It's Royal Rumble week. Are you excited?
The matches:
1. Randy Orton wins 6-man over-the-top-rope challenge. REACT: Orton winning here was a no-brainer, especially since Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase were two of the other five wrestlers.
2. Beth Phoenix defeats Kelly Kelly. REACT: No surprise the Glamazon won this one. And it wasn't a squash either, so Kelly Kelly doesn't lose much.
3. CM Punk defeats William Regal to win the Intercontinental Title. REACT: I'm glad to see Punk win the strap, and his hometown of Chicago got to pop for it.
4. Rey Mysterio beats Mike Knox by DQ. REACT: This is a strong feud that will continue.
5. Cryme Tyme beat John Morrison and The Miz to earn a future title shot. REACT: Although their verbage was entertaining, I can't see Cryme Tyme winning the belts.
6. Melina beats Jillian Hall. REACT: A throwaway match, which Melina rightfully won as she heads into the Royal Rumble.
The good:
1. WWE is really pushing the women's title with Phoenix vs. Melina. Throwing Rosa Mendes into the mix actually is making it more interesting, as opposed to crowding the angle. It looks like Candice Michelle could be a future feud for Melina, as there is hints of her turning heel. Or is Mickie James turning heel, as she is still hanging out with Cody Rhodes?
2. John Cena vs. JBL, with Shawn Michaels, is keeping my interest. It's the puppet angle vs. the employee angle.
3. After too much apologizing, Chris Jericho was rehired and will compete in Sunday's Royal Rumble.
4. The Royal Rumble numbers segment was awesome. 70 percent of Royal Rumble winners go on to win the title, so digest that.
5. Vince McMahon is back. That's great. It was hilarious how Dolph Ziggler was speechless. WWE really pushed two true life events with the mention of Vince's grandkids, causing Stephanie McMahon to leave the ring, and the mention of Cowboy Bob Orton being the reason Randy Orton is a wrestler.
The bad:
1. Having Randy Orton turn on Vince McMahon really hints at WWE wanting Orton to win the Royal Rumble. I hope I'm wrong on this one, as I think Orton still has too many other angles going on to have the world title around his waist.
2. The bad thing about the Cena-JBL angle is this: JBL risks a DQ if Michaels interferes. The referee has to be watching for it, so there is no way Cena can lose Sunday, right?
3. The entire Goldust-Cody Rhodes angle seemed done just to push the Starcade DVD. I have a feeling WWE will never properly follow it up.
4. Was it just me, or did Randy Orton snapping cause you to think of Chris Benoit?
The questions:
1. So, Vince McMahon had a limo this week and JBL didn't. Did Vince hire JBL's limo drivers as I suggested here last week?
2. Don't you think it's unfortunate WWE promoted the "Underworld, Rise of the Lycans" movie while "The Wrestler" is doing so well?
3. Although WWE did tribute Barack Obama in its MLK opening segment, it made sure to mention George Bush as a champion. Do politics belong in wrestling?
4. Do you think Vince McMahon is upset the first person Goldust mentioned on the Starcade DVD was Sting?
5. Why did Chris Jericho's entrance music play on his way to the ring in the last segment if his status was "fired?"
Latest on Sunday's Royal Rumble match:
CM Punk, R-Truth, Carlito, The Brian Kendrick, Triple H, Big Show, Vladimir Kozlov, Shelton Benjamin, Undertaker, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, The Miz, John Morrison, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, Santino Marella and Kane are in according to WWE.com. That's 19 total. Reports suggest Mark Henry and Finlay are also in, so that's 21 total. My predictions for the other 9 are Dolph Ziggler, Manu, Mike Knox, Sim Snuka, William Regal, Hurricane Helms, MVP, Umaga, Chavo Guerrero. Sorry, Mr. Kennedy and The Great Khali. REACT: With Cena and Jeff Hardy as the Raw and Smackdown champions, respectively, entering WrestleMania XXV, Orton and HHH are the favorites out of these 21. I like HHH to win to set up a match with Hardy, or a three-way match of HHH-Hardy-Edge. Undertaker will find an opponent in the can-he-keep-his-WM-streak-alive match.
Later this week, we'll predict WrestleMania matches and have Royal Rumble predictions.