411’s WWE Royal Rumble Report 01.27.08

Remember to send your thoughts on the show: a score from 1-10, match of the night and trash of the night!

~WWE ROYAL RUMBLE 2008~

~The Road to WrestleMania Begins Tonight…~

-Michael Cole and the Coach welcome us to the show.

-Flair comes to the ring and gets on the mic. He wants to tell us once again what an honor it has been to wrestle in Madison Square Garden. He had his first match there in March of 1976, long before most of the people there were born. The respect that has been paid to him has been unbelievable. MVP’s entrance cuts him off.

FLAIR’S CAREER ON THE LINE: Ric Flair vs. MVP

And here we go, kicking off the 2008 Royal Rumble. Lock up and then off the ropes, and a shoulder block by MVP. He poses, they lock up again and to the corner they go and a clean break and posing by MVP. Wristlock by Flair, they go to the ropes and MVP slaps Flair, Flair fires back with rights and chops and goes on the offensive. Off the ropes, a tackle but MVP gets a trip and then the yakuza kick for 2. Mounted punches by MVP and then a cover for 2. Flair back with chops, but MVP takes him down and works a chinlock. Flair up, they go o the corner, rights by MVP and then a whip, but Flair with a back elbow. Chop block by Flair, he goes for the figure four, but MVP escapes. Atomic drop by Flair, figure four try and MVP rolls him up and gets 2. MVP with punches in the corner, boots and Flair is down. An Irish whip and backdrop by MVP. MVP charges and gets the KAWADA kick in the corner and Flair flops down, 1…2…3. NO. Flair had his foot on the ropes. Flair then rolls up MVP as he argues with the ref and gets 2. This annoys MVP, rights to Flair and then a butterfly suplex for 2. MVP sets Flair on the top rope, rights to Flair, MVP up with him and gets the superplex for 2! MVP slaps the shit out of Flair, they blow a fireman’s carry deal, chops by Flair and they go off the ropes and clothesline each other. The ref counts, they get to their feet and chops by Flair. Small package and Flair gets 2. Backslide by Flair for 2. Chops again, rights and then more chops. MVP nails Flair in the throat, gets a face buster. Playmaker countered, Figure Four by Flair! MVP taps.

Winner: Ric Flair @ 7:59 via submission
Rating: *¾

-MVP argues with the ref after the match as Flair stands in the ring, soaking in the moment.

-Vince meets with Hornswoggle. They talk about the McMahon lineage and the luck of the Irish. Vince plays up that it is everyman for himself and that he expects him to win the match. Finlay is here and Vince and he discuss the previous discussion in a new discussion. Finlay doesn’t like the not trusting part, and Vince says Hornswoggle may turn on him. Hornswoggle then leaps into Finlay’s arms.

-JR and the King introduce us to former XFL and American Gladiators announcer Mike Adamle! He hypes the JBL vs. Jericho feud and we get a video package.

JBL vs. Chris Jericho

The bell rings, they stare down…and lock up. Shouldn’t they be killing each other? Lock up and to the corner again, and they break. Lock up again and JBL into the ropes and the ref breaks them up. Rights by JBL, off the ropes and a forearm and rights by Jericho. A tackle and rights. That’s more like it. JBL now tosses Jericho to the floor, back in and he tackles JBL and then starts kicking the hell out of him. Jericho scoops the legs, walls try and JBL has the ropes. The ref breaks them up and Jericho gets a baseball slide. He slams JBL to the barrier, tries a suplex but then slams him to the apron and then the steps. Back in the ring and JBL gets a hot shot off the ropes, and Jericho holds the previously injured throat. Short clothesline by JBL. Another clothesline by JBL and he then chokes him on the ropes. Catapult in the ropes by JBL, focusing on the throat. Rights by JBL in the corner and Jericho is down. Jericho tries to fight back, chops, off the ropes and a sleeper by JBL. Jericho elbows out, ducks a big boot and levels JBL with a clothesline. Both men are down, they get to their feet and JBL gets the big boot. JBL tosses Jericho to the steel post and Jericho is busted open! Jericho is busted open big time, JBL to the floor and pummels Jericho. Back into the ring, and kicks to the head by JBL. Rights and boots by JBL in the corner, the ref warns him and he keeps on the attack. Jericho fights back with a forearm and another. They BLOW a bulldog spot and the crowd is all over them. Lionsault connects and then a Cactus clothesline to the floor. JBL slams Jericho off of the ECW announce table, and then Jericho KILLS him with a SICK chair shot for the DQ.

