Royal Rumble Roundup

[Bad Guy]

*spoilers*
Just a thread for Royal Rumble talk, matches, your thoughts until the Rumble. (That and I can't wait for Tipsters)


Current Card:

Brock Lensnar vs Hardcore Bob Holly for the WWE Championship

Shawn Michaels vs Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Last Man Standing Match

World Tag Team Championship Table Match
Bubba Ray and D-Von vs Ric Flair and Batista

Royal Rumble Confirmed Participants
Smackdown: Kurt Angle, John Cena, Chris Benoit, Billy Gunn

RAW: Kane, Booker T, Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Christian, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry

[Bad Guy]

My prediction is going to have to be Goldberg, for now at least. Still thinking about Benoit as he is going to get a big push soon. They really seem to be building up Kane, but we all know what his match at WM is going to be with. ;)

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>Predicted Card:

WWE Championship - Hardcore Holly vs. Brock Lesnar (C)

World Heavyweight Championship - Last Man Standing - Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H (C)

WWE Tag Team Championships - Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty vs. The Basham Brothers (C)

World Tag Team Championships - Table Match - The Dudley Boyz vs. Ric Flair and Batista (C)

WWE Cruiserweight Championship - Tajiri vs. Rey Mysterio (C)

WWE Women's Championship - Victoria vs. Molly Holly (C)

<b><u>Royal Rumble Match</b></u>

Raw Participants: Kane, Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Mark Henry, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Christian, Randy Orton, Test, Steven Richards, Rob Van Dam, Lance Storm, Val Venis, Matt Hardy, Surprise Entrant Mick Foley

SmackDown! Participants: Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, John Cena, Billy Gunn, Big Show, Matt Morgan, A-Train, Shannon Moore, Bradshaw, Faarooq, Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin, and Jamie Noble</font>

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>Predicted Card:

WWE Championship - Hardcore Holly vs. Brock Lesnar (C)

World Heavyweight Championship - Last Man Standing - Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H (C)

WWE Tag Team Championships - Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty vs. The Basham Brothers (C)

World Tag Team Championships - Table Match - The Dudley Boyz vs. Ric Flair and Batista (C)

WWE Cruiserweight Championship - Tajiri vs. Rey Mysterio (C)

WWE Women's Championship - Victoria vs. Molly Holly (C)

<b><u>Royal Rumble Match</b></u>

Raw Participants: Kane, Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Mark Henry, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Christian, Randy Orton, Test, Steven Richards, Rob Van Dam, Lance Storm, Val Venis, Matt Hardy, Surprise Entrant Mick Foley

SmackDown! Participants: Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, John Cena, Billy Gunn, Big Show, Matt Morgan, A-Train, Shannon Moore, Bradshaw, Faarooq, Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin, and Jamie Noble</font>

<font color=goldenrod>Oh yeah, and to make my predictions:

-Brock retains after an F-5.

-HHH retains after a high impact move (although it'll likely be a Pedigree) :roll:

-Bashams retain by cheating

-Dudleyz win the belts for the 300th time

-Rey Mysterio retains via 6-1-9/West Coast Pop Combo

-Victoria wins the Women's Title after a Widow's Peak

As for the Rumble, here's some of the stuff I think will happen throughout the course of the match:

-Have Orton in the ring as one of the participants in the match, and when the timer ticks down and the buzzer sounds, have Foley rush out with a barbed wire 2x4. Orton eliminates himself and runs away, and Foley eliminates himself and chases after him.

-Have Mark Henry gorilla press slam the Big Show (hey he's the World's Strongest Man, he should be able to do it)

-Have Steven Richards get the "Bushwhacker Luke" award for this year. (I don't want him to, but Lord knows it's gonna happen.

-Have Shannon Moore rip into Matt Hardy at one point in the match. The announcers should say it's Moore getting his revenge because Hardy's leaving caused Moore to be put through hell over on SmackDown!.

-Have Kane and Benoit be the final 2. Kane looks ready to eliminate Benoit, but the lights go out. The Old School Undertaker is standing on the ramp when they come back on, and Kane looks freaked the hell out. While he's distracted Benoit dropkicks him over the top (ala Maven in 2002) to win the Rumble.</font>

[The Destroyer]

Holly gets a title match? For some reason I'm glad I've not watched any WWE programming over the last few weeks...

[Dave Youell]

<font color=goldenrod>
As for the Rumble, here's some of the stuff I think will happen throughout the course of the match:

-Have Orton in the ring as one of the participants in the match, and when the timer ticks down and the buzzer sounds, have Foley rush out with a barbed wire 2x4. Orton eliminates himself and runs away, and Foley eliminates himself and chases after him.

