Please follow Marc Elusive on Twitter or like Marc Elusive on Facebook or check out www.marcelusive.net for reviews and recaps (of current WWE and old WWF PPVs, DVDs and VHS tapes) and a little analysis; more of a play-by-play style, like my reviews here on 411mania.
TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts; January 30, 2011Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry “The King” Lawler & Matt Striker
This show is available on the Royal Rumble 2011 DVD or Royal Rumble 2011 [Blu-ray/DVD Combo].
The WWE has improved the Royal Rumble to 40 men; I hope they continue that trend.
World Heavyweight Championship Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero): The spear is banned in this match by acting SmackDown GM Vickie Guerrero and if Edge connects with it tonight he will be stripped of the title. Pre-match Vickie appears on the stage and leads the fans in a “spear” chant to be detestable and to reiterate the spear ban. The commentators mention Edge’s past with Vickie and Dolph hammers in the corner; Edge gets a boot in and tosses him into the corner. Stomach breaker by Edge gets a nearfall; a knee lift gets Edge another nearfall. Edge slides through Dolph’s legs to the floor and trips him up so he lands face first on the apron, on the floor, Edge tosses Ziggler onto the ring barricade. Dolph catches Ziggler getting into the ring with a boot to the face and lands a rope-assisted hangman’s neckbreaker. Ziggler stomps away and drills Edge on the apron with some elbows. Back in the ring Ziggler slows things down with a side headlock. Ziggler hits a second rope sunset flip but Edge rolls-through and slingshots him into the post it gets a nearfall. Dolph kicks the left knee of Edge and hits a cutting neckbreaker and reapplies the side headlock. Edge powers out of a pinfall and tries to escape to the floor; Ziggler assists him knocking him into the ring barricade. Back to the chinlock goes Ziggler, Edge fights out and Ziggler and Edge collide with a double high crossbody; Ziggler misses a running elbow in the corner and Edge (eventually) flapjacks him. They both struggle to their feet and Edge begins to rev things up with clotheslines and the inverted Side Effect. Edge walks right into a Bareback for two; Edge counters the Fameasser into a powerbomb. I’ve never seen that counter before. Ziggler is down so Edge ascends the buckles but Dolph pops up and catches Edge on the top, Edge blocks the superplex and tosses him off; Edge lands a top-rope crossbody that Dolph rolls-through for a nuclear nearfall. I thought that was the shocking finish, right there. A standing dropkick floors Edge as the Boston fans begin to rally behind Dolph. Ziggler tries the Zigzag but Edge holds the ropes; Edge dusts off the Edgecator but Dolph makes the ropes. Edge tries a rope splash but Ziggler moves and Edge clotheslines himself on the top rope; Ziggler lands the Fameasser for two. Edge regains control with a big boot; Edge looks for the spear but then realizes it is banned, Edge walks into the sleeper hold but quickly reverses into the Edgecution but Vickie pulls the referee out and slaps Edge. Vickie and Ziggler nearly collide and Edge gets an O’Connor roll for two. Guerrero slaps Edge some more but Kelly Kelly shows up out of nowhere and pulls Vickie down and beats her up but it inadvertently distracts Edge and Ziggler sneaks up with the Zigzag… for two! The entire TD Garden thought new champion there. Dolph stalks Edge and slaps on the sleeper; Edge fights to escape and accidentally nails the referee. Edge finally frees himself with a jawjacker. With the referee (and Vickie) down and out Edge levels Ziggler with the spear and plays dead like Eddie Guerrero. Referee wakes up and Edge nails the Killswitch, shout out to Christian, for three and a huge ovation. 9/10 Very good opening title match to start off the Rumble this year, possibly one of the better openers in WWE history, definitely one of the most exciting. Dolph has done an amazing job going from Spirit Squad member to a nearfall in becoming the world champion. Edge’s two shout outs to Eddie and Christian were a nice touch as well.
They show the storyline between The Miz and Randy Orton that starts with the greatest moment in Michael Cole’s natural life, Miz using the MitB to win the title (from Orton). The rest of the build was Miz searching for respect as a champion. Miz cuts a pre-match promo saying he’s a champion and Orton, Jerry Lawler and Tom Brady aren’t. Miz professes his awesomeness.
