When in Rome XXIII - My Favorite Rumble + Rumble Predictions
Submitted by romans_3:23 on Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 12:29 AM EST





Welcome to When in Rome, the column that remains a sound investment even during a recession. The Royal Rumble is quickly approaching, and I hope all of you are financially stable enough to pony up the bucks to enjoy the Rumble live on pay per view. If not, I’m sure there are many ways here on teh interweb to catch a bit of the show. You’ll just have to ask someone else how to go about that though… On with the column.


Apocrypha


Well, I’m sure many of you are disappointed with the New York Giants upsetting of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game, which ended the possibility of a Brett Favre/Tom Brady shootout in Super Bowl XLII. Well, I was disappointed, but then I gave it some thought and I’ve come to realize that the Giants/Pats match up is much more appealing. Here’s why.

Al Harris will not be on the field.

Harris, the GB cornerback, repeatedly got smoked by Plaxico Burress, who caught 11 passes for 154 yards, during the NFC title game. Now, Burress undoubtedly is a top flight NFL receiver, but he is not Randy Moss, New England’s record breaking wideout. While Moss has struggled so far in the playoffs, only catching one ball in each game, he surely would’ve feasted upon the smaller Harris.

Harris did have a good season – he was named to the first Pro Bowl of his 10 year career, but without receiving a strong rush from the GB D-line, the GB secondary struggled mightily to stop Burress. How in the world would’ve the Packers matched up against Moss, Welker, Stallworth? They couldn’t have. The Pats’ O-line is superior to the Giant line that manhandled the Pack. None of this boded well for creating a competitive Super Bowl, much less a Packer upset.

The Giants have a better D-line than the Pack and their secondary is comparable if not superior. They have the horses to run in this race. Sure, the perfect Pats might go off for 45 points, but there is no logical reason to conclude that the Packers were any better equipped to shut them down – they weren’t.

Well, that’s the main reason I think the Giants/Pats match up is better – here are some others.

We get Manning vs. Brady after all – so what if it’s Eli?

We get to see if Brady can continue his uber-pwnage of the QB draft class of 2004 (Ben, Rivers, Eli.)

It’s Boston vs. New York – without the Yanks or the Sox!

Tiki Barber is forced to eat all the criticism he threw at Eli and Tom Coughlin.

Well, I’ll make my Super Bowl pick next week if I post another column. If unforeseen circumstances prevent me from writing, as of now I’m leaning towards the Pats. I do think it will be a closer game than many are predicting, but I’m just not ready to commit to a prediction just yet. Let’s get to the main portion of this column…


The Gospel Truth


Psalm 23:1 A PSALM OF DAVID.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

We all have our favorites. This Psalm happens to be a favorite to many, as well as myself. The image that the author created of a shepherd leading his sheep has comforted many throughout time, even many modern people who don’t really understand the agrarian context all that much. Nevertheless, this Psalm reveals God as the good shepherd of his people, who leads them through trouble, comforts them and blesses them. God is greater than whatever problem we face. This Psalm brings God’s redemptive love to light, making it a favorite of mine.

I also happen to have a favorite Royal Rumble match – the 1992 Rumble in which Ric Flair entered at number three and lasted nearly an hour to win the WWE championship. With this year’s Rumble only a few days away, I figured I’d reflect on why the 1992 Rumble remains my favorite. Here’s why.

The Superstars

The 1992 Rumble stands out because of strength of its roster. Look at this list of participants: Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Sid Justice, Roddy Piper, Shawn Michaels, Kerry Von Erich, Davey Boy Smith and the Undertaker. That’s a very strong top ten, and I didn’t even include former AWA World Champion Rick Martel or former WWE Champion Sgt. Slaughter in that list. Overall, the 92 Rumble was stacked with star power and might remain the most studded Rumble in history, despite WWE’s claims that the 2007 Rumble had the most stars. The 2007 Rumble was stacked and the 2008 will be as well, but 1992 set the standard that all future Rumbles must pass.

