WWE Royal Rumble 2013 will now live in history thanks to the WWE Championship Match and the end of an epic WWE Championship reign. After several uneventful years at WWE’s second biggest pay per view of the year, 2013 quite literally rocked the trend even if it was a fairly predictable night.
From the U.S Airways Centre in Phoenix, Arizona, this way the WWE Royal Rumble 2013.
30 Man Royal Rumble Match
John Cena Wins
Well the first word I can use to describe this match is, predictable. After so much hype and build up it was almost a formality that John Cena was going walk away with his hand raised high and a spot booked in the main event, again, of Wrestlemania 29. It was almost as if WWE were telling us there was no need to what this year’s event because they’d already sign posted the winner weeks ago.
However the Royal Rumble Match itself wasn’t the greatest ever but it was respectable, certainly more so than some we’ve seen in recent years and hey folks, Chris Jericho is back in WWE full time and we saw the Godfather and Goldust. Okay the latter two aren’t such a great sight in 2013 but it was a small pop for a small memory right? Entering Ziggler in the number one spot was almost a touch of genius for WWE, had he not been eliminated by Sheamus in the final four. Had WWE allowed Dolph Ziggler to win the Royal Rumble Match then it would have created such a buzz in WWE, seeing as Ziggler said he’d unify the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships at Wrestlemania 29, WWE would have been guaranteed two things. A huge draw for Wrestlemania 29, which they’ll more than likely get seeing as who the main event will once again be and the second is a brand new, fully formed headline star. Ziggler’s burial continues yet again when it could have been so easily remedied.
If I was to ask the question of who is looking forward to the prospect of The Rock vs John Cena for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 29, I would have thought the only hands to go up would be those wearing Cena’s merchandise. Because let’s be honest now, with the Rock leaving WWE again after Wrestlemania 29, there’s only going to be one outcome in that match. John Cena’s so called ‘bad year’ started with a defeat to the Rock and will end with a victory over him one year later. Unless WWE go in the opposite direction and have Cena choose Del Rio to wrestle at Wrestlemania 29. Theoretically this would be the most sensible thing to do, then when Cena defeats Del Rio, WWE can have Ziggler cash in Money in the Bank and take the gold from Cena moments after he wins it.
However as it stands, John Cena will most likely choose the Rock at Wrestlemania 29 which means yet another repeat of last year’s forgettable encounter. Should WWE go with this match yet again, then it will have shown itself up as nothing but a den of liars, for the ‘Once in a Lifetime’ slogan that sold the Rock vs Cena last year and drew so many viewers will be effectively redundant and the whole world will see that WWE are a bunch of liars. Still, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. As I write this it’s the morning after the night before and Raw is still to take place, bare that in mind when you read the rest of this blog. So for all I know writing this, Cena could have already chosen Del Rio which leaves the Rock to defend against Punk again.
It’s somewhat disappointing that WWE didn’t have the gall or imagination to come up with another ending for the match. Cena was going to be in the main event of Wrestlemania 29 whatever happened, leaving the way clear for WWE to do something which signalled their intent with Dolph Ziggler. This match was the perfect opportunity for WWE to push Dolph hard and really show us that he’s the man they’re backing in the future. After several humiliating defeats to Cena on Raw and his elimination here, the future looks deplete for Dolph Ziggler. What a way to treat your future World Heavyweight Champion. The funny thing is that WWE will expect us to buy into Ziggler somewhere down the line and will put the blame on us when we don’t. How about instead of concentrating on the man who is ruining the wrestling reputation of the business, WWE actually forget about their bank balance and do something to build the future of their company.
If anything, the 2013 Royal Rumble Match went to prove how much WWE care about one man and how little they care about those who will be left to carry the ball when a certain person is long gone.
WWE Championship Match
The Rock defeated (c) C.M Punk
Before we get into the match or the result I would just like to take the opportunity to thank C.M Punk for what was an epic reign even when uneventful at times. It’s because of Punk that the Royal Rumble drew the number it did on pay per view and it’s because of Punk that the WWE Championship now means a whole lot more than it did when he defeated Alberto Del Rio for it at Survivor Series 2011.
