By Chris Walters – TPWW
Event: WWE Royal Rumble
Date: January 30th, 2005
Announcers: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Announcers: Tazz & Michael Cole
They show some highlights of past Royal Rumble winners and then how they went on to WrestleMania’s to win the title. The show starts off with Tazz and Cole talking about the Rumble. We then shift over to Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler for our first match of the night.
Edge vs. Shawn Michaels
Edge makes his way to the ring. He is then followed by Shawn Michaels. HBK quickly takes advantage and tosses Edge out of the ring. Edge gets back in the ring and eyes down HBK. They tie it up and move into the corner. HBK delivers some stiff shots in the corner. Edge finally gets some offense in with a swinging neck breaker.
Baseball slide by Edge, which sends HBK to the outside of the ring. HBK tries to fight his way back to the ring. HBK is now sent into the corner with an irish wip as Edge is in full control of this match.
Edge now has HBK down in the middle of the ring in a rear choke hold. HBK is trying to fight out of the hold. HBK is trying to fight out of the hold and finally gets back to his feet, but Edge pulls HBK back down by the hair. HBK finally hits a kick and then rolls up Edge and almost gets a near fall.
HBK continues to fight back up. He hits some stiff knife edge shots. Finally he knocks down Edge, but quickly Edge is back up and hits an atomic drop. HBK back up and into the ropes. HBK hits a counter with an elbow.
HBK is hit with a spear out of the ring and has not been able to get back in the ring, but at the count of 9 he is able to roll back in the ring. Edge is now walking around HBK and dancing around at the crowd.
Edge signals for the sweet chin music and then runs in and hits the spear on HBK. HBK is able to kick out! Edge is furious that he couldn’t pin HBK. He begins to pull his hair out and yells at the ref. HBK gets back up in the meantime and then goes on the offense. He goes up to the top rope and hits the the elbow. HBK gears up for the Sweet Chin Music as he goes in, Edge ducks and counters with the Electric Chair.
Both men are back on their feet now. Edge now hooks on the sharp shooter. He is trying to roll HBK over. HBK is fighting for the ropes but as he does Edge pulls him back to the middle of the ring. HBK gets the bottom rope! Edge somehow or another gets HBK back against the ropes and rolls him up with both hands on the ropes he gets the 3 count. The ref never saw Edge with his hands on the ropes as Edge runs out of the ring and to the back and is declared the winner of the match.
Winner: Edge
Backstage we see Bischoff and Teddy Long talking about the Rumble. Flair and Guerrero are both backstage with them as they draw numbers for their order in the Rumble. As Eddie and Flair hug each other, it appears Guerrero has stolen Flair’s number for the Rumble.
Backstage we see Heidenreich takling to Snitsky about how he hatest caskets. We then see the two talk after Snitsky tells him he has a plan…
Undertaker vs. Heidenreich
The druids brign the casket out to the ring and place it right next too it. Then we have Heidenreich make his way to the ring and now followed by the Undertaker. There are no rules to this match. You have to place them in the casket to become the winner. The two men lock it up and Undertaker is sent into the ropes but Taker lays a shoulder block on Heidenreich. Taker is already taking Heidenreich over to the casket. They continue to exhange shoulder blocks as both men fight back and forth.
Heidenreich is in control of the match now. He has positioned The Undertaker into the corner and delivers some blows to his body. Undertaker wraps his legs around Heindenreich with his arms on the ropes and now drops him down to the mat in a triangle choke hold.
Undertaker has Heidenreich grounded and as Taker has him down, Snitsky hits the ring and starts stomping on the Taker. He then hits a huge clothesline on Taker. The crowd begins to chant for Kane.
Kane POPS out of the casket and jumps in the ring fighting off both Snitsky and Heidenreich. Kane then goes on the chase after Snitsky through the crowd as the fans go nuts. Now Undertaker and Heidenreich are fighting up the rampway.
Heidenreich sends the Undertaker into the steel steps knee first and that has the Taker laid out. The lid is up on the casket as Heidenreich takes the casket and rams it into the Takers head. Heidenreich then picks up Taker and drops him into the casket. As he begins to shut the lid Taker’s arm pops out. He grabs Heidenreich and brings him into the casket with him and then hits some huge shots to the back of Heidenreichs head.
Taker then gets out of the casket and lays Heidenreich halfway in and halfway out. He runs across the ring apron and drops a leg on Heidenreich’s body.
Somehow or another Heidenreich is able to counter and get out of the casket and back into the ring where he begins to fight the Taker off. Heidenreich continues to try to fight back but Taker finally delivers a huge chokeslam and DDT which ground Heidenreich. He then signals to the people to open the casket up as he takes Heidenreich over to the casket and places him into it. Before Heidenreich is able to get out of the casket, Taker slams the door down on Heidenreich.
