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(WARNING – cliché late January WWE pun about to be made)

Well, it’s finally time take the on-ramp and start on the road to WrestleMania!!!!!

All joking aside, this is the start of the best part of the WWE year and my personal favorite event – the Royal Rumble!

Thinking of a way to take a look at one of WWE’s longest standing traditions, we have to do something more than just ranking the best matches or the most exciting moment, etc. So I give to you … (drum roll please – preferably from the drummer that HHH fired this past Monday which in turn made a kid cry in the front row…but much respect to HHH for his reaction to it!) … THE ULTIMATE RUMBLE!!!!

I went through and took a look at the order that everyone entered every Royal Rumble match and decided who was the best #1, the best #2, the best #3 etc. Only rule is that everyone could only be entered once (Stone Cold can’t be entered at #5 <1997> AND #24 <1998>).

So, channeling my inner-Howard Finkel, let’s all find out…who drew…number 1!

#1 – Two men have entered the Rumble at the number one spot and went on to win it. However, the first time it was done, it was in the shortest and possibly most unentertaining Rumble in history (plus the winner had a better performance that we’ll see later in the Rumble). AAAAAAAAAND the second decided that a strong legacy and great career were second to the thought of a double-murder/suicide decision…so…yeah he won’t be in this Rumble.

So with several other options to look at, the Ultimate Rumble will start with the swan song of CM Punk in 2014. Punk hung around for nearly 50 minutes before being eliminated by the already eliminated Kane. The elimination started a great storyline that took us to WrestleMania 30. That story involved Daniel Bryan since Punk didn’t come to work the next day, but a great story nonetheless.

#2 – Mr. McMahon won from this spot in ’99, but he did so by spending most of his time out of the ring. In contrast, Rey Mysterio set the record that still stands today by being in the Rumble for over 62 minutes en route to winning the 2006 match.

#3 – The 1992 Royal Rumble is arguably the most star-studded Rumble in history. With the impending induction of the Macho Man and the obvious eventual induction of The Undertaker, HALF of the participants in this match are in the Hall of Fame! It takes a big name to come out on top of this one. It doesn’t get much bigger than the Nature Boy Ric Flair. Flair was in the match for over an hour en route to winning the WWF Title the only time the title was up for grabs in the match.

#4 – In one of the first dominant performances in his career, The Rock entered the 1998 Rumble at the #4 spot and stayed until the end when he was the last one eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin. He didn’t win, but he definitely showed that he can hang in there for the long run. Rock would win his first WWF title less than a year later.

#5 – While I have just an unlimited amount of respect for Drew Carey and his performance in 2001, I’m going to have to go in a different direction. Just like The Rock started a strong 1998 with his Rumble performance, Stone Cold Steve Austin did the same the year before. Eliminating The Undertaker, Vader and Bret Hart to win in a controversial fashion, Austin would use 1997 to launch his career en route to becoming one of the biggest stars in history.

#6 – Rick “The Model” Martel set the record in 1991 by staying in the match for about 52 minutes (though the record would only last one year). While this was an impressive performance, Kane gets the nod here for his dominance in 2001. The Big Red Monster would be the last man eliminated after eliminating 11 superstars himself – a record that would stand for 13 years.

#7 – The 1994 Rumble was the first, and only, to give us two winners. Neither of the winners were nearly as dominating as Diesel was that year though. Big Daddy Cool, who was still sporting a fantastic mullet, eliminated seven men before he was eliminated by a joint effort of five men. This was the first of many impactful performances for Kevin Nash as the big man would start one of the longest title reigns of the modern era later in 1994.

#8 – Randy Orton punted the owner of the company in the head. Less than a week later, he won the 2009 Royal Rumble match. Something to think about, folks. (Legal disclaimer – I am not suggesting you punt your boss in the head)

#9 – This is not exactly the most exciting number in the Rumble’s history – some big names, but no real memorable performances. So we’ll put Hall of Famer Yokozuna's time in the 1996 match here. At least he had a confrontation with the debuting Vader which still makes me wonder why Vince didn’t have a massive monster vs monster match at WrestleMania that year!

#10 – The 1993 Rumble was the first to give the winner the championship match at WrestleMania. Though the match itself was a bit ho-hum, the crowd went crazy when Mr. Perfect came down. Perfect had a short stay in the match but did manage to eliminate the hated Ric Flair from the Rumble…and then from the WWF all together the next night in the memorable Career Ending match the next night on Raw.

