| Company | WWE |
| Event | Royal Rumble 2011 |
| Series | Royal Rumble |
| Edition | 24 |
| Format | Pay-Per-View |
| Date | Sunday January 30 2011 |
| Venue | TD Garden |
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Attendance | 15,113 |
WWE Royal Rumble 2011
WWE Royal Rumble 2011 would be a historic occasion for one of the most popular annual PPV extravaganzas. On this night, the Rumble match would have 40 participants for the very first time. That being said, this event also occurred at a time when the company was light on star power. This, as well as WWE’s choice of winner, may explain why few fondly recall the card today. But is this a fair viewpoint? Let’s take a closer look at the show, with the titular match of course being the main focus.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS TV SHOWS? READ OUR PRE-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & SMACKDOWN!
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Edge (C) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Because of the 40-man Rumble, the show would only have four matches in less than three hours. Contrast that with, say, 2019 which would go north of five hours with two Rumble bouts included. Back to 2011, this meant the night opening with a World Heavyweight Championship scrap. And what a battle. Edge was finally finding his groove again having struggled for most of 2010 following his Achilles tear in 2009. Meanwhile, this represented the first of many chances for Ziggler to potentially win the WHC. At the time, he seemed like a challenger starved of credibility. Nothing new there then. But unlike in 2021, where it feels like we’ve seen everything we can from Dolph, back in 2011 he had something to prove. Other than his 2009 bouts with Rey Mysterio, Ziggler had yet to show signs of being a real player. That would change here.
For more than 20 minutes, these two would light up the TD Garden. And the Boston crowd, already fired up for such a major supershow, responded by providing a strong reaction throughout. Though Edge always seemed likely to retain, there was one notable caveat. Ziggler’s on-screen girlfriend Vickie Guerrero (yep) was temporarily running SmackDown after Teddy Long was taken out by a mystery assailant. To make life heel for her ex-boyfriend Edge, Vickie added a stipulation: if Edge used the Spear, he would be disqualified and be stripped of the big gold belt.
Despite this, the Rated R Superstar more than held his own. Indeed, he and Ziggler had clear chemistry, and there were some brilliant near-falls. One saw Edge drill Dolph with his Edgacution DDT, only for Vickie to drag the referee to the floor. This led to Kelly Kelly (a recent Vickie rival) appearing to attack Guerrero at ringside. In the meantime, though, Ziggler would hit the Zig Zag for a heart-stopping false finish. He was incredibly close to becoming World Champion against all odds, but not quite close enough. Then, after a ref bump, Edge would capitalise by hitting his Spear to a huge pop. He followed it up by using the Killswitch, the then-injured Christian’s move, to seal the victory.
Vickie was aghast, but fans were ecstatic. It’s one of the best opening matches ever to a Royal Rumble card. Edge performed spectacularly, Ziggler stepped up to prove that he belonged, and the Spear storyline added to the drama. Vickie would find a loophole to force Edge to relinquish the belt to Dolph within weeks, only for the returning Teddy Long to announce that Dolph and Vickie had conspired to take him out. Cue a World Title rematch and the previously-fired Edge regaining his crown. Oh, and Ziggler and Vickie were fired! For a few weeks. Still, it was a fun story while it lasted, and this was an exceptional start to the evening.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS EDITION? READ OUR WWE ROYAL RUMBLE 2010 REVIEW!
WWE Championship Match
The Miz (C) vs. Randy Orton
Next up, we had the culmination of a fairly notable feud for the Raw brand. Miz had successfully cashed in Money In The Bank at Randy’s expense the night after Survivor Series 2010. After a controversial Tables match at TLC, this marked Orton’s big chance for retribution. What’s more, whomever won would be highly likely to take the WWE Title to one of the main event matches at WrestleMania XXVII.
Fans were expecting a big fight here, and they got one. Miz’s WWE Title reign hardly produced memorable matches, but this was probably his strongest effort during that period. Randy, meanwhile, was about to have the best year of his career in the ring, and this would be a precursor to that. This was another relatively long match, coming in at almost 20 minutes. And it didn’t quite have the suspense of the opener since, for all intents and purposes, it was just another WWE Championship clash. But both men rose to the occasion nonetheless. Miz benefitted from having his biggest supporter Michael Cole on commentary cheering him on, along with Alex Riley at ringside.