Four hundred and thirty four days as Champion has put C.M Punk amongst WWE’s elite. It doesn’t matter what WWE do to him now. They could bury him under a heap of Cena and Ryback. He could lose every match from now until the end of the year and it will not matter. Because C.M Punk has been and will always be one of the very best WWE Champions there has ever been. And if didn’t give him a standing ovation at the end of the match for everything he’s done while the strap has been around his waist then where is your heart and respect?
We all knew that the WWE Championship had to change hands at some point during the year and as much as I love the Rock and will always, unashamedly, be a mark for him, the result on the night was wrong. C.M Punk should have retained the WWE Championship and then gone on to have the reign end on the grandest stage of them all. Such an illustrious Championship reign deserved to end only at Wrestlemania. Yes, to someone as big as the Rock, certainly, but not at the Royal Rumble. Which is disappointing when you consider how little Vince and company must value Punk even after everything ‘The Straight Edge Saviour’ has done to keep business up in 2012.
I, like every other Rock fan, would have preferred to see ‘The Brahma Bull’ lose to Punk than to Cena at Wrestlemania. We still have three months until the two will supposedly clash once again in the main event and I can see the smug look on Cena’s face already and can just imagine the smarmy, self appreciating promo that will follow the next night on Raw. One of the many reasons I may not tune into that edition. Cena infuriates me enough now, without having to sit through that grin when he defeats the Rock in April.
The match itself was as good as we expected, at least for me it was and the Rock looked a lot leaner and more in shape than he did at Wrestlemania 28. More like the Rock we used to know. The final few minutes of the match were more exciting than anything C.M Punk has been able to do with Cena or Ryback in November and December. As the lights went out and then came back up with the Rock laying through a broken announce table, it did beg the question who was the Rock’s assailant? Most thought the Shield, as did Vince McMahon who marched to the stage and was ready to strip the Champion for the Shield’s involvement. The Rock came across as a warrior in this match when he took the mic and told Vince to restart the match citing; “You don’t take it from him! I am! Restart the match now!” Sensibly in wrestling, only a true hero and babyface would do something like that knowing that he could just have the gold handed to him. Only a real fighter would want to win it the right way. Something WWE will do everything they can to promote in the run up to ‘Mania.
C.M Punk though will have a rematch, and seeing as Punk, Rock and Cena are on the poster for Elimination Chamber, one has to imagine it will be on February’s pay per view event. However, I have another plan for WWE to save them promoting the same main event at Wrestlemania as last year. And yes Vince, it’s yours for free if you spare us another Rock vs Cena outing. Okay. During the run up to the Rock vs Punk rematch – should it go ahead at Elimination Chamber – John Cena, being the glory hog that he is, interjects himself into the match and forfeits the main event at Wrestlemania 29 in order to be placed into the WWE Championship Match at Elimination Chamber. A Triple Threat Match at Elimination Chamber would be miles better than another singles match between Rock and Cena at Wrestlemania.
After Rock pins Cena at Elimination Chamber, Cena would have no claim to the WWE Championship or the Wrestlemania Main Event, leaving either Punk and Rock to go at it a third time or for the Rock to defend against someone else on the grand stage such as Brock Lesnar if the former ‘Next Big Thing’ doesn’t face Triple H. Cena could then blame Punk for the loss at Elimination Chamber setting up a non title singles match between them at ‘Mania, seeing as Punk has stated he wants to wrestle Cena at a Wrestlemania. The reason I mention Brock Lesnar is because he’s just signed a two year extension on his contract which means he’s going to be around for a good long while yet. The sensible step would be for the Rock to drop the belt to Brock Lesnar and as he did in 2002, leave the main event scene in a much stronger position than when he found it.
The Cena vs Punk match could be made for the second time into a triple threat involving Triple H, the winner challenging the Champion at either Extreme Rules or a designated point in the future. Triple H would win that match and challenge Lesnar for the gold at Extreme Rules or later down the line. This would be a very good idea for WWE to implement because traditionally the Wrestlemania hang over period is a low point in WWE with no stars to bring in the viewers. After Triple H and Brock Lesnar settle their score over the WWE Championship, WWE could and would then have to reintroduce Cena into the WWE Championship picture because they’re not going to keep him away from the gold for another year. All this would save the next few months and Wrestlemania 29 from becoming predictable and garner interest in the Wrestlemania fall out period.
