Royal Rumble (2008)
Royal Rumble | |||
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New York City, New York | |||
Venue | Madison Square Garden | ||
Attendance | 20,798[1] | ||
Buy rate | 575,000[2] | ||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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Royal Rumble chronology | |||
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The 2008 Royal Rumble was the 21st annual
Five
Production
Background
The
The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers. Traditionally, the winner of the match earns a
Storylines
The event comprised six matches, including one
Prior to the annual Royal Rumble match, several qualifying matches for the match took place on Raw. The first qualifying match was on the December 31, 2007, episode as
- Royal Rumble Qualification Matches
- Umaga defeated Jim Duggan – Raw, December 29 (aired December 31)[16]
- Snitsky defeated Drew McIntyre – Raw house show, January 4[13]
- Hardcore Holly defeated Trevor Murdoch – Raw house show, January 5[17]
- John Morrison and the Miz defeated Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore – SmackDown/ECW house show, January 6[18]
- Hornswoggle and Mick Foley defeated The Highlanders (Robbie and Rory McAllister) – Raw, January 7[19]
- Jamie Noble defeated Chuck Palumbo – SmackDown, January 8 (aired January 11)[20]
- Cody Rhodes defeated William Regal – Raw house show, January 11[21]
- Carlito and Santino Marella defeated DH Smith and Super Crazy in a tag team match at a Raw house show, January 12[22]
- Shawn Michaels defeated Trevor Murdoch – Raw, January 14[23]
- Over the Top Rope Gauntlet match – Raw, January 21[24]
- CM Punk defeated Chavo Guerrero – WWE supershow, January 26[25]
The main
The main feud on the SmackDown brand was between Rey Mysterio and Edge with the two feuding over the latter's World Heavyweight Championship. Mysterio won a Beat the Clock Challenge on the January 4, 2008 edition of SmackDown! defeating Edge with 90 seconds to go, and securing an opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble.[34]
The rivalry between Chris Jericho and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) started in Jericho's WWE Championship match against Randy Orton at Armageddon. During the match, Orton whipped Jericho over the SmackDown! announce table straight into JBL and when Jericho tried to get up, he "nudged" JBL out of his way. Later in the match, Jericho had Orton trapped in the Walls of Jericho, when JBL stormed into the ring and kicked Jericho in the head, thus giving the win to Jericho via disqualification, and hence, Jericho did not win the WWE Championship.[35] This led to an argument the next night on Raw, where Jericho ended up stating to JBL, who appeared via satellite from the Raw TitanTron, that he was no longer a "wrestling god", but a "wrestling afterthought". Afterward, JBL gave his farewell address as SmackDown! color commentator on the December 21, 2007 airing of SmackDown! and announced his return as an active wrestler on Raw.[36] JBL made his return to Raw on December 31, entering in his personal limousine with balloons and confetti shooting from the ceiling, and proceeded to address the crowd, Jericho quickly interrupted his promo and the two brawled until officials separated them. The following week, Jericho was put into a handicap match against Snitsky and JBL, which ended with JBL hitting Jericho in the head with the ring bell, resulting in a disqualification. He then tied a cable wire around Jericho's neck and dragged Jericho, by the wire, from near the ring to the Raw set, where he assaulted him some more. Jericho suffered from a bruised larynx, burns around his neck, and had difficulty speaking for a week.[37]
Event
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
English commentators
|
Jim Ross (Raw) |
Jerry Lawler (Raw) | |
Michael Cole (SmackDown) | |
Jonathan Coachman (SmackDown) | |
Joey Styles (ECW) | |
Tazz (ECW) | |
Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
Hugo Savinovich | |
Interviewer
|
Mike Adamle |
Ring announcers | Lilian Garcia (Raw) |
Justin Roberts (SmackDown) | |
Michael Buffer (Royal Rumble Match) | |
Referees | Charles Robinson |
Mike Chioda | |
Mickie Henson | |
Mike Posey | |
Jack Doan | |
Jim Korderas
| |
Chad Patton | |
Marty Elias | |
Scott Armstrong |
Before the event went live on pay-per-view,
The second match was between
The third match was for the
The fourth match was between the Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton for Orton's WWE Championship. Early in the match, Hardy performed a baseball slide on Orton who hit head-first into the barricade outside due to the impact. Knowing he couldn't win the WWE Championship via a countout victory, Hardy brought the knocked-out Orton into the ring. Later, Orton took advantage in the match, as he applied a body scissors on Hardy, followed by a choke-hold. Some of the other main highlights of the match were Hardy performing a Whisper in the Wind on Orton; and, later executing a moonsault from the top-rope to Orton outside the ring. When Hardy brought Orton back in the ring and tried to deliver a Twist of Fate, Orton suddenly reversed it into an RKO and pinned Hardy to retain his WWE title.[39][40][41]
Main event
The main event was the annual
Aftermath
The next night on Raw, John Cena said that he did not want to wait until WrestleMania XXIV to face Randy Orton. The two agreed to face each other at No Way Out for the WWE Championship. In the match, Cena won after Orton intentionally got himself disqualified. As a result, Orton retained the title.[42] At No Way Out, Triple H won Raw's Elimination Chamber match by last pinning Jeff Hardy after a Pedigree on a steel chair, earning the right to face Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV.[43] At WrestleMania XXIV, Randy Orton retained the WWE Championship against Triple H and John Cena in a triple threat match.