-Have Mark Henry gorilla press slam the Big Show (hey he's the World's Strongest Man, he should be able to do it)

-Have Steven Richards get the "Bushwhacker Luke" award for this year. (I don't want him to, but Lord knows it's gonna happen.

-Have Shannon Moore rip into Matt Hardy at one point in the match. The announcers should say it's Moore getting his revenge because Hardy's leaving caused Moore to be put through hell over on SmackDown!.

-Have Kane and Benoit be the final 2. Kane looks ready to eliminate Benoit, but the lights go out. The Old School Undertaker is standing on the ramp when they come back on, and Kane looks freaked the hell out. While he's distracted Benoit dropkicks him over the top (ala Maven in 2002) to win the Rumble.</font>



Now that's what i call ****ing good booking, good job :y:

[Tornado]

<font color=33ffff>(Predicted Card)
Brock retains
HHH Retains
Flair/ Batista Retain
Scotty/Rikishi win
Rey retains
Rumble - Benoit or, as much as I hate to say it, Goldberg.</font>

[Dave Youell]

Personally i think that HBK may actually win the title, i've been hearing more about HHH doing more movies and that the Heels deserve some title shots on RAW. Wishing thinking on my part, but so far it would make sense as HBK is yet to get the better of HHH thus far. However if HBK pins HHH in a tag match the week before the rumble, forget everything i said

[Eunos]

I think Paul heyman should make Big show, A-Train and Matt Morgan enter the Rumble with the main mission of preventing Benoit from Winning.

On the night, one of the 3 comes out at number 2. This is Pauls idea as he wants to weaken Benoit right at the beginning.

Just an idea i had.

[c4g2]

Holly gets a title match? For some reason I'm glad I've not watched any WWE programming over the last few weeks...

During these weeks, he has actually been pushed until he now looks like a legit title contender. :roll:

[Savio]

During these weeks, he has actually been pushed until he now looks like a legit title contender. :roll:
I disagree he still sucks.

[AareDub]

I'm surprised that they are having so many actual matches before the Rumble. Especially with a last man standing match on the card. Usually the Royal Rumble only has about 4 or 5 matches before the Rumble.

If you read the smackdown spoilers they added a few more rumble entrants and two more matches.


*smackdown spoilers*
Eddie vs Chavo
Rey vs Noble
Both were added, but I have the feeling the cruiserweight match and maybe the womens match from Raw will get pushed down to Heat.

[Corkscrewed]

Brock Lesnar wins after breaking Holly's neck again. With the Brock Lock.

[Synergy]

The rumble actually looks to be one of the most open fields for years, Goldberg, Kane, Cena, Eddy Guerreo, Kurt Angle and Benoit could all win it, or perhaps someone like Booker T or Jericho.

HHH v HBK will probably be great, they normally put on good matches when they square off and the rumble has a history of violent matches so the Last Man Standing stipulation suits this match to a T.

Holly will no doubt get a 2 and 999999/1000000th count on Brock at some point, before Lesnar F5's him back down the card where he belongs.

The undercard looks quite solid as well, I am looking forward to this one much more than Armageddon (not that I could actually see it, being from the UK...)

[Bad Guy]

What do you guys think of Billy Gunn's return?

[BigGammy v1.0]

What do you guys think of Billy Gunn's return?

Should I really care?

[Bad Guy]

Should I really care?
He could win it all. You never know in th... [fades away] :shifty:

[The CyNick]

The rumble actually looks to be one of the most open fields for years, Goldberg, Kane, Cena, Eddy Guerreo, Kurt Angle and Benoit could all win it, or perhaps someone like Booker T or Jericho.

HHH v HBK will probably be great, they normally put on good matches when they square off and the rumble has a history of violent matches so the Last Man Standing stipulation suits this match to a T.

Holly will no doubt get a 2 and 999999/1000000th count on Brock at some point, before Lesnar F5's him back down the card where he belongs.

The undercard looks quite solid as well, I am looking forward to this one much more than Armageddon (not that I could actually see it, being from the UK...)

Rumble is usually one of the better shows of the year. With the card as it is I think this one will be no exception.