WWE Heavyweight Championship The Miz (w/Alex Riley) vs. Randy Orton: The Miz (and the WWE) has to be careful about how he is booked or he could fall into the wrong list of MitB title winners. Orton pummels Miz in the corner and tosses him to the floor; Randy follows him and tosses him into the ring barricade and hits a clothesline. Orton kicks and stomps as Michael Cole begins to argue with Matt Striker and Jerry Lawler concerning the Miz and his unrequited love, therefore; Orton hits the under the bottom rope slingshot hangman. Striker counters Cole’s normally considerably legit points with legit points of his own; Striker can be a good commentator when he wants to be or he can be like a latter season episode of Family Guy, all random references with no rhyme or reason to them and barely any storyline. Miz distracts the referee and Alex Riley quickly takes advantage dropping Randy’s throat off the top rope. Miz takes over and hammers away but Orton immediately fires back with a clothesline. Riley helps Miz avoid a corner charge and Orton runs knee first into the turnbuckle. Miz hits the Vintage Clothesline and rakes the face. Riley high fives Cole at the announce table as Miz applies a chinlock. Cole DARES to insult the announcing integrity of legendary Milwaukee Brewers radio announcer and WWE Hall of Famer, Bob Uecker; DO NOT disparage Harry Doyle! Meanwhile, Orton struggles to his feet and breaks free but Miz retains control and hits a running boot. Miscalled by Cole as a forearm; the Ueke never miscalled a strike as a homerun. Orton suckers Miz into the corner but Orton fights back with a running elbow; Miz with a reverse chinlock. Orton counters into a sleeper hold but a series of blocks and reversals sees Orton hit a back suplex; Miz recovers and surprises Randy with a big boot for two. Miz to the top, that can’t be good, Orton trips him up and superplexes him and gets a nearfall. Orton fires back with lefts and rights into the stretch backbreaker; Miz rolls to the apron so Orton tries the hangman’s DDT but Miz backdrops Orton to the floor and Riley adds a few boots there. Back in the ring Miz gets a nearfall; Miz to the top again and this time lands with a double axe for a pair of two counts. Orton winds up on the floor and tries a piledriver there but Miz segues into a slingshot into the ringpost. Orton recovers and charges back into the ring with a Thesz press; Miz fires back but runs into a clothesline and powerslam. Orton Stomp followed by the slow knee drop to the face gets a nearfall; Riley distracts allowing Miz to hit the Vintage Neckbreaker for two. RKO and Skull-Crushing Finale are both countered and Orton hits a Samoan drop; Miz heads to the floor and grabs the belt and tries to walk off but Orton surprises him with a clothesline. A-Ry distracts Orton briefly on the floor allowing Miz to land the dangerous DDT back in the ring. Orton avoids another seated big boot and gets a nearfall off a roll-up; Miz to the apron again and this time Orton nails the hangman’s DDT. Orton coils but the New Nexus heads to the ring to observe; Riley sneaks into the ring whilst the referee is busy with Nexus but Orton catches him and LAUNCHES him, over the referee, into the Nexus wiping them all out. Orton continues his invincibility countering the Skull-Crushing Finale into an RKO but our savior, CM Punk runs in and hits Orton with the Go2Sleep and plops Miz on top of Orton for three. Post-match Cole jumps up and down at the announce position to the consternation of the other two broadcasters and Nexus stares at Orton from the stage. 7/10 This was a very good match that Miz needed to at least get a pinfall to gain some credibility as champion, despite the outside interference (and Orton’s lack of in-ring respect for Miz). This sets up Orton/Punk for WrestleMania XXVII and keeps Miz as champion. Just like last year, Orton is the first opponent for a newly crowned “green” WWE champion [Sheamus], and he practically no-sells 75% of the offense thrown at him.
Todd Grisham reads an official statement from Cody Rhodes (with dashing letterhead). Cody will work through his broken nose and is upset that Rey Mysterio has not reached out to him or apologized.
Fans offer their opinions on who will win the Royal Rumble.
WWE Diva’s Championship Natalya vs. Eve Torres vs. Michelle McCool vs. Layla fatal four-way: Before the match starts the Raw GM changed this match on the fly from a handicap match [Natalya versus Laycool]. Laycool attacks and dominates the other two; they hit a double Stroke on Eve and toss her to the floor. Natalya begins to fire back and slingshots Layla into McCool. They all battle on the floor and floor Nattie there; back in the ring, Laycool face off but Natalya interrupts before they come to blows. Eve returns as well and they all battle; Natalya tries the Sharpshooter on Eve but Layla breaks it up. Natalya stacks Layla on top of Eve and applies a DOUBLE Sharpshooter. Never seen that one before; Michelle breaks it up with a Chick Kick and gets a nearfall. Layla hits the Layout (neckbreaker) on Eve and then Michelle baseball slides her to the floor. Natalya hits a Michinoku Driver on McCool; Layla saves again but gets clotheslined in the corner. Natalya preps for a Bulldog powerslam and Michelle tries to break it up with a boot but wipes out Layla instead. Nattie tosses Michelle to the floor and Eve ejects Natalya; Eve hits a moonsault. Natalya and Michelle reenter and Michelle rolls up Nattie just as Eve goes for a pinfall on Layla; the referee only notices Eve’s pinfall and she wins the Diva’s championship. 4.5/10 A couple of good spots but a screwy ending shows the WWE does not give the divas any respect to warrant an actual billed match for a PPV.
