Guest Editorial By Timothy Davis of Dayton, Md. PWTorch.com reader
The 2006 Royal Rumble has come and gone, and so to has the dignity of one of the most anticipated matches every year in WWE. With Rey Mysterio's win and title shot now on the line at No Way Out, along with the information that Rey will likely not be getting his WrestleMania 22 main event match, the significance of the 30-man match is falling by the wayside with each new storyline attempt.
Let's not forget that the Rumble itself this year was the lowest on the card it ever has been, and it wasn't booked very memorably. As a viewer of the Rumble since 1990, it's a sad sight to see. Each year, while the winner was sometimes obvious, the match itself could be the showcase for newcomers, the soon-to-be-pushed, or the glorious return of superstars. Somehow, Tatanka, Goldust, and Eugene do not measure up to the returns of Big Show, Taker, Mr. Perfect, or even the Honky Tonk Man in past years.
Royal Rumble statistics are also under fire. Michael Cole said on Smackdown that Rey Mysterio set a new time record for the Royal Rumble of an hour and 2 minutes. That's funny; there have been at least two wrestlers with better times in Rumble history, those being Ric Flair in 1992 and Bob Backlund in 1993. [Editor's Note: I clocked Flair's 1992 Rumble time at exactly 60:00 at the time.]
Tied into this is the on-again, off-again "every 2 minutes... or not" policy. Typically, the Royal Rumble is a 60-minute match. However, this year was another one where wrestlers came out every minute and a half, cutting the match down to 45 minutes. And whenever they reference Shawn Michaels being the first wrestler to be no. 1 and win the Rumble, it was a year when wrestlers came out every minute, leading to a 30-minute match. Compare that to Chris Benoit being no. 1 in 2004, wrestlers came out every 2 minutes like they're supposed to, and he is the true Royal Rumble Iron Man.
How about Royal Rumble rules? They change depending on what story they're trying to tell. In 1990, Jake The Snake threw Damian into the ring; Andre The Giant jumped over the top rope and was eliminated. 1992: Macho Man Randy Savage eliminates Jake, then jumps out himself, but he is not eliminated, as the rule is stated on-air by Gorilla Monsoon that a wrestler must be eliminated by someone else. Yet, years later, Kane eliminates himself without a second thought when the "white-coats" come chasing after him.
The flexibility of the rules also applies to wrestlers being thrown out by other people not in the match itself. For instance, in 1996, Vader, after being eliminated, comes back in and tosses a few stars out, but of course it's not allowed. 1998 comes along, and Triple H and Chyna, both not in the Rumble, help eliminate Owen Hart, and it's okay.
The Royal Rumble is supposed to be the start of the road to WrestleMania. But how can it be important when the rules keep changing? And how can it mean anything if the superstar who wins can so easily put his title shot on the line or risk losing it? Sure, it's happened before, but WWE has long ago decided that if they want to change things for the sake of their current purpose, they will. Once the dignity of one of the biggest matches of the year starts to fade, how long will it be until WrestleMania loses its impact? Sticking to a plan that's a year old, but booking the Rumble on the fly, isn't good for the fans or the product.
As usual, consistency is something WWE has never been good at. With a disappointing Rumble this year, will WrestleMania reflect the current state of WWE, or will they manage to make it the best show of the year again?
One can only hope WWE won't drop the ball "big time."
WK: I am a proponent of consistency of rules from year to year. I agree it diminished the enjoyment of a match if you don't know what the rules are. It's laziness or flippancy on the part of bookers because those who notice the changes, they believe, are the least likely to be turned away permanently from the product because they're such good fans to begin with. As for Rey not main eventing WM, I think they can do this once every ten years, but not more than that, otherwise a lot of the shine is taken off someone winning the Rumble. This year's Rumble was below average in terms of how it was booked.
If you would like to report an abuse of our service, such as a spam message, please . Если Вы хотите пожаловаться на содержимое этой страницы, пожалуйста .
