The Courtship of Eddie's Friend!
(How one man went 62 minutes in a room filled with Gods, Kings, and tacky gimmicks)
Storytelling: 5/5 Stars-I think this might be the first perfect score on the list, they told the story they wanted to tell spectacularly.
Match Quality: 3/5 Stars
Finish: 3/5 Stars
Winner: 3/5 Stars
Extracurriculars: 1/5 Stars-as good as the main story was, the medieval gimmicks of this match are terrible.
TOTAL: 15/25 Stars
Great Moment You May Have Forgotten: Rey's story was the high point, but a returning RVD might've been the best surprise in the ring this year, as he finished 4th.
Moment You Wish You Weren't Reminded Of: There are a rash of terrible gimmicks and returns in this match, but I give the nod to Chavo Guerrero being given the Shelton Benjamin Treatment, especially considering the circumstances of this Rumble.
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On November 13th, 2005, the WWE and wrestling world was mortified and shocked to find out that Eddie Guerrero, one of the greatest in-ring talents in professional wrestling history, was found dead in a hotel room in Minnesota. There are countless stories of how his death touched and affected every superstar, ranging from the strengthening of some hearts to pure tragedy in others. This is about the story of one man who used Eddie's legacy to win the Rumble he probably would never have won otherwise, and gave us a nice touching story of perseverance amidst tragedy.
Most people assumed come Rumble time that Rey Mysterio would be close to winning the Rumble in order to honor Eddie, but when he was picked number two, along side Mr. WWE Triple H at number one, most casted doubt on that dream become a reality.
But the legacy that is Rey Mysterio, who came rolling in on Eddie Guerrero's classic Latino Heat style automobile, would soon cower on the ropes for an hour valiantly fight his way through the likes of Simon Dean, Jonathan Coachman, Eugene, Big Show, RVD, and countless others to make it to the final three of the 2006 Rumble.
Before we discuss the finish, let's have a look at those others who competed in this 2006 affair. Where 2005 featured a lot of weird story lines and overbooking, this 2006 Rumble was relatively tamer in the ring. But there were some terrible gimmicks (Tatanka returning, The Shelton Benjamin Treatment and his Mama, and the less talk about what the big love machine Viscera did to Matt Hardy the better), that were not kept in check for the most part. It also feature Cole and Lawler on their own and thankfully being no where near as tacky as their soon to be later encounters of the last few years. Its hard to ignore the whole Roman doors entering for superstars, but you have a pretty standard Rumble match otherwise.
There were a few key subplots that played a nice touch to this Rumble as well. Surprise returns by Slow Warrior Animal and Goldust in his bi-yearly surprise in the Rumble match. You had Ric Flair eliminated by Trips in a few minutes (this was probably the biggest disappointment of the match as far as expectation), Lashley taking names and eating babies until he was stopped by the unstoppable force of Big Show and Kane. REALLY? Again with these two. But wait it gets better, as you guess it, these two numbskulls stop teaming up and fight each other, only to both get thrown out by Hunter at the same time (do these two ever learn?). You have Booker T who stayed in for about ten seconds to get thrown out by Benoit. You have Adrian Adonis (aka Chris Masters, they both looked similar i presume) taking time off from saving his mother from burning buildings to make an appearance. And finally you had HBK looking poised to win, only to be eliminated by...Shane McMahon, because Michaels can't get eliminated by someone in the Rumble match.
But when push came to push off the top ropes for RVD, You were down to Trips (number one), Mysterio (number two) and Randy Orton (number thirty) remaining. Trips and Orton decided to play the roles of "let's team up and throw little man out". At this point, Mysterio had spent more time on the ropes than making an offensive maneuver, so to see him brave through and fling HHH out of the ring was mightily impressive. Of course, Hunter, ever the professional heel, took Rey out from under the bottom rope and went to town on him in a manner most befitting. This left him as prey to Orton who just toyed with him and lifted him up to throw him out....
WHAT! Rey countered him and hurricanrana'd him out of the ring!!!! HE DID IT!!! Eddie Guerrero has been avenged in his death by the biggest little man in WWE history and a new longevity record is set in a Rumble (I'm sure WWE is glad they did that after what happened in 2007).
Was Rey Mysterio the best winner in Rumble history? No, but he was the right choice considering all the circumstances. Was it the best Rumble match ever? No, but it accomplished its mission without straying too far from the norm as other Rumbles have. Are they plenty of awful segments and poor small booking mistakes in the match? Sure, but all Rumbles featured that and sometimes it's something you have to take in order to reach a satisfying finish. But above all else, this match features the best storyline so far on the countdown, with the "Doing it for Eddie" mentality. It was as simple as Trevor Murdoch's pasty white skin, as cool as the Mexicools and MNM, and as satisfying as watching the Coach getting eliminated. Good job, mostly, to this Rumble.
I hope you like staring at Rey and HHH a lot in this match. Anything goes in tomorrow's Rumble match, and as of this posting, it is the last professional wrestling match for 4 WWE Superstars. What are we talking about? Willis will find out tomorrow.
