Worst WM Main Event after great Royal Rumble?

[Aaron E. Dangerously]

The discussion in the thread about the Royal Rumble 2013 poster and the Biggest missed opportunity thread got me thinking about Royal Rumbles that had a winner who I was happy about, only to get a crappy main event at WM or a blown opportunity in general.

Alberto Del Rio comes to mind as a recent example. I still think this guy is totally main event-worthy, and I was happy about him winning (even though it came after eliminating friggin Santino). But he had to work against face Edge (which never felt right, imo) and get overshadowed by Christian's return. I know he later went on to be WWE Champ, but it felt like a waste of a Royal Rumble winner at the time.

Who comes to mind for you guys?

[AdamAFL was sooooo wrong]

Kinda see the Del Rio example as a reversal of this thread. I hate Del Rio and wasn't happy he won the Rumble but felt Edge and he had a very good match, a magnificent opener and probably the 2nd or 3rd best match on the card (after HHH/Taker and possibly Punk/Orton).

The prime example of this for me would be 2010. I was delighted to have Edge back, seemed like a dream match for the World Heavyweight Title between him and Jericho but it just didn't live up to the expectations and was quite a disappointment.

[Starshine]

IMO the worst recent one was Orton punting Vince McMahon, getting over as hell because of it, winning the Rumble then getting stuck in crappy feuds with Shane McMahon and Triple H. Losing all that momentum talking about his IED and hiding behind his Legacy cronies and then following it up by being in one of the most boring matches in wrestling history to close out Mania.

[Big L]

Royal Rumble 2009 Orton wins the build to his title match was pretty good IMO but the WM match with him and HHH wasn't all that good IMO
Royal Rumble 2012 Sheamus wins the build was ok but a 18 second match at WM really?!

[Thaal Sinestro]

Whenever Cena won it to now.

[mizerable]

Hart and Luger in 1994; I like both guys, but Luger's match with Yoko was sub par, and Bret had a much better match with Yoko the year before, not to mention his show stealing performance earlier in the night with Owen.

Rock in 2000; Seriously, f*** that match. The McMahon in every corner aspect KILLED it for me.

Mysterio in 2006; Not a bad match, but one that seemed like it had absolutely no story behind it. I actually went to this WM, and couldn't tell you anything about this outside of the stuff with Orton saying Eddie was in Hell. Angle just happened to be champion.

Orton in 2009; Yeah...that was disappointing, in more ways than one.

Sheamus in 2012; Obvious reasons.

[Aaron E. Dangerously]

Hahahah oh man I forgot about Sheamus winning that quickly. f***, that's terrible.

[Deleted]

I remember watching WM27 and staring in disbelief when Del Rio came out to open the PPV. The guy had been built up for eight months, he had beaten nearly every midcarder on the roster cleanly, he had taken out Rey Mysterio and Christian, he had his own ring announcer and came to the ring in $200k cars. He won the biggest Royal Rumble match in history, and ever since his debut he had relentlessly talked about how it was his DESTINY to be World Champion.

So here he was, finally on the grandest stage of them all. This was his shot at the world title, a match that he'd been waiting for ever since his debut......

And the match was the opener to the show.

And he lost. Cleanly. In 10 minutes.

And then Christian and Edge wasted a further 10 minutes beating up his car.

When people look back, THIS was the moment that killed Del Rio's career. Even though he won MITB and the WWE Title twice, his momentum hit a brick wall and he's never recovered.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Dec 2, 2012 18:45:34 GMT -5 Aaron E. Dangerously said:

Hahahah oh man I forgot about Sheamus winning that quickly. f***, that's terrible.

Man you really are a new member, aren't you.

[Wolf Hurricane]

Dec 2, 2012 18:30:56 GMT -5 Starshine said:

IMO the worst recent one was Orton punting Vince McMahon, getting over as hell because of it, winning the Rumble then getting stuck in crappy feuds with Shane McMahon and Triple H. Losing all that momentum talking about his IED and hiding behind his Legacy cronies and then following it up by being in one of the most boring matches in wrestling history to close out Mania.

This. Legacy stacking the odds for Orton's favor, just for him to feud with Shane frickin' McMahon and put over Trips at WrestleMania, just to turn around and put him on the shelf at Backlash - just a complete cluster and a total kill of all the capital he got from Rumble '09, if you ask me. The rest of the year for that title didn't fare too much better, either.

[Aaron E. Dangerously]

Dec 2, 2012 19:21:22 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Dec 2, 2012 18:45:34 GMT -5 Aaron E. Dangerously said:

Hahahah oh man I forgot about Sheamus winning that quickly. f***, that's terrible.

Man you really are a new member, aren't you.

Ah, I wasn't really watching at the time. I used to post a lot on the forums as a smarky 18-19 year-old, but I stopped watching constantly around the time Hornswoggle started becoming heavily involved in major storylines and Raw was insanely unwatchable. I caught the Del Rio stuff just because I still read stuff online and watched youtube clips. He's such a classic heel, the Latino JBL. In the past three months I've finally become a full-time viewer again. I must've blocked out the traumatic Sheamus-Bryan fiasco from my memory, haha.

