A Sour 2006 Royal Rumble Taps Into Fans' Emotions

 

The bullet train that was bulldozing through the Rumble history and lineage, decided to slow down relatively quick in the year 2006. All of the momentum that was pushing through the WWE to the next level sort of went on a halt at the start of 2006.  First off, 2006 may have been one of the last years of WWE’s “era of violence” as this yeah, may have questionably had the most blood shed in matches. But not only that, some of the action was at its most unorthodox and a different level of excitement.

The 2006 Royal Rumble started off with a bang as we had a six-man cruiserweight match for the Crusierweight title. This match may have been the highlight of the night actually as Gregory Helms defeated Kid Kash, Funaki, Jamie Noble, Nunvio and Paul London for him to win the Crusierweight title.

This Rumble had six matches. Now, we have seen in the past where the Championship title main event match would come after the Royal Rumble (1995 for example), however, we’ve never seen it where the Rumble was virtually in the middle of the card in this format. Out of a card of six matches, the Rumble match was #4? After a Boogeyman match? And an Ashley Massaro match?

History was made once again as Rey Mysterio would be #2 in the rumble, facing off against #1 Triple H and going the distance with Triple H. Rey Mysterio would outlast the other 29 men and win the 2006 Royal Rumble, setting a new Rumble record of being in the ring for 62 minuets. However, that win didn’t just mean a title match for Mysterio at Mania, but since Eddie Guerrero passed away two months prior, that emotional win was dedicated to him. After the Rumble match #5 would be John Cena vs Edge for the WWE Championship and Cena would win the title. And the 6th match we would see Kurt Angle vs Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship with Kurt retaining. The Rumble doesn’t close the show. Cena winning the championship doesn’t close the show. Retaining a championship does? And very underwhelming Royal Rumble overall.

 

Maurice D. Proffit is a Writer for Rant Sports