The Storylines

Another strength of the 92 Rumble was the storylines that played out in the match. The top storyline, of course, was that the vacant WWE championship was on the line because of a controversial finish between Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker at December’s Tuesday in Texas pay per view. I believed that Hogan, Piper, Taker, Flair, Savage or Sid all had a realistic shot at emerging as the winner and champion, and I was overjoyed that my favorite wrestler, Ric Flair, did in fact win.

The 92 Rumble featured the often duplicated “win from the beginning” storyline for the first time. Yes, there had been other “iron men” like Rick Martel in the 91 Rumble, but he did not win. And yes, in later Rumbles, we’d see HBK, Benoit and Mysterio all win from the first or second spot, but Flair, who entered at number three, became the first “iron man” to win in 92, and that feat should keep a special place in wrestling history.

Besides the title story and Flair’s “iron man” story several other storylines made for a most interesting Rumble. You had the Randy Savage/Jake Roberts/Undertaker feud coming to a head. Remember that one, in which Jake and Taker hijacked Savage and Elizabeth’s wedding reception at Summerslam, leading to Savage confronting Jake and getting bit on the arm by a cobra on WWF Superstars! That is one of the most underrated feuds ever in my opinion. Also, you had Roddy Piper wrestling in the Rumble after winning the Intercontinental title earlier in the show. Piper was the first guy to ever pull double duty at the Rumble and with the roll he was on, you really could have seen him somehow win both titles on the same night. You had Shawn Michaels’ coming out party with his new cocky heel persona. The Rumble was HBK’s first pay per view post-Rockers and he showed glimpses of the star that he would soon become. And you had the unexpected beginning of the Hogan/Sid feud, which ended up headlining Wrestlemania. Overall, the 92 Rumble was packed with stories, mostly involving all time greats and you can’t beat that!

The Soundbites

The 92 Rumble shines because of the awesome commentary by Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby “the Brain” Heenan. These two had a chemistry that no commentating duo has ever been able to match. Their banter was “on” during the Rumble and I’ll never forget Heenan’s “Fair to Flair” shtick that he worked throughout the match whenever the Nature Boy encountered distress. Also, I’ll never forget Gorilla exclaiming, “You can kiss it goodbye, Brain! No one who has ever entered the Rumble at the beginning has been there at the end!” when Flair entered the ring as the third participant. Or, Gorilla’s characteristic groaning of, “Will you stop!” every time Heenan waxed on about the greatness of Flair.

Also, Flair’s post-match interview was classic. “With a tear in my eye, this is the greatest moment in my life!” exclaimed the new champion, as he launched into maybe the greatest victory speech in WWE history. Words don’t do it justice, so check out the interview, as well as the end of the 92 Rumble at THIS LINK .

The Slick Finish

Well, hopefully you took the chance to watch the end of the 92 Rumble, which featured one of the best final fours of all time: Hogan, Flair, Savage and Sid. I loved the finish of this match, in which Sid dumped Savage and then opportunistically dumped Hogan from behind, causing Hogan to angrily reach out for the arm of Sid, who was taunting Hogan from inside the ring. Flair then jumped at the chance to dump Sid, who was caught by the Hulkster, over the top rope to win.

I loved how the “every man for himself” concept really came to light in the finish of this Rumble as we saw a face Sid toss a face Savage and Hogan, who then assisted the heel Flair in eliminating Sid. Never before had faces dumped each other at the end of a Rumble match. We had seen a heel Akeem dump Rick Martel near the end of the 89 Rumble and Mr. Perfect dump Rick Rude in 90, but never had the faces crossed lines to eliminate each other in the end. Of course Sid did turn full fledged heel against Hogan on Saturday Night’s Main Event, but if you watch the video of the Hogan/Sid post match altercation, you will hear Sid get more cheers (amplified by a loud Sid chant) than Hogan.

To this day, I still love the 92 Rumble more than all others. What is your favorite Rumble? Send me an email at romes_writings@yahoo.com and let me know.


A Prophetic Word

With the Rumble only a few days away, I’d be remiss not to make predictions for the event. Here are some quick predictions for Sunday’s pay per view.

Ric Flair over MVP

I don’t see Flair’s career coming to a close until Wrestlemania, although it might make sense for Flair to go out in the Mecca of Sports Entertainment, Madison Square Garden. I just don’t see MVP as Flair’s last opponent, however and I believe that Flair will get a pinfall win here.

