We end this year’s run of Royal Rambles with the 2005 PPV. And with that, all that’s left is anything I didn’t cover after 200 something. So this is it… the final Royal Ramble for the year not counting this year’s edition, which will probably come about on Sunday
Edge beat Shawn in a pretty good match. Perhaps a little long in the tooth, but it was still good. Edge is fresh off a dark turn due to not getting a title shot at some prior PPV and he took out his aggression on HBK.
Undertaker beat Heidenreich in a casket match that also featured Gene Snitzky and Kane getting in on some of the action. This… was not a good match by any stretch, but don’t blame Snitzky; it wasn’t his fault. Honestly, it’d take a while before there’d be worthwhile Taker matches down the road and Heidenreich wouldn’t really make much of a mark until he was made an honorary Road Warrior in a pretty sad angle down the road.
WWE champ JBL beat Big Show and Kurt Angle to retain the title. Credit where it’s due; not the most exciting match up and the eventual run-ins for the cheap win was coming a mile away, but this was a fun little match. As much as I was down on JBL during his run as champ, I’d be lying if I said the guy didn’t start to grow on me eventually. If nothing else, it’s nice to see a World title match that isn’t a cynical sloth.
Case in point… World Heavyweight Champion McSon-In-Law buries Randy Orton to retain the title. Any hopes that Randy Orton would be the next big breakout star would have to wait a little while longer because babyface Randy was unceremoniously killed here. And let’s not kid ourselves; this was a burial beyond all burial that did not hide the fact that it was a burial. There was a point where Orton had a sledgehammer, but McSon-In-Law was packing the goddamned shovel and it was put to very good use here. And the match sucked donkey dicks.
Batista won the 2005 Royal Rumble in somewhat controversial fashion. This is the one with the double finish where both Batista and John Cena fall out at the same time in what was described as an unplanned finish, prompting Vince to come out and restart the match while tearing both quads. Not much in terms of surprises and the finish was a bit messed up, but on a whole, this was one of the more enjoyable Rumbles I’ve watched. Some stupid (by design) eliminations here and there (Booker dumped after a Spinneroni, Shelton Benjamin dumped after climbing on top, to name a couple), but otherwise, a fine showing in the Rumble.
To quickly summarize, the opening Edge/Shawn match was decent and the Rumble match was fun to watch. Everything in between… take it or leave it.
dtm666 