Royal Rumble (2011)

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Royal Rumble (2011)
File:Royal Rumble (2011).jpg
Promotional poster featuring various WWE wrestlers
Tagline(s) The Biggest Royal Rumble in History
Theme
song(s)		 "Living in a Dream" by Finger Eleven[1]
Information
Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s) Raw
SmackDown
Date January 30, 2011[2]
Attendance 15,113[3]
Venue TD Garden[2]
City Boston, Massachusetts[2]
Pay-per-view chronology
TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (2010) Royal Rumble (2011) Elimination Chamber (2011)
Royal Rumble chronology
Royal Rumble (2010) Royal Rumble (2011) Royal Rumble (2012)

Royal Rumble (2011) was the twenty-fourth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 30, 2011 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts,[2] and featured talent from the Raw and SmackDown brands. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania (in this instance: WrestleMania XXVII) for his choice at either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship.

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

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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
1D 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
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  • (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
1 CM Punk Raw 21 John Cena 35:21 7
2 Daniel Bryan Raw 8 CM Punk 20:55 2
3 Justin Gabriel SD 1 Daniel Bryan 00:58 0
4 Zack Ryder Raw 2 00:43 0
5 William Regal Raw 3 Ted DiBiase 04:10 0
6 Ted DiBiase Raw 7 Michael McGillicutty & Husky Harris 12:16 1
7 John Morrison Raw 10 CM Punk, David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty & Husky Harris 13:24 0
8 Yoshi Tatsu Raw 5 Mark Henry 05:35 0
9 Husky Harris Raw 15 The Great Khali 15:48 3
10 Chavo Guerrero SD 4 Mark Henry 02:01 0
11 Mark Henry Raw 11 CM Punk, David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty & Husky Harris 07:04 2
12 JTG SD 6 Michael McGillicutty 01:48 0
13 Michael McGillicutty Raw 20 John Cena 15:07 4
14 Chris Masters SD 9 CM Punk 01:58 0
15 David Otunga Raw 19 John Cena 11:56 2
16 Tyler Reks SD 12 CM Punk 00:34 0
17 Vladimir Kozlov Raw 13 00:40 0
18 R-Truth Raw 14 01:02 0
19 The Great Khali Raw 16 Mason Ryan 01:17 1
20 Mason 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[1] 34:17 7
23 Hornswoggle SD 24 King Sheamus 09:39 0
24 Tyson Kidd Raw 22 John Cena 00:53 0
25 Heath Slater SD 23 00:57 0
26 Kofi Kingston SD 31 Randy Orton 26:04 1
27 Jack Swagger SD 25 Rey Mysterio 04:41 0
28 King Sheamus Raw 32 Randy Orton 21:49 1
29 Rey Mysterio SD 35 Wade Barrett 23:56 2
30 Wade Barrett SD 37 Randy Orton 22:23 2
31 Dolph Ziggler SD 27 Big Show 07:12 0
32 Diesel Legend 26 Wade Barrett 02:45 0
33 Drew McIntyre SD 29 Big Show 04:46 0
34 Alex Riley Raw 28 John Cena & Kofi Kingston 02:50 0
35 Big Show SD 30 Ezekiel Jackson 01:30 2
36 Ezekiel Jackson SD 33 Kane 07:14 1
37 Santino Marella Raw 39 Alberto Del Rio 12:54 0
38 Alberto Del Rio SD — Winner 09:33 2
39 Randy 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.

See also

References

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  7. ↑ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/11.htm
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ name="WWEChampionship">Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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