Chris Jericho vs. JBL – No Contest

I see this feud continuing until Mania, so it makes the most sense for some sort of DQ to take place here. I don’t believe that there will be a clear winner, but if I had to pick one to go over, I figure JBL would win by DQ, and that the feud would continue. Jericho seemed extremely intense in his latest Raw promo, and I could see him getting disqualified for unleashing some sort of illegal violent attack on JBL. I do not see a clean finish happening here and I would be shocked if this is the blowoff match for the feud.

World Heavyweight Champion Edge over Rey Mysterio

Mysterio is simply fodder for Edge to kill time with until he begins a program with Taker. This is so obvious that it isn’t even really worth commenting about. The match should be good though. Mysterio will not win the title here – his best hope would be to win by DQ, but I see Edge as coming out strong with a win.

Jeff Hardy over WWE Champion Randy Orton

It’s going to happen. Jeff Hardy is going to walk out of the Royal Rumble as WWE Champion. I just have the feeling that WWE will capitalize on Hardy’s current mega overness and create an all time memorable moment by giving him the belt this Sunday. I do believe that Randy Orton will regain the title at No Way Out and enter Wrestlemania as champ, but the Rumble will be Jeff’s night.

But, what about the promo posters that seem to suggest that Hardy will be in the rumored Elimination Chamber match at NWO? Well, I think that WWE initially planned for Orton to retain, but now have changed their minds about giving Hardy a quick run with the gold. Why? Check out this quote from Jim Ross’ blog,

“Jeff Hardy reminds me of only a few wrestlers who simply got white hot in a matter of weeks and is seemingly only a few steps away from establishing residency in the Promised Land. The question always is for any athlete is that once one gets there, how long can one stay on hallowed ground? For the naysayers who are adamant that Hardy will not win Sunday at MSG, I simply say stay tuned as we are in unpredictable waters and Jeff Hardy winning the WWE Title in Madison Square Garden would be one of those lasting “moments” that would live for years. Hardy may be the underdog Sunday, but so were the NY Giants last Sunday in Green Bay. Just throwing it out there.”

Maybe JR is just trying to trick folks like me into believing that Hardy can win, but I honestly think he’s hinting at the inevitable…

Jeff Hardy, WWE Champion!

Undertaker wins the Royal Rumble

I really hope I’m wrong with this pick. It just seems too obvious. I wrote in an earlier column that of all scenarios I thought Shelton Benjamin winning would be the best overall. If you want to read that column click THIS LINK . In this column, I’m just predicting what I think will actually occur, not what I want to see occur and I think that all signs point to Taker winning for the second year in a row.

Triple H has a real shot, but he will probably get screwed out of winning somehow and will get his Mania title shot through other means later. Batista is the other guy with a real shot, but I think that would entail him jumping to Raw to leave Taker vs. Edge to happen. That scenario also would eliminate the Elimination Chamber match, unless it became a Smackdown match, which is possible, but unlikely.

It just seems that Taker will win – hopefully WWE dresses his victory up nicely since it is a repeat of last year. I know I do not want to see it come down to Trips and Taker – even though they would put on an exciting finish. It would just seem too much like last year’s Taker/HBK finish.

So, even though I don’t like it, I see Undertaker going back to back.

Before I end this, read a few…


Proverbs


The wise man understands the meaning of the times and reads Stinger’s The Scorpion Deathlock II – Wrestling With Dates

The world is strange. Who can comprehend the tastes of the people? Read aisce’s aisce in Your Hole #12 – British Wrestling to gain insight.

A good man will honor those who worked diligently to lay the foundation of the past, by reading Boss Foxx’s Topp Tenn


Well, you’ve just read the uninspired, fallible, opinion only word of Rome. Take it for what it’s worth. I should be back next week with another column, but next week I will be starting school for the spring semester – so expect a column once every two weeks from then until summer. Remember to check out the LOP Columns Forum . I promise you won’t be disappointed.

RIP Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein

Later all













***DIRECT LINK*** Over 14 Total HIGH QUALITY Maria 2008 PB Photos! MUST SEE!

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