‘WWE Royal Rumble 2013’ Blu-ray Review
WWE kicks off 2013 with the Royal Rumble and once again The Rock is back and this time he’s setting his sights on CM Punk intending to dethrone him as WWE Champion and regain the title he last held 10 years ago! Plus, 30 or more Superstars compete in WWE’s historic over-the-top rope main event where one superstar earns a chance to main event WrestleMania 29.
The Royal Rumble has always been a favourite PPV of mine, ever since the glory days of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior facing off mid-Rumble in 1990 (I was, and always will be, a huge Warrior fan). However recent years have seen the event turned into nothing more than an advert for Wrestlemania – and the 2013 Royal Rumble is no different. Taking place at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona and saw a number of long-standing (at least in wrestling terms) feuds come to a head both in the Rumble and before. Opening with a rematch featuring World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio defending his title against Big Show in a Last Man Standing match which, given the Big Show’s previous match with Del Rio, I wasn’t expecting much from. And I was right. A bitter disappointment that was not made any better by a ridiculous finisher that saw Big Show taped to the ring!
One bad championship match was followed by another as reigning WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) defended their titles against Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow). The less said about this match the better… Although I will say Rhodes and Sandow do make for a great tag team.
So on to the Rumble itself. And all I can say is thank god for Dolph Ziggler, who once again managed to use his skills to put over others, lasting a huge 50 minutes – all the way to the final four – before being finally thrown over the top by Sheamus. But it was not only Ziggler who put on a great show, thankfully the WWE decided that this year should be the year of “surprises” as not only did Chris Jericho return to the WWE for the Rumble, so did Goldust (battling his brother Cody Rhodes) and The Godfather. But the biggest surprise of the 2013 Royal Rumble has to go to Kofi Kingston who, about to be eliminated, jumps onto the back of recently eliminated Tensai who puts him on to the announce table. Kingston then gets back on to the apron using a chair like a pogo stick! It was a brilliant sight to see, just a shame Kingston was pretty much eliminated straight away after putting on such a crazy show. If there were a number of surprises during the Royal Rumble, one thing that wasn’t surprising was the conclusion – the fact that John Cena and The Rock would face off at Wrestlemania 29 was well telegraphed so it came to no surprise that Cena won the Rumble.
The main event features reigning WWE Champion CM Punk defending his title against The Rock in a match that has no surprises and was, compared to the Rumble that took place before it, a bit of a damp squib and a rather mediocre ending to a less than stellar Royal Rumble. The only highlight of the main event was the appearance of The Shield – a faction that are providing some of the best moments in the WWE universe right now.
A poor start to the 2013 WWE calendar, WWE Royal Rumble 2013 is out now on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of FremantleMedia.