However, I do have a beef with the HBK-HHH match being a LMS match. IMO, it would have been better to throw that gimmick on the Holly-Lesnar match and leave HBK-HHH as a straight wrestling match. The way this is set up you dont get the near falls, which is a big part of what made the match in San Antonio. Plus, we all know Lesnar-Holly wont be pretty, so why not give them the NO DQ stip so they can turn it into a garbage match that at least might keep the fans entertained.

[c4g2]

I disagree he still sucks.
Ya I know he sucks, everyone here know he sucks, but think of it, he has an awesome dropkick... :wtf:

[John la Rock]

The Lesnar/Holly match will probably end up like the awful HHH/Steiner match from last year's rumble. I bet the philly fans will rip into CRAPcore Holly and cheer Brock just like the Long Island crowd cheered Lesnar at Summerslam 2002. My prediction is that the match will be less than 5 minutes, and either Brock will win via F5 or Holly will get disqualified much like Survivor Series this past year.

Im really NOT looking forward to that match :o

[loopydate]

How funny would it be if the Lesnar/Holly match wound up on HeAt?

[The CyNick]

The Lesnar/Holly match will probably end up like the awful HHH/Steiner match from last year's rumble. I bet the philly fans will rip into CRAPcore Holly and cheer Brock just like the Long Island crowd cheered Lesnar at Summerslam 2002. My prediction is that the match will be less than 5 minutes, and either Brock will win via F5 or Holly will get disqualified much like Survivor Series this past year.

Im really NOT looking forward to that match :o

I really hope its a squash, I know it wont be, but that would be an awesome way to build up Lesnar to face Goldberg if he did a 3-4 minute squash on Holly.

I also agree that Lesnar will be the face in the match, because Holly is a fruad.

[KingofOldSchool]

Prediction:

Billy Gunn will injure himself on the way to the ring.

No one will care.

[John la Rock]

Prediction:

Billy Gunn will injure himself on the way to the ring.

No one will care.

I CARE GOD DAMMIT!!!!

nah just kidding :lol:

[Loose Cannon]

He could win it all. You never know in th... [fades away] :shifty:

You know, I wish one time somebody out of the ordinary wins a Royal Rumble like Billy Gunn, R.V.D., Booker T, Christian and then so they could keep who they want to have go to Wrestlemania, have that wrestler who won the Rumble go through a storyline where he loses his shot at the title.

I would love it if someone so unexpected wins the Rumble. Imagine the last four guys are like Benoit, Goldberg, Jericho and Matt Hardy and Hardy wins it. I would totally go nuts, thinking that Matt Hardy could never win it.

[loopydate]

I would love it if Jon Heidenreich won the Rumble. It would be the funniest damned thing ever.

[Hired Hitman]

I got the rumble just because of

Shawn Michaels vs Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Last Man Standing Match

and the rumble ( duh :$ )

[Disturbed316]

When was the last time the WWE title changed hands at the Rumble?

[loopydate]

When was the last time the WWE title changed hands at the Rumble?

The 1999 "I Quit" match where Rock beat Mankind.

It also happened in '97 (HBK over Sid), '92 (of course, that year, the Rumble was FOR the title), and '91 (Slaughter over Warrior).

[Disturbed316]

Thanks, I knew it did happen :mad:

[loopydate]

NP. I do what I can :)

[Bad Guy]

Yeah, John Heidenrech or Matt Hardy or A-Train.

[Bazooka]

It sucks, but it's probably just for his birthday... which means he might win. But I really doubt it.Holly gets a title match? For some reason I'm glad I've not watched any WWE programming over the last few weeks...

[loopydate]

Okay, here are my "8 Days Before the Royal Rumble Predictions." Note, I did one of these in the "Fantasy Book" thread, but...I have too much time on my hands, so I'm doing another one.

Cruiserweight Championship

As soon as the PPV starts up, the crowd erupts at the start of Rey Mysterio's entrance music. He launches up out of the stage, Cruiserweight Title, strapped around his waist and does his little schtick on the way to the ring. Jamie Noble comes out second, basically dragging Nidia to the ring with him.

The match is a fast-paced affair with Rey hitting a lot of aerial moves while Jamie tries in vain to ground him. At one point, the ref takes a nasty bump after Rey swings too wide on a flying headscissor. Jamie rolls out of the ring and grabs Nidia's cane. He comes in the ring and blasts Rey in the head with it, then hits the Tigerbomb. While he goes over to revive the referee, Nidia feels her way into the ring. She grabs the cane, and Jamie comes over, pretending to be concerned for her safety. She lifts the cane off the canvas very quickly, catching him in the groin, leading him to double over onto the middle rope. As the ref regains his feet, Nidia rolls out of the ring and Rey hits the 619/West Coast Pop combination to retain the belt.

