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The Royal Rumble home to the best title matches?


Scott,

The Royal Rumble the most prestigious battle royal ever devised but what about the title matches that take place on the show, there have been some true classics.

Angle vs Benoit from 2003 and Cena vs Umaga from 2007 instantly spring to mind as being the best but do you have any other favourite title matches which took place at the Rumble?

Thanks.

​I'm pretty fond of the Randy Orton v. Jeff Harvey match where they got me to buy into the "Elevation of Jeffrey Nero" storyline and then were like "Psych! We're gonna keep pushing Orton instead for a while".  Even if the usual RKO Outta Nowhere finish was a letdown, it was still a good match.  I think there was also a hell of a World title match between Undertaker and Rey Mysterio on that show, featuring Taker ragdolling Rey all over the ring in what was actually a fresh matchup for once.  

Also, HHH v. Scott Steiner.  Duh.  ​

Comments

  1. Shawn vs Sid wasn't a terrible match. Not great, but not terrible.

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  2. I'm pretty surprised neither of you mentioned Cactus Jack vs HHH. One of my favorite matches ever.

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  3. Me too. And don't forget Rock vs Jericho.

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  4. Definitely. I also appreciate Mankind/Rock.

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  5. Outside of the obvious ones, I always have a fond place for Warrior vs Slaughter, if only for the outrageous cheating by Savage and the nuclear heat from the crowd. Even if the whole Slaughter/Gulf War thing was kind of in poor taste and lackluster overall afterwards, that match was some fine heel work.

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  6. Big Show-ADR and Bret/Razor are kind of underrated too.

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  7. Triple H vs. Scott Steiner is a guilty pleasure type of match. My dad thought the match was awesome since Steiner "dominated" Triple H in the match. My dad died in 2003 after the match in October, and when I re-watched parts of it - I was shocked how much it really stunk.

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  8. Also thought the Bret/Diesel and Bret/Undertaker title matches from 95 and 96 are actually really good, but don't get remembered because of the non-finishes.

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  9. That Hulk Hogan title defense at the 1987 Royal Rumble was awesome.

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  10. Even though it wasn't for the world title, I'd argue that the Piper-Mountie match almost eclipsed the Rumble match later on the night.

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  11. Bret vs. Diesel was good. If Diesel had wrestled Bret Hart for a year, he might have drawn better but rates.

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  12. Yeah, but the three superkick match was a 1,000 times better.

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  13. Flair carried that show on his back

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  14. Shawn and HHH from 2004 was an ugly match. I was watching it today and both guys did these HUGE gig jobs. Michaels then puts HHH in a sleeper - HHH is bleeding, and Michaels is bleeding all over HHH and himself, and HHH is bleeding all over Michaels arm, and I'm really glad they decided to put a stop to that shit.

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  15. You could also argue climate change is caused by your farts. That argument might go a little farther.

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  16. I find it sad that Yoko/Taker probably wins most memorable Rumble title match.

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  17. You're so full of shit.

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  18. Brainfart there. That's definitely the best one.

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  19. You could make a pretty serviceable DVD/Network Playlist out of Rumble title matches alone.
    Jumping Bomb Angels/Glamour Girls 2/3 Falls Match from 88
    Piper/Mountie from 92
    Shawn/Marty and Bret/Razor from 93
    Bret & Owen/Quebecers from 94
    Bret/Diesel from 95
    Shawn/Taker Casket Match from 98
    HHH/Cactus Street Fight from 2000
    Benoit/Jericho Ladder Match from 2001
    Rock/Jericho from 2002
    Benoit/Angle from 2003
    HHH/Michaels Last Man Standing Match from 2004
    JBL/Big Show/Angle Triple Threat Match from 2005
    Cena/Edge from 2006
    Cena/Umaga Last Man Standing Match from 2007
    Edge/Mysterio and Orton/Hardy from 2008
    Edge/Hardy No DQ from 2009
    Mysterio/Taker from 2010
    Edge/Ziggler from 2011
    Punk/Ziggler from 2012
    Punk/Rock from 2013

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  20. Dude, omitting Taker/Yoko from that list is like omitting Mountie from greatest IC champions list.

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  21. I always thought of the rumble with a bunch of "there is no possible one the challnger is winning" matches with hardcore holly; bret against diesel; taker against shawn; ziggler x2, mark henry against angle, chris benoit in 2003, jbl in 2009, rey in 2010

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  22. I do remember how funny it was that Jeff came up short against Orton, fans ranting and raving about how terrible a decision that was...then just a few weeks later, Jeff is busted and suspended and everyone realizes the bullet WWE dodged by how it would have screwed up Mania.

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  23. Abeyance vs 30 guys at the 92 Rumble is the hands down winner here

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  24. That's a funny way to spell 'Heenan'

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  25. Yeah, I was very surprised that THAT match wasn't mentioned in the original e-mail. Or in Scott's reply.

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  26. Next you will be telling me Superstar Billy Graham didn't swim across the Atlantic Ocean.
    http://youtu.be/XRO3q0WB6pU

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  27. I was a BIG fan of that Taker/Rey match, and had really fond memories of it for the last few years. I rewatched it a few weeks ago, though, and found it really plodding and boring.

    I think they had three matches around that time (two on "Smackdown" in the build-up to the PPV), all of which I thought were great, and would be really disappointed if the other two don't hold up for me.

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  28. He carried the announcing for sure.

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  29. Classy move by Vince ignoring Jesse pointing out that he himself is a veteran.

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