself had a lot of energy even though there were a lot of people in the ring doing nothing at times. I miss the days where multiple guys would eliminate someone after working on them a while instead of just tossing them out; there was also too many of skinning-the-cat type moves, like eight by Cody Rhodes himself. I thought Orton winning was the right decision, even though the obvious "why didn't anyone fire him mid-week when Vince was going to fire him Monday" question should be addressed. But again, I thought overall, the energy of the match was pretty high.

Swagger vs. Hardy was a fine match; they didn't try to do too much on Swagger's first PPV appearance. He continues to develop into a solid in-ring worker. Melina vs. Beth had some nice spots but it had the usual Melina clumsiness too. I thought for sure Rosa Mendes would get involved somehow. Cena vs. JBL started extremely slowly and didn't even build to a high crescendo as far as in-ring action; however, the angle involving Shawn Michaels and JBL was advanced further and makes one wonder what will happen to Shawn tomorrow night on Raw.

If I wasn't so pumped for a Christian return, I would've loved the Matt Hardy turn even more than I did. I did like it, but I was so hoping for Christian to be behind things; it would've made so much sense on several different levels. Having Matt turn was still fine, but there was also a let-down because my hopes were so high that it would be Christian. Match was above-average, but I felt there was still something missing.

Daniel Wilkenfeld, PWTorch.com Impact specialist (6.0)

The Rumble show was a whole lot of a whole little. The matches were mostly decent, but never really great, and outside of the return of RVD there was no really amazing moment.

Matt Hardy vs. Swagger was a bit of a let down. Swagger might be able to carry a c-show, but I haven't seen much proof of that yet.

Melina vs. Beth Phoenix was a mixed bag - there were some spots that were just jaw-dropping, but a whole lot of clunky transitions and a general absence of direction. Overall, I wasn't too impressed. If there's a reason Gail Kim hasn't debuted yet, it was not apparent in this match.

I thought less of JBL vs. Cena than most did I think. HBK told a really good story at ringside, but I did not much care for the ending. The
superkick-to-everyone was predictable (isn't that how these choices between sides always end?) and made about as little sense as usual. Why would you drape JBL's arm over Cena's body and then not stick around to make sure he won?

Edge vs. Hardy was rock solid, though the heel turn was not ideally managed. Since some of us had an inkling it was coming anyway, drawing it out by having Matt first prevent Jeff from hitting Edge, then getting a chair, the whacking Jeff just dulled the moment. Come in, squash Jeff, get out. That being said, the match itself was rock solid.

Of course, no one gets the Royal Rumble for any match other than the Royal Rumble, which in this case was a good microcosm of the whole show. There were a few really cool moments, but a whole lot of punch-kicking and a predictable ending (full disclosure: I picked Hunter as my top Rumble draft pick over Orton, but I made the pick before seeing last Monday's show). If you know someone with the tape it's definitely worth checking out, but I wouldn't go out and buy the encore.

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