Rumble Young Man Rumble III - Escape From New York

Time once again for that most favored time of the year, it's Royal Rumble weekend! And as anyone who's read this blog for the past couple of years knows, it's easily my favorite PPV of the year and has been for a long time. This year's edition is going to be extremely interesting on a number of fronts. Despite the usual predictions there doesn't seem to be a clear cut favorite to win the Rumble match itself this week, and at least one of the world title matches has a certain air of mistique surrounding it.

Also helping this year's show is the fact that it's taking place at arguably the most famous arena in the world, Madison Square Garden. MSG almost always has a fun show (WM XX, Rumble 2000 , Survivor Series '96 and several Raws immediately spring to mind) and atmosphere, and this one should be no different. On with the card...

Jeff Hardy v. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship:
Hardy has been on absolute fire for the past six months or so, and in general since his return to the company in the fall of '06. The crowds absolutely bug out for the guy and treat him like a rock star, and his in-ring skills have progressed quite a bit from his spotmonkey Attitude days. Orton's carried the title fairly well since picking it up when John Cena went down to injury, and this entire fued has been booked exceedingly well since the start. Could be that it's the first title fued not to involve Cena or HHH in years, but that'll get me onto another tangent. The bottom line is this storyline has been tremendous, and I would have no qualms with it running right through to Mania. Logic and backstage rumor has Orton hanging onto the belt for HHH at 'Mania, and while I firmly believe that'll be what happens I just can't help but hope for a huge upset and Hardy coming away with the gold. Even if it's not a longterm run, the initial fallout would be huge and it would cement Jeff as a superstar forever.

Edge v. Rey Misterio for the World Championship:
Two years ago Edge's first title run came to an unsatisfying conclusion when Cena won the belt back. It took several months but Edge got another run... and promptly lost it to John Cena in a TLC match in Edge's hometown (side note: I was there and it was awesome, finish notwithstanding). Fast forward to post-WM last year and Edge pops up on Smackdown and steals yet another title, this time from Undertaker. Injury forced yet ANOTHER quick dropping of the title, but Edge came two months ago and quickly nabbed his fourth heavyweight championship. I absolutely LOVE the Rated R gimmick and most everything about Edge these days. I could do without the Vickie Guerrero thing, but picking up the Major Brothers and forming a stable with them as goons is tremendous. This current fued with Rey is just sort of there, but if nothing else the match stands to be great. And hey, it could be worse (read: Batista). Edge wins by shady means.

Ric Flair v. MVP:
It's not clear whether this match is actually for the U.S. Championship currently held by MVP (funny how they never mention who MVP beat for the title...), but the stips keep mentioning that it's a career threatening match so my guess is no. This storyline where Ric has to keep winning or he's forced to retire has been a little slipshot to say the least, and lacks consistency. I'm not saying he's got to be on every single show wrestling, but since the angle started there have been weeks where it seems like the angle is forgotten and Flair is nowhere to be found. Only to be dragged out when they have some time on the show to kill. There's no use complaining about how a Smackdown star has been getting matches primarily on Raw since the brand split is only useful when they want it to be. Bottom line, this has potential to be a great match as well, and MVP has shown himself to be one of the company's future superstars. A lot of people seem to be thinking that Flair wins here and the rubber match (MVP won back in June at Vengeance: Night Before Things Went To Hell) goes to MVP at Wrestlemania. I'd be for that _IF_ Matt Hardy isn't able to compete at WM, otherwise I'd rather see the Hardy-MVP blowoff finally happen and let Ric retire against someone else (Someone from Evolution?). But here, Flair wins and probably cheats to do so.

JBL v. Chris Jericho:
Amazingly enough, neither guy was on the roster two months ago. Jericho's return has been solid but unspectacular thanks to the booking, which is dissapointing to say the least. JBL's in-ring return was surprising, but let's face it... Bradshaw's strength has always been his mouth. I'd be in favor of him returning to the ring if it wasn't at Jericho's expense. Y2J was the hottest property in the company until the last PPV and since then he's been shuffled right back into the midcard. Which is a crime IMO, because Jericho should be one of the guys the company should spotlight with all the problems they've been having in the mainstream. As far as this match goes, I say JBL wins somehow, but the program continues to Mania where Jericho goes over. At least, I hope.

The Rumble Match:
Thus far the website lists 24 participants in the Rumble match. There might be obvious picks not included, but I'm not that observant so let's just assume there's at least one or two mystery slots available. You would THINK one of those would go to Big Show, who's the latest resigning surprise. Sure, if he doesn't win it he's just one of 30 guys... big deal. It's a huge surprise that most aren't expecting, and reinforces the "anything can happen" motto. Ron Killings might be another guy you could slot in there since he has a WWE past also, and is fresh off a TNA stint which means some national exposure (and two NWA world title wins, if you really want to scan the resume). I wouldn't put it past them to throw in a legend or two (other than Mick Foley, and god help us if it's Sgt. Slaughter) either. What's Bob Backlund doing these days?

I don't really want to predict this match, but once again I just hope for a surprise winner. It's usually pretty obvious who'll win, and this year the top candidates seem to be HHH and Undertaker, both of whom have already won Rumbles. I'm begging them to throw us a curve and have a non-obvious person win. I don't even care if they keep the title shot at WM or lose it afterwards, just stop with the repeat winners. Realistically I'll go with HHH given all that he had to do to qualify for the match, but if all were a fair world it'd be CM Punk winning and cashing in to face Edge (he DID just cost Punk the ECW Title afterall).