Company | WWE |
Event | Royal Rumble 2006 |
Series | Royal Rumble |
Edition | 19 |
Format | Pay-Per-View |
Date | Sunday January 29 2006 |
Venue | American Airlines Arena |
Location | Miami, Florida, USA |
Attendance | 16,000 |
WWE Royal Rumble 2006
WWE Royal Rumble 2006 stands out for one of the more unlikely triumphs in Rumble history. Rey Mysterio would become a true main event player on this night, with a bittersweet feeling to his Rumble win. As for the rest of the card? Well, we’ve definitely seen better from WWE, and that is a major understatement.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS TV SHOWS? READ OUR PRE-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & SMACKDOWN!
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Texas Tornado Match
Kid Kash (C) vs. Nunzio vs. Jamie Noble vs. Paul London vs. Funaki vs. Gregory Helms
Opening the show, we had an unannounced Cruiserweight Title match that was clearly here to fill some time. I say that due to the lack of promotion or storyline behind it. Kash as champion had done a decent job, but this would be a formidable task as he battled four previous titleholders. Of those, Nunzio had been champ in late 2005, though he was presented as a jobber for life by January 2006. Noble had returned to WWE following a year away, so this was a chance for him to showcase his skills again.
London seemed like the favourite, given his modest popularity over the previous 18 months or so. As for Funaki, well, he could still put on a decent show, despite being typecast as, well, a loser. And then we have the wild card. Gregory Helms surprisingly participated despite being a Raw competitor, and having avoided the cruiser ranks for several years.
The match itself is actually worth watching, with the usual mad dives helping to start the night on a fairly high note. And fans in Miami, Florida definitely reacted to what they were seeing. Though Kash hoped to make it through one PPV as champ (he only won the belt from Juventud the previous month at Armageddon 2005), that wouldn’t be the case. Instead, Helms struck Funaki with a Shining Wizard to win the Cruiserweight Title and officially jump to SmackDown. Gregory would hold onto the gold for 13 months. You read that right. In some ways, this would begin a career peak for Helms as the face of SmackDown’s cruiserweight division. But in other ways, as WWE often made the division feel like an afterthought, Gregory took a step down here. Either way, this was a fun way to kick off Royal Rumble 2006.
Backstage, we had the fun tradition of wrestlers drawing their numbers for the Rumble match. In this case, Triple H and Randy Orton were determining their fates, in between H making double entendres with Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson and Victoria. H mocked Orton’s chances of victory, only for their reactions to prove that Randy seemingly fared better than H. More on this later.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS EDITION? READ OUR WWE ROYAL RUMBLE 2005 REVIEW!
Trish Stratus Is Special Guest Referee
Mickie James vs. Ashley
Now, a word on the Trish-Mickie storyline. James had arrived on Raw in October 2005, seemingly as Stratus’ biggest fan. But she slowly turned heel, going from an over-excited supporter to a dangerous, almost threatening stalker. Ashley recognised that Mickie’s intentions were concerning, hence her engaging in a feud with James. And Trish, the Women’s Champion, would referee their bout here at Royal Rumble 2006. Right beforehand, Mickie told Stratus that she loved her. To say this could influence the match is an understatement.
A combination of Mickie getting over but not being there yet and Ashley’s inexperience would make for a poor outing. One cannot doubt the efforts by the Divas back then. But while people deride the sexualisation of WWE’s women during this time, very few of them could legitimately wrestle. And while Mickie was capable of holding her own, Ashley often struggled. Therefore, this served its purpose from a storytelling standpoint, but not so much as an actual match. Mickie pinned Ashley for the win, with Trish not showing favouritism by making the three-count. James would turn heel proper on Trish shortly before WrestleMania 22 to progress their plotline further.
Backstage, it was Rey Mysterio’s turn to draw his number. Rey had dedicated his Rumble entry to Eddie Guerrero, who tragically died in November 2005. Here, Mysterio joked that Guerrero was playing a trick on him based on the number he drew. I should point out that while Rey’s intentions were awesome, few believed he was actually going to win the Rumble. And that was prior to him apparently drawing a tough number here. Keep that in mind.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS PPV? READ OUR WWE NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION 2006 REVIEW!
John Bradshaw Layfield vs. The Boogeyman
Next up, we have a strange attraction. Boogeyman had tortured JBL for weeks, culminating in an infamous scene during an episode of Piper’s Pit. JBL’s image consultant Jillian Hall debuted with a grotesque mole on her face. So, what did Boogeyman, the Eater Of Worms, do? He only went and bit the damn thing off her face. Ewww. As horrific as it sounds, there’s no doubt that people were intrigued by Boogeyman as a character. The guy is so nuts that you can’t help but watch what he does next. Having him in feuds with a former WWE Champion like JBL, though, seemed unnecessary. Sure, Layfield was a crap champion, but he still had status that made him a force to be reckoned with. I can only assume that WWE thought Boogey would eventually excel enough to one day win a World Title himself! Perish the thought.
