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WWE Royal Rumble Hits

Royal Rumble: This was not a classic Royal Rumble match that we'll be looking back on fondly years from now, but they did a nice job of keeping things interesting with ten more wrestlers in the mix than usual. Most importantly, they went with a fresh face winning the match. It's seems rather obvious that they are setting up John Cena challenging The Miz for WrestleMania, but they can get there without Cena winning the Rumble.

Overall, I was impressed by the way they kept the match moving despite the lack of major star power. The Nexus getting their run of eliminations was well executed, and I loved that just when it looked like Great Khali was going to end it, Mason Ryan was the next entrant and kept it going. There were elements of the Rumble that didn't work for me (see Hornswoggle), but it turned out to be a quality match. It won't be remembered as one of the great Rumbles, but it was a solid outing.

It should concern WWE officials, though, that the crowd was flat when we got down to the final four, and the fans didn't seem to care about the Cena and Orton confrontation. Here's hoping that the fans not caring about Cena and Orton facing off is finally enough to remind WWE officials that their matches have been overexposed. They need to keep those two apart until the time comes for Cena's heel turn so that it might actually feel special again at some point.

Diesel and Booker T: Two very good surprises that popped the live crowd. I loved the way the fans were booing when both men were eliminated, as it's always best to leave the crowd wanting more. I'm not sure what the future holds for these two, but I do think WWE could get more out of them as in-ring performers. Obviously, Booker can go more than Kevin Nash at this point, but a big man match between Nash and Big Show, which they appeared to tease, could appeal to the casual fans. For that matter, a Nash and Show vs. The Corre match may also have some appeal.

Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler: The first half of the match was slow and failed to connect with a tough live crowd. The Boston fans were great when WWE gave them something to cheer about, but they definitely made the wrestlers work for it. The second half of the match was excellent with some convincing near falls. It looks like Dolph is out of the title picture aside from a likely spot in the Elimination Chamber match, but I think he proved that he can hang in the main events. Meanwhile, all signs point to Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania 27. I wonder if we'll get some Christian involvement given that Del Rio is responsible for his injury from a storyline standpoint, and Edge broke out the Unprettier/Killswitch last night.

WWE Royal Rumble Misses

The Miz vs. Randy Orton: The match was fine and I was happy to see Miz get as much offense as he did. Technically, the match itself warrants a hit. My issue is that this match never should have taken place on this pay-per-view. The Rumble match sells the Rumble pay-per-view, so there was no need to waste a title match with Orton. In fact, I thought his inclusion in this match actually hurt the hype for the pay-per-view because it prevented WWE from hyping his involvement in the Royal Rumble match that lacked star power amongst the advertised names.

Eve vs. Michelle McCool vs. Layla vs. Natalya: The fans didn't seem to care about the handicap match and they somehow seemed to care even less about the four-way once Eve was introduced as the surprise entrant. I'm sure some of the fans were hoping for Awesome Kong, but it's not like every person in that building knows of her or knows that she's signed with WWE. Rather, the silence throughout the introductions and the match speaks volumes about the sad state of the division. Things have improved lately with some of the better workers being spotlighted, but they need something big (like a hot debut from Kong) to get this thing back on track.

Daniel Bryan, Gail Kim, and The Bellas: I order pay-per-views with the hope that I won't have to suffer through corny backstage segments. Are we setting up for tag matches? Honestly, where is this going and how does it benefit Daniel Bryan more than his no nonsense approach did?

Announcing: Multiple people in the industry went out of their way to share their opinion with me regarding how awful the announcing was last night. I get a kick out Michael Cole's love for The Miz, but it really has to stop. The play-by-play voice of WWE must have credibility with the audience. We're reminded of that whenever the time for a pay-per-view hard sell comes into play and none of the current announcers can pull it off. For that matter, the need for a trusted voice will become even more apparent as the build for WrestleMania continues.

Obviously, many of us would prefer to have Jim Ross making the call, as no one could sell WrestleMania like he could, nor provide the type of emotional WrestleMania calls that help make the actual event feel more special. However, if Vince McMahon is against the idea of using Ross, then he should at least come to his senses and abandon this heel play-by-play nonsense and get Cole back on track. Cole will never be Jim Ross, but that doesn't mean he can't be effective in a more traditional play-by-play role. And for the love of everything that is good and pure, end this horrible three-man pay-per-view booth experiment. Cole is on Raw and Smackdown, so we don't need Matt Striker to represent the Friday night brand.

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