In the back Daniel Bryan and Gail Kim discuss the Royal Rumble; the Bella Twins apologize to them for losing their cool last week on Raw. The Bellas say they are both beneath them and a huge cat fight erupts.
The Royal Rumble: #1 CM Punk, killing my prediction right out of the gate, The Corre attacks prompting a brawl between them and the New Nexus, and faking out whom number two is. The Raw GM extricates the Corre and Nexus from ringside so the real #2 Daniel Bryan, heads out post-brawl, and we have an interesting battle between two Ring of Honor stalwarts that never really ever feuded. Bryan is the US Champion; they hook up and Bryan eats a shoulderblock. Bryan flips off the top rope and hits the running Hart Attack clothesline. Bryan tries to toss Punk with a fireman’s carry; Punk tries to extricate Bryan but he recovers and reenters via missile dropkick. Bryan is fired up but misses the running corner dropkick. #3 Justin Gabriel comes into the ring and attacks Punk; Gabriel pummels Punk in the corner. A double KO between Punk and Bryan entices Gabriel to try the 450º splash on Punk; he misses and Bryan back suplexes him over the top ELIMINATING Justin Gabriel and disappointing me as I hoped he’d go far. Here comes #4 Zack Ryder to the ring; Ryder hits the facewash on Bryan and battles with Punk for clocking him with a microphone last year and facewashes him as well. Bryan tries to backdrop Ryder but Zack lands on Punk with a Rough Ryder. Zack charges at Bryan but gets hiptossed over the top, thus ELIMINATED. Bryan begins to soccer kick Punk on the canvas as #5 William Regal jogs out. William Regal kills Bryan with a half nelson suplex and then hits an exploder suplex on Punk and follows up with the knee trembler. Bryan and Regal have a student versus teacher European uppercut battle. Punk recovers and kicks Regal’s head off and Bryan kicks Punk’s head off; Bryan reattaches Regal’s head and then kicks it off again, I feel like I’m recapping a Mortal Kombat match. #6 Ted Dibiase heads out, who has been on a losing streak on Raw, runs down and hits a few dropkicks; he and Punk go at it and Dibiase tries to toss Punk as Bryan wears Regal out with a series of kicks. Now #7 John Morrison comes out who springboard kicks Regal on his entry; Morrison kicks everyone in sight and Flash Kicks CM Punk, or a flying chuck if you are Punk on commentary. Morrison hits the C-4 on Bryan but Dibiase takes over on him and knocks him to the apron. Regal knocks him off but Morrison clings to the retaining wall like Spiderman. Regal is so bewildered that Dibiase is able to ELIMINATE him from behind. Meanwhile, Morrison walks atop the ring barrier and jumps onto the steps and reenters the ring, without touching the floor. Impressive. #8 Yoshi Tatsu happily heads to the ring; Punk floors him and double rakes his face with the boots. Morrison flips out of a Daniel Bryan German suplex and almost eliminates Bryan. Here is #9 Husky Harris, of the New Nexus, running to the ring to help out his leader CM Punk. Harris runs around the ring and hammers people and shields Punk in the corner. Bryan, Morrison and Tatsu all kick away on him; Punk and Harris and Punk double up on Morrison and then Punk backdrop suplexes Bryan.