Now I’ll take a breath. Okay, I’m ready again. If WWE don’t want to a perfectly good solution and put it into their product then I have one more, highly unlikely, choice for WWE to consider. Playing on the whole ‘Who Attacked Rock At Royal Rumble’ scenario, WWE could begin to turn the screw towards Cena and say that Cena was the one who attacked the Rock when the lights went down because he couldn’t stand the thought of Rocky being Champion when he wasn’t. It would be a feasible excuse to give Cena and perfect way to turn him heel at last. The only problem WWE face is that a photograph is now circulating which was taken during the blackout. Someone’s camera flash caught Dean Ambrose and what looked like the Shield, out of shot, attacking the Rock. Imagine how much more embarrassing it would have been if they’d have caught the Rock walking of his own free will to the table and jumping through it.
This though is easily gotten around again. WWE could have the Shield say that they were receiving orders from their ‘Real Leader’ and then WWE could create a storyline of who is the mastermind behind the Shield, with it being apparent it wouldn’t be C.M Punk. The answer of course would be John Cena and in an angle reminiscent of ‘The Higher Power’ in WWE’s Attitude Era, John Cena could unveil his involvement and master plan. This would be sheer dynamite and if WWE go through with the Rock vs Cena at Wrestlemania 29, we would rather see a scheming heel Cena defeat the Rock than a smirking, smarmy one.
At Royal Rumble the Rock made history. Ending one of the longest WWE Championship reigns of the modern era. C.M Punk may be feeling annoyed an aggravated that he had to drop the Championship to a man he feels has just walked back into the company and stole his spot, but in reality Punk has nothing to be ashamed of. There’s no shame in losing to the Rock and quite simply, C.M Punk has been an absolute star.
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Last Man Standing Match
(c) Alberto Del Rio defeated Big Show
I don’t know what’s happened to the Big Show lately. For years he’s been a lazy, fat, waste of space who has been hogging the spotlight of younger guys who could have done a lot more than Show. In fact I distinctly remember calling Big Show the world largest doorstop. His matches were plodding. His demeanour was that of someone who couldn’t give a damn and the weight he was carrying, for a man of his considerable height was nothing short of disgusting. However it’s like Big Show woke up one morning and suddenly decided to return to his 1999 form. The man has been very good indeed, despite what I may have said about him in the latter stages of 2012.
Everything changed at Hell in a Cell during that cracking match with Sheamus in which Show became World Heavyweight Champion. His Survivor Series and TLC performance whilst it didn’t overshadow his Hell in a Cell performance and exploited the laziness that ruined him in the last decade which had started to creep back in, weren’t his worst by far. Then Big Show dropped the World Heavyweight Championship to Alberto Del Rio in a blinding match on Smackdown and again at Royal Rumble impressed greatly.
If Paul Wight can keep up this level of performance then he has to be in line for ‘Most Improved Wrestler of the Year’ in the 2013 categories. The question is, where do WWE take him from here? The rumour mill that churned out Big Show’s involvement with Ryback leading up to Wrestlemania 29 may have been wrong as WWE like to leak false plans in order to shock with their real ones, which suggest Big Show could have a bigger role on the grandest stage. It’s almost certain that he’ll be in the Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship at February’s pay per view of the same name or failing that he’ll once again challenge Del Rio on the night for the gold he dropped to him before Royal Rumble.
The one thing that has to be added, should WWE actually be planning a Big Show vs Ryback feud for Wrestlemania is that I would think about it very carefully. Ryback is a limited worker, so limited in fact that he’s going to need someone of great experience to carry him through the match. We can’t take Big Show’s great run of late too seriously judging on his past performances, we know how easy it will be for him to slack off once again and revert to type. Could a Big Show who has only impressed in the last few months really carry a man who gives away the impression he has very little idea what he’s doing in the ring? A question WWE will need to answer if they’re serious about both men going toe to toe in April.
Alberto Del Rio however is in a kind of limbo. After Big Show, who else is there for the aristocratic Mexican to defend against on pay per view? A now supposed face, Del Rio can’t go again against Sheamus, we never need to see the two of them fight ever again. It looks increasingly like Randy Orton will challenge ‘The Celtic Warrior’ after his imminent heel turn, leaving Del Rio without anyone to play with. The obvious answer is Dolph Ziggler or John Cena should WWE swap him to the blue brand in time, which again, is highly unlikely.
