Edge vs. Jeff Hardy: The focus wasn't on the WWE Title heading into the this match. Rather, it was all about the mystery person who repeatedly attacked Jeff Hardy. I must admit that I was let down by the Matt Hardy reveal given all the buzz that Christian Cage would show up. It's too bad, because had there been no buzz over Christian returning to WWE, I think most people would be more excited than they are over Matt turning on Jeff.
One thing to keep in mind is that unless Jeff was completely wasted (and I don't think that's the message they want to send), the hit-and-run angle doesn't make any sense because Jeff would have recognized his brother's car. I suppose he could have paid someone, and I'm not ruling out the possibility that Matt shows up on TV this week and says that he attacked Jeff on Sunday, but he wasn't behind the hit-and-run or the pyro accent.
John Cena vs. JBL: Cena hyped the match by saying there would come a point when Shawn Michaels would have to make a decision. He made the decision we expected him to make when he hit JBL with Sweet Chin Music, and then threw us for a loop by superkicking Cena next. Great spot. Sure, you could see it coming given the way Cena was beaming with pride over Shawn kicking JBL, but I loved that spot. The great thing about this finish is they could conceivably stretch it out one more month by giving Shawn one more chance by working for him in the Elimination Chamber match.
Rob Van Dam surprise appearance: RVD was the lone surprise in a Rumble match that also lacked twists and turns. The live crowd was thrilled to see him and he brought an energy to the match that was missing. It was great to see RVD if only for one night.
Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy: A strong opener. Swagger passed the pay-per-view title match test with flying colors. Matt Hardy deserves a lot of credit for helping Swagger step up, and I don't know if Swagger can have such strong matches with any of the current babyfaces in ECW.
WWE Royal Rumble Misses
Royal Rumble match: The Rumble match did not live up to my expectations this year. I wanted the company to use the match to elevate some of the mid-card performers by putting them in position to shine, but WWE didn't tell many stories in this match. Vladimir Kozlov eliminated several wrestlers only to be tossed out by Triple H seconds later, which made those previous eliminations seem meaningless.
Everyone you'd expect to look strong in the Rumble match looked strong. No one else made a lasting impression. I was happy with the outcome of the match even though it was predictable in the sense that everyone expected Orton or Hunter to win. Nevertheless, the right man won the match given how much focus is on his character following the hot angle from Monday's Raw. Overall, though, this was not a memorable Rumble match. One of the few good things I can say about it was that at least they had Jim Ross on play-by-play.
Melina vs. Beth Phoenix: There were some fun moments in this match, particularly when Beth used Melina's own foot to kick her in the head repeatedly. However, they were trying to work at a pace they couldn't keep up with, which led to a few sloppy spots. The finish also came out of nowhere and the title change didn't feel important. Of course, WWE set the tone for the lack of importance by making this the only title match that didn't receive in-ring introductions beforehand.
Edited by edge on 26.01.2009