Anyway, this match was over and done with within around 90 seconds. Boogey seemed to block everything that JBL tried, akin to a griefer on a videogame. And Boogey quickly pinned Layfield with his pump handle slam variation. Boogey’s big issue ended up being his lack of skill in the ring. While other kooky characters like Kane and Mankind proved that they belonged in the ring despite their wackiness, Boogeyman never did. Hence why, after the spring of 2006, he was mostly used in comedy spots before eventually leaving WWE.
Royal Rumble Match
Is it time for the Rumble already? Indeed it is. Despite the show, erm, boasting two heavyweight title fights, the 30-man Rumble was up next. Going into this, I felt that Triple H and Randy Orton were the favourites. Nobody else seemed like a legit contender, despite a fairly star-studded field. On the bright side, Rob Van Dam was set to make his return here after a year-long absence. But on the low side, we had a pre-match chant from The Spirit Squad. They had just debuted the previous Monday, so at this point, the group were literally annoying. Skip this bit if you plan to rewatch the 2006 Rumble after you read this review.
Number 1 was Triple H! Hence the explanation for The Game’s reaction earlier on. Despite his vow to win the Rumble and ensure that The King Of Kings went back on his throne at Mania, he would have to outlast everybody to do it. Rey Mysterio came out as #2, hence the earlier Eddie reference. Speaking of Eddie, it was Guerrero’s low-rider vehicle that Rey drove to the ring. Even super-heel HHH gave a wry smile when he saw that. Their initial exchanges were fun to see, considering that they had never wrestled and, actually, never would.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIRST EDITION? READ OUR WWF ROYAL RUMBLE 1988 REVIEW!
Simon Dean as #3 and Psichosis as #4 were in and out prior to the subsequent participant arriving. Both Rey and HHH took care of Dean; Mysterio himself headscissored Psichosis to the floor. Then came Ric Flair as #5, who had just engaged in a brutal feud with HHH. Their hostilities renewed here, though even the Nature Boy (the reigning Intercontinental Champion) was eliminated quickly, this time by H. Big Show was another recent HHH foe, and he was the sixth combatant, which led to a brief arse-kicking for The Game.
Jonathan Coachman was a truly pointless participant at #7, exiting the match quickly courtesy of Show. In 2005, Coach had also entered, but he had at least entered the ring on numerous occasions beforehand. By early 2006, Coach’s in-ring adventures were basically over, yet he still took up a Rumble spot. And he would be out in less than a minute. Pointless. Bobby Lashley as #8 looked impressive in his first Rumble, with Kane as #9 adding to the beef in the ring. Sylvain as #10 had no chance, and Bobby sent him hurling to ringside in a violent fashion. But this led to Show and Kane, the World Tag Team Champions, combining to eliminate Lashley.
From there, Show and Kane stupidly fought each other rather than trying to work together to clear the ring. The same thing would haunt them in 2015, at a time when fans legitimately loathed them. Here, the audience was more receptive, though their mistake had the same outcome: eliminations via HHH. Carlito came in as #11, as the ring would fill up again (HHH and Rey were the only two men left once Kane and Show were gone). Chris Benoit as #12 had history on his side, having won the 2004 Rumble bout. Booker T came in at #13, but Benoit quickly eliminated him to continue their United States Championship-related feud. T was nursing an injury during this period, so a brief cameo was all that he could do.
Joey Mercury of MNM came in as #14, before a surprise appearance for Tatanka at #15. The Native American had made a one-off appearance the previous summer, but this Rumble showing would initiate an, erm, Indian Summer of a second run for him. Fans in Miami did a tomahawk chant in his favour, so that probably felt nice for him. Johnny Nitro as #16 ensured that MNM could work together, while Trevor Murdoch would make a totally forgettable appearance as #17. Eugene came in at #18 to make a return of his own, having been off TV for a little while. I defend the Eugene character to this day once you look past the occasionally-crass heel comments.
Road Warrior Animal was #19, but he had been back for several months, making his final Rumble appearance, well, not surprising. Then came the returning RVD as #20 to a huge reaction. Van Dam was damn over to say the least. Animal would exit the match courtesy of the Whole Dam Show. Orlando Jordan as #21 simply took up a spot, while Chavo Guerrero at #22 received cheers due to Eddie’s recent passing. Unfortunately for him, HHH threw him out within a minute. A bit of heel heat at Eddie’s expense, then, though that’s nothing in comparison to what would come.