However, it would end up being someone else who would decide this contest. With the big moves racking up, out popped The New Nexus. This version would boast Michael McGillicutty, Mason Ryan, Husky Harris and David Otunga. Okay, maybe “boast” isn’t the best word in this case. Anyway, New Nexus appeared to distract the referee, seemingly allowing A-Ri to interfere. Orton’s response? Hurl Riley onto the faction at ringside. But with the official still occupied, Orton’s RKO on Miz would be followed by further interference from Nexus’ leader, CM Punk. He drilled Orton with a GTS and ran away like a thief in the night, allowing Miz to score the cheap pinfall win over Randy. The unimaginable would occur: Miz was going to main event WrestleMania as WWE Champion.
Punk would explain that this was revenge for when Orton cost him the World Title way back at Unforgiven 2008. Points for long-term storytelling, even if it was likely unintentional. Regardless, that was Punk’s logic, and Orton would take out every member of New Nexus one-by-one in the weeks to come. The culmination was a series of matches between Orton and Punk in the spring, with Randy winning every single one of them. Take that, Punk!
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS PPV? READ OUR WWE TLC 2010 REVIEW!
WWE Divas Championship Fatal Four Way Match
Natalya (C) vs. Michelle McCool vs. Layla vs. Eve Torres
One of the minor thrills of the annual Royal Rumble event is the first look at the WrestleMania teaser video. This is where the countdown properly starts, indicating that the Road To WrestleMania is well under way. In this case, we had the usual footage of would-be headliners (no spoilers for special guests at this point). The soundtrack for the 2011 Mania would be Written In The Stars by Tinie Tempah. A cool song, sure, but hardly a classic (or even appropriate) Mania theme in my opinion. Still, it’s always enjoyable to see the first teaser as Mania Season begins rolling.
I mention this because it was of greater interest than the Divas Title match. Originally set to be a handicap match pitting Natalya against LayCool, the Anonymous Raw General Manager emailed in via Michael “And I Quote” Cole to announce it would now be a four-way involving Eve Torres. Eve had seen her push diminish in recent months, so this was a minor surprise, and more surprisingly still, she won the butterfly belt. She did so by hitting Layla with a moonsault.
Fans seemed totally disinterested due to the presentation; it was clear that this was pure filler. Comparing this to the first 30-women Rumble seven years later, which headlined the 2018 PPV and starred three of the four combatants here, is like night and day. When people talk about the dark days of the Divas division, moments like this are what they point to. Not because they were of a poor standard, but because they were presented as being totally irrelevant. And sometimes a lack of importance is worse than a lack of quality.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIRST EDITION? READ OUR WWF ROYAL RUMBLE 1988 REVIEW!
Before the final match, we have two points. Firstly, it was reaffirmed that Dashing Cody Rhodes wouldn’t be a Rumble participant due to facial injuries suffered by Rey Mysterio (which would set up their own feud for Mania). And we had a random backstage confrontation involving Daniel Bryan, Gail Kim and The Bellas. Supposedly, Brie and Nikki had bet on sleeping with Bryan since they heard he was a virgin, but misheard him saying he was a vegan. Oh, and he was actually with Gail. Slightly fun, I guess, but who even remembers it nowadays? Hopefully not Brie, who was about to get with Bryan for real off-screen. This segment seemed to exist solely to allow Michael Cole to run down Bryan yet again.
Royal Rumble Match
And so we come to the 24th annual Royal Rumble bout. CM Punk would emerge as #1, only for The Corre members to surround the ring. This was due to Punk essentially kicking Wade Barrett out of the original Nexus, with Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater defecting to show loyalty to Barrett. As for Ezekiel Jackson? Erm, I dunno. Anyway, The Corre would meet their match as the New Nexus came down, leading to a big pre-match brawl. Cue the Raw GM, Michael Cole, “And I Quote” and an order to stop battling or be excluded from the Rumble. The irony is that this match would likely have not needed 40 participants if not for these two factions. Supposedly, there was a plan at one point for the two groups to collide at WrestleMania, with this being a teaser. As it turned out, this wouldn’t happen.
