1/25 WWE Royal Rumble PPV Reax

Mark Moses of Ocean City, N.J. (7.0): Best match: Cena vs. JBL. Worst match: Melina vs. Beth. This was a good event, even if it was predictable at many points. The storyline for Cena-JBL carried through and it's nice to see HBK at his best. It makes me wonder what they'll do with him next. On the other hand, I knew Matt Hardy would turn when he came out in the Edge-Jeff match. They couldn't have telegraphed that one any more. Of course, I thought Christian signed a contract, though? I was "kinda" surprised to see Matt be the one, but the moment he came out I figured it out. They really need to work on their swerves because they're, well, un-swerves. The Royal Rumble match itself was great. Not excellent, but it did what it needed to do. RVD's return was a good surprise - Rumbles always need a surprise - and C.M. Punk had an impressive run, before being eliminated by a nicely sold punch from Show. I wouldn't be surprised if he won the whole thing next year. As for Orton winning, we knew it was coming, but it was still great, a great decision by Creative to further push his star. I can't wait to see what they do with him next.

Terrie Neilson, Las Vegas, NV (8.5): Best: Royal Rumble. Worst: Orton's story coming in. WWE came in knowing the rumors and what everyone was expecting. WWE reacted to the rumors and expectations by tossing in every monkey wrench possible. Swagger needed both a solid match and a credible win to keep his push strong. He got both, but I can't help but feeling he got disserviced after seeing the Edge-Hardy finish. Beth and Melina turned in a pretty good match. The biggest problem I had with this match was no involvement by Rosa or Santino. The pin was as clean as a whistle, which had me scratching my head. JBL vs. Cena was about as good a match we'll see from these two. The Michaels-JBL storyline took a really weird turn with JBL saying "I'll pay you what I owe you." With Orton winning the Rumble, Cena beating JBL made sense, but it was a really flaky finish. "What does history tell you about me (Shawn Michaels)?" It's telling me right now he's no dumb cookie. He bided his time until JBL made a mistake that gave him an out. This is at least the second time that JBL has made a promise that he could easily try to renege on. Shawn did his part of the bargain: he left the ring with JBL pinning Cena to get a ref to count the pin. How would he know Cena would kick out? Christian was on everyone's mind at Sam's Town (I admit to giving in to the rumors at the end), but Matt doing the deed did what it was supposed to. Edge drove a wedge through the brothers on the Cutting Edge some weeks ago. WWE used the Christian rumors to cover over the quiet "I'm tired of taking care of Jeff" resentment festering in Matt. RVD being in the Rumble was fine if he is indeed returning; if not, I'm a little annoyed as there are others who could have been in there. If it weren't for the anniversary issue, I'd say the same for Duggan. There didn't seem to be any clear stops or starts to feuds within the match unlike most years. Orton winning doesn't bother me; his story going into the show did. Had this been any other job he would have been fired; the booking was too vague. "Guaranteed" becomes the key word going into Monday, but what exactly are we being "guaranteed?"

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE Royal Rumble PPV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on the Rumble, click here.

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