Matt Hardy came in at #23, though his status was almost at an all-time low by this point. MNM teamed up to eliminate Tatanka, in a slight tease of a match at No Way Out the next month. Super Crazy was the other Mexicool representative at #24, before Shawn Michaels came out at #25. Michaels should always be a Rumble favourite, but he had already begun a storyline with Vince McMahon. Therefore, while he was the most over competitor in the ring, his chances of winning seemed slim. Still, he eliminated Murdoch, so that’s something.
Chris Masters entered his first Rumble at #26, which seems odd because it feels like he’d already peaked. Viscera at #27 would hinder Matt with the Visagra before eliminating him. If you don’t know what the Visagra is, look it up. Shelton Benjamin was #28, after which we saw Benoit eliminate Eugene. Then, Goldust would make one of his many Rumble returns at #29. Seriously, the guy made a comeback at the Rumble on four separate occasions, which must be a record. Randy Orton as #30 explained his earlier glee and arguably made him the new favourite to win the thing.
Only when researching for this review did I count just how many guys were in the ring at this point. When I watch a Rumble as it’s happening, it’s easy to lose sight of the number of competitors remaining. But just to clarify that with Orton arrived as the final participant, a whopping 15 participants were still there. That is surely another Rumble record. But since we’d had everybody come to the ring, all that remained was for the ring to empty. This is essentially a 15-man Battle Royal from this point on when you think about it.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LATEST EDITION? READ OUR WWE ROYAL RUMBLE 2020 REVIEW!
Rey and Rob would reform their old tag team by eliminating Super Crazy together. Orton would throw out Benoit, before occasional partners Carlito and Masters teamed up to eliminate Viscera. Then, Carlito threw out The Masterpiece to a big pop. This was the second time that Carlito got one over on Chris, having pinned him inside the Elimination Chamber three weeks earlier at New Year’s Revolution. Their tensions would eventually lead to Carlito turning face on Masters and feuding with him after WrestleMania.
Speaking of WrestleMania, 11 men still had a chance to earn their spot for that very card. RVD eliminated Goldust (who didn’t last long, proving how quick eliminations were suddenly becoming), before Orton took Jordan out of the equation. Michaels would then survive an MNM onslaught by eliminating Mercury and then Nitro, before also superkicking Benjamin out of the match. At this point, though, Vince McMahon’s music hit, and he walked as only he can down to the ring. Thankfully for him, this year he didn’t tear his quadriceps muscles.
But he did distract Shawn for long enough that Shane McMahon ran in to throw Shawn out of the match. An angry HBK superkicked HHH for the hell of it before chasing the McMahon’s backstage. This would set up Shawn vs. Vince at WrestleMania, which later led to D-Generation X vs. The McMahons. Yes, the guy who Shawn superkicked last on this night would soon reform DX with him. Which likely means that wasn’t the plan at this particular time.
From there, RVD eliminated Carlito to get retribution for a previous attack back in June 2005 which kayfabe injured Van Dam further. Could Rob win the Rumble in his return match? Erm, no. When he went to the top rope (always a Rumble risk to hit a Five Star Frog Splash, HHH shoved Mysterio into RVD to knock him out. So, we now have three men remaining: HHH, Orton and Rey. I noted earlier how H and Randy seemed like strong favourites. Mysterio had done incredibly well to last so long, but surely his tribute to Eddie was about to end. Right? Wrong.
Against all odds, Mysterio would hurricanrana Trips to the floor to an almighty reaction. Nobody saw that coming; watching this at the time, my jaw dropped in excitement when Mysterio eliminated H3. The Game did respond badly, though, by pummelling Rey and whipping him into the steel stairs. Orton was pleased; his old friend/rival had essentially sealed the win for him. All Orton needed to do was to hurl Rey’s limp body over the rope. But Mysterio wasn’t finished there: as Orton was about to slam him out, Rey reversed the momentum to lock Orton in a headscissors, and he sent Randy out of the ring!
Rey Mysterio, amazingly, had won the 2006 Royal Rumble match! Again, there was another massive pop, as an incredibly passionate Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler reacted as expected. (That they covered the Rumble following two years with Jim Ross and Tazz was a nice touch.) Not only had Rey dedicated the Rumble to Eddie, but he had won the whole thing. And he was going to WrestleMania, while also setting an all-time Rumble longevity record.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING PPV? READ OUR WWE NO WAY OUT 2006 REVIEW!
Sadly, subsequent events would partly tarnish Rey’s big moment. Later that week, Orton would try to goad Mysterio into defending his Mania title opportunity. Rey saw through the charade, only for Randy to make things deeply personal by insulting Eddie’s memory. And to a strong degree. I’ll cover that story when I handle the review for No Way Out 2006. But suffice it to say that the Eddie tribute turned into something rather different in the weeks that followed. Still, I prefer to focus on what an awesome surprise it was to see Mysterio win an underrated Royal Rumble match.