#11 – While I would have loved to have put Mil Mascaras jumping from the top rope to the outside which eliminated himself from the match, we’ll put one of the most memorable eliminations (not on themselves) here instead. In 2002, The Undertaker had eliminated both Hardy Boyz who were still distracting the American Bad Ass outside of the ring. Jumping on the situation, Tough Enough champion Maven hit The Undertaker in the back with a dropkick knocking him out. Taker would head back into the ring, eliminate Maven, take him to the concourse area and throw him through the window of a popcorn machine…but that’s besides the point.

#12 – What’s a Royal Rumble without surprise entrants? In 2001, the Honky Tonk Man made a surprise appearance. It was good to see Honky and hear him sing again…and then pretty entertaining to see Kane grab the Honky Tonk Man’s guitar and smash it over his head before eliminating the legend. Thanks for coming!

#13 – Everything starts somewhere! It may not have been that exciting compared to what the Rumble is now, but Hacksaw Jim Duggan was the first Royal Rumble winner back in 1988. Can’t take that away from him!

#14 – Through my research I have come to the conclusion that #14 is the least exciting number there has been! So, because I want to, from 1993, I’m putting in The Berzerker! Give me one good reason not too!! HUSS!! HUSS!!

#15 – 11 eliminations was impressive for Kane – but as they say in the wrestling world…12 is a bigger number than 11. Roman Reigns set the new record in 2014 and laid the ground work for what could be an impressive career. An injury delayed what was set to be a smooth push at the end of last year. It just makes you think what is in store for Reigns this year.

#16 – So in 1996, Squat Team #2 was on his way down to the ring as the recently eliminated Squat Team #1 was walking to the back. The two identical twins decided that since no one could tell them apart they would both just go back in the ring! How smart was that?!?!? So what if their gear looked obviously different and the face paint was a little off on one, just look past that! Also look past that they were eliminated very shortly after coming back to the ring.

Yeah…#16 was a pretty boring number.

#17 – A year after making history as the first woman in the Rumble, Chyna entered the 2000 Rumble and became the first woman, and only since, to appear in the Rumble twice. I wonder what she’s been up to since … … …

#18 – Playing off of an injury return angle, Shawn Michaels went into the 1996 Rumble as the clear fan favorite. After single handedly eliminating 1,100 pounds of Vader and Yokozuna and a Superkick to knock his best friend, Diesel, out to win, ol' HBK went on to win one of the most memorable WrestleMania matches in history against Bret Hart and had a pretty good career thereafter.

#19 – In 2012, The Rock and John Cena had a match that was billed as “Once in a Lifetime” at WrestleMania 28. In 2013, Cena won the Rumble and started the story for the rematch against The Rock. You know – “Once Twice in a Lifetime.”

#20 – Kurt Angle snuck his way into the 2005 Rumble by stealing Nunzio’s number after losing the WWE Title match that night. Angle came in and made an big impact including eliminating Shawn Michaels – which began the program for their five-star WrestleMania match that year.

#21 – One of the earliest “big moments” in the Rumbles history came in 1990 when fans got the first face to face confrontation of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. The moment was quick, but laid the foundation for one of the biggest WrestleMania matches in history.

#22 – Sheamus won the 2012 Rumble after entering at #22…but that Rumble was horrible. A much better Rumble was the first after the WCW merger in 2002 in which Triple H came back from his first career threatening quad injury to win the match.

#23 – Lex Luger is the only person to win a Rumble (1994 co-winner with Bret Hart) entering at #23 so he gets to be here.

#24 – Stone Cold won from #24 in ’98…but he’s already in. Rock won from #24 in 2000…but he’s already in. Both were more impressive than Hulk Hogan was with his win in 1991. But, process of elimination, Hulk gets the spot here.

#25 – In another surprise entrant spot, Rob Van Dam made a surprise one night appearance in the 2009 Rumble and received a HUGE ovation. He didn’t really have that impressive of a showing – but neither did anyone else that came out at #25.

#26 – Please don’t be fooled by multiple people from the 2000 Rumble being on the list, it wasn’t that good. But Big Show had a dominant run and was the last one eliminated so he gets a spot here.

