JC looks at: Royal Rumble '07
hobb...@yahoo.com
They're hyping the Rumble itself as the "most star-studded" in recent
memory. The 30-man field is broken down by brand as follows:
Raw: 13
ECW: 7
Smackdown: 10
Makes you say WTF, doesn't it? Why only 7 "Extremists"? It illustrates
the contempt Vince McMahon now has for the brand. Instead of each
brand being assigned 10 slots, Crazy Vinnie has weighted it in favor
of Raw. I've broken down the field further and identified the players
who could be there at the end.
Shawn Michaels (3-1): HBK has the home field advantage, and a ton of
momentum stemming from the last two Raws. He'll be among the final
four for sure.
Randy Orton (5-1): The "Legend Killer", 1/2 of the World tag team
champions Rated RKO, has been touted by a number of people on the ngs
as a possible winner. It's not his year, but a top 10 finish is
likely.
Great Khali (6-1): The Bengali giant just moved from ECW to Raw as a
hired henchman for Crazy Vinnie. He'll be one of the last to go,
because it'll take about 6-8 guys to knock him over the top.
Edge: (5-1): The other half of Rated RKO entered this PPV last year as
the WWE champ, but lost to current titlist John Cena, and would like
nothing better than to add his name to a short list of wrestlers
who've won both the Rumble & King of the Ring. (Edge won KotR in '01)
However, his latest tag title reign is about to come to an end, and
soon, and they're already building toward him feuding with Orton.
Rob Van Dam (7-1): As much as a couple of months ago, I was touting
the idea of RVD, carrying the banner for ECW, winning the Rumble.
However, his nemesis, Paul Heyman, is gone, and took RVD's chances of
winning the Rumble with him. By this time next year, RVD will be in
TNA, provided he doesn't screw up again, or someone convinces Crazy
Vinnie to give him another chance.
CM Punk (7-1): Reports of a bad backstage attitude, coupled with the
perceived jealousy of certain Raw talent over fan reaction at Survivor
Series, have caused Punk's stock to drop in the last two months. It's
not his time----yet.
Chris Benoit (7-1): One of three past Rumble winners in the field (HBK
& Ric Flair are the others), the US champion could sneak in the back
door and win it again. However, he's not the top choice from
Smackdown.
Undertaker (3-1): The Deadman has never won the Rumble in his 16+
years with WWE. The surest way to kickstart his annual march to
Wrestlemania, and a date with World Champion Dave Batista, would be to
add the Rumble to his resume.
Kenny Dykstra (10-1): At 20, he could break Randy Orton's record as
the youngest WWE or World champion ever. He's more likely to break the
longevity record for this event, set by Benoit 3 years ago, because
he'll be in the final five.
King Booker (10-1): Like HBK, Undertaker, and Chavo Guerrero, Booker
will represent his home state of Texas as he looks to get back into
the title hunt. This may be his best chance.
The final five: Michaels, Undertaker, Booker, Dykstra, RVD.
The winner: Undertaker.
Also at the Rumble:
WWE title, last man standing: John Cena over Umaga. The Samoan
Bulldozer's best chance to win the title was three weeks ago at New
Year's Revolution, but for some reason, Uncreative decided that wasn't
the time. Their loss. Boston Shady found Umaga's Achilles heel on the
1/15 Raw and can exploit it again. I'd watch out for Great Khali,
though.
ECW title: Bobby Lashley over Test. Again, the challenger's best
chance came in a non-title match on 1/23, but Uncreative decided to
have Lashley go over. Can't see the Toronto Tower going over this
time.
World title: Dave Batista over Ken Kennedy. Bats goes over Double K
here and sets up his Mania meeting with the Deadman.
Hardys over MNM. Team Poser is going to be so obsessed with damaging
the Hardys to avenge Joey Merury's injury from last month, their rage
will be their undoing.
Of course, there is the prospect of something happening here to knock
the Hardys and/or Johnny Nitro out of the Rumble, which would open the
door for Ace Steel to reprise his Donald Trump impersonation,
perpetuating that silly storyline. In fact, that to me is plan B.
Discuss.
J. C. Gilbert
Benjamin Pavsner
<hobb...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1169906267.9...@v45g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
> Tomorrow, WWE presents the 20th annual Royal Rumble from San Antonio.
> They're hyping the Rumble itself as the "most star-studded" in recent
> memory. The 30-man field is broken down by brand as follows:
>
> Raw: 13
> ECW: 7
> Smackdown: 10
>
> Makes you say WTF, doesn't it? Why only 7 "Extremists"? It illustrates
> the contempt Vince McMahon now has for the brand. Instead of each
> brand being assigned 10 slots, Crazy Vinnie has weighted it in favor
> of Raw. I've broken down the field further and identified the players
> who could be there at the end.
