America’s Most Wanted Vs Alias Storm & Haas Vs Second City Saints ( * * * ) – This was a fast paced and exciting opener, which could have been even better if the bookers had given it a bit longer to breathe AND hadn’t saddled it with an ending that left the fans cheesed off. Yes, Alias Storm & Haas won, and won the tag team titles back just ONE month after relinquishing them to AMW…but they did it when Charles Haas pinned the Second City Saints’ Colt Cabana. Deflated isn’t the word…
Chris Kanyon Vs Abyss ( * * * * ) So it was finally to be the end of this wonderful feud, and in the end I suppose it was of little surprise that Kanyon was to be the one with his hand raised in ultimate victory. Still, this was a fantastic match and performance from both men, and the whole thing has been nothing but good from start to finish,
Melina Vs Lisa Marie Veron ( * ¾ ) – Short, not entirely sweet, and Melina retained. That’s about all you need to know.
Matt Morgan Vs The Big Gee ( * * ½ ) – Ok so it was plodding in places, but the fans seemed to enjoy it and both men put forward supreme efforts and had a credible big man match. And one which Morgan won with the Moragsam. Title retained, but who would be getting the opportunity to face him, or whomever the champion might be by then at MuscleMania?
ROBO Rumble Match ( * * * * ) - So the 2006 Rumble kicked off with…SHELTON BENJAMIN making his way to the ring. Shelts hasn’t done all that much recently in the IWF but he’s a guy who is more over than he really has any right to be, and the crowd were interested to see him up first. They were even more interested however when they saw that joining him as the second entrant was none other than CHRIS JERICHO. Jericho ran into the ring, the bell rang and we kicked off the match proper. The two went at it with a great intensity and within 90 seconds, Benjamin had wormed his way out of a Walls Of Jericho attempt and Jericho only just survived a crunching T-Bone suplex.
Entrant three was PAUL WARDLE who looked his usual cocky self. He was content to let Jericho and Benjamin carry on fighting each other but the two soon realised what was happening and they both went after Wardle. They even managed to throw him over the top rope…but he managed to sneak back in under the bottom rope as Benjamin and Jericho continued to batter each other. Wardle realised what was going on and he played possum in the corner as the other two continued to knock seven bells out of each other. That cocky smile even returned to his face, but that disappeared when the countdown ran out and the 4th entrant was revealed as…PHIL JACKSON!!!
The crowd went wild as Jackson stormed the ring and took the fight straight to Wardle as Jericho and Benjamin continued their battle. The two separate battles continued until the 5th entrant, CHRIS BENOIT, made his way to the ting and immediately made his intentions clear by battering anything that moved. In fact the whole match became a five-man free for all, the highlight of which was Benjamin hitting an insane springboard drop-kick on Benoit. As the five battled on, the countdown began for the next entrant…
And the crowd went wild as TRIPLE H made his way in, pausing to spew out his water as usual. And immediately he made an impact by first of all tossing Chris Jericho out and then Shelton Benjamin. Funnily enough, the crowd loved it. He almost did the same to Chris Benoit, but the Rabid Wolverine managed to stave off the onslaught as JOHN CENA, yes he’s still alive, made a “welcome” return to PPV. The fans weren’t exactly ecstatic, and even less so when he made an immediate bee-line for Benoit.
This left Triple H observing the on-going battle between Jackson and Wardle, although he wasn’t observing it for long as he soon decided to try and teach the youngsters a lesson. This continued as MATT HARDY made his way into the ring, who wisely tangled with Cena and Benoit. However, at this point both Jackson and Wardle started to fight back and take the battle to HHH, much to the crowd’s delight.
ACID became the 9th man to enter the Rumble, but he was almost immediately turfed out by John Cena, who was in turn turfed out by Chris Benoit, much to the fan’s delight. BOOKER T was next up and after siding up to Benoit and telling him they should work together, as soon as Benoit’s back was turned he attacked him and gave the crowd a devilish grin as they booed.
By now Triple H was down on the floor, content to take a breather as Wardle and Jackson continued their punishing rivalry. PAUL LONDON made his way down to the ring, to little attention, and two minutes later he was joined by RAY GORDY, the reaction to whom made London’s look like Hulk Hogan had just shown up. It has to be said though that Gordy and London had some pretty swift exchanges, alongside Matt Hardy, and given that Wardle/Jackson and Booker/Benoit were still at war, Triple H really was taking a rest, pretending to be too hurt to fight.
