WWE Royal Rumble Results & Afterthoughts

w/ Alex Archer & Violet Buttle

The Rock defeated CM Punk for the WWE Championship

Alex: This match was just too predictable. It was a good match up until the lights went out. From that point on, it was the cookie-cutter finish that everyone expected. I understand that Rock = $$$, but the man that was just champion for the last 434 days lost to an elbow drop. I don't care if it was the People's Elbow, it's still a damn elbow drop.

Violet: Even though I saw it coming from a mile away, I’m disappointed that The Rock is the new WWE Champion. The WWE took Punk, the longest reigning champion of the modern era, and let him get beat by a guy who rarely wrestles and was in his prime a decade ago. I certainly hope that this move makes the company the money that they’re hoping it does, because it really diminishes the talent on the roster.

John Cena won the Royal Rumble Match

Alex: Here's another one that was pretty obvious. The Rumble match itself was a ton of fun. Jericho was a great surprise at number 2, and I popped big time for Goldust. In the end, Cena won, just like we all predicted. There's a lot that can happen between now and WrestleMania, but I fear we're in store for Rock / Cena 2: Once in a Lifetime... One Last Time.

Violet: Of course Cena won.  Hopefully we get Rock vs. Cena vs. Punk triple threat match at WrestleMania instead of Rock vs. Cena again.

Alberto Del Rio defeated Big Show in a Last Man Standing Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

Alex: That sure was an interesting way to win a Last Man Standing Match. Ziggler has to cash in his MITB briefcase soon, so I expect Del Rio will suffer an attack at the hands of an irate Big Show in the coming weeks, and Ziggler will jump on the opportunity.

Violet: Based upon the development of Del Rio’s new character, I think that he could have and should have won this match on his own merit. I’d really like to see him and Rodriguez avoid becoming a comedy act. Del Rio’s too good for that.

Team Hell No defeated Team Rhodes Scholars to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship

Alex: I really think the wrong team won this match. Unless they introduce a new fold or new twist to the Kane/Daniel Bryan team, their ship has sailed. What happened between Kane and Bryan in the Royal Rumble Match would've been a perfect blow off to end their partnership had they dropped the belts. They retained, though, so hopefully the incident during the Rumble Match leads to something new for their act.

Violet: After yet another win for Team Hell No, I’m left wondering what creative has in store for them. Their act is stale, and I’m not sure what more they can do with it. Yeah, Bryan and Kane were at odds during the Rumble, but that’s typical. I really would have liked to have seen Team Rhodes Scholars wear the belts for a bit.

Antonio Cesaro defeated The Miz to retain the United States Championship

Alex: This was a decent match and the right man won. This feud doesn't appear to be over, so look for Miz and Cesaro to get into it again.

Violet: Cesaro won, and he should have. But judging from their confrontation during the Rumble, it looks like things between Miz and Cesaro aren’t finished yet.

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WWE Royal Rumble Predictions

w/ Alex Archer & Violet Buttle

CM Punk (c) vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship
Alex: The build for this match was great.  There were multiple Rock segments that were way too long and way too repetitive, but other than that, both men were great at hyping this one.  Both men made the match feel important, and both guys did an excellent job of putting the other over.  My prediction is that Rock wins the title tonight and it leads to a rematch at WrestleMania.

Violet:It's extremely unlikely that CM Punk remains WWE Champion after tonight.

Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. The Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship
Alex: I think that Del Rio is going to beat Big Show, but there's a chance he won't leave with the title.  Ziggler only has about two months to cash in his MITB briefcase.  A cash in at the Royal Rumble would be huge.  It's a possibility, but with Ziggler tied up in an angle with Cena, I don't see it happening just yet.

Violet:Del Rio has been successful in his new role as a Mexican hero, so I don't see him dropping the title quite yet.

30-Man Royal Rumble Match
Alex: There are a bunch of top guys that have been announced that could get the win (Cena, Ziggler, Orton, Sheamus, Ryback... Jinder Mahal), but I think this would be a perfect time to bring back Brock Lesnar. Rock vs. Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania would be a pretty big draw.  That contradicts my Rock/Punk prediction, so I'll say Cena wins and faces Dolph Ziggler at WrestleMania for the World Heavyweight Championship (after his cash in victory, of course).

Violet:It's difficult to predict the winner of a 30 man match, but if I had to chose a winner I think it will be John Cena. If I'm correct and The Rock wins the WWE title, I could see the WWE booking another Cena vs. Rock WrestleMania match.

Team Hell No (c) vs. Team Rhodes Scholars for the WWE Tag Team Championship
Alex: I haven't been enjoying the antics of Team Hell No as much lately, mostly because they haven't done anything new in awhile.  If WWE sees it the same way I do, then Team Rhodes Scholars will come away with the titles and Team Hell No will disband.  If they want to continue with Team Hell No, I think they'll get the victory and hopefully come up with something new to add to their act.

Violet:I think that the Team Hell No act has run its course, and its time that we see a new team with the belts. Unlike Team Hell No, Team Rhodes Scholars haven't lost their luster yet.

Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. The Miz for the United States Championship (pre-show)

Alex: There's no reason to take the belt of Cesaro yet.  The only reason I could see them putting it on Miz would be to help boost his new face persona (that has been god awful thus far).  I think Cesaro has more to gain by retaining than Miz does by capturing, so I'll take Cesaro.


Violet: Is Miz going to be the American who takes the US title from Cesaro? I don't think so.