#27 – This has been regarded as the ‘magic number’ of the Rumble as a record four men have won from this spot – Big John Studd in ’89, Yokozuna in ’93, Stone Cold in ’01 and our #27 man Bret Hart in 1994. Hart had his leg taken out by his brother Owen in a match earlier in the night but managed to still make it to the Rumble and was the co-winner as he and Lex Luger both hit the floor at the same time.

#28 – It would be fun to have Dude Love in ’98 here (the third Face of Foley in the match that year) or even Santino Marella in ’09 (eliminated in a record :01). But it’s hard to pass up the fact the Batista won the Rumble match from the #28 spot TWICE – once in 2005 and again in 2014. Since Batista winning in 2014 really did not make too much sense creatively, we’re going to go with 2005 for The Ultimate Rumble.

#29 – Brock Lesnar won from this spot in 2003 but a surprise return from an ACL tear to win the 2010 match gives Edge the spot here. Plus, he eliminated John Cena last, so that gets him some extra points.

#30 – I consider 2007 to have the most exciting ending to a Rumble match when we were given several minutes and false finishes from two of the industries greats – Shawn Michaels and the winner and our #30 entrant, The Undertaker. Pretty hard to come up with anything wrestling related that doesn’t include The Dead Man.

#31 - #40 – In 2011, the Rumble expanded to 40 people. Instead of putting those last 10 entrants in by default, we’ll just put Alberto Del Rio in since he won that year after entering at #38.

So who wins the Ultimate Rumble you ask? Well…you tell me! Leave a comment here! Let me know on Twitter @Tadigity24 and tell me who you think wins the Rumble of all Rumbles!

A just above .500 week last week takes us to the final week of the season!

We’ve had a solid year and I’m sure you’re sad to see it go – just like I am!

But we’re not done just yet! We have one more week to make that final push to win your season long pool. I hope I have helped you out this year! If so, please contact me and I’ll let you know how to send me my cut from your winnings! ;) Just kidding!

Happy Holidays everyone!!

WEEK 17!! HERE WE GO!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – DENVER over Oakland – The Raiders are on the cusp of turning the corner…they’ll just have one more Bronco beat-down to take before another off-season of change. This may be nothing more than a hopeful fan, but my BOLD PREDICTION to end 2014 is that the Raiders will have a .500 or better record in 2015.

15 – MIAMI over New York Jets – Miami had one of the more surprising seasons in the league this year and should have no problem ending it with an exclamation point and send Rex Ryan to the unemployment line.

14 – SEATTLE over St. Louis – No team has risen to the top faster than the defending champs. After a start that had some, including me, questioning their playoff chances, they should be able to lock up home field advantage with a win this week.

13 – NEW ENGLAND over Buffalo – In the first few weeks of the season I predicted that the Bills would make the playoffs and the Patriots dynasty was done…well this game should pretty much sum up how wrong I was on both fronts.

12 – Indianapolis over TENNESSEE – The Colts need to get things back in order before the playoffs start. Look for them to take out some aggression on the lowly Titans.

11 – BALTIMORE over Cleveland – The Ravens still have a chance to make the playoffs this year and should be able to do their part and beat the Johnny Football-less Browns.

10 – New Orleans over TAMPA BAY – Don’t worry Bucs’ fans! After that pesky little Super Bowl thing is over, YOU will be the NFL’s #1! … in the draft. You are now on the clock.

9 – MINNESOTA over Chicago – Teddy Bridgewater has shown that he could be a top quarterback in this league sooner rather than later. This week he will learn about how NOT to be an NFL quarterback as Jay Cutler is back under center for the Bears.

8 – GREEN BAY over Detroit – The NFC North comes down to this. A first round bye and a home playoff game is likely on the line. There aren’t too many teams that I have more faith in when playing at home than the Packers right now.

7 – HOUSTON over Jacksonville – Houston is still fighting for their playoff lives. They need help that I don’t think they’ll get but they still should be able to do their part.

6 – PITTSBURGH over Cincinnati – The best division in football this year comes down to week 17 where the Steelers, who have been one of the hottest teams to end the year, should be able to take care of a Bengals team that still seems to have some problems winning a big game.

5 – Dallas over WASHINGTON – The Cowboys should be able to put the 2014 Redskins out of their misery and usher them to the off-season quickly and quietly.