That all looked like it might change when EDGE became the 13th entrant, but instead of targeting Tripper, he immediately went straight for Paul London and tossed him out before also eliminating Ray Gordy. Edge then saw that Booker T and Benoit were perilously close to the ropes and he sneaked up and eliminated both of them.
With Jackson & Wardle still fighting their almighty battle, Edge turned his attention to Matt Hardy. But Triple H saw this as his opportunity, first eliminating Wardle & Jackson as they brawled, and then hitting the same trick with Edge & Hardy! Triple H had a beaming smile as he surveyed the empty ring.
He was smiling even more when GREGORY HELMS became the 14th man to enter. Give Helms credit, he took the fight to HHH, but he was quickly dispatched giving Tripper more time to recuperate. He didn’t look all that worried when BATISTA was unveiled as the next entrant. He looked an awful lot more worried when Batista used his power to knock him over however, but Batista’s moment of glory was short-lived. A low-blow from HHH got Batista off-balance and one clothesline later Trips was once again surveying an empty ring.
But the next entrant wasn’t to HHH’s liking at all, and the reaction from the crowd as DEAN ROBERTS made his way out was electric. The two circled each other as the crowd went off the scale and the two only just locked up for the first time as the countdown for the next entrant began…but when that proved to be SHAWN MICHAELS the crowd became un-glued. The three went at it hammer and tongues, with none of the men seemingly gaining any great advantage. When CARLITO became the 18th entrant he was content to take nearly all of his two minutes to get to the ring and he’d only just stepped in the ring when BURCHILL made his way out, to a polite reception. The three way continued as Burchill and Carlito went at it. And as JOEY MERCURY took us to the half way point for entrants, he joined Burchill and Carlito in having as little as possible to do with the three main event superstars.
KANE became the next man in and he immediately went into the thick of things, breaking up the HHH/HBK/Dean trio and all hell broke loose. In the melee, Dean got rid of Burchill. RICK SHAW was next in and we immediately saw a bit of Champion Vs Champion action between him and Carlito. SEAN O HAIRE then added to the bulk in the ring, becoming the 23rd entrant. The ring was a sea of bodies, but no one was eliminated before RANDY ORTON made his entrance.
Orton made an immediate impact by eliminating old rival O’Haire and as just as the countdown began for the next entrant, Carlito won his mini-battle by tossing Cruiserweight Champion Rick Shaw over the top rope. JOHNNY NITRO was unveiled as the next man in and he immediately went to help his MNM partner Joey Mercury in tangling with Dean Roberts. That was broken up by Kane, and Dean then found himself helping Randy Orton to double team HBK. But no sooner had the two put HBK on the floor, Orton took advantage of a momentary lapse by Dean to toss him over the top rope.
JAMES GIBSON was next to enter the Rumble but as he did so, MNM pulled off a huge shocker by managing to eliminate The Big Red Machine Kane. Gibson didn’t last long either, being sent packing by a bit of HBK’s Sweet Chin Music! BRYAN DANIELSON became the number 27th entrant and the ring filled up again with Danielson joining Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Carlito and MNM in the ring. But then we got another HUGE name entering at number 28…former World Champion Kurt Angle, who got an absolutely booming reception. As soon as he got in the ring Carlito and MNM made a beeline for him and started a three-on-one. They nearly got him out but Angle managed to hold on. ROB VAN DAM then made his way into the ring to join the melee and once again no-one was eliminated by the time entrant number 30, JAY RESO, made his way in.
However things changed quickly as Angle finally managed to overpower Carlito and MNM, with a little help from Shawn Michaels, and Angle eliminated Johnny Nitro, followed shortly by HBK eliminated Joey Mercury. MONTY BROWN was next to come in, getting a small reaction from the crowd and the body count continued to mount as SIMON STARSHOT became entrant 32. He immediately tossed aside Bryan Danielson before joining Reso and RVD in a three-way fist fight. HHH, proving he was still very much in this match despite having been in the ring for over 50 minutes by this point, then eliminated Monty Brown. JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD then became the next entrant, but he picked a fight with the wrong man as Shawn Michaels quickly tossed him back from whence he came.
BRIAN KENDRICK became entrant 34 just as a thrilling exchange between Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle was reaching a climax…and it was HBK who was sent over the top rope by the Olympic Gold medallist. CHAVO GUERRERO joined the fray and the next two minutes saw no-one eliminated as ASHTEN DRAKE made his way in. This meant that with only four entrants to come we had HHH, Orton, Angle, RVD, Reso, Starshot, Kendrick, Guerrero and Drake still in with a chance of winning the Rumble.