It’s times like these where WWE realise they’ve booked themselves into a corner. It’s also times like these when Vince McMahon realises how much he’s failed when it comes to building new stars in order to step up when there is no one else to do so. Whoever WWE handpick for Del Rio at Wrestlemania 29 it’s going to have to be very big if its to make an impact, which means planning and forethought from the creative team. We won’t be holding our hopes out there then.
Putting where WWE are taking Del Rio aside for a moment, I’m not too sure WWE know how to book him. Since TLC and his sudden and unexplained face turn, Del Rio has done a reasonable impression of someone the fans can get behind and trust. His emotional response to defeating Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship added weight to this fact as has the way Del Rio has carried himself in the ring since. However at Riyal Rumble that all changed. Despite the fact this was a Last Man Standing Match – another last minute stipulation added too late to make an impact – Del Rio fought and won the match like a complete heel.
In John Cena fashion and in an ending rehashed from John Cena’s Last Man Standing Match with Batista at Extreme Rules 2010, Alberto Del Rio applied the cross arm breaker on Big Show allowing Ricardo Rodriguez to tape Show’s feet to the bottom rope so he couldn’t answer the referee’s ten count. That my minions isn’t the way a face should be winning a match. It was dumb when WWE had John Cena do it, it’s even more incomprehensible now, with a guy they’re trying to pass of as WWE’s latest hop for top line face. Even worse, good guy Del Rio had to have outside interference to help him defeat Big Show. It’s booking decision like this which repeatedly fail to get guys over.
Instead of having Del Rio and Rodriguez effectively cheat, regardless of the rules that they were allowed to, wouldn’t it have been much better for Big Show to have lost the match off of his own back? Say, Big Show stole Del Rio’s car and tried to run him down on the aisle or backstage, Del Rio leaped out of the way and Big Show ploughed the car into the wall, knocking himself out and rendering himself unable to reach the ten count. That would have been a better ending and one which painted Del Rio in a much better light than the ending we were fed.
There is a great deal of mileage in Alberto Del Rio as World Heavyweight Champion. If he loses Ricardo in the manner Brock Lesnar lost Paul Heyman to Big Show at the superb Survivor Series 2002 it would create more avenues for Del Rio to walk down as Champion before his reign became stale. WWE need to have Del Rio shed Rodriguez and step out on his own. Because if they mess this one up, they deserve everything they get.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
(c) Team Hell No defeated Team Rhodes Scholars
Another predictable encounter in which the result was well sign posted before the event went on the air. Team Rhodes Scholars constant burial and losses in tag team and singles competition to Team Hell No before Royal Rumble were so demoralising that had Rhodes and Sandow taken the tag team gold from Kane and Daniel Bryan it would not only have been unbelievable but also yanked the doubles titles down several levels.
It beats me why WWE push teams like this in already bare division. If anything it shows that their priorities do not fall in the tag team division. Amazingly, Vince is well aware of the problems in the division just as he’s aware of the problems in the Divas Division, yet he’s made no great leaps or strides to change anything. Anything would have done here to make Team Rhodes Scholars look like they could walk away with the Championships. A few victories or brutal beat downs of Kane and Bryan in Raw and Smackdown would have sufficed. Anything to make the pair look stringer than they currently do.
Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow were given a glimpse of light at TLC when they defeated Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara in a tag team tables match to book their place at Royal Rumble. In December, against Mysterio and Sin Cara, Team Rhodes Scholars looked great. They came a cross as a team capable of stripping Kane and Bryan of the gold. Since then, as is usually in WWE, the pair have been neglected and WWE have all but lost complete interest in them. It’s worrying that the company have done so because now Team Hell No and the WWE Tag Team Championships will suffer greatly.
Without Team Rhodes Scholars there isn’t another tag team in place to challenge Kane and Daniel Bryan. Every other tag team are so weak and inconsequential that it would actually do the tag team gold more harm than good to put them in the frame. That’s where WWE has dragged a once thriving division down to. Had this kind of treatment been rife in the late 90’s you can bet your house that teams such as APA and New Age Outlaws wouldn’t have been as big as they were. WWE had the drive and formula back then to do something with their doubles division, and with a lot more going on around them than there is now, so why can’t they do it today?
