Brooklyn Brawlin 01.14.09: Picking the Most Royal Rumbler of Them All

Posted by Dan Torkel on 01.14.2009

30 Men compete for glory... I am betting the house on Hurricane Helms!

Welcome and greetings to all. Last week in my column I asked what type of year 2009 would be. Based on the last 7 days, I can predict… FRICKING AWESOME! Whatever your opinion of TNA is, no one who watched this past Sunday's Genesis ppv can deny that we got two legit 4+ star matches with Sabin/Shelley for the X-Division Title, and Angle/Jarrett 2. Then, on Monday we get first, the return of Ted Dibiase Jr. to REJOIN Orton, which I love, and then a great main event with another Cena/Michaels classic. 13 days into 2009 and 3 MOTYC. Not too shabby.

The WWE will open their ppv market this year with the 22nd installment of the classic Royal Rumble. This is one of the only two times a year I will willingly shell out money for ppv, along with Wrestlemania. Last year, while everyone including me was shocked by the early return of Cena to win it, I feel it was a down year for the Rumble. First of all, while we all know the Rumble is the main draw, a good title match always adds to it. Last year's event had a huge build to the Orton vs. Jeff Hardy Title match and the match felt flat and rushed, especially the out-of-nowhere ending. There was Flair vs. MVP where no one bought MVP as ending Flair's career, and Edge beating Rey in a short, interference filled match. Now we get to the Rumble. We understand the surprise factor of Cena, but that being said, Cena's return ruined the kayfabe quality of the Rumble. I remember back when I was a kid freaking out when Flair got number 3 and loving listening to Bobby Heenan go nuts screaming, "IT'S NOT FAIR TO FLAIR" for an hour. I remember Ted Dibiase buying #30, and then getting #1 the next year and last 45 minutes. When Benoit won in 2004, he was given #1 as a punishment by Paul Heyman and was forced to survive. And just two years ago, #30 won the Rumble with Undertaker, breaking the myth of #30 as a tainted number. It was not at all believable that Cena returns and just happens to be #30; especially given the Triple H was given #29. It made for a good pop, but hurt the quality of the event in hindsight. To top things off, Cena didn't even wait till Wrestlemania, as he cashed his shot against Orton at No Way Out.

So who gets to run with the ball this year? The biggest problem with the Rumble over the past few years has been that only a handful of wrestlers even have a shot at winning. We know for instance, that unless hell has frozen over Kofi Kingston will not be standing on the top turnbuckle at the end pointing at the Wrestlemania sign. That is not a slight to Kofi, just the cold hard truth. So who are the lucky handful who have the legit shot of winning this year's Royal Rumble? Examining the current roster and current angles going on we can devise a list of the top contenders to head on to Wrestlemania…

1) Triple H – Duh! Triple H is not a World Champion, and thus is the top choice to win the Rumble. A Rumble win for Hunter could lead to two intriguing matches: 1) Cena/Triple H III or 2) Edge/Triple H with no stupid Vicky angle to ruin it. Cena/Triple H III has got to be the top match money-wise after the potential of Batista/Cena was taken away with injuries. Triple H has also been battling Vicky on Smackdown and fighting through her challenges so it does set up a potential showdown with Edge. The down side of this is one word: predictability. We all expect Triple H to be fighting in the main event of Wrestlemania every year. Last year he won the Elimination Chamber at NWO after losing the Rumble to Cena. Since 2000, he has been a part of a main event title match at every Wrestlemania except WM X-7 (where he faced Undertaker) and WM XXIII where he was injured. Also, Cena/Triple H would be only the 3rd WM one on one main event to repeat along with Bret/Yokozuna and Austin/Rock.

2) Randy Orton – A heel winning! No Way! But this is perfectly logical. Since his return from injury he has been looking to restore the Age of Orton, and with Dibiase and Rhodes with him, he reminds me of Kurt Angle circa 2003 when he got Team Angle (Benjamin and Haas) around as support. The potential match up for Mania would be him and Cena one on one which makes tremendous sense. You have the two young dominant; self made WWE stars going at it. More off, from a booking standpoint, these two never blew off their feud which has been going on since the summer of 2007. Orton was set to feud with Cena when Cena got hurt, triggering Orton's substitute feud with Triple H and the Age of Orton. Then they rushed their Wrestlemania match ending it in a DQ, which led to a triple threat last year, and then again, another Orton/Triple H feud. The cons of Orton are that the Cena rivalry hit a high note when Orton punted Cena's dad, so where can the feud go from there?

3) Shawn Michaels – He's not in the Rumble right now due to the JBL angle, but one has to think HBK will be there. Maybe Vince throws him in next week. Although I am not a fan of the origins of the angle, JBL and HBK have played their parts perfectly. I would love to see HBK help JBL win the World Title against Cena, and then go into the Rumble and win it to blow off the JBL angle in Texas at Wrestlemania. HBK could get his last hurrah at WM XXV in his home state and begin his final year in the company. The negatives of this are of course, JBL main eventing Wrestlemania. Also, the been-there-done-that appears again as it would be HBK's 3rd Rumble win (albeit first since 1996). A Michaels/Cena one more time match could also draw especially in Texas.

4) Undertaker – Two years removed from his first Rumble win, Taker could be a major threat again in 2009. He has been in the World Title match at two straight Wrestlemanias and this one is in Texas, his home state as well. Maybe the biggest match possible out of the entire roster would be Cena vs. Undertaker (Title vs. Streak). Wanna turn Cena heel? Have him end Taker's streak at Wrestlemania in Taker's hometown! Then have him go crazy cocky and brag about it for months. I think that would draw huge heat. The fact that this would be Taker's third straight WM title match and 2nd Rumble win in 3 years makes it a bit of a rehash, but it's Taker and no one will care.

DARKHORSES –

5) Edge – Just like Survivor Series, Edge can lose to Jeff Hardy, and then be given a spot by wife/general manager, Vicky Guerrero. A win would totally be in character for the "ultimate opportunist." Of course, Cena/Edge and Edge/Jeff have been done before so it doesn't lead to any originality.

6) Matt Hardy – Writing this on Tuesday, I am forced to read the spoilers for tonight's ECW and I saw that Jack Swagger defeated Matt Hardy for the ECW Title. With Jeff a champion and Matt not anymore, they can pull the trigger on a Matt/Jeff feud, with Matt being Jeff's attacker. Although, does anyone buy Matt at Royal Rumble winner? Then again, did anyone buy Jeff as World Champion?

7) Christian Cage – That's right! The Peeps go wild as Christian returns home and wins the Rumble. If we go way back to the summer of 2005, Christian began and never finished a feud with John Cena. Plus there is always the Smackdown side where he can go super heel as Jeff's attacker, or super face and feud with Edge. It's a long shot, but why not right?

So who is the favorite? Who gets the Diesel push? Who will last the longest? Personally I feel Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison will get longevity awards. CM Punk will have a good showing as well, and count on Jericho to be placed back in after his "firing." Big Show, Kane, and Khali will add the big man contingent. Personally, I think Orton makes the most sense, so naturally I am going with… TRIPLE H to win the 2009 Royal Rumble! Why, because he is Triple Frickin' H and Cena/Triple H III is the match I feel Vince will go to for Wrestlemania XXV.

Have a great rest of the week and as always, have fun storming the castle!