Hogan wants to come back, where does he usually pop up? RAW. When Foley
comes back, where does he go? Not even the Rock comes to Smackdown, and the
show was named for his catch phrase.
>
> Shawn Michaels (3-1): HBK has the home field advantage, and a ton of
> momentum stemming from the last two Raws. He'll be among the final
> four for sure.
all (although I agree he's going to be top five.) I think too many guys are
in line ahead of him for Michaels to face Cena at WM.
>
> Randy Orton (5-1): The "Legend Killer", 1/2 of the World tag team
> champions Rated RKO, has been touted by a number of people on the ngs
> as a possible winner. It's not his year, but a top 10 finish is
> likely.
>
> Great Khali (6-1): The Bengali giant just moved from ECW to Raw as a
> hired henchman for Crazy Vinnie. He'll be one of the last to go,
> because it'll take about 6-8 guys to knock him over the top.
>
> Edge: (5-1): The other half of Rated RKO entered this PPV last year as
> the WWE champ, but lost to current titlist John Cena, and would like
> nothing better than to add his name to a short list of wrestlers
> who've won both the Rumble & King of the Ring. (Edge won KotR in '01)
> However, his latest tag title reign is about to come to an end, and
> soon, and they're already building toward him feuding with Orton.
>
> Rob Van Dam (7-1): As much as a couple of months ago, I was touting
> the idea of RVD, carrying the banner for ECW, winning the Rumble.
> However, his nemesis, Paul Heyman, is gone, and took RVD's chances of
> winning the Rumble with him. By this time next year, RVD will be in
> TNA, provided he doesn't screw up again, or someone convinces Crazy
> Vinnie to give him another chance.
>
> CM Punk (7-1): Reports of a bad backstage attitude, coupled with the
> perceived jealousy of certain Raw talent over fan reaction at Survivor
> Series, have caused Punk's stock to drop in the last two months. It's
> not his time----yet.
Punk going against Lashzilla tomorrow instead of Test.
>
> Chris Benoit (7-1): One of three past Rumble winners in the field (HBK
> & Ric Flair are the others), the US champion could sneak in the back
> door and win it again. However, he's not the top choice from
> Smackdown.
>
> Undertaker (3-1): The Deadman has never won the Rumble in his 16+
> years with WWE. The surest way to kickstart his annual march to
> Wrestlemania, and a date with World Champion Dave Batista, would be to
> add the Rumble to his resume.
getting on Smackinthebumm, he deserves one last shot at the big dance with
Batzilla (or whomever the champ in coming into Motown). He's a lot younger
that the other guy in this catagory, Flair, so he has a legit chance at even
leaving Detroit as champ.
>
> Kenny Dykstra (10-1): At 20, he could break Randy Orton's record as
> the youngest WWE or World champion ever. He's more likely to break the
> longevity record for this event, set by Benoit 3 years ago, because
> he'll be in the final five.
>
> King Booker (10-1): Like HBK, Undertaker, and Chavo Guerrero, Booker
> will represent his home state of Texas as he looks to get back into
> the title hunt. This may be his best chance.
>
> The final five: Michaels, Undertaker, Booker, Dykstra, RVD.
>
> The winner: Undertaker.
>
> Also at the Rumble:
>
> WWE title, last man standing: John Cena over Umaga. The Samoan
> Bulldozer's best chance to win the title was three weeks ago at New
> Year's Revolution, but for some reason, Uncreative decided that wasn't
> the time. Their loss. Boston Shady found Umaga's Achilles heel on the
> 1/15 Raw and can exploit it again. I'd watch out for Great Khali,
> though.
chance of changing hands. This stupid undefeated streak is out of the way. I
think Khali interfearing will be a turning point in who wins this one.
Granted, odds are slightly against Cena being dethroned (he'll probably be
champ through WM), but...
>
> ECW title: Bobby Lashley over Test. Again, the challenger's best
> chance came in a non-title match on 1/23, but Uncreative decided to
> have Lashley go over. Can't see the Toronto Tower going over this
> time.
>
> World title: Dave Batista over Ken Kennedy. Bats goes over Double K
> here and sets up his Mania meeting with the Deadman.