Daniel Bryan was the real second entrant, with Michael Cole complaining as per usual. As smarks around the world assembled for an … erm, actually maybe that’s too far. I’ll just say they would have felt excited to see two indie darlings kick off Rumble 2011. Their early exchanges were as good as one would expect, and though Justin Gabriel interrupted as #3, he was sent packing by Bryan. Daniel had secured his first footnote in Rumble history; who knew he would go on to accidentally play a key role in its lineage?
Zack Ryder at #4 received the same fate, while William Regal as #5 lasted longer and received a rather nice reaction from fans. Ted DiBiase was #6, with Cole reminding us that he had reached the final four in 2009. His descent was so huge between Rumbles 2010 and 2011 that I thought he was joking. But Cole would be right on this occasion.
John Morrison would be #7, and he would create a legendary Rumble elimination escape. He found himself on the ring apron, and Regal knocked him away. But Morrison, using his parkour skills, clung onto dear life on the crowd barrier. He then walked along the barrier far enough to jump to the steel stairs. He also capped it off by kicking Regal in the head, who DiBiase had just thrown out. This was a great moment that nobody expected, and while Kofi Kingston carved out a niche for such escapes, Morrison was first. Yoshi Tatsu as #8, Husky Harris as #9 and Chavo Guerrero at #10 made up the numbers, though Chavo did have a Rumble moment with a sequence of Three Amigos suplexes, finally succeeding at Bryan’s expense.
Actually, I say that Husky made up the numbers, but he was actually providing support for CM Punk. From this point on, Punk was slowly building up his chances of victory based on Nexus loyalty. I just mean that Harris had no chance of winning the thing. In fact, at this point, it seemed implausible that he would ever achieve anything (hell, he was written off TV 24 hours later). Who could have foreseen the success he would have as Bray Wyatt/The Fiend at this stage?
Mark Henry ran (yes, ran) out at #11, and he soon eliminated Chavo and Tatsu. JTG as #12 was possibly the least likely of the 40 combatants to win, so it was no surprise when Nexus’ Michael McGillicutty (#13) tossed him out. Nexus then began to take control, with them teaming up to dump out Morrison after an almighty struggle. The same strategy allowed Punk to hurl out Bryan, who Cole actually praised for his efforts. Chris Masters at #14 looked good, and even came close to eliminating Punk while he had him in the Masterlock. But the Nexus broke it up after David Otunga arrived at #15, and the Masterpiece was soon gone. Only Nexus members remained at this point, with Otunga, McGillciutty and Harris allowing Punk to man the controls more than ever.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LATEST EDITION? READ OUR WWE ROYAL RUMBLE 2020 REVIEW!
The next few entrants came and went after Nexus beatdowns. Tyler Reks as #16 barely up a fight (did he blame John Cena for that too?). Vladimir Kozlov did give it a go as #17, but the Moscow Mauler couldn’t overcome those odds. Nor could R-Truth at #18, who didn’t bother with the rapping on this occasion. By now, fans were starting to really jeer Punk and the Nexus, because they were taking advantage of the situation to secure victory for CM. They didn’t, though, expect The Great Khali to resurface at #19, and he managed to diminish the dilemma by throwing out Husky. But Mason Ryan was in at #20 to resume the 4-on-1 dynamic, and he even eliminated Khali single-handed. Who would be the next victim? Well, this would lead to one of the night’s biggest moments.
That’s because #21 was the returning Booker T! Making his first WWE appearance since August 2007, Booker’s comeback earned a massive pop from fans. But Matt Striker on commentary was even more excited, shouting how he was “marking out” at T’s appearance. Booker kicked ass for a few moments and hit a Spinaroonie to delight fans (and Striker) even more. But Nexus quickly regained control, and Ryan eliminated Booker to a chorus of boos. Cole was now crowing, providing unnecessary digs towards Booker that barely anyone could have found entertaining. I realised at this point that Cole as a heel couldn’t have been more different from Bobby Heenan in 1992. Back then, The Brain enhanced the Rumble to legendary proportions. Here, Cole dragged things down.
