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

Event

Preliminary matches

The first match was for the World Heavyweight Championship between Edge and Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero), with the stipulation that Edge would lose the World Heavyweight Championship should he use the Spear. During the match, Edge applied the Edgecator on Ziggler but Ziggler touched the Bottom Rope, forcing Edge to break the hold. Ziggler performed a Leg Drop Bulldog on Edge for a near-fall. Ziggler applied a Sleeper Hold on Edge but Edge fought out of the hold and performed an Edgecution on Ziggler. Edge pinned Ziggler but Guerrero pulled the Referee, voiding the Pinfall at a two count. Whilst Kelly Kelly attacked Guerrero, Ziggler performed a Zig Zag on Edge for a near-fall. Ziggler applied a second Sleeper Hold on Edge but Edge collided with the Referee. Whilst the Referee was down, Edge performed a Spear on Ziggler. Edge performed a Killswitch on Ziggler to retain the title.

The second match was for the WWE Championship between The Miz (with Alex Riley) and Randy Orton. During the match, Orton attempted to perform an RKO on The Miz but The Miz countered the move before The Miz attempted to perform a Skull Crushing Finale on Orton but Orton countered the move before Orton performed an Olympic Slam on The Miz. The Miz retrieved the WWE Championship Belt and attempted to walk away but Orton performed a Clothesline on Miz. Orton performed an Elevated DDT on Miz before The Nexus appeared. Whilst the Referee was distracted by The Nexus, Orton threw Riley over the Top Rope onto The Nexus, causing the Referee to be knocked down. Orton performed an RKO on The Miz but Punk performed a GTS on Orton. When the Referee recovered, Miz pinned Orton to retain the title.

The third match was a Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Divas Championship between Natalya, Layla and Michelle McCool and Eve Torres. During the match, Natalya applied a Double Sharpshooter on Eve and Layla but McCool performed a Big Boot on Natalya. McCool attempted to perform a Big Boot on Natalya but Natalya avoided the move, resulting in McCool performed a Big Boot on Layla. Eve performed a Diving Moonsault on Layla to win the title.

Main event

Alberto Del Rio, the winner of the Royal Rumble, at the 2011 Tribute to the Troops event

The main event was the 40-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania XXVII. CM Punk entered at #1 whilst United States Champion Daniel Bryan entered at #2. Punk would last the longest in the match for over 35 minutes and scored seven eliminations, eliminating Bryan, John Morrison, Mark Henry, with the assistance of The Nexus, Chris Masters, Tyler Reks, WWE Tag Team Champion Vladimir Kozlov and R-Truth.

Booker T was a surprise entrant at #21 but he was eliminated by Mason Ryan. John Cena, the twenty-second entrant, scored seven eliminations, eliminating Ryan, David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, Punk, Tyson Kidd, and Heath Slater. Diesel was a surprise entrant at #32 but he was eliminated by Wade Barrett. Alex Riley was eliminated by Cena and Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston. WWE Champion The Miz eliminated Cena, leaving Barrett, WWE Tag Team Champion Santino Marella, Alberto Del Rio and Randy Orton as the final four.

Orton eliminated Barrett but was eliminated by Del Rio. Whilst Del Rio argued with a referee, Marella performed a Cobra on Del Rio. Marella attempted to eliminate Del Rio but Del Rio eliminated Marella to win the match. This Royal Rumble match was the longest in its history, being longer than the 2002 match by 27 seconds.

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

Results

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times
1^D	R-Truth defeated Curt Hawkins	Singles match^[9]	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.^[10]	20:45
3	The Miz (c) (with Alex Riley) defeated Randy Orton	Singles match for the WWE Championship^[11]	19:50
4	Eve Torres defeated Natalya (c), Layla and Michelle McCool	Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Divas Championship^[12]	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 ^[13]

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	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, 2010.
1 2 3 4 Cohen, Eric. "Royal Rumble Results 1998 – Present". About.com. Retrieved February 25, 2014. Royal Rumble 2010 – TD Garden; Boston, MA 1/30/11
↑ Martin, Adam (February 2, 2010). "Recent WWE attendance figures (1/22 to 2/1)". WrestleView. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
↑ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
↑ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
↑ "WWE to make Raw and SmackDown! distinct TV brands" (Press release). WWE. March 27, 2002. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
↑ 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.
↑ "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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