Winner: Undertaker
Backstage Teddy Long goes over to Eddie Guerrero and tells him he know’s he has Ric Flair’s number and tells him to give him Flair’s number. We see Flair with HHH and others acting as though they are pissed off. It’s pretty funny because Eddie also stole Ric Flair’s wallet. HHH says it’s Evolution’s night!
Batista and HHH start arguing when HHH demands that Batista listen to him about Orton and Batista wants to go get his number for the Royal Rumble. Flair tries to calm down both men.
Backstage we see Christian draw his number and then John Cena walks in. Christian talks making fun of Cena as he draws his number. Cena and Christian have a rap-off backstage where Christian gives a hilarious rap and then Cena ribs Christian with some funny stuff.
Up next is the WWE Smackdown! Championship.
JBL vs. Kurt Angle vs. Big Show
Angle is first to hit the ring. He is followed by Big Show and then JBL. It has been seven months since JBL won the WWE Smackdown! Championship as Tazz and Cole comment on his title run. The match begins as it looks like Angle and JBL will work together to take down Big Show. Angle exits the ring and lets Big Show work on JBL. Big Show takes JBL over to the corner and starts to lay some chops on JBL. Angle is just standing outside the ring smiling at Big Show and JBL.
Big Show is dominating both men. As Kurt Angle tries to run in the ring he is quickly sent over the top rope along with JBL. Big Show goes down to the floor to get both men and hammers on both of them. He moves the steel steps out and walks onto them where he was going to chokeslam JBL, but Angle sneaks up from behind and hits the lowblow. Then together, Angle and JBL send Big Show through the announce table as it crumbles from his weight.
It’s now down to Angle and JBL as Big Show lies on the outside knocked out. Angle gets in the ring and hits an armbar and then turns on JBL and nails several german suplexes. JBL gets up and counters and drops an elbow and goes for a pinfall, but before Angle is able to kick out.
Big Show is getting back in the ring and hits a double clothesline on both men and then headbutts on both men. All men are going at it. JBL hits the clothesline from hell on Big Show and tries to get a cover. Big Shwo hits a chokeslam on JBL but JBL is able to grab the ropes. Both men now go outside the ring as Angle is down and out as well.
Big Show drives JBL through the barracade on the outside of the ring as both men lay motionless on the floor. Angle grabs a steel chair and takes it into the ring.
The match spirals out of control. Big Show counters Angle and slams the chair in his head. As he is about ready to get the win, Jindrak runs down to the ring and pulls Big Show out of the ring. He then starts beating him down. As he is doing that, they are loading JBL on a stretcher but his cabinent comes down and helps him into the ring. He hits the clothesline from hell on Angle as Big Show is still out of the ring.
He rolls over and makes the cover on Angle as he is out from the steel chair shot.
JBL steals another one….
Winner: JBL
We see Batista drawing his number for The Royal Rumble, where Bishoff tells Batista that Evolution is banned from ringside during HHH’s match. He ask’s Batista if he want’s him to tell HHH or if he would like to tell him himself. Batista smiles and say’s he will let HHH know himself.
We then see a hilarious promo for WrestleMania 21 with Eugene playing the role of Forrest Gump on a bench going over great moments in past WrestleMania’s.
Back to the arena we see J.R. & King takling about the Raw Main Event for tonight.
Triple H vs. Randy Orton
Randy Orton is the first one out to the ring. Triple H is out next with water bottle in hand. Again, Evolution has been banned from ringside for this match. I wonder if HHH would be DQ’d if they showed up and would automatically retain the belt? Anyhow, the match is about to get underway.
The men tie it up immediatley as Randy Orton hits a backslide and goes for a quick cover. Triple H finally gets control of the match as he tosses Orton to the outside of the ring. He takes Orton and smashes him into the steel steps. HHH now poses mocking Randy Orton.
Triple H now has Orton back in the ring and is tearing him apart. Triple H pulls Orton’s leg and wraps it around the ringpost and now starts smashing him in the face.
Triple H has begun to take out Randy Orton’s legs. He continues to chop his legs in the ring. Triple H is rolled up by Orton, who almost gets a three count, but before Orton can do anything else, Triple H has Orton in the figure four. He has already worn down his knee with several chops.
Triple H has Orton in the middle of the ring as he continues to lock on the figure four. Triple H continues the figure four, but Orton is able to reverse and roll Triple H over. Triple H then goes for the ropes and the hold is broken.
Triple H continues his domination on Orton. He smashes his leg on the ring apron. Orton however, kicks HHH and sends him through the Spanish Announce Table. Triple H rolls in the ring and gets up but Orton has gotten up as well. Orton hits a backbreaker.