Business picked up once more though as entrant 37 made his way to the ring…yes XAVIER was in the house and he got a booming reaction from the crowd as well. Chavo Guerrero went flying out courtesy of Randy Orton and he was soon followed by Ashten Drake, courtesy of Kurt Angle. CHUCK PALUMBO was next in before RHYNO became the 39th and penultimate entrant. Palumbo was sent packing by Randy Orton and Carlito’s valiant effort (he’d been in the match for 40 minutes himself by this point) was finally ended by Triple H.
This left HHH, Orton, Angle, RVD, Reso, Starshot, Kendrick, Xavier and Rhyno in the match, with only one man left to enter….and the atmosphere went mental when number 40 turned out to be the returning BROCK LESNAR!!! He stormed the ring and immediately tossed Rob Van Dam over the top rope. And Rhyno fared no better when he attempted to attack Lesnar and he too was quickly dispatched. Lesnar then turned his attention to the brawling Triple H and Kurt Angle, but this was one act of bravado too far as HHH and Kurt teamed up to double-clothesline Lesnar out of the match.
However this took the last ounce of Triple H’s stamina (he’d passed the hour mark by now) and he was left easy prey for the elimination by Xavier. Brian Kendrick was next to go, courtesy of Randy Orton, and he was quickly followed by the gallant Simon Starshot, who was tossed out by Jay Reso. Xavier then went courtesy of Kurt Angle, leaving Randy Orton, Kurt Angle and Jay Reso as the final three men in.
The crowd were intrigued by the final three and they really were at fever pitch. The three really took it to the limit in the final stretch and when Reso was eliminated by Angle it was all down to Orton and Angle for the right to headline MuscleMania. The crowd were at fever pitch and they thought that Angle had won it when he tossed Orton over the top rope…in fact Angle himself thought he’d won it, but Orton managed to avoid touching the floor, sneaked back into the ring and eliminated Angle from behind to win the 2006 Robo Rumble.
ORDER OF ENTRANTS1) Shelton Benjamin
2) Chris Jericho
3) Paul “The Phenomenon” Wardle
4) “The Graduate” Phil Jackson
5) Chris Benoit
6) Triple H
7) Ray Gordy
8) Matt Hardy
9) Acid
10) Booker T
11) Paul London
12) Ray Gordy
13) Edge
14) Gregory Helms
15) Batista
16) Dean Roberts
17) Shawn Michaels
18) Carlito
19) Paul Burchill
20) Joey Mercury
21) Kane
22) Rick Shaw
23) Sean O’ Haire
24) Randy Orton
25) Johnny Nitro
26) James Gibson
27) Bryan Danielson
28) Kurt Angle
29) Rob Van Dam
30) Jay Reso
31) Monty Brown
32) Simon Starshot
33) Mathuras
34) Brian Kendrick
35) Ashten Drake
36) Bill De Mott
37) Xavier
38) Chuck Palumbo
39) Rhyno
40) Brock Lesnar
ORDER OF ELIMINATION
1) Chris Jericho (Triple H)
2) Shelton Benjamin (Triple H)
3) Acid (John Cena)
4) John Cena (Chris Benoit)
5) Paul London (Edge)
6) Ray Gordy (Edge)
7 & 8) Booker T & Chris Benoit (Edge)
9 &10) Paul Wardle & Phil Jackson (Triple H)
11 & 12) Edge & Matt Hardy (Triple H)
13) Gregory Helms (Triple H)
14) Batista (Triple H)
15) Paul Burchill (Dean Roberts)
16) Sean O Haire (Randy Orton)
17) Rick Shaw (Carlito)
18) Dean Roberts (Randy Orton)
19) Kane (MNM)
20) James Gibson (Shawn Michaels)
21) Johnny Nitro (Kurt Angle)
22) Joey Mercury (Shawn Michaels)
23) Bryan Danielson (Simon Starshot)
24) Monty Brown (Triple H)
25) JBL (Shawn Michaels)
26) Shawn Michaels (Kurt Angle)
27) Chavo Guerrero ( Randy Orton)
28) Ashten Drake (Kurt Angle)
29) Chuck Palumbo (Randy Orton)
30) Carlito (Triple H)
31) Rob Van Dam (Brock Lesnar)
32) Rhyno (Brock Lesnar)
33) Brock Lesnar (Triple H & Kurt Angle)
34) Triple H (Xavier)
35) Brian Kendrick (Randy Orton)
36) Simon Starshot (Jay Reso)
37) Xavier (Kurt Angle)
38) Jay Reso (Kurt Angle)
39) Kurt Angle (Randy Orton)
WINNER = RANDY ORTON!
