LIVE Royal Rumble 2010 thoughts

1:02 - And while a long final two sequence has been popular lately (and there's a great place for it), the final three after Michaels' elimination is surprisingly quick.  Batista goes for a clothesline, but Cena ducks and eliminates him.  Edge goes for a spear, but Cena blocks it.  Cena goes for a clothesline, but Edge dodges it and throws him out.  It all happens in about a minute or so.  Yet it worked -- in part because of the great camera work again.  Cena rising to his feet after eliminating Batista, as we see Edge in the background sizing him up for the spear.

Once again, the last great Rumble, in my opinion. But, again, it's somewhat depressing to see how many people are no longer with the company after just 6 years.  Let's look at the entrants:

Dolph Ziggler - Yes
Evan Bourne - No
CM Punk - No
JTG - No
Great Khali - No
Beth Phoenix - No
Zack Ryder - Yes
Triple H - Yes
Drew McIntyre - No
Ted DiBiase - No
John Morrison - No
Kane - Yes
Cody Rhodes - Yes
MVP - No
Carlito - No
Miz - Yes
Matt Hardy - No
Shawn Michaels - No (but still appears on occasion)
John Cena - Yes
Shelton Benjamin - No
Yoshi Tatsu - No
Big Show - Yes
Mark Henry - Yes
Chris Masters - No
R-Truth - Yes
Jack Swagger - Yes
Kofi Kingston - Yes
Chris Jericho -Yes
Edge - No (but still appears on ocassion)
Batista - No

That is 11 Yes's and 19 No's.  And most of those Yes's, sadly enough, were guys who were in the Rumble six years prior to that.  Which means they really didn't retain new talent, they only retained established talent.  A sad realization.

Check the blog later and I'll have my LIVE thoughts for this year's Rumble, as well as my prediction on the winner, who will stand out, and who might be a surprise entrant.

12:59 - One of the greatest eliminations in Rumble history -- Shawn Michaels unceremoniously losing grip of the rope and simply falling to the ground.  It was awesome because it WASN'T this climatic moment that was built up.  It just....happened.  It felt real, almost like it was a mistake (people insisted it was, at one point).  It just added some realism to the whole thing and had people invested.  And, again, Michaels got eliminated (and people were clearly rooting for him) and his story continued.  He beat up refs.  He tried to re-enter.  The fans understood the story wasn't over, so they were able to move on to the eventual winner.

12:57 - Weird thing I had noticed but never quite understood -- Batista has the Smackdown logo on his trunks.

12:56 - It what feels like a rare occurrence, Batista comes in at 30 and is immediately in the final four (with Cena, Edge, and HBK).  A great final four that could have seen any of them win.

12:55 - And to my earlier point -- Chris Jericho didn't last in the Rumble long but his elimination meant something.  It was about the Edge/Jericho story.

12:52 - Edge enters at 29 and the place explodes.  Chris Jericho's reaction (as well as the reaction of the announcers) is great.  He comes in, hits everybody with a spear, and then eliminates Jericho.  Truly awesome moment.

Also, great camera work there, as Jericho's back was in frame as Edge's music started playing and his entrance video appeared on screen.  Overall great moment.

12:48 - Kofi Kingston enters.  This was before he started doing the comic inspired trunks (which I hope he brings back this year, despite his current New Day branding).  This was also before they started doing his crazy almost eliminations (which typically I love, but have been a bit too contrived lately).

Chris Jericho enters now.  If I recall correctly, he was a favorite to win (other than Michaels).

12:47 - Jack Swagger with his spiked hair and old theme comes in, with the goofiest look on his face as he runs into the ring.

12:45 - R-Truth of all people enter and eliminates both Big Show and Mark Henry.  He then hits signature spots on both Cena and HBK.  I don't recall this turning into any sort of push.

12:42 - Some fun sequences where Big Show and Cena both try to eliminate Shawn Michaels.  The fans are definitely invested.  I don't think Reigns will see the same sympathy.

Mark Henry enters and based on his bright red singlet, I'm guessing he's a face right now.  I think he was teaming with MVP periodically at the time.