WWE Championship Match
Edge (C) vs. John Cena
Two matches still to go, somehow. Edge had become the first man ever to cash in Money In The Bank at John Cena’s expense at New Year’s Revolution. The new WWE Champion would have a whirlwind few weeks, which included a live sex celebration with Lita, a TLC match against Ric Flair and being the guy most responsible for Raw ratings climbing massively. Seriously, the show’s numbers were starting to climb rapidly while Edge held the top title. If only WWE could achieve that in 2021. Anyway, Cena still had a rematch clause, and so he and Edge would clash here.
John made a dramatic entrance on a huge steel platform above the floor, which was the highlight of the occasion. These two had an enjoyable bout, though it pales in comparison to their later efforts. At this point, Cena was still adapting as a main event babyface, while Edge perhaps felt the pressure to deliver here. Hence this being acceptable but not exhilarating. And despite Edge’s ratings success, his WWE Title reign would be a transitional one. Cena submitted him to the STFU to become a two-time WWE Champion, thus allowing him to carry the belt onto WrestleMania 22. Edge would have to settle for a Hardcore war against Mick Foley at Mania before resuming his rivalry with Cena.
This was a huge source of irritation to diehard fans at the time. Had Edge not earned a longer title run? Did he have to drop the belt to Cena? I feel this was a case of WWE trying something (Edge as WWE Champion) and hoping for the best. But once things snowballed massively in Edge’s favour, their plan suddenly became a problem. At any other time of the year, I feel Edge’s reign would have continued. But with Mania coming up and no other Raw-exclusive PPVs prior to April 2, perhaps they felt that his stint with the belt simply had to end here at Royal Rumble 2006.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING EDITION? READ OUR WWE ROYAL RUMBLE 2007 REVIEW!
I can understand the frustration for Edge and other fans at the time. At the very least, Cena could have won the belt when they had another rematch on the February 13 Raw. That could have given Edge a slightly worthier reign while helping to set up Edge vs. Foley at WrestleMania. But overall it didn’t change things for the worse. Edge would still go on to have many more WWE/World Title reigns and a fantastic rivalry with Cena. Speaking of Cena, he ended up beating HHH at WM 22 in the result that solidified him as The Guy. That doesn’t happen if Edge makes it to Mania 22 with the gold. Hence why, despite the annoyance with this result at the time, it was probably the right decision long-term.
Oh, I almost forgot: before the match, Edge had insulted Rey by telling him not to face him for the WWE Title at WrestleMania. Post-match, Edge was the source of laughter, with Hacksaw Jim Duggan making an appearance. Why? Because he could call Lita a “Hoooooooooo!” It sounds awful to read in 2021, but it was over in 2006.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Kurt Angle (C) vs. Mark Henry
Our main event was a battle of the Olympians. Angle was only here to replace Batista, who was originally set to defend the WHC against Henry. But Mark, who only returned from a long injury lay-off as 2005 ended, injured The Animal on a house show. Therefore, Batista had to forfeit the World Title that he had held since WrestleMania 21. Angle jumped from Raw and turned babyface to win a Battle Royal that made him the new World Heavyweight Champion. Though the man defending the gold had changed, the man challenging for it wouldn’t, hence this bout, Henry’s first PPV main event.
Unfortunately, this was absolutely rotten. Angle did his best, but Henry (accompanied by Daivari) simply wasn’t good enough. Fans in Miami, Florida were thoroughly not entertained, and many even left before the match had ended. It didn’t help that Mark’s chances of winning the WHC were almost nonexistent. So, it was a relief when Kurt won with a roll-up. Afterwards, The Undertaker made a surprise appearance on a horse-led carriage (yep). With the druids (including future star Dean Ambrose) behind him, Taker used his magical powers to cause a bolt of lightning and a ring collapse, as Tazz unnecessarily shouted “holy shit!” These hijinks explain why Angle vs. Henry went on last rather than the Rumble itself. And they would set up a classic Angle vs. Taker match at No Way Out that was far better than Angle vs. Henry.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING TV SHOWS? READ OUR POST-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & SMACKDOWN!
So, WWE Royal Rumble 2006 is a very inconsistent show, and when it’s bad, it truly reaches the depths of quality. The main event is terrible, and Mickie vs. Ashley is bad as well. Plus, JBL vs. Boogeyman is hardly must-see either. Edge vs. Cena was good but inferior to their later battles. And the opener is fine but mostly uneventful. So, the Rumble match saves the day here, with Mysterio’s performance and, moreover, his victory being unforgettable. I would suggest checking out the Rumble itself, but the rest of the card is amongst the poorest ever for a Big Four PPV.