After the match, Noble goes after Nidia, berating her for costing him the match. She just hauls off and smacks him in the face and walks off without the cane.

COLE: Nidia's walking off without the cane!
TAZZ: Don't you get it, Cole? Nidia was faking all along!
COLE: Jamie Noble has been busted!

World Tag Team Championship

The bombs drop, and the crowd stays hot as the Dudley Boyz come to the ring. Ric Flair and Batista come to the ring with the belts for what's probably the last time (or so JR and the King would have you believe).

Fairly common match. Everybody hits their high spots (Wazzup, Flair's corner bump, a big spinebuster from Batista, etc.), and the end comes after the Dudleyz take Batista out of the ring and set Flair up for the 3D. Bubba has his back to Batista, though, and the big man runs in to take Bubba down with a big clothesline. D-Von ends up just flapjacking Flair and turning his attention to Batista. As the two of them brawl to the floor, Flair drags himself over toward Bubba and goes for the cover. Bubba's out at two, and Flair doesn't believe it. While he argues with the ref, Bubba slips up behind him, Bubba Bomb, one two three, the Dudleys win the belts for the 8,549,176,320th time!

After the match, Flair and Batista get in each other's faces, but end up walking off together, unified.

Los Guerreros Go To War

Awful title to the match, I know, but I'm just taking it from WWE.com. This one has at least three-and-a-half stars written all over it, as long as they're given at least ten minutes. If the rumors about Eddie getting the NWO title shot are true, expect them to get it.

Eddie dominates the early-going, clearly steaming from the fact that Chavo has been beating the hell out of him on a fairly regular basis over the last few weeks. The tide turns after Chavo dodges a frogsplash and goes on the offensive. Later, Chavo sets up for his brainbuster, but Eddie reverses it into his rolling vertical suplexes. Both men stay down for an eight count before they get to their feet. They exchange punches before Chavo takes his uncle down to one knee. He springs to the top rope and hits a big cross body off the top rope, but Eddie rolls through it and grabs a handful of tights. One, two, three! Eddie wins it.

After the match, Chavo just gets up and storms out of the ring while the announcers speculate that a victory like that just catapulted Eddie into the main-event sphere on SmackDown!

WWE Championship

SQUASH! If this match goes more than fifteen minutes, I'll be surprised. I expect Hardcore to get in a lot of offense early, but then Brock "hulks up" and just takes him apart. After he hits the F5 for a convincing victory, the announcers speculate on who could possibly stop the "Manster" and take that WWE Title from him.

World Heavyweight Championship: Last Man Standing

This will probably end up being the Match of the Year to this point (even though it'll only be the 25th day of 2004). Lots of back-and-forth action, lots of seven-, eight-, and nine-counts. As the match winds down, each man has hit his finisher but has been unable to end it. Frustrated, Triple H goes for his trusty sledgehammer. Trips is oblivious that, at the same time, HBK has gone under the ring and retrieved a ladder. They both re-enter the ring at the same time and realize that they're now staring down their opponent's trademark weapon.

After they exchange blows, HBK manages to wrest the sledgehammer from Triple H and clock him with it. Trips stays down for a nine-count but gets back up. HBK tries for Sweet Chin Music, but HHH catches his foot and kicks him in the midsection. He goes for the Pedigree, but HBK backdrops his way out. He grabs the ladder and lays it down in the middle of the ring. He grabs HHH off the canvas, hooks him...PEDIGREE ON THE LADDER! The ref counts to ten, and HBK wins the World Title!

The Royal Rumble Match
I'm not going to write out the whole match like I did last time, because that would take too much time. Here's how I booked it before, and I'm not changing the ending:

Down to three now, and Benoit and Cena decide it's probably in their best interests to take out the relatively-fresh (and freakin'-huge) Kane. A couple of big boots, and both SmackDown main eventers go down. Cena back to his feet...backdrop to the floor!

Chris Benoit vs. Kane. One man gets a shot at their brand's champion in the main event of Wrestlemania, the other gets...well...nothing. As Benoit closes in on the 65-minute mark, he can barely hold himself up on the ropes. Kane presses him and prepares to toss him out, but the lights go out in the arena. A bell tolls, and the lights are back on, but the TitanTron is just showing the words "I'm coming for you!" Kane, freaked-out, drops Benoit and starts screaming at the ringside crew, demanding to know who put that up there. While he's distracted, Benoit does a legtrip, sending him toppling to the concrete and winning the Rumble!

