WWE - Royal Rumble 2005 (DVD)

...one of my most favourite WWE pay per views of all time. It's a chance for both brands (but now, I guess, all three brands) to show us what they have got, pitting brands against brands with opponents that have never set foot inside a squared circle together before.

Not to mention that it is the last all brand pay per view before Wrestlemania. That, in itself, means that to garner interest for that pay per view, the lead up HAS to be ...
...Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship
4) Triple H (C) vs Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship
5) The Royal Rumble Match

So, what happened in Fresno, California that would shape Wrestlemania 21?

What was to be the best match of the evening was due to take place first, besides the Royal Rumble match.

1) Shawn Michaels vs Edge

History: The feud between these ... more

The Royal Rumble is one of my most favourite WWE pay per views of all time. It's a chance for both brands (but now, I guess, all three brands) to show us what they have got, pitting brands against brands with opponents that have never set foot inside a squared circle together before.

Not to mention that it is the last all brand pay per view before Wrestlemania. That, in itself, means that to garner interest for that pay per view, the lead up HAS to be good and memorable.

The card for the 18th annual Royal Rumble, in places, looked pretty poor, it had to be said. The card was as follows:

1) Shawn Michaels vs Edge
2) Undertaker vs Heidenreich in a Casket Match
3) JBL (C) vs Kurt Angle vs Big Show in a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship
4) Triple H (C) vs Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship
5) The Royal Rumble Match

So, what happened in Fresno, California that would shape Wrestlemania 21?

What was to be the best match of the evening was due to take place first, besides the Royal Rumble match.

1) Shawn Michaels vs Edge

History: The feud between these two began properly a few weeks previously at New Years Revolution in the Elimination Chamber match which the Heartbreak Kid was the referee in. There had been tension brewing between the two before hand, after Michaels continued to work at the Cyber Sunday pay per view in October despite being seriously injured. Edge - who had missed out on being in the main event spot granted by the fans by only a couple of percent - was outraged, costing the Icon the victory against Triple H.

During the Elimination Chamber match, Edge speared HBK, whom earlier in the night had promised not to take any prisoners if they were to 'provoke' him. Delivering some Sweet Chin Music, the soon to be Rated R Superstar was eliminated from the match, heating up their rivalry.

The Match: The match itself was a good opener to the ppv, both men showing perfectly how to work a match and a crowd, despite a few gently blown spots. With lots of false finishes included for good measure, the match came to an abrupt end when Edge rolled Shawn up for the pin in less than 19 minutes, grabbing the tights and ropes to add to his new heel status.

Marks out of 10: 7.5
This proved to be the best singles match of the evening, for many reasons. Firstly, it allowed a darker heel to be created in Edge, adding atmosphere to his spot in the Royal Rumble later that night. Also, it would give Shawn the babyface sympathy for the main event, making him more of a firm favourite with the crowd (if that's entirely possible). It got the action going in a good way!

Backstage: Nice little segment where Ric Flair draws the #30 entry in the Royal Rumble match. Lying, Cheating and Stealing, Eddie Guerrero hugged Naitch, stealing his number in the act in exchange for his #1 entry! Classic stuff.

2) Undertaker vs Heidenreich

History: Heidenreich, after a few failed starting runs with the WWE, particularly on Raw, found his soon to be temporary home on the Smackdown! brand. Managed by Paul Heyman, he would recite what can only be described as disturbing poetry, running in to people's matches. After several interferences with the Dead Man, the Undertaker, a Casket Match was set for this very pay per view, Heidenreich stating on many occasions "I...HATE...CASKETS!"

But would we love or hate the match?

The Match: I'm afraid it was the latter; hate. The problem is that the Undertaker is only a good in ring worker when given a great opponent such as Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle and Randy Orton, who he unfortunately defeated at WM21. Pitted against someone like Heidenreich - a clumsy OVW student - it was just never going to be a good match.