Still, Punk and Nexus were beaming, with their leader shouting “we’re going to WrestleMania!” Cue John Cena at #22 to a big reaction in his hometown of Boston. Cena had vowed to eliminate every Nexus member, and based on those remaining, he succeeded (in reality, he failed, since Husky was already gone). Cena managed to lift Ryan over the top rope and then he double-clotheslined McGilllicutty and Otunga to the floor. The crowd pops to both moments was huge, which proves just how damn over Cena was, even when many fans jeered him. Suddenly, Punk was all alone, and six months ahead of their Money In The Bank clash, fans were fully behind seeing them battle. They clashed momentarily, before a double clothesline knocked both down.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING PPV? READ OUR WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER 2011 REVIEW!
The beneficiary was, seemingly, Hornswoggle. Yes, Horny was #23, though he took a stiff kick from Punk. This allowed Cena to put the Nexus leader in his place by finally eliminating him. Cena and Swoggle then formed a minor alliance, which allowed them to eliminate Tyson Kidd (#24) and Heath Slater (#25). I enjoyed this portion of the match, but one poor sap being overwhelmed by Horny would have been sufficient. Kofi Kingston at #26 halted things by battling with Cena in a weird collision, while Jack Swagger at #27 helped to build the numbers back up in the ring.
King Sheamus was in at #28, and the Celtic Warrior had tired of Horny, eventually booting him to the floor. Rey Mysterio as #29 would eliminate Swagger, as the announcers talked up his past success of winning the 2006 Rumble. Wade Barrett as #30 barely got a reaction from the previously red-hot Boston audience, which must have hurt his chances of main event ascension for a little while. Meanwhile, Dolph Ziggler was a surprising (and history-making) 31st entrant, considering his earlier World Title shot. Since his cameo here achieved little, I wonder what the point of him being involved was.
In at #32 was Diesel. Wait, Diesel? Yes, Kevin Nash was also returning to WWE here, having not wrestled for the company since SummerSlam 2003. Fans popped wildly for Big Kev’s comeback, with sustained chants for Diesel once he entered the fray. Cole chose not to take the same pot-shots at Diesel as he had done at Booker. Hmm, I wonder why? Drew McIntyre made a forgettable appearance as #33, which is ironic considering how he would eventually (and conclusively) won the 2020 Rumble. In the meantime, Barrett eliminated Diesel, which drew big boos. There you go, Barrett; a reaction.
The Miz’s music hit for #34, as the WWE Champion accompanied Alex Riley to the ring and stuck around on commentary. Big Show came out as #35 and had a brief staredown with Diesel, which didn’t end up going anywhere. Shortly thereafter, Cena and Kofi eliminated Riley, though it appeared that they weren’t supposed to. So much so that Miz subsequently noted how smart A-Ri was, only for Jerry Lawler to wonder where he was. The answer: back in the locker room, because he was gone. It looked like Riley was holding onto the apron, and then simply lost his grip. If you look closely, shortly afterwards Cena chats with referee Mike Chioda to presumably discuss new plans, and a brief pause between the announcers also follows. You may wonder why they would be arsed about Alex Riley, but there would be a reason.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING EDITION? READ OUR WWE ROYAL RUMBLE 2012 REVIEW!
Ezekiel Jackson came in at #36 and impressively hurled Show (who had eliminated Dolph and Drew) to the floor. Santino Marella came in at #37 only to be immediately clobbered, and he rolled to ringside, seemingly forgotten by all. Alberto Del Rio arrived in his smart Bentley motor at #38, with Ricardo Rodriguez announcing his arrival from ringside. He took so long that Randy Orton nudged him aside as he sprinted out at #39. Yes, both men who had lost the heavyweight title bouts were in the Rumble. Regardless of that gap in logic, Orton made an impact by eliminating Kofi and Sheamus, before teasing a showdown with Cena. Barely anyone reacted, with the next shot of noise coming from Kane arriving as the 40th and final participant.