They continue to brawl and go back into the ring. Smash mouth with the chair and mounted rights by Jericho. Jericho now gets the cable and brings it into the ring and chokes out JBL! He hangs JBL with the cable, going as far to stand on the ECW table to choke JBL! The crowd loved that. Revenge. Jericho is a bloody mess.

Winner: JBL @ 9:30 via DQ
Rating: **½

-Ashley walks backstage and goes to meet with Maria. Santino answers the door and stops them from their talk. Santino says she cannot say no to anyone. Ashley says that is why she is with Santino. Santino says Maria is not interested in the booby magazine, and if he could he would vote her out of the WWE like she was voted out of Survivor.

-Cole and Coach are back and hype Edge vs. Rey.

-Teddy wheels out Vicky.

-In a nice touch, they do the super special ring announcing.

WORLD TITLE MATCH: Edge © w/Vicky and the Rmy vs. Rey Mysterio

Edge shoves Rey to begin things. They circle, lock up and Edge works the arm. Kicks by Rey, Rey blows a RANA spot and they crowd is all over them. The crowd is chanting for Edge, Rey gets a few leg scoops and a cover for 1. Rights and kicks by Edge, chokes Rey in the ropes, off the ropes and Edge tosses him to the floor. Baseball slide by Edge connects. The Rmy goes to attack Rey and they get TOSSED! Rey gets a head scissors, goes for the 619 and Edge to the floor. PLANCHA by Rey, back in and Rey gets the seated senton for 2. Kicks by Rey, chops and then a whip to the corner. Edge tosses Rey, he lands on the top rope and Edge kicks out the legs and Rey hits the mat hard. Rey limps to the floor, Edge follows and attacks and then tosses Rey back in. Edge works the knee to the delight of the crowd. Single leg crab by Edge, Rey fights and kicks Edge off. An Enziguri by Rey, Edge falls on the ropes and Rey looks for a 619 but runs into a scoop slam for 2. Edge goes back to the legwork, single leg lock and Rey kicks him off again. Kicks by Edge, and Rey stands but falls to the mat. Edge now looks to remove the leg brace Rey has on, but Rey fights back with kicks. Off the ropes and Rey manages a bulldog. They manage to get to their feet, chops by Rey and kicks. Kicks again, off the ropes and a sunset flip by Edge, but Rey rolls through, kick to Edge and a cover for 2. A boot by Rey, roll up and a cover on Edge for 2. Rey goes to the apron, goes up top and Edge hits him and follows him up. Knocked off and Rey gets a DOUBLE FOOT STOMP and cover for 2! RANA by Rey, and Edge falls to the floor. Rey charges and slides out into a DDT. Rey rolls Edge back in, covers and gets 2. Yakuza by Edge and Rey is down. Edge looks for a spear…charges, MISSES and a head scissors by Rey! 619! Rey up top…Vicky is up and Rey gets a splash. 1…2…Vicky pulls out the ref! Rey is pissed and yells at her, and Edge misses a spear, Rey goes for another 619 but Vicky covers up Edge and eats it to save him! Rey springboards in…SPEAR by Edge and that is all!

Edge checks on Vicky as the Rmy returns. They get her back to the wheelchair and wheel her to the back.

Winner: Edge @ 12:45 via pin
Rating: ***

-We see Flair backstage, coming from the shower and Kennedy is there to congratulate him. Kennedy gives Flair a “WOOOOOOOOO” and says that after he wins the Rumble, that he’ll have time until WM. HBK walks in and lets them have some quality time together. HBK jokes about Kennedy’s gimmick and tells Flair he did well. Flair then says HBK cannot be stopped in the Rumble tonight. Batista now walks in and then HHH. HBK says this is awkward now. HHH tells Flair t put some pants on. HHH says the best man will win, which OFFENDS Batista. HBK then pimps his T-Shirt. HHH and Batista leave, and Flair says it was good work. HBK gives him a shirt and leaves.