Secondly, it was blatant as to who was to win and what was to occur during the match; Snitsky - who had aligned himself with Heidenrich for some bizarre reason - and the Phenom's 'brother' Kane were set to interfere, fuelling their tasteless and downright pathetic storyline involving 'wife' Lita's 'dead' baby.

Mark out of 10: 5

Fact: 'Taker was going to win from the start. Fact: It wasn't going to be a very exciting match. Fact: Casket matches are always boring and pointless; the only one that has ever held any interest to me was HBK vs Undertaker at 1998's Royal Rumble.

This one just lacked an important spark of a well defined, well hated heel that would bring out the best in the Deadman. A real shame as well as a few botched moves including the Chockslams. What a pity.

Backstage: Smackdown's General Manager orders Latino Heat to give the Nature Boy his number - and wallet - back. Ow!

Evolution are also shown, Triple H wanting to discuss his World Title defence later in the night. Batista states that all he wants to do is go and pick his Royal Rumble number. Ummm, can anyone say FACE TURN?!

3) JBL (C) vs Kurt Angle vs Big Show in a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship

History: JBL has been the longest reigning WWE Champion in the past decade, or is well on his way to getting there up to this point. A real challenge was issued to him by Smackdown's General Manager, the unbearable Theodore R Long, for him to regain the coveted title in a Triple Threat between the Olympic Gold Medallist, Kurt Angle and the largest 'athlete' in the world, the Big Show. Hence, this match.

The Match: Again, this one looked to be a no starter, considering how many of us on a Kurt Angle fan-site commented that even he wouldn't be able to save this match!

In all honest, is wasn't as bad as the last bout with a few good spots in it but was a little over booked for my liking; there were too many people at ringsider interfering to really make this match a serious contender on the card.

Mark out of 10: 6

The dastardly JBL did get the win after being ploughed through the barricade by BS (Big Show), ultimately, making him a stronger main eventer than need be. Unfortunately, it was Kurt Angle who got pinned, meaning that the second heel in the match couldn't get a rematch. However, there was a very good reason for this which I will come onto a little later on...

Backstage: Carlito tries to get the Animal to sign his anti-Theodore R Long Petition before Batista tells him to shove it up a not so pleasant place! (Note: I would have signed it!!!). Raw GM Eric Bishoff bands interference from ringside during the World Title Match later in the night. Really, a bit of a pointless skit.

4) Triple H (C) vs Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship

History: After winning the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam the previous year, the Legend Killer was evicted from faction Evolution, leader Triple H desperate to get the gold for himself. This lead to a poor, misguided plot for the 24 year old, at the time, to be the new big babyface.

Regrettably, the crowds didn't feel the same was, as viewable on here.

The Match: Again, this match wasn't too bad but a little unmemorable. It started the painful Orton concussion plot where week in week out on Raw, yep you guessed it, he gets a concussion!

In theory, the crowd should have been behind face Orton. Sadly - and this shows badly - the pressure got to the youngster and I think this was one of the reasons as to why the match was a little flat, especially when he started to try and work heel again.

People do respect Trips, despite many people feeling that he only has the main belt a lot of the time because of his marriage to Stephanie McMahon, head of the so-called creative department.

Both men are good workers so it should have been a good quality match up. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. I think at this point, Randy was having a tough time changing from his natural heel aura and being heaved into the main event spot just didn't suit him at that time.

Marks out of 10: 6.5

Predictably, Triple H got the pin after the Pedigree. Since then, while the matches between the Game and the Legend Killer have been of a better quality with their roles reversed, but this match is still at the back of your mind. I - for one - was expecting a hell of a lot more. I just don't think that facing each other, these two have that great a chemistry.

Backstage: Kurt Angle, seriously mad that he lost his Title match earlier in the night, stole Cruiserweight Nunzio's Royal Rumble Entry number. Pity that both talented individuals couldn't have been in it...

Theodore R Long congratulates Bishoff on a great World Title match (what was he watching?!) before informing JBL of his up and coming Title defence against Big Show at No Way Out in a Barbed Wired Steel Cage Match.