Orton is now back in control of the match as he hammers HHH in the corner. Orton goes up top and hits a huge cross body onto HHH. He goes for a 3 count, but HHH is able to kick out. Orton pulls HHH up and sends him into the ropes. HHH reverses and hits a facebuster and now sets Orton up with a pedigree, but Orton counters.
HHH hits the turnbuckle and as he turns around counters the RKO. Both men are now down. The action is back and forth as both men counter each other’s moves. Orton hits a DDT, but is not able to make the cover as both men are down.
Orton’s lip is busted open as he is bleeding. Orton looks dazed as if he doesn’t know where he is. He is barely able to stand on his feet as his head bounced off the canvas due to a nice move by HHH.
HHH gets up and sends Randy Orton right into the referee. The Ref is out as HHH starts to work on Orton. I can’t tell if Orton is really messed up. His eyes are really glazed over as you can see in the live images. It’s like he really doesn’t even know where he is.
He has enough what know to send HHH into the ringpost which JR comments could have broken his nose. Triple H gets back in the ring though, as Orton is dazed out. Triple H hits a huge clothesline which decks Orton.
He then has to pull Orton to his feet as he can barely stand and hits the pedigree. Orton is out and Triple H gets the easy 3 count. I can’t really tell if Orton was knocked out or not, but Orton’s eyes were really glazed over in that match.
Winner: Triple H
J.R. & King comment that they hope Orton is okay, so I’m not sure if that injury was legit or if was just great work by Orton. We go backstage with Bischoff and Long again, but as we do we see JBL backstage celebrating.
Long tells JBL that he will face the man that he did not pin tonight at No Way Out…Long then goes on to tell JBL that there will be no outside interference at No Way Out, because for the first time in the history of WWE they will have a barbwire steel cage match..”How bout that playa”.
The Royal Rumble
I will do my best to type up as much of the Rumble as it happens, because action sometimes breaks out of control. The first man in the Rumble is Eddie Guerrero. The second man in the rumble is Chris Benoit!
As both men make their way to the ring.
Daniel Puder is the third into the ring. He grabs a mic and tells everyone that he is going to be the first Tough Enough Champion to win the Royal Rumble.
Eddie & Chris both set their eyes on him after that comment. They get him in the corner and start hammering on him. Eddie is wearing him out in the ring.
Both men now hit a vertical suplex on him. Hardcore Holly is now down to the ring.
Puder has been tossed out and as he is the Hurrican hits the ring and Guerrero and Benoit toss Holly. It’s now down to three men once again.
Hurricane is taking a beating and then Benoit steps in and hits some hard shots on Hurricane. Hurricane is tossed by Benoit shortly thereafter.
Eddie is almost eliminated by Edge who has now entered the ring. It’s everyman for himself now, as Benoit and Guerrero were working as team earlier, but that has since broken down. The ring is slowly starting fill up as Rey Mysterio is on his way down to the ring. Rey hits the ring and starts attacking everyone. Rey then takes out Kenzo with a nice move.
All hell is now breaking loose as Rey is barely holding on and so is Benoit. Booker T is now in the ring. No one has been eliminated but Chris Benoit had a very close call as he was able to hold onto the ropes. Booker T is going right after Edge as he is hammering him in the corner.
Jericho hits the ring, followed by Bischoff who is acting like a cheerleader for his Raw wrestlers. Rey Mysterio is getting choked out and Chris Benoit is tapping in the middle of the ring because he is hooked in a Boston Crab. No one else has been eliminated yet and the ring is pretty full. Jericho and Edge are going at it in one corner. Luther Reigns is out next.
Teddy Long makes his way to the ring as the participants split up. Raw on one side, Smackdown on the other. They stare each other down and all of the sudden go at it! Raw vs Smackdown in the middle of the ring as men are fighting everywhere. Hassan is the next out and as he gets in the ring he is circled by everyong and is given a beat down. Raw and Smackdown wrestlers are all circling him and stomping his ass. All the wrestlers pick him up after a 619 from Rey Jr. and toss him. Next out is Orlando Jordan.
As Scotty 2 Hotty makes his way to the ring, he is attacked by Hassan who then puts him in the camel clutch. The officials come out to check on Scotty 2 Hotty as he has never made it too the ring, not sure if he is done or not.
The ring is still filled up as Edge and Chris Jericho both barely avoid elimination. Charlie Haas hits the ring and goes after Booker T and Jericho. Booker T takes out both Reigns and Jordan, but then Guerrero sends Booker T over the top!