A quarter of the way through as #10 Chavo Guerrero heads out to the ring; he head scissors Punk. Chavo hits two-out-of-three Amigos on Dibiase; he tries again, this time with Punk but Morrison interferes so Chavo tries again, thwarted once again by Bryan. Chavo finally hits the Three Amigos on Daniel Bryan, to a nice ovation; Harris attacks him in the corner but Chavo counters into a second-rope missile dropkick as #11 Mark Henry wanders out. He attacks everyone and catches Chavo Guerrero coming off the second rope and ELIMINATES Chavo. Yoshi tries to chop Henry but eats a huge head-butt; Dibiase tries to nail Henry but takes a head-butt as well. Henry clotheslines Tatsu to the floor, ELIMINATING him; Punk attacks from behind. #12 JTG runs to the ring and attacks everyone in his path; he attacks Harris and then Mark Henry. Everyone battles on the ropes in separate corners of the ring. Here comes #13 Michael McGillicutty, another New Nexus guy, sprinting to the ring. McGillicutty attacks JTG and then he and Harris begin to dominate as Punk directs traffic. I want to like McGillicutty because his father, Mr. Perfect, was my favorite wrestler growing up, but he just is lacking the personality. McGillicutty quickly ELIMINATES former Cryme Tyme member JTG via dropkick and then he and Harris double up on Dibiase. Ted Dibiase avoids a Harris and McGillicutty double clothesline but charges into a double backdrop and is ELIMINATED. Here comes #14 “Masterpiece” Chris Masters to the ring. Masters hammers everyone in the New Nexus and spinebusters McGillicutty. He tries to force Punk over with the Masterlock; McGillicutty recovers and saves his leader. Punk leg lariats John Morrison; #15 David Otunga, New Nexus member, heads out and with the New Nexus four-fifths complete, this should clear the ring a little bit. Otunga nails Morrison; CM Punk ELIMINATES Daniel Bryan. New Nexus triple teams Masters and ELIMINATES him. John Morrison does not fare much better and is ELIMINATED. That leaves Mark Henry alone with four New Nexus guys; they pummel him and whip Harris into an avalanche. Mark Henry is ELIMINATED. #16 Tyler Reks showing no emotion and charges right into the ring; New Nexus mauls him and pass him amongst themselves and ELIMINATES Reks. New Nexus stands tall as #17 Vladimir Kozlov, one half of the WWE tag champions, will give it a go. They swarm him as well and dispatch of him rather quickly; Harris hits a running senton. They continue to control the ring and drag Kozlov up for CM Punk to ELIMINATE him. #18 R-Truth comes out and gets decimated; Matt Striker makes a good point, why do they not slowly walk to the ring, try to chew up as much of the ninety seconds as possible and perhaps get a second guy in the ring to help. New Nexus sets up Truth for the corner running knee strike/bulldog combo; Punk throws a little “what’s up” as well, and then ELIMINATES Truth. Just like last year’s “Sermon on the Mount”, Punk’s dominance is frustrated by (a returning) #19 Great Khali. Khali charges into the ring and dominates with some head chops and head-butts; Khali ELIMINATES Husky Harris.
Punk begs off Khali and then eats stomps in the corner; he holds on until #20 Mason Ryan charges out and fights off Khali and ELIMINATES the Great Khali. Is Ryan trying to look even more like Batista with his black shiny pleather trunks? #21 Booker T comes out, and if the Internet or Twitter didn’t exist, it would be a huge surprise. Striker calls this a “mark-out moment”; unfortunately for Booker he gets dominated but does manage the scissors kick on Otunga. He hits a Book End on McGillicutty and provides us with a Spin-a-Roonie before he gets ELIMINATED from behind by Mason Ryan. Punk shouts “we’re goin’ to WrestleMania,” well that can’t be a good thing to say because here comes #22 John Cena; well, the New Nexus wrath should abruptly end here. Cena charges in and dominates everyone; he one-handed bulldogs Otunga and drops McGillicutty with a release fisherman’s suplex. Cena low-bridges a charging Mason Ryan and he is ELIMINATED; a double clothesline ELIMINATES David Otunga and ELIMINATES Michael McGillicutty, foiling Punk’s plans and leaving him alone one-on-one with John Cena. Cena is smiley as the crowd erupts. Punk charges into Cena they battle and Cena counters the Go2Sleep into a double clothesline; I know why Punk is down and out from that by why is Cena? He’s been in the ring for exactly ninety seconds, how do I know this because #23 Hornswoggle (painful) heads out. Hornswoggle runs around the ring until Punk makes me piss myself spin kicking the little guy. Punk goes back to Cena who recovers and ELIMINATES Punk via over-the-top