OK, so my prediction of a Menage a Tois match went the way of the dinosaur,
but I see Taker getting payback for being screwed on 1/12 and 1/19. They
made to much out of Taker being screwed.
hobb...@yahoo.com
On Jan 28, 2:17 pm, Adam Kohen <akohe...@yawho.com> wrote:
> hobby...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > Great Khali (6-1): The Bengali giant just moved from ECW to Raw as a
> > hired henchman for Crazy Vinnie. He'll be one of the last to go,
> > because it'll take about 6-8 guys to knock him over the top.
If it takes 6-8 guys to eliminate him, that stretches the definition
of
> "one of the last" a bit. I'd like to see him and Kane face off at some
> point after clearing the ring of everyone else - I believe Kane is the
> only "monster" that Khali hasn't met yet. (Where's the perennial dark
> horse in your list of odds, by the way?)
I didn't come up with one, but there were to be one, it'd be CM Punk.
>
> > Chris Benoit (7-1): One of three past Rumble winners in the field (HBK
> > & Ric Flair are the others), the US champion could sneak in the back
> > door and win it again. However, he's not the top choice from
> > Smackdown.
It would be nice to get him back into the World title hunt, but I
don't
> see him winning here either. He'll have to babysit the US title a few
> more months.
And he deserves a long run this time, after getting short ones in '05.
>
> > Undertaker (3-1): The Deadman has never won the Rumble in his 16+
> > years with WWE. The surest way to kickstart his annual march to
> > Wrestlemania, and a date with World Champion Dave Batista, would be to
> > add the Rumble to his resume.
The fact that he's never won does make him an attractive choice, but
> given that his feud with Batista has already been foreshadowed he
> doesn't really need the win to ensure a No Way Out title match and
> Wrestlemania rematch.
Maybe, but I look at the fact that hometowner HBK has already won 2
Rumbles, and doesn't really need the big win here. UT is the only
other logical pick.
>
> > Kenny Dykstra (10-1): At 20, he could break Randy Orton's record as
> > the youngest WWE or World champion ever. He's more likely to break the
> > longevity record for this event, set by Benoit 3 years ago, because
> > he'll be in the final five.
I don't think this is going to be a "longevity record" year - they
can't
> do it every time. If Kenny's around near the end, it will be due to
> having a late entry number.
Possible, but they didn't do an angle to set up #30 this year, which
would've ensured Dykstra getting that slot. A joke angle would be to
assign him #4 (Lenny Dykstra's number with the Mets back in the 80's),
which would set up the longevity part of the deal.
>
> Overall this is a tough one to pick. HBK seems the most obvious (but
> annoying) choice, but the inclusion of ECW folks makes it possible for
> someone really unpredictable to win for the first time in ages. If only
> anyone cared about the ECW title anymore.
True dat.
> > WWE title, last man standing: John Cena over Umaga. The Samoan
> > Bulldozer's best chance to win the title was three weeks ago at New
> > Year's Revolution, but for some reason, Uncreative decided that wasn't
> > the time. Their loss. Boston Shady found Umaga's Achilles heel on the
> > 1/15 Raw and can exploit it again. I'd watch out for Great Khali,
> > though.
I don't see Khali getting involved here, unless you're suggesting he'd
> be next in line for a title shot (a very unlikely scenario). If
> anything fells the champ, it will be his "ruptured spleen".
Maybe.
>
> > ECW title: Bobby Lashley over Test. Again, the challenger's best
> > chance came in a non-title match on 1/23, but Uncreative decided to
> > have Lashley go over. Can't see the Toronto Tower going over this
> > time.
But that's the one good thing about the ECW title being so worthless -
> it doesn't really matter who wins it, so there's a chance to surprise
> everyone.
Test is charismatically challenged, and a title win here would only
have people yawning in protest. (g)
> > Hardys over MNM. Team Poser is going to be so obsessed with damaging
> > the Hardys to avenge Joey Merury's injury from last month, their rage
> > will be their undoing.
MNM is due for a win in this feud, though. Either way, it should be a
> good match.
Again, this is where the booking is so backward. MNM should've gone
over at December to Dismember, IMPO, but didn't. They have the revenge
angle, but blew that by attacking Matt on Smackdown 9 days ago. It's
payback time, all right---for Team Xtreme.
J. C. Gilbert
trippy
hobb...@yahoo.com took the hamburger meat, threw it on the grill, and I
said "Oh Wow"...
Why does Jesus Christ care about the rumble?
--
trippy
mhm31x9 Smeeter#29 WSD#30
sTaRShInE_mOOnBeAm aT HoTmAil dOt CoM
NP: "The American Way" -- Sacred Reich
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