[2001-01-21-WWF-Royal Rumble] Royal Rumble

[soup23]

This is a weird show as I feel my opinion changes every time I watch. I had always had this one lower than consensus but really enjoyed it this time. Stuff like the hardcore section and the beefy section from #16-#23 didn’t bother me near as much. I think most would say the lull from Bradshaw to Big Show’s return is the down point of the match but they really did some big power man offense and actually were stretching out the stiffness in the Rumble more than usual. The surprises from Drew Caray and Honky Tonk Man were played for comedy. Big Show coming back and chokeslamming Rock through a table was a big moment for him and Haku is such a what the fuck moment since he was just on Sin. That may be the last big moment in the Monday Night War until Shane appears on Nitro. Kane gives a spirited performance and shows a bunch of personality and the star power overall of the individuals focused on leading to the build helped carry the match to a dramatic finale. **** (8.1)