12:40 - Yoshi Tatsu had entered and gotten eliminated but it wasn't worth talking about.  Big Show enters and based on his expression, it appears he's a heel at this point in his career.  Although I could be wrong.

12:38 - Triple H saves Shawn Michaels from an elimination, but Shawn turns around and eliminates him.  Again -- a great moment.  Not every major star needs to make it to the final 4.  The big moments need to be spread out.

Shelton Benjamin enters but is eliminated by Cena.  Another young guy who didn't last in the company.

12:37 - John Cena arrives!  A legitimately huge moment that, again, has been lacking in recent years.  They've done a really poor job of making big moments like these.  In a fun sequence, DX attempts to double team Cena but he overcomes them.

12:35 - Shawn Michaels enters and immediately gets rid of Carlito.  Then Cody Rhodes.  Then Ted DiBiase.  Then John Morrison.  Drew McIntyre lasts the long (again, odd), but is ultimately dumped by Triple H and Shawn Michaels.  Who are now alone in the ring.  Until....

12:34 - Matt Hardy enters to a big pop (rocking the Mattitude tights, a look I preferred over the baggy jeans) and hits a couple of signature moves before being shockingly eliminated. Rather odd, actually.  Kane is eliminated shortly after.

12:32 - Carlito hits the backstabber on virtually everybody in the ring.  This is a spot that's fun, but has been overused in recent years.  Now it seems like EVERYBODY enters, regardless of how over or high up on the card they are, and hits their finisher on everybody.  It loses its impact.

Miz also enters and is quickly followed by MVP and they eliminate each other.

12:31 - Carlito enters sporting an arm sleeve before they became a thing.  We haven't seen an elimination for a while, but I suspect I know why (you know who is entering soon....)

12:29 - MVP comes out next, but is promptly attacked by the Miz.  I wouldn't be shocked to see MVP fill the Bubba Ray spot this year as a surprise one-time return entrant.

12:27 - Cody Rhodes now enters (finally a young person who is still with WWE).  I'm kinda eager to see what new attire he has this year as Stardust.

12:25 - Sad realization.  A big deal is being made about the new up-and-comers in DiBiase, Morrison, and McIntyre.  Of all the people in the ring, only Triple H and Kane are still with WWE.  The rest all left, pretty much as jobbers.

12:23 - Ted DiBiase enters with the Legacy theme which, I never realized, has the line "it's a New Day."

John Morrison enters (sans beard).  He's a guy I wish would return.

12:20 - Triple H arrives to "ruin the fun."  This is less frustrating to watch now, because obviously Punk ended up being okay, but I remember being really annoyed by it at the time.  Punk was clearly on fire at this time in his career and for Triple H of all people to come in and eliminate him when fans were so behind him was annoying.

Drew McIntyre enters and they make a big deal about him, which is weird (although from what I understand, he's a big deal again now in TNA).  In an admittedly neat sequence, Triple H blocks the GTS and eliminates Punk.

12:17 - Beth eliminates Khali, roughs up Punk a bit (they were dating at the time, no?), before Punk hits her with the GTS and eliminates her.  This has to be one of the last time we've seen man-on-woman violence on WWE television, right?

Zack Ryder enters during his "half tights/half trunks" attire and is swiftly eliminated.  This was before Ryder took off.

12:16 - Fun interaction between Khali and Punk.  A not-quite-90 minutes later, Beth Phoenix enters.

12:14 - "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted."  JTG was not long for this world.

12:12 - CM Punk with his original theme and awesome long hair and crazy beard comes in.  Loved this phase of Punk's career (despite being, for all intents and purposes, his least successful from a win/loss standpoint) and the Christ look.

Punk eliminates both guys (even considering Ziggler's current role, it's surprising to see him eliminated so quickly).  Love the Punk promo in between entrants here.  I also love that he gave this religious sermon and closes it with "it's clobbering time."

12:09 - You know what?  Let's do a LIVE thoughts on Rumble 2010.  Dolph Ziggler is #1 with his "I Am Perfection" theme.  Number 2 is Evan Bourne.  Matt Striker brings up a point I've mentioned before -- #1 gets all the accolades, but #2 starts at the same time.  It's weird hearing all of these "from Raw" and "from Smackdown" references.