Royal Rumble

Short form thoughts, gut reaction -- an entertaining PPV. While it didn't have quite the 'pomp and prestige' feel previous Rumbles have had in terms of their association with Wrestlemania, the matches pre-Rumble were good, there were a couple of fun comebacks in terms of Booker T and "Diesel" Kevin Nash, and while I question a little bit the extent of the Alberto Del Rio push (I agree with pushing him to a world title shot, perhaps even to the title in the near-future ... but at 'Mania? already?), the Rumble match didn't disappoint. It was a story of long runs, as CM Punk's Nexus, and John Cena, had a nice long time dominating the match; it was a match of fun returns as I said, and of a spectacular Parkour show (look it up) by John Morrison. And it had a comedic ending as Santino Marella revealed he hadn't been eliminated after all and came amusingly close to winning the whole shabang. It was different, and I didn't mind 'different'. A lot awaits how it plays out this week, as always - these are just the first few steps down the Wrestlemania road that is known for taking curves and twists along the way. The ride has started - let's enjoy it together!

CLICK HERE for ITVR's Royal Rumble Predictions

By the by - (warning - spoiler a click away) CLICK HERE if you want quick access not only to the names of the two surprise entrant spoilers mentioned in the podcast, but an excellent analysis by the Pro Wrestling Torch's editor, Wade Keller, of A. their potential roles and contributions and B. other possible entrants. CLICKING HERE will take you to another interesting analysis. Obviously, DO NOT CLICK if you aren't interested in spoilers.

Best wishes to Scott Hall

NOTE: We will broadcast ITVR tomorrow evening for sure: we were just so pleased with out track record this week, having seen Raw and Impact! both, that we wanted to make sure we got Smackdown in too. But we will definitely hit the airwaves with our thoughts on the week that was in wrestling, and our predictions for Sunday night's Royal Rumble, so be sure to tune in! :)

Meanwhile, we want to wish our very best to Scott Hall, who is re-entering a rehab/mental health facility next week to continue treatment he recently left too early. Acknowledging the need for help, and his appreciation for the McMahon family supporting former WWE employees in seeking out treatment when necessary, here's hoping that this trip into treatment can be the last for Hall, whose longstanding problems have been well-documented. Best of luck - and hard work.

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Forty-Man Battle Royal?

It was announced last night that this year's Royal Rumble would be a 40-man affair instead of the usual 30. Ari and I will be discussing this in more depth in a few nights on In This Very Ring, but I did want to put my initial thoughts out there first, because for once I'm not as inclined to take my 'wait and see how it turns out' approach. I mean - ultimately I am, it's all we fans can do; but I have a bad feeling about this. Bigger is not always better, and the 30-man version of the Royal Rumble has been highly successful; I think I'm subscribing to the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' school of thought, that it is already one of the best and most anticipated matchups of the year, full of surprise returns, interesting matchups, etc. If WWE wants to make it more interesting, they could reinstate the Wrestlemania title shot stipulation instead of holding off to the Elimination Chamber PPV. But I really think putting forty men in that ring will detract from, rather than enhance, the event. Your thoughts?

Click here everyone for a SUPER edition of ITVR

CLICK HERE for In This Very Ring

With much appreciation for your patience, but it was worth the wait - listen in above for our year-end awards, and our comments on the week-old year of 2011. :) Cheers and happy weekend.

NOT in the Hall of Fame

A bit of a change of plans - we will be podcasting both our end-of-year awards and Raw thoughts tomorrow night. However meanwhile, I wanted to direct you to an awesome list I found courtesy of World Wrestling Insanity's Matt Dawgs, listing the top 100 wrestlers who deserve to be in the WWE Hall of Fame but aren't. This list is exhaustive and well-thought out by the panel; of course, it opens itself to some agreement, some disagreement. Please feel free to share your thoughts! :) CLICK HERE to check it out. Oh and while you're at it, be sure and click on the first link in this entry, to Matt's article - if you surf further around the World Wrestling Insanity site, they have some fun and interesting year-end awards that are worth checking out also.

Happy New Year from ITVR

So - unfortunately I had nowhere near the time I planned to do a podcast or even blog over Christmas week. However, please stay tuned right here to ITVR over the next couple of days as we post a very special New Years podcast tomorrow night, and I offer my Raw commentary late on Monday evening after the show. Hope you all join us for a new and more active year ahead of blogging and podcasting. We'll see you all right here where the action is ... In This Very Ring.