4 – ATLANTA over Carolina – The NFC South champion and 7-win play-off team will be decided here…that’s really all the effort this game deserves.

3 – KANSAS CITY over San Diego – The Chargers hold their play-off destiny in their hands. Unfortunately that destiny is in Arrowhead right now – not a place you want to HAVE to win a game.

2 – NEW YORK GIANTS over Philadelphia – The Eagles were prime to make a run to the Super Bowl, they just ran out of gas a few weeks too soon.

1 – SAN FRANCISCO over Arizona – Congrats Jim! Now wave good-bye – we’ll see you next year in Ann Arbor.

13 out of 16 games correct last week is a great way to start the final stretch of the confidence pool season. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Week 16! HERE WE GO!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – New England over NEW YORK JETS – In a week where road favorites dominate, none can give you more confidence than the Pats taking care of their lowly rivals.

15 – MIAMI over Minnesota – The Vikings, namely Teddy Bridgewater, are starting to show signs of life. But the Dolphins are still fighting for their playoff lives and won’t let this win get by them.

14 – Green Bay over TAMPA BAY – Aaron Rodgers and the Packers have a lot of frustrations to take out on the Bucs this week if they want to prove they are still the team to beat.

13 – ST. LOUIS over New York Giants – The Rams have shown signs of life, which is a lot more than can be said for the Giants this year.

12 – Philadelphia over WASHINGTON – RGIII is back under center…which makes it easy to put the Eagles on a line this high on the road.

11 – CAROLINA over Cleveland – Carolina has been a disappointment this year. Lucky for them the Browns decided to end all playoff hopes when they decided to go with Johnny Manziel.

10 – PITTSBURGH over Kansas City – The Steelers are quietly becoming a team to keep an eye on in the AFC. If they can contain Jamaal Charles they should cruise in this one.

9 – NEW ORLEANS over Atlanta – A big divisional game against two bad teams. It’s in New Orleans so it’s pretty easy to pick the Saints here.

8 – DALLAS over Indianapolis – Dallas showed that they are still a contender with a big win in Philly last week. That should give them the needed momentum in this big inter-conference game.

7 – JACKSONVILLE over Tennessee – The Jags have proven to be the lesser of two evils here. Playing at home with about 3,600 screaming fans behind them should help.

6 – Detroit over CHICAGO – I immediately bumped this game up a few lines with the Bears’ quarterback change news. Hopefully for them it’s the start of the process of getting Jay Cutler out of Halas Hall. This week's BOLD PREDICTION is that Jay Cutler will NOT be the quarterback of the Chicago Bears week 1 next season.

5 – ARIZONA over Seattle – The Seahawks have started to climb back into the playoff picture the last few weeks. However the Cardinals have been able to maintain their stance on the NFC lead even with injury issues.

4 – Buffalo over OAKLAND – This could be closer than some think, but the Bills should still be able to pull out the road win.

3 – Baltimore over HOUSTON –Houston is still fighting with their slim chances left but the Ravens are just playing too good now.

2 – San Diego over SAN FRANCISCO – The Chargers head up the coast line and should be able to aid in Jim Harbaugh’s eventual relocation to Oakland…or Chicago…or Ann Arbor…or…

1 – CINCINNATI over Denver – I think the Bengals can pull this out, but their inability to perform on the big stage gives me a lot of trepidation.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am a bit of an “Indy skeptic.”

Don’t get me wrong, I more than respect the athleticism and creativity that a lot of the stars of the local/regional promotions display. I just have too much of the old school mentality. I take everything I hear about the latest “internet darling” with a grain of salt. What you do on the independent scene will only be good enough to get you a chance at the big stage of WWE. Once there, my assumption is that it will take a few years to get acclimated with the WWE system before I can see potential.

I need to change the way I think!

When Sting made his debut at the Survivor Series, it was the last of that type of debut. Gone are the days where a guy can be a star from one global wrestling organization and make an immediate impactful debut in WWE. There is only one big show in town and that’s WWE. This is how we will see new stars make their debut from here on. No longer will we have “when is so-and-so jump over to WWE.” We will now have “when will so-and-so be called up to the main roster?”

