Royal Rumble Thoughts

It's been a few days since the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Sunday night and I am just now able to post my thoughts on one of the biggest shows on the W.W.E.'s calendar.

The show opened with E.C.W. Champion Jack Swagger pinning Matt Hardy. Not too surprising, though, that the cameras staying focused on a despondent Hardy after the match proved to be purposeful.

Shawn Michaels laid out both John Cena and JBL, before Cena got the pinfall victory to retain his World Championship. The Michaels-JBL angle is still being played out, however, what was very intriguing was seeing The Undertaker confront Shawn Michaels backstage before the match. Perhaps that is sowing the seeds for a Michaels-'Taker match at Wrestlemania. One can only hope.

Melina won her third W.W.E. Women's Title after defeating Beth Phoenix. I wasn't surprised by the outcome, but did expect Phoenix's stalker Rosa Mendes to show up - which she did not.

Edge defeated Jeff Hardy for the W.W.E. Championship after Matt Hardy smacked his brother in the head with a chair. The Internet "experts" thought that Christian would show up and were proven wrong. Does anyone really know for certain if Christian has signed with the W.W.E.? This sets up an angle for Jeff and Matt to square off and in all likelihood sets up an Edge-Triple H showdown at Wrestlemania.

The Royal Rumble match itself was very good with the very surprising return of Rob Van Dam, although it appears to be a one-shot deal for now. Seeing Randy Orton and his "Legacy" cohorts dominate the Rumble was a good way to build up that faction. However, the W.W.E. turned around and made "Legacy" look weak the following night on Monday Night Raw when Shane McMahon was able to fend off all three.

Overall, I would give the RR show a solid 7 out of 10 rating.