Welcome to the SLTD PPV Rewind, a retrospective column looking back at the PPVs of 2006, a decade after they happened. This time, it’s the Royal Rumble.
Cruiserweight Open For The Cruiserweight Championship
Kid Kash Vs. Funaki Vs. Jamie Noble Vs. Nunzio Vs. Paul London Vs. Gregory Helms
Opening the show is a Cruiserweight Championship match that is “open to all former champions and the current Cruiserweight champion” I miss the Cruiserweight division and love that they were given this showcase at one of WWE’s biggest shows. The inclusion of Helms was great, after his floundering Vs. Jerry Lawler on Raw, the right decision was made to shift him to Smackdown, in a division where he can truly shine.
Very much like the Royal Rumble match, each man is given the opportunity to hit a few big moves keeping the action fast and frenetic. Lots of suicide dives topped off with a Shooting Star Press to the outside from Paul London before Helms nailed him with a nice looking top rope neckbreaker.
After a furious display of several superstar finishers, Gregory Helms wins after hitting a Shining Wizard on Funaki, starting his one year plus reign with the championship. Good opener.
3/5
Ashley Massaro Vs. Mickie James
Special Guest Referee: Trish Stratus
Throwaway match simply serving the purpose of furthering the Trish/Mickie storyline. Why not have made it a Triple Threat that way the interesting dynamics that were subtly alluded to in this match could have been more explicitly explored thus making for an overall more entertaining story?
Ashley does well enough here to say she’d been in the company less than a year after winning the Diva Search and Mickie James plays the character well enough to makes this one passable.
Mickie wins after hitting Ashley with a powerbomb.
2/5
JBL Vs. The Boogeyman
What do you do with the lost reigning champion in Smackdown history when he gets to his first Rumble after losing the championship? Don’t make him a threat for the Rumble match, feed him to The Boogeyman!
Essentially a rest break for the crowd, ready for the Rumble match. Throwaway, waste of time and space on the card. Boogeyman wins quickly after a pumphandle slam.
1/5
Royal Rumble Match
Not a fan of the Rumble match not being the main event but nevertheless, here we go. Well, after the Spirit Squad share a special Royal Rumble ‘cheer’ Oh dear.
Triple H enters at No. 1 and dedicating the match to Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio enters at No. 2. There were a lot of rivalry spotlights in this Rumble match, Triple H battled with Ric Flair, Big Show and a brief moment with Shawn Michaels after their entries while Chris Benoit fought (and eliminated) United States Champion Booker T who had bested Benoit in their best of seven series. Rob Van Dam made his triumphant return, even getting to the Final Four of the match.
A lot of the early stuff was quick eliminations of such characters as Sylvan, Simon Dean, Eugene and Trevor Murdoch. More memorable moments include Bobby Lashley squaring off with the then Tag Team Champions Big Show & Kane, Shawn Michaels being eliminated by Shane McMahon (who wasn’t actually in the match) and the final showdown between Triple H, Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam and Randy Orton.
Decent Rumble match, there was a slight flutter of possibility that RVD may be in with a chance of winning having gone almost 24 minutes in the match but the focus seemed to always be on the front runners – Triple H, Mysterio and Orton.
Rey Mysterio wins by last eliminating Randy Orton, lasting the record 62 minutes and 15 seconds.
3/5
WWE Championship
Edge Vs. John Cena
Cena entered on a huge catwalk shooting fireworks into the arena, felt out of place at the time and still does now. This was essentially the beginning of what end up being THE rivalry of 2006. Edge proved he can handle the main event spot and could stay there for years to come.
My main negative for this match is the fact that Edge loses. I believe they stuck gold and set a precedent for how the Money In The Bank briefcase would and should be used with Edge’s cash in but ultimately squandered the legitimate threat of someone cashing in and having a successful reign by having Edge lose the championship in his first defence.
While I’m not a fan of the finish, how they got there was decent enough. Nothing spectacular but a good showing for both.
John Cena wins after making Edge tap out to the STFU.
3/5
World Heavyweight Championship
Kurt Angle Vs. Mark Henry
A PPV with the marquee match in the middle, John Cena in the semi main event and what would have been a Smackdown match (at the time) in the main event? Something is afoot.
This was a basic, by numbers defence for the new World Heavyweight Champion, Kurt Angle, who, after New Years Revolution, capitalised on a vacant championship, moved to Smackdown and won the title in a battle royal.
Simple David & Goliath story being executed with Henry playing his part as well as he always does and Angle’s former advocate Daivari now supporting the World’s Strongest Man.
Angle pins Henry with a roll up.
After the match, The Undertake appears complete with druids on a carriage by a white horse. Badass. He motions towards Angle, stating he’s here for the championship before signalling some lightning, causing the ring the break while Angle is stood in the middle of it.
3/5
Final Thoughts:
Solid Championship matches and a decent Rumble makes his one that’s worth your time, even If you do skip over the JBL embarrassment.
15/30 – C-
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