Royal Rumble (2011)

Four matches were featured on the event's supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The main event was the annual Royal Rumble match featuring 40 participants from both brands, instead of the usual number of 30. Alberto Del Rio, the thirty-eighth entrant, won the match by last eliminating Santino Marella, the thirty-seventh entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand was for the WWE Championship, between reigning champion The Miz and Randy Orton, which The Miz won to retain the championship. The primary match on the SmackDown brand was Edge versus Dolph Ziggler for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Edge won, to retain the title. The other featured match on the card was a Fatal Four Way match for the WWE Divas Championship between Eve Torres, Natalya, Layla and Michelle McCool, which Torres won to win the championship.

Background

See also: Professional wrestling

Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Raw, SmackDown, and Superstars—World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches.^[4] All wrestlers were from WWE's Raw and SmackDown brands—a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to a television program of the same name.

The pay-per-view featured the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. However, for the first and only time in the history of the event, the Royal Rumble match featured 40 wrestlers instead of the usual number of 30. The same rules implied regardless of the number of entrants; the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 39 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor. The winner would earn a world championship match of their choosing at WrestleMania XXVII.

In addition to the Royal Rumble match, the main rivalry from the Raw brand involved the WWE Champion The Miz defending his title against Randy Orton. The night after Survivor Series, The Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Orton to become the WWE Champion before successfully defending it against Orton a month later at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. After defeating Wade Barrett and Sheamus, in a steel cage match on an episode of Raw, Orton received another opportunity at the title in a match against The Miz.

The main rivalry from the SmackDown brand involved the World Heavyweight Champion Edge defending his title against Dolph Ziggler. After defeating "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre and The Big Show, Ziggler won a title opportunity for Edge's World Heavyweight Championship after Kane lost to Edge in his rematch. After winning his opportunity, Edge went on a campaign against Ziggler and his girlfriend, Edge's ex-wife, Vickie Guerrero. On the January 28 episode of SmackDown, Vickie Guerrero, who was the acting General Manager in place of the injured Theodore Long, banned the use of the spear and would strip him of his title if he was caught using it during his match against Ziggler.

The Divas rivalry entering the Royal Rumble was between Natalya and LayCool over the Divas Championship. Natalya defeated LayCool in a handicap match at Survivor Series to win the Divas Championship, and she would later team with Beth Phoenix in defeating LayCool in a Divas tag team Tables Match at TLC. On the December 20 edition of Raw, Melina defeated Eve Torres and Alicia Fox in a #1 Contender's Triple Threat Match, and slapped Natalya after the match ended, turning Melina villainous in the process. On the January 24, 2011 edition of Raw, Natalya defeated the evil Melina to retain her title, and after the match ended, LayCool entered and announced that they will cash in their rematch clause at the Royal Rumble event.

Reception

Royal Rumble received positive reviews, most notably from Arda Ocal and Jim Korderas of Right After Wrestling on SIRIUS Radio 98, who called it one of the best Royal Rumble matches in recent memory. Writing for the United Kingdom's The Sun newspaper, Rob McNichol praised the event, particularly noting Alberto Del Rio's surprise Rumble match victory, and John Morrison's impressive performance which, he wrote, "featured arguably the spot of the decade as John Morrison was knocked from the apron to the guardrail, but avoided elimination by gripping the barrier and leaping back onto the steps. It truly had to be seen to be believed". He further praised Dolph Ziggler's performance in a big-match situation, giving a 9 out of 10 rating in his match with Edge and the story the Miz–Orton told, in a match that received an 8 out of 10. Overall he awarded the event 8.5 out of 10.^[5] SLAM! Wrestling writers Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk shared similar compliments to the event, praising the short, though crowd-pleasing appearances of Kevin Nash and Booker T. Overall, they also awarded the event a score of 8.5/10. The event received 476,000 buys, up from the previous year's 465,000.^[6]

Results

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times
1^D	R-Truth defeated Curt Hawkins	Singles match^[7]	4:20
2	Edge (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero)	Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship If Edge had used the spear, he would have lost the championship.^[8]	20:45
3	The Miz (c) (with Alex Riley) defeated Randy Orton	Singles match for the WWE Championship^[9]	19:50
4	Eve Torres defeated Natalya (c), Layla and Michelle McCool	Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Divas Championship^[10]	05:14
5	Alberto Del Rio won by last eliminating Santino Marella	40-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania XXVII	1:09:49
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match D – indicates the match was a dark match

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

Red ██ and "Raw" indicates a Raw wrestler, blue ██ and "SD" indicates a SmackDown wrestler, Beige ██ and "Legend" indicates a WWE Legend ^[11]

