Royal Rumble 2003
I’ve never reviewed a Rumble before so I have no idea how this will turn out.
Entering at number 1 is Shawn Michaels looking to replicate his performance from eight years earlier. Number 2 is Chris Jericho…BUT ITS A SWERVE. Christian comes out and does Jericho’s entrance to allow Y2J to low blow HBK. Amazing spot.
Since it’s HBK in the second half of his career it’s not long before he gets color thanks to a steel chair. Chris Nowinski is in at number 3, making his debut. He leaves Jericho to his vendetta which sends HBK packing early. Another debut at number 4 is Rey Mysterio. Following him is Edge at number 5. The two team up briefly before turning on each other but respectfully.
This team up continues as Christian and Chavo Guerrero enter the match and that’s when shit goes south for Nowinski. Rey and Edge attempt a Double Dropkick from opposite turnbuckles. Rey hits Nowinski but Edge is slightly off and lands right on Nowinskis face. It’s horrible to watch but thankfully he’s not in for much longer.
8 brings out Tajiri who kicks the hell of Christian and Y2J. It’s during this point that Jerry Lawler makes a quip about Tajiri being his favorite announcer. I didn’t catch it until he explicitly asked J.R. later if he was sure it was Tajiri and not Funaki. Nothing but class from the King.
Speaking of awful people, Bill DeMott is out next followed by Tommy Dreamer who brings plunder to the ring to the ring. Cause he was an ECW wrestler post-Invasion and that was the only gimmick they could have. And hell we’ve already had one concussion what’s a few more.
We get a parade of eliminations, DeMott, Dreamer, Tajiri, B2, Chavo, and E and C leaving Jericho alone for 90 seconds wink wink nudge nudge. Speaking of, we see the result of Dreamer smacking Jericho in the face with a kendo stick as he’s bloody with a golf ball protruding from his forehead. RVD is out next and I’m pretty sure Jericho has bitched about RVD being stiff so I’m sure this just lifted his spirits.
Matt Hardy, Eddie Guerrero, and Jeff Hardy follow. Matt’s MF’er saves him from elimination and even takes a Swanton for the guy…a loyal friend and yet he probably had the worst career out of those three. Rosey is next then Test who proceeds to tear through the competition like hepatitis in a heroin den.
Things stagnate for while until Jeff takes a horrible bump and is eliminated. Rosey and Eddie eventually follow and the ring fills up. HBK hits the ring to settle his score with Y2J which leads to Test tossing Jericho out. Once again things quiet done. We get some eliminations (Booker T, and Goldust namely) before Batista enters at 28 and Brock Lesnar follows at 29.
Batista tosses out Rikishi, and Test between his entrance and Brocks. Brock takes out the Worlds Greatest Tag Team and Matt Hardy with ease. The match is still pretty full and with some big names. RVD, Kane, Brock, Maven, Jamal, A-Train. Add ‘Taker coming in at number 30 and we got an all star match…
We got a parade of eliminations as Cena, Jamal, Maven, A-Train, and RVD are tossed out leaving the final four. Kane, Undertaker, Brock, and in his debut Rumble, Batista. What a fucking endorsement for Dave. All Hell breaks loose and eventually ‘Taker disposes of Drax followed quickly by ‘Taker tossing out Kane. Batista comes back with a chair and Undertaker takes his eyes off the prize allowing Brock to throw ‘Taker out and win.
I imagine what makes for a good Royal Rumble is different for every fan. This one flies by which is a big plus in my book. There’s very little downtime where some kind of action isn’t happening. Maybe you could make an argument for a lack of BIG NAME star power with Rock and Austin MIA, and HHH and Angle occupied elsewhere on the card. I don’t know if Brock was the obvious pick back in ‘03 but they made a strong case for Jericho going all the way in the early stretches of this match. Good stuff. The action was great, the booking was great, just a great Rumble all around.
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