[A Platypus Rave]

Dec 2, 2012 18:59:50 GMT -5 @burngun said:

I remember watching WM27 and staring in disbelief when Del Rio came out to open the PPV. The guy had been built up for eight months, he had beaten nearly every midcarder on the roster cleanly, he had taken out Rey Mysterio and Christian, he had his own ring announcer and came to the ring in $200k cars. He won the biggest Royal Rumble match in history, and ever since his debut he had relentlessly talked about how it was his DESTINY to be World Champion.

So here he was, finally on the grandest stage of them all. This was his shot at the world title, a match that he'd been waiting for ever since his debut......

And the match was the opener to the show.

And he lost. Cleanly. In 10 minutes.

And then Christian and Edge wasted a further 10 minutes beating up his car.

When people look back, THIS was the moment that killed Del Rio's career. Even though he won MITB and the WWE Title twice, his momentum hit a brick wall and he's never recovered.

Yeah, it also didn't help that following it they just had him continually repeat the same destiny stick that we had heard in the lead up to Wrestelmania.

[Deleted]

Triple H and Orton have never really had great chemistry in the first place, but yeah, that feud and that match killed what could have been a huge thing. What they really should have done was had Orton just continue to be a complete and total bastard laying waste to the McMahons and other allies of Triple H's while constantly getting away, then had him either beat Trips at Mania or use the stipulation that if he lost by DQ then Orton would get the title to have him decide the title was worth giving up for revenge and just absolutely murdered Orton, leaving him a broken but victorious wreck. Then they could have maybe pulled a double turn of sorts by making Orton sort of a modern Austin, a heartless psychopath only interested in maiming people who'd only be sympathetic because the boss is dropping down to his level to try and stop him.

But no, Triple H winning the match very decisively then losing the title in a six-man tag where one of his partners was a non-wrestler was the way to go, clearly.

[rnrk supports BLM]

Cena in '08 got it pretty bad. Gets his match at the Feb filler PPV, ends in a DQ, settles for a triple threat for the title at Wrestlemania, which goes on in the middle of the card even though he's basically the top face, and it ends with him taking the pin.

[Texas Tornado]

If HBK/Taker didn't happen I would have probably jumped off of Reliant Stadium at WM25 (okay, maybe not. I can't climb that high). The main event was THAT terrible and disappointing.

[ededdneddy]

Dec 2, 2012 20:14:10 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

Cena in '08 got it pretty bad. Gets his match at the Feb filler PPV, ends in a DQ, settles for a triple threat for the title at Wrestlemania, which goes on in the middle of the card even though he's basically the top face, and it ends with him taking the pin.

So Cena is now the first to lose Money In The Bank Cash In, and for using his Rumble win and losing at No Way Out/Elimination Chamber only to get back into the title match at Mania only to lose that match.

[Deleted]

Dec 2, 2012 20:14:10 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

Cena in '08 got it pretty bad. Gets his match at the Feb filler PPV, ends in a DQ, settles for a triple threat for the title at Wrestlemania, which goes on in the middle of the card even though he's basically the top face, and it ends with him taking the pin.

Pretty much. Two times there the need to give Triple H something to do at Mania pretty much wrecked the logical course of action for Cena at Mania. At least for 22 there was a great Edge / Foley match instead plus the debut of King of Kings, but for 24... Yeah, Triple H really should have just found something else to do because Cena beating Orton in some variety of gimmick match was the logical way to book that.

[Corporate H]

Del Rio should have beat Edge and retired him, but supposedly they didn't know until after. Still sounds fishy to me.

[BigJerichool222]

Dec 2, 2012 18:59:50 GMT -5 @burngun said:

When people look back, THIS was the moment that killed Del Rio's career.

Ugh, I am STILL royally pissed off over how badly they f***ed up Del Rio with that match. The match ALSO killed the Cross Armbreaker, which Edge took with an INJURED ARM longer than anyone at that point.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Dec 2, 2012 19:40:51 GMT -5 Aaron E. Dangerously said:

Dec 2, 2012 19:21:22 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Man you really are a new member, aren't you.

Ah, I wasn't really watching at the time. I used to post a lot on the forums as a smarky 18-19 year-old, but I stopped watching constantly around the time Hornswoggle started becoming heavily involved in major storylines and Raw was insanely unwatchable. I caught the Del Rio stuff just because I still read stuff online and watched youtube clips. He's such a classic heel, the Latino JBL. In the past three months I've finally become a full-time viewer again. I must've blocked out the traumatic Sheamus-Bryan fiasco from my memory, haha.

My point was that when it happened, this entire forum - I dare say the entire internet - exploded with hatred. I'd paid to watch Mania at a local pub so I was livid myself, as it was one of the matches I'd paid to see. So the thought of someone forgetting that the internet's favourite guy lost in 18 seconds was comical to me.

Not watching at the time is a good enough excuse... just