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Versus: Tag Team Champions

by Violet Buttle

Team Hell No (WWE) vs. Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez (TNA) vs. The Young Bucks (PWG / Chikara) vs. The Briscoes (ROH)

Team Hell No: Team Hell No became the WWE Tag Team Champions on September 16th at the Night of Champions PPV. Prior to teaming up together in September as part of their recovery from storyline anger management problems, Kane and Daniel Bryan have both tagged with other wrestlers. Though Bryan had never won the WWE Tag Titles before, Kane has held tag team gold twice, both times with The Big Show. Team Hell No was named For the Love of Wrestling's 2012 Tag Team of the Year.

Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez: Chavo Guererro and Hernandez became the TNA Tag Team Champions on October 14th at the Bound for Glory PPV. Since then, the team has gone on to defend their titles on three occasions. Prior to their current title reign, Guererro and Hernandez began teaming together in August of 2012. Even though this is the first time they have held the TNA Tag Titles as a team, Hernandez has won the belts three prior times with three different partners.

The Young Bucks: The Young Bucks became the PWG Tag Team Champions on January 12th at the DDT4 event.  This win marks the third time that the brothers have held the PWG Tag Titles, and it is also the third time that they have won the DDT4 Tag Team Tournament. On  June 2nd, the Young Bucks won the  Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas (Chikara Tag Titles) at the Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur event. In addition to these current reigns, the Young Bucks have held the tag titles in several other independent organizations during the course of their career.

The Briscoes: The Briscoe Brothers became the ROH Tag Team Champions on December 16th at the Final Battle 2012: Doomsday PPV for a record breaking 8th time. The real life brothers have had an illustrious career on the independent scene by winning the tag titles in several different organizations, but they have been especially successful in ROH. In fact, they are the only current members of the roster who participated in the company’s inaugural event in 2002. Besides holding the record for the most tag title reigns in the company, The Briscoe’s held the record for the longest title reign (275 days) for three years until their record was broken in 2007.

The Better Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks (PWG / Chikara)

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WrestleMania Time Machine: WrestleMania 20

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In the months leading up to WrestleMania 29 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, we'll be taking a look back at the best and worst of WrestleMania's past.

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w/ Alex Archer & Violet Buttle

Date: March 14, 2004

Venue: Madison Square Garden (New York, NY)

Attendance: 20,000

On Commentary: Michael Cole & Tazz (Smackdown), Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross (Raw)

Main Event:  Chris Beniot, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H in a Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Alex's Opinion

Best: Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H put on an absolute beauty of a Triple Threat Title match in the main event.  The timing was on, the story was great, the action was fast paced, and the near falls were very believable.  The post-match celebration from Benoit and Guerrero was touching.  This match would go down as one of the better triple threat matches, and as one of the greatest WrestleMania matches/moments ever if it didn’t basically not exist.

Worst: It seems to be a theme with the last few WrestleMania’s that the women’s matches have been among the worst.  So, it’s no surprise that Torrie Wilson & Sable vs. Stacy Keibler & Miss Jackie was the worst match this time around as well.  It started as an evening gown match, turned into a bra and panties match, and when all was said and done, it had wasted about 10 minutes of airtime.  It seemed especially bad because Victoria and Molly Holly went on to wrestle what would have been the match of the night if it weren’t for the performance Benoit, Michaels, and Triple H put on in the main event.

Violet's Opinion

Best: The match of the night was between Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. The action was fast paced and made all three men look like strong contenders. In the end, Benoit won after evading both of his opponents' finishing moves .

Worst: I could easily copy-and-paste my review of the worst match at WrestleMania 22 (Torrie Wilson and Candace Michelle in a Playboy Pillow Fight) and change the names of the women involved. Victoria and Molly Holly put forth a memorable and well wrestled Hair vs. Title match at the end of the show. While these talented women  had a legitimate match, fellow Divas Stacy Keibler, Miss Jackie, Torrie Wilson, and Sable participated in Playboy Evening Gown match. Needless to say, all four women were in their lingerie before the "match" even began.

Full Results

John Cena defeated The Big Show for the United States Championship (9:14)

Rob Van Dam and Booker T defeated Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak, The Dudley Boyz, and La Resistance to retain the World Tag Team Championship (7:51)

Christian defeated Chris Jericho (15:03)

Evolution (Batista, Ric Flair, and Randy Orton) defeated The Rock 'n' Sock Connection (The Rock and Mick Foley) in a Handicap match (17:00)

Torrie Wilson and Sable defeated Stacy Keibler and Miss Jackie in a Playboy Evening Gown Match  (2:41)

Chavo Guerrero defeated Ultimo Dragon, Shannon Moore, Jamie Noble, Funaki, Nunzio, Billy Kidman, Rey Mysterio, Tajiri, and Akio to retain the Cruiserweight Championship (11:31)

Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar (13:43)

Too Cool (Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty) defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas), The Basham Brothers (Danny and Doug), and The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship (6:38)

Victoria defeated Molly Holly to retain the Women's Championship in a Hair vs. Title match (5:04)

Eddie Guerrero defeated Kurt Angle to retain the WWE Championship (21:36)

The Undertaker defeated Kane (6:36)

Chris Benoit defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels for the World Heavyweight Championship (24:51)

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Wrestling You Should See: Volume 4

w/ Alex Archer

WrestleMania 21 - Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle

Violet and I both chose this as the best match of WrestleMania 21 in our WrestleMania Time Machine series.  I was also able to find it on YouTube, so here it is (until it gets yanked down, at least).  This match is fast paced with tons of action and some good drama towards the end.  Kurt used to be an absolute MACHINE.

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@TheAlexArcher | #FTLOW