FanPost

Ranking Royal Rumbles: Number 7-2010

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On This Day, I See Clearly...The Key is Coming Back From Injury

(A Rumble surprise you sort of, kinda didn't see coming, but did, also some guy tried to make a cult)

Storytelling: 3/5 Stars

Match Quality: 4/5 Stars

Finish: 4/5 Stars

Winner: 4/5 Stars

Extracurriculars: 2/5 Stars-give blame to Matt Striker on this one, he cannot announce for the likes of me

TOTAL: 17/25 Stars

Great Moment You May Have Forgotten: The Big Show and Mark Henry, the resident giants of the match, were eliminated simultaneously...BY R-TRUTH! Did anyone see that coming?

Moment You Wish You Weren't Reminded Of: This was alas the final Rumble (currently) of The Shelton Benjamin Treatment's career, and he did what he always does best, his signature moves and eliminated in under a minute. Also Miz and MVP are idiots.

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A lot of people would claim that the last few Rumbles have ranged form "slightly disappointing" to "so damn awful I wish I could take a hammer to my head to block out the memories of the event". You can decide for yourself what the reasons may have been, but I chronicled my opinions throughout the series so I'm set.

With all that being said, 2010 was the last really good Rumble that I have seen in my lifetime. While not perfect (cough Matt Striker cough), it tells a fantastic story, has brilliant subplot moments, and does not feature Vince Mcmahon interfering with some kooky scheme.

Similar to the previous entry on our list, Edge had been injured with....I don't remember let's just say something with his back or neck...and expected to miss about 14 months. He had only been out about 6, making his return absolutely improbably and unbelievable. Although Cena's moment was probably more momentus and his impact was prevalent on the company, Edge's body of work and the surrounding stories that led to this moment makes it a better Rumble and a feel good story if your name is not Shawn Michaels.

The match starts off with what I think was a pretty good opening squall between Evan Bourne and Dolph Ziggler (back when he had all the potential and wasn't repeatedly squandered). But this match picks up when the Straight Edge Savior CM Punk delivered his own sense of justice. He throws the two mid-card darlings out and becomes the voice of reason, stating he is better than anyone. This was similar to watching Charles Manson in a wrestling ring trying to save people to do his ungodly occult business. And he won me over! After disposing of Mr. Employment JTG, out comes the Great Khali, lumbering his way to the ring. All of Punk's manner of convincing would not work however, since Khali only understands gibberish, and clobbers him with his all too menacing head massage. However, out comes Diva Beth Phoenix, aka Mrs. Edge, to smooch Khali out of the ring. And Matt Striker makes a sexist remark to ruin it, so yea that happened...

Well after making the modern "Scotty 2 Hotty" Zack Ryder leave the ring (what the hell kind of attire was the half leg/half tights look), out comes Punk's best friend, Triple H (competing in his last Rumble as of now). In case my sarcasm wasn't apparent, it wasn't apparent on Trips either, who began his long career of making Punk his bitch, throwing him out and starting a new religion of Authority.

Unlike previous Rumbles on this list, which at one point had up to 15 or more in the ring at once, this match never went too overboard with superstars, and it was a nice change of pace. You had a pretty good line up of mid carders (John Morrison, Ted Dibiase Jr, Cody Rhodes, Carlito, and a slew of others) who made their mark to varying degrees. You had Kane evicarating Matt hardy to the depths of hell and out of the WWE pretty much. And some stupid Miz/MVP feud where neither really made it into the ring and they just whaled on each other over who's less talented and overrated (Miz wins).

But the big subplot to the match was the Heartbreak Religious Reformer, Shawn Michaels. We know all about his legendary greatness,and this was no exception. He came in and together with his running mate HHH eliminated everyone (including Matt Striker awful insertion that Triple H eliminated 3 superstars in 2 minutes, when it was actually 4 by Shawn Michaels, he really was the weak link of this match). So when one of those awkward frenemy staredowns between the two occurs, out comes the Eater of Careers...and his name is JOHN CENA. A nice little triple threat and some awkward "White Knuckle Shuffle" as I call it, Trips Pedigrees his butt...AND HBK KICKS HIS BUDDY OUT OF THE RUMBLE!!!! Every man for himself I suppose.

Following the eliminators of jobbers the Shelton Benjamin Treatment, Yoshi Tatsu, Mother Loving Chris Masters, Lisp Swagger, Kofi Kingston, and R-truth (who pulled the biggest shock move in the Rumble by eliminating both Big Show and Mark Henry), There was only 5 eligible winners by the time number 28 Chris Jericho appeared, and we had no idea of who the last 2 would be. So following more slimy heeling by Y2J, out comes the wondershowzen Edge at 29, who tears apart the competition and eliminates Mr. Irvine. Then out comes Batista at 30 (one again making a final 4, this time by default). So you have Cena, HBK, Edge, and Batista, 4 of the 50 best wrestlers of all time in a truly fun final. After some hijinks on the ropes between Edge and HBK, Michaels Sweet Chin Music's Edge back into the ring, loses his grip with the help of Batista, and falls out. Well at this point his dream of revenge against Taker is over, and the cross eyed Michaels goes insane and kills all referees, classic Michaels in his final Rumble match (I really miss him, but he certainly looked cross eyed and possible going blind in this match if you pay close attention).

Well following Michaels elimination, Batista and Cena basically knock each other senseless, Batista is eliminated, and Cena is easy pickings to spear and disembowel by Edge, winning the Rumble he truly deserved. If this match featured no Matt Striker, this is probably a top 5 Rumble, but as it stands, a pretty well rounded showing by top notch wrestlers keeping the in ring action to a smart minimum. We miss you Edge and Michaels, Batista not so much since you became Bootista.

This is a great match to just appreciate top notch talent. Tomorrow we look once again, at another wrestler who came back from a gruesome injury to win the Rumble, whether the other superstars liked it or not. So many comebacks, so little come fronts. Yea that pun stunk, it's late I'm tired.

Ranking Royal Rumbles: A Retrospective

Number 28: 1995

Number 27: 1988

Number 26: 1991

Number 25: 2015

Number 24: 1989

Number 23: 1994

Number 22: 1999

Number 21: 2014

Number 20: 2011

Number 19: 1993

Number 18: 1997

Number 17: 1996

Number 16: 2009

Number 15: 2013

Number 14: 2005

Number 13: 2006

Number 12: 2012

Number 11: 2000

Number 10: 1990

Number 9: 2003

Number 8: 2008

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.