Action is hot and heavy now as Shelton has been tossed by Edge. Dupree and Simon Dean are both in the ring now as well. There are still quite a few men in the ring as we are getting ready to head into the 20’s.
Simon Dean distracts Eddie Guerrero as Edge sends him over the top rope and that upsets the live crowd who were behind Eddie winning this thing. HBK hits the ring and goes right after Edge but then eliminates Rene Dupree. Kurt Angle comes in and goes after everyone in the ring. He locks HBK in the ankle lock, but HBK reverses and hits the Sweet Chin Music and knocks Kurt Angle out of the match.
Coach hits the ring and acts like a little pussy. Kurt Angle is now back in and he goes right after HBK. Angle gets the steel steps and nails HBK with them. Angle is going nuts on HBK. HBK is busted open and bleeding all over the outside of the ring. Great looks right there. He now puts HBK on the steel steps and hits the ankle lock on him. Angle is trying to end HBK as he is bleeding all over the place. The action continues inside the ring but those are some great images.
The EMT’s come out and check on HBK as it looks like he is been eliminated.
London is out next with Viscera who is also in the ring. Jindrak and Paul London are going at it. Rey has been almost eliminated about 10 times but he continues to hang on. Jericho has also been holding on for dear life. The crowd explodes as John Cena hits the ring.
Cena takes out Viscera right off the bat. Then Snitsky eliminates Paul London with a viscious clothesline that caused Paul London to do a flip off the apron. Kane is now in the ring as he goes right after Edge and hits a chokeslam on him. Kane then chokeslams Benoit. Kane then hits Cena. Then Jericho. Kane is cleaning hose with chokeslams. Kane hits a huge chokeslam on Rey Mysterio. Kane then eliminates Jindrak.
Snitsky and Kane are now going at it. Snitsky hits a pump handle slam on Kane. Here COMES BATISTA!!! He tosses Snitsky just like that.
Cena has elimianted Kane. Batista tosses Jericho. Batista is going crazy on everyone taking people out one by one. Ric Flair is out and is #30. The Nature Boy makes his way to the ring.
Vince McMahon hits the ring and orders that this match needs to be restarted. It is restarted and Cena goes for the FU, but Batista counters and hits the Batista Bomb! Batista then picks up Cena and tosses him out of the ring over the top rope. Batista has won the match and will go on to face Triple H at WrestleMania 21. The show then cuts off right after Batista makes the elimnination.
The ending was botched when Batista and Cena went out of the ring as it was pretty clear tht Batista’s back hit the floor before John Cena ever hit the floor, because Cena basically fell on top of Batista as the images will clearly show. It will be interesting too see if this thing stands as it ended tonight.
Ok many eliminatons all at once. Rey Msyterio is eliminated. Flair is eliminated. It’s now down to two men. John Cena and Batista. Batista goes for the Batista bomb. He goes up against the ropes and both men fall over the top rope. They both hit at the same time. One ref says Batista has won the match. One ref says that Cena has won the match. Now we have more refs in the ring who don’t know who is the winner of the Royal Rumble.
I messed up on the order in the mele of the events, but I will get that fixed after this match is over…lets see what happens.
Entrance Order:
#1 Eddie Guerrero
#2 Chris Benoit
#3 Daniel Puder
#4 Hardcore Holly
#5 Hurricane
#6 Kenzo Suziki
#7 Edge
#8 Rey Mysterio Jr.
#9 Shelton Benjamin
#10 Booker T
#11 Chris Jericho
#12 Luther Reigns
#13 Muhammed Hassan
#14 Orlando Jordan
#15 Scotty 2 Hotty
#16 Charlie Haas
#17 Rene Dupree
#18 Simon Dean
#19 Shawn Micahels
#20 Kurt Angle
#21 Coach
#22 Mark Jindrak
#23 Viscera
#24 Paul London
#25 John Cena
#26 Gene Snitsky
#27 Kane
#28 Batista
#29 Christian
#30 Ric Flair
Exit Order:
#1 Daniel Puder
#2 Hardcore Holly
#3 Hurricane
#4 Kenzo Suziki
#5 Muhammad Hassan
#6 Scotty 2 Hotty
#7 Luther Reigns
#8 Orlando Jordan
#9 Booker T
#10 Shelton Benjamin
#11 Eddie Guerrero
#12 Rene Dupree
#13 Kurt Angle
#14 Shawn Michaels
#15 Viscera
#16 Paul London
#17 Mark Jindrak
#18 Gene Snitsky
#19 Chris Jericho
#20 Kane
#21 Coach
#22 Christian
#23 Chalie Haas
#24 Ric Flair
#25 Chris Benoit
#27 Simon Dean
#27 Rey Mysterio Jr.
#28 Edge
#29 John Cena
Winner: Batista