Review: Royal Rumble 2011 (The BIGGEST Rumble Ever…)

Royal Rumble 2011 was the BIGGEST Royal Rumble in WWE history! The titular match didn’t have 30 entrants…it had 40 entrants! 40! Since then, WWE have kept it to 30 entrants. In preparation for Royal Rumble 2018, I thought I’d take a look back at the BIGGEST Royal Rumble ever. Unfortunately, the Royal Rumble of 2011 wasn’t fantastic. In fact, the whole PPV was mediocre. It comprised of one fantastic match, one decent match, one poor match, and a sub-par Royal Rumble. There were a few surprises throughout the night, a couple of which were thrown in merely for the ‘surprise’ factor. The all-championship undercard (and the inexplicable positioning of the Diva’s match) provided too much for one to care about.  

Edge (c) vs Dolph Ziggler (WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match)

This was the match of the night, by far. The pacing was a little uneven throughout the match, mainly due to Edge (I’m sure he returned too early at Royal Rumble 2010) and the start was too slow; I began to lose interest.  However, he and Dolph constructed a thrilling match. It was fast, furious, full of big moves (including a very dangerous looking powerbomb: Ziggler landed directly on his shoulder!), near-falls, and oodles of suspense. The crowd even started a loud ‘Let’s Go Ziggler!’ chant halfway through the match! Ziggler didn’t need to be carried in this match; he more than held his own. Edge hadn’t looked that good for a long while. The interference of Kelly Kelly didn’t make much sense, but the crowd popped pretty loud for Edge’s use of Christian’s finisher “Killswitch” for the pinfall! Although Dolph lost, he did look looked like a main event contender. That was seven years ago…look where he is now…

Winner: Edge

The Miz (c) vs Randy Orton (WWE Championship Match)

This couldn’t hold a candle to the opening match. It was a decent match, punctuated by a vicious and angry Randy Orton, but left a lot to be desired. The crowd didn’t care, and there were more than a few ‘boos’ for Orton throughout the match. The Miz didn’t have the in-ring skills that his stature required; Orton carried Miz through the match. The crowd must have put Orton off; that infamous ‘Randy’ anger was visible throughout the match! It was on the same level as your average Raw main event. The end made The Miz look weak: the new Nexus interfered. Orton hurled Alex Riley over the top rope onto the Nexus and the poor referee. However, CM Punk entered the ring, hit Orton with the GTS, and The Miz got the pinfall. That was that.

So…much…potential!

Winner: The Miz

Natalya (c) vs. Layla vs. Michelle McCool vs. Eve (WWE Divas Championship Match)

Cast your minds back to the time before the Women’s Revolution in WWE. No one cared about the Divas (as they were then known). Women’s title matches were often placed before the main event to give people a (toilet?) break before the main eventers came on. Of course, the crowd didn’t care one jot for this match. The addition of Eve by the Raw GM made no sense. Melina would have been a sensible choice, yet she easily lost to Natalya on last week’s Raw. Why didn’t WWE save that match for the Rumble? The match was poor; a real mess. The ending was silly: Eve pinned Layla whilst Michelle rolled up Natalya. The ostensible double finish was missed by the referee, as he counted Layla’s shoulders to the mat. Like most Diva matches back then, there was no thought put into storylines and poor build-up. It was a championship change for the sake of a championship change.

Winner and new Diva’s Champion: Eve

40 Man Royal Rumble Match 

The main event! I used to love the Royal Rumble! However, my love for it has fallen, and I think this Royal Rumble was where my love really started to wane. This one felt far too bloated and rushed at the same time. I don’t understand the need for ten extra men to enter the Rumble: the flotsam and jetsam of Raw and Smackdown only filled those positions. At the time, the WWE was very light on main eventers to spice up the Rumble along the way. The opening twenty minutes or so were excellent, carried by Entrants 1 and 2, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. These two ex-WWE wrestlers lit up what had become a plain PPV. Entrant number 5, William Regal, had a strong brawl with Bryan. John Morrison got a wild cheer from the crowd when he entered at Number 7, and impressed everybody soon afterwards: Regal bumped him off the apron, yet he clung to the ring barrier, climbed up, and leapt to the steel stairs! Take that, Kofi Kingston!! However, it’s just a shame that Bryan and Morrison were lambs to the slaughter. The new Nexus entered almost one after another, and eliminated everybody else. Punk and his group stood proud, eliminating a few wrestlers, until the mighty Booker T entered! Our first surprise entrant, who gave us a Spineroonie and battered Nexus until his inevitable elimination. Who could tackle four members of Nexus?

Hey look! It’s Bray Wyatt!

Yes, you guessed it…John Cena! He easily eliminated Mason Ryan, Micheal Mcguillicutty and David Otunga in less than ten seconds. After Hornswoggle arrived, Cena then eliminated Punk. What was the point? Cena singlehandedly destroyed the new Nexus, much like he singlehandedly destroyed the Nexus in 2010. It was no struggle for Cena, either. Is the Cena/new Nexus rivalry over so quickly? Of course, Cena main evented WrestleMania 27. But his quick and easy elimination of the entire Nexus put a bullet into the skull of the New Nexus. Boo! And this is where the Rumble slowly became a bit of a bore. The Cena/Hornswoggle ‘comedy’ was never funny and dragged on. There was one big surprise on the way to Number 40, Diesel, but this was one Rumble very light on surprise entrances. The Final Four were John Cena, Wade Barret, Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio. Before you could say ‘Cena headlines WrestleMania!’ The Miz threw Cena over the top rope after Alex Riley distracted him. Another feud nicely set up for Mania. Orton eliminated Barrett, and then Del Rio hurled Orton over the top rope. However, in a pointless twist, Santino Marella entered the ring (he fell out of the ring earlier on, but not over the top rope, so he had never been eliminated). Thankfully, after inevitable Cobra, Del Rio chucked Santino out.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

VERDICT: 6/10. A mediocre PPV and a mediocre Rumble match. The opening match was excellent, but it was only downhill from there. The Rumble itself was very entertaining until Super Cena arrived, eliminated the new Nexus, and formed a terrible comedy duo with Hornswoggle.

 

What did you think of Royal Rumble 2011? Leave your thoughts/comments below!