Draw	Entrant	Brand	Order	Eliminated by	Time	Eliminations
01 !1	Punk, CMCM Punk	Raw	21	John Cena	35:21	7
02 !2	Bryan, DanielDaniel Bryan	Raw	8	CM Punk	20:55	2
03 !3	Gabriel, JustinJustin Gabriel	SD	1	Daniel Bryan	00:58	0
04 !4	Ryder, ZackZack Ryder	Raw	2	Daniel Bryan	00:43	0
05 !5	Regal, WilliamWilliam Regal	Raw	3	Ted DiBiase	04:10	0
06 !6	DiBiase, TedTed DiBiase	Raw	7	Michael McGillicutty & Husky Harris	12:16	1
07 !7	Morrison, JohnJohn Morrison	Raw	10	CM Punk, David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty & Husky Harris	13:24	0
08 !8	Tatsu, YoshiYoshi Tatsu	Raw	5	Mark Henry	05:35	0
09 !9	Harris, HuskyHusky Harris	Raw	15	The Great Khali	15:48	3
10	Guerrero, ChavoChavo Guerrero	SD	4	Mark Henry	02:01	0
11	Henry, MarkMark Henry	Raw	11	CM Punk, David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty & Husky Harris	07:04	2
12	JTG	SD	6	Michael McGillicutty	01:48	0
13	McGillicutty, MichaelMichael McGillicutty	Raw	20	John Cena	15:07	4
14	Masters, ChrisChris Masters	SD	9	CM Punk	01:58	0
15	Otunga, DavidDavid Otunga	Raw	19	John Cena	11:56	2
16	Reks, TylerTyler Reks	SD	12	CM Punk	00:34	0
17	Kozlov, VladimirVladimir Kozlov	Raw	13		00:40	0
18	R-Truth, R-Truth	Raw	14		01:02	0
19	Khali, The GreatThe Great Khali	Raw	16	Mason Ryan	01:17	1
20	Ryan, MasonMason Ryan	Raw	18	John Cena	04:32	2
21	Booker T	Legend	17	Mason Ryan	01:08	0
22	John Cena	Raw	36	The Miz	34:17	7
23	Hornswoggle	SD	24	King Sheamus	09:39	0
24	Kidd, TysonTyson Kidd	Raw	22	John Cena	00:53	0
25	Slater, HeathHeath Slater	SD	23	John Cena	00:57	0
26	Kingston, KofiKofi Kingston	SD	31	Randy Orton	26:04	1
27	Swagger, JackJack Swagger	SD	25	Rey Mysterio	04:41	0
28	Sheamus, KingKing Sheamus	Raw	32	Randy Orton	21:49	1
29	Mysterio, ReyRey Mysterio	SD	35	Wade Barrett	23:56	2
30	Barrett, WadeWade Barrett	SD	37	Randy Orton	22:23	2
31	Ziggler, DolphDolph Ziggler	SD	27	Big Show	07:12	0
32	Diesel	Legend	26	Wade Barrett	02:45	0
33	McIntyre, DrewDrew McIntyre	SD	29	Big Show	04:46	0
34	Riley, AlexAlex Riley	Raw	28	John Cena & Kofi Kingston	02:50	0
35	Big Show	SD	30	Ezekiel Jackson	01:30	2
36	Jackson, EzekielEzekiel Jackson	SD	33	Kane	07:14	1
37	Marella, SantinoSantino Marella	Raw	39	Alberto Del Rio	12:54	0
38	Del Rio, AlbertoAlberto Del Rio	SD	40 !—	40 !Winner	09:33	2
39	Orton, RandyRandy Orton	Raw	38	Alberto Del Rio	08:18	3
40	Kane	SD	34	Rey Mysterio	01:36	1

^ The Miz was not a participant in the Royal Rumble match.

References

↑ "Royal Rumble: "Living in a Dream" by Finger Eleven is the official theme song for Royal Rumble". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
1 2 3 4 Cohen, Eric. "Royal Rumble Results 1998 – Present". About.com. Retrieved February 25, 2014. Royal Rumble 2011 – TD Garden; Boston, MA 1/30/11
↑ Martin, Adam (February 2, 2011). "Recent WWE attendance figures (1/22 to 2/1)". WrestleView. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
↑ "Live & Televised Entertainment of World Wrestling Entertainment". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
↑ McNichol, Rob (January 31, 2011). "Del Boy wins a Pukka Rumble". The Sun (London).
↑ "Super-size Royal Rumble saves biggest surprise for last".
↑ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/11.htm
↑ "Results: Irrepressible Spear". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
↑ name="WWEChampionship">"Results: Boston popped". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
↑ "Results: "Eve"-ning the odds". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
↑ "2011 Royal Rumble Statistics and Eliminations". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved January 31, 2011.

External links

Official website

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