Here's how the aftermath plays out:

The fact that Flair, Batista, and Trips all lost their belts while Orton retained his by default sets up the first rift in Evolution that will eventually lead to the group's collapse as Orton touts himself as the best member of the group, since he has the belt.

HBK goes into a feud with Jericho that leads to a match between the two at Wrestlemania.

Brock continues to appear invincible, taking out SmackDown midcarders, and beating Eddie Guerrero (with help from Kurt Angle) at No Way Out to build up the tension for his Mania match with Benoit.

Obviously, Undertaker is the one who's toying with Kane, and their feud culminates at Mania.

Cena, after an impressive showing at the Rumble finally forces Heyman into giving him a proper shot at Big Show's belt, and he unseats him at No Way Out, leading into a title match against Rhyno (I hope) at WMXX.

[Loose Cannon]

Great stuff loopy and I for one can't wait for Evolution to split up and Orton to basically take over the group. But if you are going to have HHH lose his title at Royal Rumble, I would have Orton play a part in the match and somehow cost HHH the title by accident. Or he dodesn't even have to cost him the belt with one mistake, he could just screw something up during the match and HHH would blame him for losing the title afterwards.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Here is my predicted card and results.

Royal Rumble
RAW: Goldberg, Kane, Booker T, Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, Batista, Randy Orton, Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley, Val Venis, Lance Storm, Rob Van Dam, Spike Dudley (optional), Maven (optional), Jon Heidenreich/Al Snow/developmental talent (optional)
SmackDown!: Chris Benoit, John Cena, Kurt Angle, Billy Gunn, Hardcore Holly (maybe), Rikishi, Shannon Moore/Paul London, Nunzio, The Big Show, Matt Morgan, A-Train, Funaki/Ultimo Dragon, The Undertaker, Kanyon, Rhyno

WWE Championship
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Hardcore Holly
Winner: Brock Lesnar, just to keep the title stong heading into WrestleMania. I can see Lesnar also picking up a win via DQ. This match probably won't go long.

World Heavyweight Championship/Last Man Standing
Triple H (c) vs. Shawn Michaels
Winner: Shawn Michaels, they need to change one title at the PPV, and Triple H will have heat going into any match at WrestleMania. I would love to see a Benoit/HBk or a Cena/HBK feud teased, just before WrestleMania. Maybe Michaels/Rock or Austin at Mania? This will probably involve Batista & Flair, as they have nothing else to do. I can see Michaels looking like the pride of RAW here, and winning the title after a quick kickup at 8 or 9.

WWE Intercontinental Championship/Street Fight
Randy Orton (c) vs. Mick Foley
Winner: Randy Orton via forfeit, as Foley doesn't show up. Orton should face either Foley, Maven or Dreamer at the PPV.

Family Feud/Special Guest Referee
Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero
Winner: Chavo Guerrero. Chavo needs some heat. A win against Eddie would do that. I think Eddie could handle this by himself. I can see Eddie getting annoying when the referee of the match (probably Chavo Sr., or another Guerrero family member) costs Eddie the match. Guerrero goes Stne Cold Steve Austin and faces Brock at No Way Out, where Kurt Angle accidently costs him the title. Eddie/Angle at WrestleMania face vs. face. This match will probably go for 20 or so minutes. If Eddie must win, it should be by DQ.

WWE Women's Championship
Molly Holly (c) vs. Trish Stratus vs. Jazz vs. Victoria
Winner: Victoria picks up the upset with a babyface turn and Steven Richards helping her win. Victoria pins Jazz to allow for a potential Victoria/Molly match down the line. This match will go for around 15-20 minutes.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Tajiri, Akio & Sakoda
Winner: Rey Mysterio. I don't know why but I can see this becomming a handicap match. Either that or Noble added to it in a Triple Threat. Either way, Rey Rey should win this. This will probably last a few minutes longer than the Women's Title match. Maybe we could also see Scotty 2 Hotty added to the match if the WWE are serious about pushing Rikishi in the Rumble.

WWE Tag Team Championship
Basham Brothers vs. Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty vs. The FBI vs. The APA
Winners: The APA. Faarooq & Bradshaw aren't doing anything att he moment, so a title run would fix that. I can see a face team winning this match, just for the sake of it. APA should go into WrestleMania with the titles IMO. I think they should try and change the format of this match and have the champs go first. Then Scotty & Rikishi bite the dust. FBI go next with Faarooq getting the win for a change.