We then began to slowly head towards the finish, though the reaction in the arena had cooled considerably. If they matched my feelings at the time, it was likely because of the non-appearance of Triple H, whose return had been expected (but not confirmed or even teased) here. If you scrub Ziggler away and move everyone back by one place, HHH returning from a nine-month absence as #40 could have ended this match with a bang. And you could have still built towards him facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania by having, say, Kane eliminate him. But never mind.
Kane eliminated Big Zeke, before Mysterio somehow headscissored The Big Red Machine to the floor. Barrett would throw out Rey, leaving us with a final four of Del Rio, Barrett, Cena and Orton (or so we thought). The latter two then teased a showdown for a second time for even longer, with fans still totally non-interested. That’s what happens when you recycle a match so often that it reaches the point of exhaustion. As it turned out, Cena was about to go out: Riley suddenly reappeared at ringside to distract Cena, allowing Miz to run in and eliminate him.
Though Cena had received a strong reaction throughout his Rumble stint, there was a massive roar to his elimination here. Presumably, Riley was meant to stay in the bout long enough for this to happen more naturally. And also, why did Miz attack Cena? They’d had previous history, but there was no obvious explanation for Miz to do this. It’s as if WWE expected fans to put two and two together. And chances are they would get four, because Cena did end up facing Miz for the WWE Title at Mania XXVII anyway.
Back to the Rumble, and things were about to end rapidly. Orton threw out Barrett, with Del Rio sneaking up from behind to send The Viper packing. ADR had won the Rumble on his first attempt, and he was going to WrestleMania. But not so fast! As the celebration began, Santino Marella slowly and subtly made his way back into the ring. And as he set up for the Cobra, the fan reaction gradually built towards a major pop when he struck Alberto. Cole noted how Santino was about to pull off the biggest shock in Rumble history.
But as he tried to eliminate Del Rio, the Mexican Aristocrat grabbed Santino’s singlet and threw him out (Marella’s daft face-first bump to the floor made me giggle), allowing Del Rio to win proper. On paper, it sounds like an awful final two, but goodness me that was a brilliant swerve to end the match with. For a moment, we thought Santino could do the unthinkable. Ultimately, though, it would be Del Rio’s night.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING TV SHOWS? READ OUR POST-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & SMACKDOWN!
The 40-man Rumble match isn’t really discussed much nowadays. I put it down to Del Rio being the winner, due to his poor reputation amongst fans (and possibly because he lost his big World Title match against Edge, as the opener no less, at WrestleMania). Maybe it’s due to the lack of a Triple H return, at a time when HHH was still a major player in the ring on a regular basis. Or perhaps it’s because 40 was simply too many, and this felt like an odd Rumble at times. Whatever the reason, few class this as a success, and seemingly WWE didn’t either, as they would revert to 30 in 2012.
But having rewatched it, I thoroughly enjoyed this Rumble bout. The returns of Booker T and Diesel were huge moments. John Morrison’s elimination escape was innovative. The early portion involving Bryan and co. was fun. CM Punk and the New Nexus dominating was great in building up drama. Cena looked strong in his hometown, even if his exchanges with Orton were rubbish. Despite the awkward set-up, Miz helping to dump out Cena helped set up the Mania main event.
And I loved the final twist of Santino almost getting the job done against every odd imaginable. What’s more, despite there being 10 more participants than usual, I felt the match whizzed by. In fact, I feel that we should get another 40-man Rumble match on US soil again in the future. In 2022, perhaps? Either way, while I wouldn’t call it a classic, the 2011 Rumble bout was far better than I remembered it being.
WWE Royal Rumble 2011 was actually a low-key smash hit on a quality level in hindsight. The opener was terrific, and the WWE Title clash was exciting. The Divas four-way was unremarkable, but that was par for the course during this era. And as noted, the Rumble itself had a lot to offer and lived up to my expectations at least. You’ll definitely find better Rumble matches and better Rumble cards, but the 2011 event still deserves more love in terms of consistency and entertainment.
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