-Maria is out now. Jesus her mic is loud! She is here to do the Royal Rumble kiss cam. Some dude cops a feel on PPV. Tremendous. Ashley now comes out. Ashley says HEFF called her and wanted to know if Maria would be interested in posing for Playboy. This brings out Santino and a black-sheeted ghost. He says Ashley didn’t get the message and the answer in NO. No one wants to see Maria with no clothes on! Santino says people from New York will cheer for anything because they have nothing to cheer about. He then says they only have a football team from New Jersey to cheer for and says they will choke in the Super Bowl. Giants chant now. Ashley says this is all up to Maria to decide. Santino makes a hepatitis joke, and says he is about to win the Royal Rumble. He asks his special friend to come into the ring. And since we like to see boobies, he has a present. Big Fat Naked Oily Guy with a Patriots logo painted on him. Kill me. Ashley beats him up.

-We get a Bay Watch themed commercial with Kelly Kelly and Mae Young to hype WrestleMania.

-Mike Adamle is in the crowd hyping the Rumble, and Jeff Harvey, he means Hardy’s title match. Not off to a good start is Mr. Adamle. We get video package fun.

-We get super special ring announcing.

WWE TITLE MATCH: Randy Orton © vs. Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy

Orton circles him, lock up and to the ropes, around and to a corner they go. They fight in the lock up around the ropes some more and the ref steps in to break them up. Jeff shoves Orton, tackle and a headlock takedown. Orton tries to roll him for a pin, grabs the hair and then gets a head scissors hold to escape the headlock. Orton cranks on the hold but Jeff escapes and get an atomic drop and leg drop to the balls. Basement dropkick for 2. A knee by Orton, to the corner and slams Jeff into the turnbuckle. Orton yells at the crowd about their boy, off the ropes and a boot by Jeff and then a clothesline to the floor. A baseball slide dropkick by Jeff and Orton SLAMS into the barrier. Orton gets to his feet and Jeff gets a plancha. Back in and breaks the count. Orton gets the title and tries to leave, Jeff to the floor and they brawl. Back into the ring and as Jeff tries to slingshot in, he eats a sweet dropkick by Orton and falls to the floor. Orton back to the floor, and gets a suplex on Jeff. Rolls him back in and gets 2. Orton works the stomp on the legs of Jeff and then makes his way around the body. A choke by Orton now, he breaks and talks trash to Jeff. He follows up with a knee drop and cover for 2. Rights by Jeff to fight back, boots, and off the ropes and he tosses Orton to the floor. To the apron and Jeff with a flying clothesline connects. Back in the ring and Jeff gets a cover for 2. An Irish whip and charge by Jeff, but Orton moves and Jeff eats the post. Orton now applies a body scissors and rear chinlock. Jeff out of the scissors, works to get to his feet and does. Elbows out, off the ropes and a snap slam by Orton gets 2. Orton back to the headlock, tries to keep Jeff grounded, but Jeff to his feet, escapes again and off the ropes but this time Jeff gets the wrap up clothesline. Both men are down and the ref starts the count. They trade rights mid-ring, forearm off the ropes by Jeff. A clothesline, rights and then Jeff slams Orton to the corner. Whisper in the wind! 1…2…NO! Boot and a reverse mule kick by Jeff. Basement dropkick in the corner connects for Jeff. He goes up top…but Orton rolls to the apron. Missile dropkick by Jeff and Orton falls to the floor. Jeff up top again…MOONSAULT to the floor, which almost missed. The ref counts, Jeff tosses Orton back in and he is in as well. Jeff stalks Orton, boot, Twist of Fate countered…RKO connects!! 1…2…3!