The
During the 2008 WWE Draft, the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship switched brands.[47]
Results
No. | Results dark match |
---|
- ^ If Flair had lost, he would have been forced to retire from in-ring competition.
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
- – Raw
- – SmackDown
- – ECW
- – Hall of Famer (HOF)
- – Winner
Draw[54] | Entrant[54] | Brand/ Status |
Order | Eliminated by[54] | Time[54] | Eliminations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Undertaker | SmackDown | 11 | Shawn Michaels | 32:33 | 3 |
2 | Shawn Michaels | Raw | 12 | Mr. Kennedy | 32:39 | 2 |
3 | Santino Marella | Raw | 1 | The Undertaker | 00:25 | 0 |
4 | The Great Khali | SmackDown | 2 | The Undertaker | 01:09 | 0 |
5 | Hardcore Holly | Raw | 6 | Umaga | 13:46 | 0 |
6 | John Morrison | ECW | 14 | Kane | 29:23 | 0 |
7 | Tommy Dreamer | ECW | 3 | Batista | 02:09 | 0 |
8 | Batista | SmackDown | 28 | Triple H | 37:46 | 4 |
9 | Hornswoggle | SmackDown | 16 | Never re-entered match[1] | 26:17 | 1 |
10 | Chuck Palumbo | SmackDown | 5 | CM Punk | 04:00 | 1 |
11 | Jamie Noble | SmackDown | 4 | Chuck Palumbo | 00:28 | 0 |
12 | CM Punk | ECW | 17 | Chavo Guerrero | 23:50 | 1 |
13 | Cody Rhodes | Raw | 18 | Triple H | 23:14 | 0 |
14 | Umaga | Raw | 26 | Batista | 26:05 | 1 |
15 | Snitsky | Raw | 10 | The Undertaker | 12:26 | 0 |
16 | The Miz | ECW | 13 | Hornswoggle | 13:07 | 0 |
17 | Shelton Benjamin | ECW | 7 | Shawn Michaels | 00:18 | 0 |
18 | Jimmy Snuka | HOF | 9 | Kane | 02:43 | 0 |
19 | Roddy Piper | HOF | 8 | 01:00 | 0 | |
20 | Kane | SmackDown | 27 | Batista & Triple H | 17:58 | 3 |
21 | Carlito | Raw | 22 | John Cena | 15:07 | 0 |
22 | Mick Foley | Raw | 20 | Triple H | 11:29 | 0 |
23 | Mr. Kennedy | Raw | 25 | Batista | 13:32 | 1 |
24 | Big Daddy V | ECW | 19 | Triple H | 07:49 | 0 |
25 | Mark Henry | SmackDown | 24 | John Cena | 09:12 | 0 |
26 | Chavo Guerrero | ECW | 23 | John Cena | 07:33 | 1 |
27^ | Finlay | SmackDown | 15 | Himself[2] | 00:00 | 0 |
28 | Elijah Burke | ECW | 21 | Triple H | 02:11 | 0 |
29 | Triple H | Raw | 29 | John Cena | 11:22 | 6 |
30 | John Cena | Raw | — | Winner | 08:28 | 4 |
^ Hornswoggle spent most of the match under the ring before being forced into the ring by Mark Henry, who would then team up with Big Daddy V to assault him. Finlay, who was supposed to be the next scheduled entrant, came out early and attacked them both with his shillelagh and was immediately disqualified. He left the ring with Hornswoggle, who left through the ropes and never returned.
References
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