Attitude Adjustment, pissing me off. I see #24 Tyson Kidd made it to the Rumble and former Hart Dynasty partner David Hart Smith didn’t; although I do not know which is worse. Kidd gets caught in a tilt-a-whirl head scissors from Hornswoggle and Cena finishes him off with another AA. Then in the biggest insult, or perhaps littlest, Hornswoggle hits his own AA on Kidd. Cena ELIMINATES Tyson Kidd. #25 Heath Slater, a member of the Corre comes out, Cena trembles in fear… well maybe not. Cena wipes him out allowing Hornswoggle to hit a little Stone Cold Stunner, a Proto-bomb follows and they drop a double Five-Knuckle Shuffle, a Ten-Knuckle Shuffle sayeth Striker; Hornswoggle drops the Tadpole Splash and there goes Heath Slater, ELIMINATED. Now this should be a little interesting as #26 Kofi Kingston, the Intercontinental Champion, and heads out to the ring. Hornswoggle is perplexed because Kofi is a “good guy”, Cena and Kofi gaze at the large WrestleMania XXVII sign (full review, click here), Hornswoggle fades into the corner and Kingston bounces around the ring and floors Cena with a reverse elbow. Kofi hits a sort-of Stinger splash in the corner as he leaped too high; I’ve mentioned this before that one of the Kofi’s biggest problems is he jumps too high, perhaps a little too out of control for his “controlled frenzy” sometimes. Here is #27 Jack Swagger coming to the ring; he dominates with clotheslines and hits a springboard Swagger Bomb onto Cena and then Kofi and then again to Cena. Swagger turns to Hornswoggle; Kofi comes off the top-rope with a crossbody he and Hornswoggle team up for a Poetry in Motion Boom Drop. Hornswoggle shakes the ropes like the Ultimate Warrior, or Batista, not sure which. #28 King Sheamus angrily charges into the ring; Irish Curse to Cena. Sheamus turns to the little Irish stereotype and shoves him down in disgust. Hornswoggle attempts to tune up the band and hits Sweet Shin Music. Sheamus props Hornswoggle on the top rope; Cena briefly saves him with a Proto-bomb but Sheamus recovers and Brogue Kicks Hornswoggle off the top rope and ELIMINATES him. Hallelujah, now the Rumble can get serious again. #29 Rey Mysterio heads to the ring and hurracanranas out of a Swagger gutwrench powerbomb. Rey drops Sheamus with a satellite head scissors and then plants Cena with the wheelbarrow bulldog; a 619 attempt was ended by a lariat Sheamus. Kofi clobbers Sheamus with Trouble in Paradise but then gets spiked with a Swagger spinebuster; Swagger tries the pop-up arm drag off the top to Mysterio but he slithers over and knocks Swagger over the top to the apron, an inverted 619 follows and ELIMINATES Jack Swagger.
The best draw of the night goes to #30 Wade Barrett… wait there are still ten more to go? Barrett hammers on everyone and tries to lay Wasteland to Kofi but Mysterio dropkicks his knee. Cena attacks Barrett but bets caught in Barrett’s spinning Bossman Slam. Kofi battles back and here comes #31 Dolph Ziggler, who pulls his Vickie Guerrero card and gets to enter the Rumble. Ziggler nails Kofi upon his entry and hammers on King Sheamus; Kingston, Cena and Mysterio gang up on Barrett and try to extricate him from the ring. Barrett impressively fends off two former world champions and the current IC champion to save off elimination. Ziggler joins him and they try to toss Cena; Mysterio saves with a double low-blow. Here comes #32 Diesel; this is more of a surprise, everyone knew Kevin Nash was there but did not know he’d dust off the Diesel character. Diesel puts on the glove and heads to the ring and everyone awaits him like the Undertaker. Barrett fights first and gets floored; Mysterio charges into a big boot. Diesel hits Snake Eyes to Kofi as Barrett is hammering him from behind. Diesel takes out Cena with a short-clothesline as #33 Drew McIntyre slides into the ring. Drew attacks Diesel from behind and he and Sheamus join forces on him; Michael Cole says that he and Sheamus came to the WWE from Europe together and have maintained that heel friendship. Fans chant loudly “let’s go Diesel!” Rey hits a 619 on Diesel to a chorus of boos. Sheamus and McIntyre double up on Cena as the ring is filling up again; #34 Alex Riley heads to the ring. He runs in and immediately gets floored by Cena. Diesel misses a big boot on Barrett and crotches himself on the top rope; Barrett big boots Diesel to the floor ELIMINATING him. I’m surprised, considering the reaction he got, Diesel did not eliminate anyone. The Miz, who sauntered down with Riley, joins the commentary team. Everyone battles on one end of the ring. #35 Big Show heads to the ring, meeting Diesel on his way down, and they stare at each other for