Triple H got it right! The Performance Center in Orlando and the NXT show is his baby. He saw that the way to bring new talent to WWE has changed. He opened the door to the Independent stars to show their stuff in a semi-WWE atmosphere.

Over the next few decades, we’ll all benefit from what the Performance Center produces.

We’ve already seen it with the likes of Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Luke Harper and Erik Rowan. These six stars all made their name in the birth of NXT. At the 2012 Survivor Series, we had “Oh! Those are the NXT guys attacking Ryback!” In the summer of 2013, vignettes on Raw let us know that the Wyatt Family “was coming” to Raw from NXT. Now it appears that The Ascension is ready to make the jump to the main roster. These two, Konnor and Viktor, have spent their time in NXT creating characters that make them look like the most dominating tag team since the Road Warriors.

I’ve said before that the business of wrestling is in a constant state of evolution. We are now very rapidly creeping up on new era in WWE. I can’t remember the last time there was this big of an influx of solid, young talent in WWE. We have seen some of this new talent on the main roster for the last year or two, but the real affirmation of the young foundation being built for years to come came with NXT’s recent live special R-Evolution.

The most recent version of NXT’s live event pay-per-view equivalent did nothing less than open the eyes of the WWE Universe to what the next 10-15 years will look like. The show itself was centered around a title match between two of the most popular stars in NXT for the last year and the company’s three major independent signings. What came out was what people are considering the best wrestling show of 2014.

Kevin Steen, now Kevin Owens, was the last of the three big signings to make his debut and very quickly showed that it was worth the wait. As soon as his video hit the screen, the small crowd at Full Sail University gave a pop that made it seem like they were in the AllState Arena! The match itself didn’t give the crowd too much of a chance to die down either. Owens does things in the ring that a guy his size should not be doing. The “Fight Steen Fight” chants from Ring of Honor have seamlessly transitioned over to “Fight Owens Fight,” a chant that we should all get used to hearing.

The Ascension began their NXT swan-song by helping to build up the other two Independent signings from the summer – Kenta, now Hideo Itami, and Prince DeVitt, now Finn Balor. The match itself was great…but that wasn’t the story here. The WWE Universe was introduced to the true spectacle that is Finn Balor. I don’t think an entrance as received more attention since Shawn Michaels came down from the top of The Pond at WrestleMania 12. This truly was an amazing blend of sports and entertainment.

As far as Itami goes, well, I’m not saying that he’s not good, because he is! He’s great in the ring! He’s clearly received the third highest initial push of the big three signings. My conspiracy theory mind makes me think that a big reason WWE signed Itami was to take a bit of a jab at a certain departed individual. Itami was the originator of a move that he teased during the match (which received a HUGE reaction) but didn’t complete the move. He called it the TKO, but on his Twitter account, Itami even made reference to the move’s more popular name here in the states saying, “Thank you for came to #NXTTakeoverREvolution & watching @WWENetwork @jsports. THE FUTURE IS NOW. I will make you Go 2 ……. Good night.” Small language barrier aside, what say you, CM Punk?

With all of this happening, the main event simply had to deliver – and boy did it ever. The buildup alone for Sami Zayn meeting Adrian Neville for the NXT Tile itself got you emotionally involved in the match! The match was just pure athleticism full of moves that 95% of the current main roster would not be able to pull off. The back and forth action and high flying moves had the crowd on the edge of their seats for the duration of the 30 minute match. When Zayn finally “won the big one” the crowd erupted as if they all just won the title. What a moment it was to see Zayn hoisted up by his peers in the middle of the ring, led by Kevin Owens, who teamed together in Ring of Honor. It was a much deserved ten minute celebration.

Then … BOOM!

With a quick shove to the steel and a brutal powerbomb to the side of the ring to the new champion, Owens made it clear that he was going to be the new bad ass in NXT and wanted the NXT title. The next main event program has started and this will clearly take us on a wild, and more importantly, entertaining ride!

The growth of NXT has only one place left to go – an NXT Championship match is seemingly a MUST at WrestleMania 31! If you haven’t watched it yet, subscribe to the network and watch the show – it’s worth the $9.99/month on its own! After that, I dare you to give me a reason why Hideo Itami vs Finn Balor vs Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn for the NXT belt would not have a chance to steal the show!

In 2015, it’s easy to see that an NXT alum will win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The future is now – and NXT has brought us here!