Thankfully, this was the last of the promo's and backstage segments for the evening. In my opinion, the vast majority of them were a bit pointless. There could have been six matches instead of five if they had planned it better.

5) The Royal Rumble Match

History: There are 15 Raw and 15 Smackdown! Superstar's who have earned the right on their respected brands to be apart of the match. A new opponent will enter every 90 seconds.

The Match: To start things off with a bang, we have brand vs brand as to former friends battle for their right of once again headlining Wrestlemania; Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. This was a great way to start things off with two firm fan favourites adding a lot of pace with their chain wrestling expertise.

Until Edge enters at number 7, it is pretty much a squash between Benoit and Guerrero who eliminate up and coming superstars in Daniel Puder (who was released shortly after this event) and The Hurricane, before he dropped the bizarre gimmick and became heel persona Gregory Helms. It was predictable that those two wouldn't last very long which was a bit of a shame. Thankfully, when you have two great workers like the Rabid Wolverine and Latino Heat in the ring, it didn't matter.

Muhammad Hassan's number 13 entry caused a pause in the ring; Edge, Chris Jericho, Benoit, Luther Reigns, Shelton Benjamin and Booker T all ganged up on him, throwing him over the top rope. A strange and a bit of a futile spot; it would have been much more entertaining for Hassan to try and defy all of the odds in my opinion.

As I was saying earlier about Kurt Angle not being able to do a rematch for the World Heavyweight Title at a later date, there is a very good reason for this; he started a feud with the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels.

Shawn delivered a little Sweet Chin Music to the Olympic Gold Medallist, sending him soaring over the top rope. Furious that he was once again missing out on a Title shot, this led to Kurt, in return, throwing Shawn over the top rope, leading to their fantastic match at Wrestlemania of the same year. This was a brilliant spot and - although the crowd were very disappointed that the Showstoppa' was eliminated minutes after entering - I'm sure they were all grateful for the classic at 'Mania.

After that nugget, there was some very disappointing displays about to occur. As big a fan as I am of the Coach's mic work, what the hell was he doing in a Royal Rumble?! It was a waste of a Raw spot, especially with him being eliminated swiftly after stepping through the ropes. Paul London -a talented and very underused Cruiserweight - got decimated by the useless Snitsky in seconds. It's moments like that which make this match worthless.

In true Batista and John Cena tradition - the final two men in the match, representing their then brands - the end spot was bodged both men being eliminated at the same time. Then, something worthy of more respect than given occurred; Vince McMahon power walked his way to the ring, ripping both of his quads in the act!

As he was sitting in the ring, a dazed and confused look plastered on his face, the referees were still struggling to come to some sort of conclusion. Shuffling out of the ring, it was decided the match would continue, Batista picking up the victory at the 50 minute mark.

Marks out of 10: 8.5

Still one of the best matches of the year, there were some very good spots in there and some great work between the now Late, Great Eddie Guerrero and real life best friend, Chris Benoit. There couldn't have been much of a better start between the Angle/Michaels feud which really was a good way to start the Road to Hollywood!

Extras: In the way of extras, this DVD is more than a little sparse with nothing much to really bother with. There are a few interviews and just the basics, nothing compared to the extras on the Royal Rumble 2003 DVD.

Design: The packaging of the DVD is very good and quite different for a WWE product. As it was to take place in Fresno, California, it had a West Side Story theme as well as a great advert for the event which is unfortunately on here.

Theme Song: The theme for this years Royal Rumble was 'Find The Real' by the terrific Alter Bridge. A good choice I must say!

In comparison to other Royal Rumbles, from my experience's I prefer them from 1998, 2003 and 2004. There seemed to be lacking a great match on here that fans would definitely remember. 1998 had the famous Casket Match as well as Stone Cold winning the Rumble, 2003 had Angle vs Benoit in one of the best matches I've personally witnessed and 2004 had a brilliant Rumble match.

All in all, a good one for the collection but not one of the best Royal Rumble DVD's I've ever seen. It would have been much better if there was one more match instead of a lot of backstage waffle! 

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