Winner: Randy Orton @ 14:10 via pin
Rating: ***½

-Hardy is in the ring and gets to his feet slowly to a good crowd reaction.

-Tazz and Joey Styles put over the WWE title match and move to hype of the Royal Rumble match.

-We get the awesome statistic filled Rumble video package.

-Michael Buffer is here to do the opening announcing for the Rumble!

THE ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH

#1 is the Undertaker! #2 is…HBK! RELIVE THE MAGIC! Taker looks to duke it out, chops by HBK and then Taker tosses him to the corner. Rights by Taker, an Irish whip and HBK flies onto the top rope. Kicks by Taker, HBK crotches himself and Taker chares in and misses a boot and he is on the apron. HBK charges, GOOZLE and Taker back in. HBK escapes, and #3 is SANTINO! Santino is in…SUPERKICK. Taker tosses him. He and HBK brawl, Taker works the arm and looks for old school. Goes up and HBK pulls him off. Atomic drop by HBK, chops and another atomic drop. Chops by HBK, and the flying forearm. #4 is KHALI! Chokeslam on HBK by Taker. Khali in and Taker attacks him right away. JUDO CHOP! Khali slams Taker to the corner, and a HUGE you can’t wrestle chant. Taker fights back, Khali goozles him and then Taker goozles him! They fight for position, Khali misses a chop and Taker tosses Khali. HBK goes after Taker, and #5 is Bob Holly. He lays the boots to both men but Taker gets a corner clothesline. Rights by Taker now, and then the big boot. HBK tries to toss Taker, Taker picks him up and has HBK almost out and Holy back on the attack now. #6 is John Morrison! He runs wild until Taker sees him and taker and HBK beat him down. HBK tries to toss Morrison, but he hangs on. Slam by HBK on Morrison, up top and the elbow drop connects. HBK tunes up, superkick stopped and Morrison gets a spin kick to HBK. Tommy Dreamer is #7. He lights up Taker and HBK. Crowd wild for Dreamer. Taker starts to beat him down. HBK tries to toss Morrison, but he gets a stun gun and slides back in. Morrison tries to toss Holly, and #8 is…Batista! He charges in and a spinebuster to Dreamer! Backdrop to Morrison. He and Taker face off now. Dreamer stops that, and Batista tosses him. Taker and Morrison battle on the ropes. Batista spears Morrison out of his boots. #9 is Hornswoggle. He is reluctant to get into the ring and goes underneath the ring now. Batista spears taker, Holly suplexes Morrison and then backdrops HBK. #10 is Chuck Palumbo. He is a house of fire, lays out Batista and HBK and then attacks Holly. Morrison almost tossed again but saves himself. Taker and Palumbo pair off, while Morrison works over HBK. #11 is Jamie Noble. He is all bandaged up and attacks Palumbo. Noble almost tossed, and then eats a boot and he is out. Holly and Batista brawl, and an EMT is out to take care of Noble. Hornswoggle is still under the ring. #12 is CM Punk. Morrison saves himself again. Knee of Doom to Taker by Punk and then to HBK. He tries the bulldog and Taker kills him with a clothesline. HBK is busted and bleeding from the nose. Punk tosses Palumbo with the knee of doom. HBK attacks Punk, and #13 is Cody Rhodes. Cody tries to toss Punk, fails and Morrison and Cody pair off. Taker grabs Cody, but he escapes with a dropkick. Batista backdrops HBK and is down now. #14 is UMAGA! He starts to kill bitches, the SAMOAN SPIKE sends Holly to the floor. Umaga and Batista brawl, and Cody almost tosses HBK, but he is still in. #15 is Snitsky.

