1/25 WWE Royal Rumble PPV Reax

Pradeep Kachhala of London, U.K. (5.0): Best match: Cena vs. JBL. Worst match: Royal Rumble. The Rumble should always be seen as definitive clue on how WrestleMania is set to be booked. I think this is why overall the show was a little disappointing especially in terms of the title picture which should always be the key focus going into Mania. Strong WWE title match = strong Mania. I think the undercard was okay - I wasn't expecting too much for Cena vs. JBL - but the added intrigue of HBK's decisions made it watchable. Matt Hardy's turn was predictable especially his look once he lost to Swagger. Perhaps Christian's non-appearance was a disappointment but I didn't mind the turn anyway. I just don't get that excited about Randy Orton main-eventing Mania. 16 years ago, WWE tried to re-introduce an all-American hero to offset Hulk Hogan's departure. Re-packaging Orton as an anti-authority figure smacks as a way of trying to force the second coming of Steve Austin down our throats. I like the potential in Undertaker vs. HBK, along with a possible Jericho vs. Rourke special attraction match, and Hardy vs. Hardy would be great. So it looks like Mania could be sold on the strengths of the non-title matches. This is why I think WM 25 may fall short of expectations.

Sam Weiss of San Diego, Calif. (7.0): Best match: WWE Championship. Worst match: none were bad. Long story short: a good PPV, but way too predictable. The ECW and Women's Title matches were fun to watch, and Edge and Jeff Hardy work very well together making by far the best match of the night for the WWE Title. After 10 years, we finally have a Hardy vs. Hardy feud. It should bring some very good matches in the near future. The big disappointments for me were the World Hvt. Title and the Rumble matches. I was hoping that JBL would take the title through the work of HBK. As it stands now, I have to ask why HBK would have gone through all that grief of working for JBL with no payoff. Why would HBK not stick around and make sure JBL was indeed the winner? It took a lot of willful disbelief to buy into the HBK-is-broke storyline and it was wasted tonight. Finally, the Rumble coming down to Orton and his Twinks...er, Weenies.., er, Legacy vs. Triple H was predictable, especially after the heavy-handed foreshadowing at the beginning of the PPV. While a few other stars did receive focus during the Rumble, especially Rey who is always fun to watch, the lack of suspense of who the finalists would be killed it for me.

Art "Bucky" Blarr (8.5): Best Match: Royal Rumble. Worst Match: Swagger vs. Hardy. I thought the 2009 Royal Rumble was a strong PPV that left me looking forward to tonight's edition of Raw. All of the matches were entertaining and they all left questions that I can't wait to be answered on Raw, Smackdown, and ECW this week. Will Matt Hardy seek revenge on Jack Swagger and challenge him to a re-match or will he pursue his attack on his brother on Smackdown? Will Beth Phoenix finally have enough of Santino and ditch him so she can focus clearly on regaining the title? What will happen between Michaels and JBL? The Royal Rumble match was great and it was great to see just about every wrestler show off their spotlight moves. RVD has not lost a step and I would love to see him comeback full-time to feud with Jericho. I thought for a minute that my prediction of Kozlov eliminating the most would come true, but Triple H foiled that. I hate to compare the Legacy to the Horsemen, but this could be the stable that will become the most well-known in wrestling history.

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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