WWE Royal Rumble 2006 Revisted

The 2006 WWE Royal Rumble has drawn to a close. Let's recap and go through the predictions.

JBL v. Boogeyman
The match was much shorter that I was expecting. As I predicted, Boogeyman defeated JBL. Boogeyman showed that he isn't just a spectacle, but has a little ways to go in order to prove that he's got the in-ring skills to be taken seriously.
Me: 1/1
David: 0/1

Ashley v. Mickie James w/Trish Stratus as Guest Referee
Mickie defeated Ashley to pick up the win. I was surprised at how much better this match was compared to all of the other women's matches as of late. I not only predicted the outcome correctly in this one, but I also predicted correctly that Trish would hesitate after the 2 count and before the 3 count.
Me: 2/2
David: 0/2

30-Man Royal Rumble Match
Sunday afternoon I read a spoiler that said that there is a lot of talk backstage that Rey was going to win the Rumble. The talk was right. He started the match at number 2 with Triple H who was number 1. The final three left in the ring were Triple H, Rey, and Randy Orton. Rey used a head scissors on Triple H to eliminate him only to have Triple H pull Rey out of the ring (under the ropes) and pummel him. Triple H then threw Rey back in to a waiting Randy Orton. Orton then just stared at Rey thinking to himself that eliminating Rey would be simple. Of course, as Orton tried to throw Rey (who was obviously playing possum) out of the ring Rey eliminated Orton with head scissors. The bar where I watched the PPV erupted when Rey won the match. You would have thought that the Indians had just won the World Series. While this may not be the right thing to say, I believe 100% that Rey would not have won the match if Eddie Guererro had not died a few months ago. In my eyes Rey did not win the match because he deserved it (and that has nothing to do with the fact that I'm not a fan of his). He won it because the bookers thought that Rey dedicating the match to Eddie and winning it would be a good story. Bottom line - in a round-about way they have turned Eddie's death into an angle. On a brighter note though, in the same report that I read stating that Rey would win the match it also stated that the planned Wrestlemania main events are scheduled to be Cena defending his WWE title against Triple H and Kurt Angle defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton. This means that at some point between now and Wrestlemania (likely No Way Out) Rey will lose his title shot to Randy Orton. Perhaps the favor that Booker T owes Orton will somehow come into play in the whole situation.

I was also correct in predicting that Vince would somehow play a role in eliminating Shawn Michaels. In the middle of the match Vince came down to ringside and distracted Shawn while Shane came out of the crowd, entered the ring, and threw Shawn over the top rope from behind.

Going into the event there were 3 vacant spots in the Rumble. They were filled by the returning Eugene, Tatanka, and Goldust.

Me: 2/3
David: 0/3

WWE Championship
Edge (C) v. John Cena
A quality match, but certainly nothing all that memorable. Cena regained the WWE Championship by finishing off Edge with the F-U and an STFU. Going into this match I thought that there was an outside shot that I would be wrong and that Edge would retain the title, but as soon as the entrances for this match began it was painfully obvious that Cena would regain the title- Right before Cena's music started playing a giant steel walkway was lowered down from the ceiling and came to rest about 10 feet above the aisle. John Cena proceeded to come walking out onto the walkway and shoot confetti into the crowd (similar to Johnny B. Badd's 'Badd Blasters' in WCW). Edge then came out in his usual way. Why would the Challenger enter in such a 'spectacular' way if he wasn't getting the title back?
Me:3/4
David: 1/4

World Heavyweight Championship
Kurt Angle (C) v. Mark Henry
While the match wasn't anything close to being a classic match, Kurt Angle once again showed why he is among the best in the business today. He carried Mark Henry to a decent match. In fact, Mark Henry's career peaked at the Rumble with all of the credit going to Angle. Angle retained the title with a roll-up. After the match (this match was the last of the PPV) A spilt second after Angle's music started playing, Undertaker's music started playing and the lights went off (except for that stupid purple light they use for him). A group of Druids then came out followed by the Undertaker on some sort of wagon. Taker then walked halfway down the aisle, stood there for a few seconds, and then raised both arms. At that point pyrotechnics started going off on the lighting structure above the ring. Kurt Angle just stood in the middle of the ring in awe. Taker then lowerd his arms as cartoon-like lightning bolts struck the ring posts (they looked superimposed on the TV screen so I doubt the live crowd at the arena saw them). This was followed by all of the ring ropes falling down and the ring collapsing with Angle standing there in shock. The PPV ended at the point.
Me: 4/5
David: 2/5

There was a late edition to the card: Kid Kash defended his Cruiserweight Title against Paul London, Jamie Noble, Funaki, Nunzio, and Gregory Helms in a Tornado match. Helms won. I don't know if this means that the Cruiserweight title is going to RAW or if Helms will now be on Smackdown.

Total
I picked 4/5 matches correctly, while David picked 2/5 correctly. Just like David won last time, I have won this time. The Rubber match is on for the No Way Out PPV.

By The Way: 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan appeared on the PPV. As Todd Grisham was interviewing Lita backstage about Edge's loss, Duggan appeared and said "I've got one thing to say to you....HOOOOO!". Pretty Stupid isn't it.

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