Punk slams HBK off the top rope and Snitsky is in and starts laying people out. He lays the boots to Morrison, and Cody tries to pull out Snitsky but fails. Morrison and HBK go at it again, and #16 is The Miz. He attacks Punk right away, tries to toss him and Morrison and he double-team him. Taker tries to toss Umaga, he fights and almost goes but stays in and holds onto the bottom rope. #17 is Shelton Benjamin. He leaps up top and takes down Miz and Morrison. HBK superkicks Benjamin out and he is gone. Slow going now, and we get #18 and it is JIMMY SUPERFLY SNUKA! Snuka with head butts and chops! Head butts to Taker, then Snitsky. Chops to Miz and then Batista. #19 is RODDY PIPER! The crowd is wild for these guys. He and Snuka face off! CRAZY OLD MAN BRAWL! They all stand and watch these guys, Punk and Morrison were talking and marking out, which was great. Kane is in @ #20. He tosses Snuka and Piper and the crowd was not happy. Taker looked to attack Kane, but goes after HBK. #21 is Carlito. APPLE SPIT. HBK looks like a mess as his nose continues to bleed. Lung blower on Punk by Carlito. Cody bulldogs him as we hit another slow point. #22 is MICK FOLEY! Huge chants for Foley, he cleans house as Taker slams down Batista. DDT to Kane by Foley and Umaga levels Taker. Morrison lights up Foley with a cool Asai kick. #23 is Kennedy. He is in and gets the face wash to Cody. Mic Check to Miz. One for punk. He lays the boots to Taker, but Taker goozles him and chokeslams him! Corner clothesline by Taker to like 5 guys. Taker is now on fire, and #24 is Big Daddy V. Taker tosses Snitsky and HBK eliminates Taker with the superkick! Kennedy tosses HBK! They lasted 32-minutes. Taker beats down Snitsky on the floor and Cody tries to toss Kennedy, but fails.

#25 is Mark Henry. He brawls with Batista, and Hornswoggle appears and helps pull Miz out and goes back under the ring. V tries to toss Morrison and Kennedy and #26 is Chavo Guerrero. Punk and Chavo brawl, Kane tosses Morrison finally. Batista attacks V, and then gets leveled by Kane. Honrnswoggle tries to pull out Cody, but is now pulled in by V and Henry. FINLAY IS IN! I guess he’s 27. He saves Hornswoggle and they then leave. Well ok. Kane and Kennedy pair off, and then we get told that Finlay was DQ’d from the Rumble for using the SHACKALACKI and for jumping the gun on his entrance. #28 is Elijah Burke. He attacks Chavo and Batista is on the floor, but no confirmation of his elimination. Chavo tosses Punk from the apron. Batista took the Samoan Spike and rolled to the floor. He is still in. #29 is HHH. He starts to run wild and tosses Cody. Face buster to V, and tosses him! Face buster to Umaga and he and Foley now brawl! HHH tosses Foley into Burke and they both fall to the floor and are gone. We slow down a bit as HHH and Umaga brawl. Umaga misses a corner charge and eats a pedigree!

#30 is…JOHN CENA! HOLY SHIT! Cena in and cleans house on Henry and gets the shoulder block. He tosses Carlito! Then Chavo! Then Henry! He and HHH face off now and the crowd loves it! They brawl! Boot to HHH, and then eats a spinebuster! Umaga takes down HHH and then gets speared by Batista! He tosses Kennedy! Batista tosses Umaga! HHH and Batista toss Umaga!

HHH, Batista and Cena are left! They face off and Batista gives a thumbs down! THEY BRAWL! Batista and Cena go at it, Batista works over both guys. Double clothesline to HHH and Cena. A boot by Cena, but Batista gets a spinebuster. Pedigree try by HHH, but Batista gets a spinebuster on HHH! Bomb try on Cena, backdrops out and HHH tosses Batista!

We’re down to HHH and John Cena. HHH points at the WM logo and Cena claps at him. They circle a bit, and then brawl. The crowd is already starting to hate on Cena again, nice. They trade rights, PROTO BOMB by Cena! Five-knuckle shuffle connects. He looks for the FU, HHH up and he grabs him…HHH escapes, Pedigree try countered and they clothesline each other! A boot by Cena, grabs the FU and tries to toss HHH…but he escapes and gets a DDT! HHH picks up Cena, to the ropes, Cena fights…HHH tries to toss him but nothing, escape and an FU try, counter but then Cena snatches up HHH again and tosses him out!

Winner: John Cena @ 51:45
Rating: ****

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