John Gigliotti, Torch VIP member of Pittsburgh, Pa. (9.0): Best match: Royal Rumble. Worst match: Jeff Hardy-Randy Orton. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun watching wrestling. I can't remember the last time I was shocked. John Cena contributed to both the fun and shocking aspects of the Royal Rumble. I really respect the guy that comes back from an injury and steals the show. This was the best Rumble match I've ever seen, especially with the placement of the wrestlers. HBK and Taker being one and two was an interesting twist to the match we thought we could predict. Michaels going for the sneaky elimination of the Undertaker time after time paid off, then to see HBK eliminated immediately by Mr. Kennedy was really solid booking. I enjoyed seeing Ric Flair apply the figure-four and soak up the well-deserved standing O. Chris Jericho and JBL was a good brawl and I hope these two end up in a cage somewhere down the line. The two title matches were good, but I think the challengers to both titles will settle back into the mid-card without much notice in a few weeks. But for my money, this was a very enjoyable night and a show that will be remembered for a long time.

Phil Appleberry of Omaha, Neb. (5.0): Best match: Royal Rumble. Worst match: Flair vs. MVP. I have been a wrestling fan as long as I can remember. Am I an avid fan who buys all the PPVs? No. I don’t think that it’s worth it. I will read the play-by-play on the Torch and save money. I do, however, purchase WrestleMania each year expecting the card of the year. This year I fell victim to McMahon’s booking genius and bought into the Rumble. I haven’t remembered someone with as much momentum as Jeff Hardy has heading into the event. I purchased the PPV to see a classic title match. I didn’t expect Hardy to come out with the strap but did expect a match of the year title bout. Wow, was I disappointed. What a letdown to the great build-up the WWE had going. And then to bring back Cena to win the Rumble - I guess I will be skipping the nuthugging Cena PPV that will be called WrestleMania. The rest of the card was not Raw worthy. Flair and MVP was sluggish and sloppy. JBL vs. Jericho was worse then expected. No doubt these two have been away for some time. The Smackdown title match was decent, but too short to be epic. I liked Michaels and the Taker in the Rumble, but Cena ruined the whole thing for me. All in all a sloppy event with such high expectations from this fan.

Chad Nguyen of San Jose, Calif. (9.0): WOW! What a Royal Rumble! This would have to rank with Royal Rumble 1992 for the best Rumble I’ve ever seen. I’m 30 years old and no fan of John Cena, but when he entered at number 30, I marked out. After months of hearing that he was out until May-June, WWE pulled off a huge shocker. When done right - and it’s rare -surprise is an element that makes professional wrestling something really special. Michaels-Undertaker squaring off in the beginning was a great touch, as well as the eventual drama of HBK eliminating Taker and the ensuing tension. Hunter was the obvious winner going into the night that having the final three of Hunter-Batista-Cena (with the memories of Rumble 2005 Cena-Batista final and each man having bonafide storyline reasons to win) was incredibly well done. Just fantastic booking. Big time match-ups with a lot at stake, quite a bit of back story, and well-protected wrestlers are the way wrestling should be done. Three negatives: 1. The Snuka-Piper spot was awful and embarrassing. Guys that old need to go away and give their spots to younger guys who could use the exposure. 2. The Hornswoggle story was a waste of time and devalues the product. 3. The camera missed a lot of spots the whole night. Other matches: While a little disappointing Hardy didn’t win, the execution of the WWE Title match was great, especially at the end with the RKO out of nowhere. Nice that they gave Orton a clean win. The Mysterio-Edge match was a B. Edge needs some clean wins himself, and he should’ve been able to win clean tonight. He loses a lot of credibility when he “steals” nearly every match. The Flair-MVP match was really weak. Too slow and plodding, and MVP tapped out way too quickly. But all in all, the Rumble match itself was outstanding - the most fun I’ve had with a wrestling show in a long time.

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