Team Hell No have all but run out of steam. Their anger management lessons are over and the comedy has visibly drained away. Where have all the great lines and bickering gone? Like a storm brewing on the horizon, all the colour has drained with haste from the duo. The WWE Tag Team Championship division is beginning to slip back into old habits and that can only mean disaster for everyone involved. What it needs is some big and serious challengers. WWE needs to take two men from the headline scene who aren’t doing anything and drop them into the Number One Contender’s spot fast. If headline stars are seen to want the Tag Team Championships then interest in them may pick up again.
The above would also give WWE ample time to once again rebuild Team Rhodes Scholars as a team not to be messed with. A few huge victories over other teams and teams made from headline stars who have only joined forces for the sole reason to put Team Rhodes Scholars over would do the trick, as would putting a block on any talent mocking them and laying waste to them like they were jobbers.
We can sit here and say all of this. We can throw a hundred solutions at WWE, a hundred better ideas than they currently have as to how to rejuvenate their tag team division, in the end though if Vince and the creative fail to act then we’re wasting our breath. Why should we carry on putting forth ideas just to be ignored and why should we put in the effort when none has been forthcoming from elsewhere? Is it our problem if the Tag Team division fails? No! Are we the ones who will lose money and viewers because of it? No! If WWE want to allow one of their former, finest, division to rot then there’s only one person that decision is going to effect. Isn’t that right Vince?
Pre-Show
WWE United States Championship Match
(c) Antonio Cesaro defeated The Miz
The fourth and final predictable match of the evening came to us on You Tube. There was no real way the Miz was going to leave Arizona with gold around his waist because like so many other talent, WWE have lost interest in him. One of the finest prospects on this decade and WWE have all but brushed him to the curb.
This is just a thought. Wouldn’t WWE be wiser to broadcast the pointless pre-sow matches on their own website? Wouldn’t that generate more visitors and more of those stats WWE seem to love in 2013?
How far does the Miz have to fall in WWE before they either put him out of his misery or push him harder than they ever have before? For a wrestler who the company publically announced would be destined for greater things in 2013, the Miz has remarkably been given nothing to do so far. The same goes for Antonio Cesaro. The former Ring of Honor star was destined for big things in WWE, he was Vince’s golden boy, beloved in the office so much they couldn’t do enough to please him. Why then has Cesaro advanced no further since his United States Championship victory on the pre show of SummerSlam? For two men WWE claim have bright futures in the company, they seem to have their minds set on doing as much harm to both men as humanly possible.
I don’t have that much to say about this match because it won’t be the last time we see it. The Miz and Cesaro are slated to feud over the United States Championship well into the year. Hopefully next time we’ll actually get to see it on the main body of the pay per view. Although that would suggest that WWE had to care about the Championship and the wrestlers involved. As we know, they have much more so called important people to dedicate their time to. It’s just sad that those people are treading so hard on the shoulders of people like the Miz and Antonio Cesaro, that they’re beginning to bury them without sign of reanimation.
Royal Rumble 2013 may have been a predictable event in all but one of its matches, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that predictable means bad. For the most part it was an enjoyable night highlighted by the Rock’s WWE Championship victory over C.M Punk. Much can be learnt from the mistakes WWE did make at the Royal Rumble and should the company learn from them and move on, the bad parts of the annual event won’t have all been for nothing.
As unappealing as The Rock vs John Cena sounds again, there are a ton more roads WWE can take us down before the big event in April, that may mean the two avoid each other completely. We can always hope. January 27th may have looked like the Rock’s night and it was good to see him with the gold over his shoulder once again. In reality though it’s C.M Punk who overshadows all on the card for everything he’s done for the company, the headline scene and the WWE Championship in the last 434 days.
C.M Punk deserves all the praise and yours and my respect. Dropping the WWE Championship to a man he can’t stand in real life was certainly the moment Punk earned the well deserved recognition from us and from those who hadn’t given it to him before.
Here we go then, on the Road to Wrestlemania. If you smelllllllllll....
Onwards and upwards...
