WWE Royal Rumble Results: 1/25/04 By: Rob Morris on 01/26/04
Here are the results from tonight's "Royal Rumble" PPV in Philadelphia
*"Sunday Night Heat" saw Victoria defeat Molly Holly in a non title match with the Widow's Peak
*RIC FLAIR & BATISTA VS THE DUDLEY BOYZ FOR THE WORLD TAG TITLES
This was the beginning trend of a lot of quick matches that hurt the show. Bubba did a cool spot where he slid the tables from one side of the ring to the other into Batista's ribs. Jonathan Coachman, selling the broken ribs from "Raw", distracted Bubba and got a 3D for his efforts, then Batista hit the Demon Bomb on D-Von through the table
WINNERS: Ric Flair & Batista in 4:23
*REY MYSTERIO VS JAMIE NOBLE
No time given to this at all, the finish came when Nidia, who is still blind was trying to reach the mat and accidentally tripped Noble leading to Rey hitting the 619 and a top rope legdrop for the win.
WINNER: Rey Mysterio at 3:05
*EDDY GUERRERO VS CHAVO GUERRERO
This was to be the big blow off match and it was way too short to be the big finish to the feud. The match focused on the story that Eddy needed to keep his emotions in check to be successful. Some back and forth matwork and then out of no where, Eddy hits the frogsplash for the win, out of no where! Post match saw Eddy tie up Chavo Sr to the ropes with his tie and then busted open Chavo.
WINNER: Eddy Guerrero at 8:05
*Backstage they did an interview with Josh Matthews and Chris Benoit, as they started, Ric Flair, Batista and Randy Orton came out there with champagne and Flair cut a promo stating Benoit couldn't win the "big one" and then popped the champagne cork and sprayed it all over Matthews. Great interview.
*BROCK LESNAR VS HARDCORE HOLLY
The teased how Holly wanted to break Lesnar's neck, they went with the story of Lesnar trying to ground Holly and wrestle him rather than stand up and fight. Brock had Holly in a gut wrench submission hold on the ground for most of the match, Lesnar hit the belly to belly on Holly. After that Holly came back with the Alabama Slam and then went for a full nelson and held it as they rolled over the top rope to the floor. Then like the last match, Lesnar hit the F-5 out of no where for the pin.
WINNER: Brock Lesnar at 6:31
*TRIPLE H VS SHAWN MICHAELS IN A LAST MAN STANDING MATCH FOR THE WORLD TITLE
All the matches were shortened earlier on for this match and it was a good match. Shawn worked the leg early on with the Figure Four. Michaels went to hit a modified Asai moonsault on Hunter to the outside but missed and hit the Spanish announce table and that allowed Michaels to juice. Hunter then juiced after a chairshot. Later Michaels went for a superkick but Hunter hit a low blow as Michaels leg went up. Afterwards Hunter hit a pedogree but Michaels got up at 9, then Michaels hit the superkick and led to...A DOUBLE COUNTOUT. So 4 matches get cut short for this match that is a screw job finish. Fans hated this with loud boo's. Michaels chose not be stretchered out but instead walked out. Horrible finish but a good match.
WINNER: Draw at 22:47
*Before the Rumble we saw Eric Bischoff come out and then be confronted by Paul Heyman, they fought in the ring before Steve Austin came out to drink beer and stun both guys. No point to this segment, I thought they would set up the Interpromotional angles for "WrestleMania XX" but not so.
*They showed Goldberg in the back be confronted by Lesnar, Goldberg said Lesnar was a coward, teasing that feud that would lead to something later in the show.
*ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
Benoit and Orton started, there were 90 minute intervals. Some highlights included the buzzer going and we heard Undertaker's old theme song, this stunned Kane and led to Booker T eliminating him. Hurricane was eliminated very quickly by Matt Morgan. When Test's music played he didn't come out, backstage he was knocked out and Austin ordered someone to come to the ring, it was Mick Foley, who quickly eliminated himself and Orton. Orton lasted 33 minutes, very impressive. Billy Gunn came out and was not eliminated in the 5 second we were hoping for.
Bill Goldberg came out at #30 and eliminated Charlie Haas, Billy Gunn and Nunzio. Nunzio was hilarious, when he came out he hid outside the ring before finally being forced into the ring when Cena came out. Bill Goldberg was eliminated when Lesnar did a run in and hit Goldberg with the F-5 and led to Angle throwing Goldberg out. Big Show was put over huge by eliminating John Cena, Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle at the end. Big Show was doing a ton of Andre the Giant spots. Finish came when Chris Benoit eliminated Big Show and lasting over 60 minutes. Great finish to a decent but not great PPV.
WINNER: Chris Benoit at 61:38
*Overall thoughts: Average show, the first four matches were cut way too short (except Lesnar/Holly which went as long as it should have) and there wasn't even a huge payoff to cutting the good matches short as HHH and Michaels had a terrible finish that really hurt the show. The Rumble was really good and seeing Benoit win was great. Still the first half should have been booked better.