a moment. Team McSheamus attacks Show as he slides under the ropes but he pushes them around and double clotheslines them. Show chokeslams Barrett because when the Corre first formed, they attacked the Big Show. Show ELIMINATES Dolph Ziggler. Kofi and Cena gets Alex Riley up and over in the corner and he is ELIMINATED; the commentators totally miss it. Here comes the final Corre member, #36 Ezekiel Jackson; Big Show catches Drew McIntyre coming off the top rope with a goozle and forces him over the top, ELIMINATING Drew McIntyre. Big Zeke hits the ring and runs over Show and dominates everyone and ELIMINATES the Big Show rather easily. Jackson runs over Cena and clobbers Kingston. The Corre stands tall and hammers everyone; #37 Santino Marella, the other tag team champion, runs into the ring and hammers Sheamus and then runs into Ezekiel Jackson. Zeke scares Santino via flexing and he turns into a Brogue Kick and rolls to the floor. Sheamus and Jackson go at it everyone else battles on the ropes. Big Zeke almost gets Cena over the top, Barrett lends a hand, but Cena saves himself. #38 Alberto Del Rio heads to the ring; complete with Bentley and Ricardo Rodriguez ring announcement. Del Rio takes forever to get to the ring, so long in fact that, #39 Randy Orton laps him, nails him from behind tosses him into the steps on the floor. Orton tosses him into the ring and hits an RKO to Alberto; Sheamus gets an RKO as well. Kofi misses Trouble in Paradise… RKO! Orton ELIMINATES Kofi Kingston and then clotheslines Sheamus over the top to ELIMINATE King Sheamus. Cena recovers and he and Orton share a stare; Cena points the WrestleMania sign and here is the last entrant #40 Kane.
Kane’s pyro startles Cena and he and Orton await him. Barrett nails Cena as Kane attacks Orton and clotheslines him in the corner and hits a side suplex. Ezekiel Jackson floors Kane and tries to slam him but Kane slips out and low-bridges a charging Jackson, ELIMINATING Ezekiel Jackson. Kane hammers on Barrett and tosses him into the corner. Rey tries to come off the second rope but Kane catches him in a goozle, Mysterio tries to hurracanrana out of a chokeslam but Kane catches him, Rey wriggles around and winds up ELIMINATING Kane with a hurracanrana; Rey lands on the apron so Barrett knocks him to the floor ELIMINATING Rey Mysterio. Cena pairs off with Barrett and Orton takes on Del Rio, who has done nothing in this match thus far. The heels each nearly toss their respective babyface charges; Cena comes back and drops Barrett with a gutwrench suplex. Cena and Orton square off; I wonder if the WWE was disappointed this did not elicit a Hulk Hogan versus Ultimate Warrior reaction like at Royal Rumble 1990 (full review, click here), problem is that they have faced each other 2,524 times already, Warrior and Hogan was the first time. The former Rumble winners go at it. AA and RKO are countered and Barrett nails Cena; vertical suplex by Barrett. Del Rio gets a soccer kick to Cena’s back and then clotheslines him as Barrett and Orton go at it. Cena hits the AA on Del Rio; Alex Riley returns to ringside allowing the Miz to sneak in and (illegally) ELIMINATE John Cena from behind and take off. The final four for the 2011 Royal Rumble are; Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett and Santino Marella who is still out on the floor somewhere. The heels attack Orton together and for a quick alliance. Orton no-sells the double team and runs both of them over with clotheslines; powerslam to Barrett and stretch backbreaker to Alberto. Orton begins to slither around and ELIMINATES Wade Barrett; Del Rio sneaks over and ELIMINATES Randy Orton from behind. Everyone, including the trio of commentators, timekeeper (who rings the bell) and the sound guy (who hits Alberto’s music) think Del Rio is the winner; Ricardo announces Alberto as the winner… but Santino Marella, who was never tossed over the top, sneaks back in and attacks from behind. Santino fires up the Cobra as Del Rio is arguing with the referee as the fans are going absolutely ballistic. The Cobra strikes! Santino celebrates a bit prematurely and then tries to toss Alberto but he reverses and ELIMINATES Santino Marella to finally win the Royal Rumble. Post-match Ricardo shouts Alberto is the winner in Spanish over and over. 8/10 So the 40 man experiment goes well; the match was entertaining with little dead spots and classic returns. Alberto Del Rio gets a Yokozuna-like win here as the WWE apparently plans on hitching their heel wagons to him for WrestleMania XXVII. Punk and the New Nexus got over for a while then ran into Cena. There was a bunch of ring dominance in this Rumble as well.
