@@sheepdavis Understandably so. Even without the whole faceoff with RVD, Cena and ECW were oil and water. And that Cena victory marked the moment I gave up on WWE. He had just returned and they just couldn't resist strapping the rocket right on him immediately. I had, yes, Cena nuff--not his fault but just so little variety it was boring.
I almost didnt say this but I felt the same way once I saw how the rumble ended. I didnt feel as attached to ECW but I knew the boss was going to run right back to a sure thing for money which took potential variety away from the main event. This started my declined interest in WWE.@@closethockeyfan5284
This also started a trend of Santino Marella being eliminated very easily by everyone at the Rumble. But while he was eliminated in one second in 2009 he did almost win the 2011 Rumble!
@@claytonrios1I'd take it over The Miz and John Cena. Hell I think if Santino won. It would have been an interesting underdog story they could've done. John and the Miz could have treated him like a 3rd wheel in the whole lead up, and in a massive upset, maybe thanks to The Rocks interference, Santino could've won making it a huge upset and the biggest curve ball in Wrestlemania history. A comedy 3rd wheel character getting a huge upset over the Miz and John would've certainly made Wrestlemania 27 more memorable than outright infamous.
@@sebastiancintron29 I can imagine it now. "Santino has gone from being an absolute joke to being an absolute champion! Cena and Miz are in utter disbelief!"
Very classy indeed. And that was something that I totally forgot about also. A lot of ppl just jumped on the guy because he didn't start in wrestling and such but he was a former NFL RB. Tough guy
At the time we didn't know much about CTE, so it would have been an easy video to match in the early days. This is probably something that you're thankful you never made a video about Adamle. It would be very hard to watch now if you did. So good on you for not doing that.
I remember Cena’s return here very well. Was watching the RR at a crowded sports bar with friends when his music hit for #30 - all of Buffalo Wild Wings shook as the place erupted in cheers!! As for me… I was the GIF of that blonde kid from WM30 mad that The Undertaker lost 😡 my shock quickly evaporated into rage as I knew then that Cena was going to win - “lol” 😑😑😑
It’s sad seeing Ashley Massaro knowing what happened in 2019. She was a month younger than me and, for some reason, followed me on Twitter. I know she wasn’t great in the ring or anything, but she was always one of my favorites.
@@2mad4yaThat was the shitty thing about WWE back then they never bothered to actually take time to train the women not that it really mattered since they almost never got time to have matches. But most every women who won the diva searches basically got zero time to get better before instantly being thrust into the ring. Which is why most successful diva search women were the ones that didn't win yet got signed and had time to get better in the ring before being on the main roster. Like Maria, Maryse, McCool, Bliss and Mendes not saying all of them were great in ring. But if not they at least had solid characters and were decent in the ring. Only winners who did anything were Layla and Eve Torres. Other than that u have Hemme who did nothing in WWE did better for herself on TNA. Ashley who's time in WWE was just tragic and awful but not shocking. And then u have the final winner Eva Marie who was just a waste of space.
21:03 The sad part about Shelton Benjamin getting eliminated by Shawn Michaels (in seconds) is that this is the third year where Shawn eliminated Shelton. The guy can never catch a break. :(
Glad to hear that your family's all good after those winter storms, heard they were a nightmare for many. Also liked the HD gag at the beginning, but that made me think that it could be a nice stylistic choice for the future classic PPV reviews to keep the editing in 4:3 for those shows that remain in standard definition. Keep up the good work Brian!
I’ll never forget an online columnist was basically saying “anyone but Triple H!” and he flipped a lid the week after when Cena returned and won. It was one of those be careful what you wish for moments for them
I don't blame Brian one bit for not doing an Adamle episode. But It should be noted Mike Adamle repeatedly asked wrestling fans to stop saying his health issues were to blame for his poor announcer performance as it was costing him work while he was trying to get it. According to Adamle, he was anxious because he wasn't a wrestling fan and he really didn't enjoy being in WWE because it was so high pressure. He was quite adamant that neither his epilepsy or his later CTE diagnosis had anything to do with it, and pointed out that he had announcer jobs in arena football after without botches. Of course both of those things complicate everything and there's no way to know how much either affected him (and possibly made his anxiety worse from all we know about CTE) and Brian is right to avoid that topic like the plague. It'd just be piling on him, no matter what he's said or what he personally claimed about the situation. Given that he apparently didn't like working for WWE and his belief that wrestling fans cost him work and money, as well as how he became a joke on RAW and a meme among the fans, I can't imagine Adamle likes pro wrestling much these days. Just a hunch I have.
I've seen a video of him talking with fans on a live show. Seeing him admitting to his mistakes and inexperience while those fans were sarcastically saying "you're the best" made me feel a number of different emotions.
@@gatchywatchyentertainmentb2090 Neither were Tracey Smothers, J.T. Smith, Tony Mamaluke, or Tommy Rich, and THEY were part of that faction one time or another.
When Snuka and Piper started tussling against each other in the Rumble, everyone stopped whatever they were doing and got to see two legends of the past clash inside Madison Square Garden (all of them are youngsters in the past who grew up watching classic WWE wrestling or maybe others are not born when Piper and Snuka clashed in the past but are somehow avid fans of wrestling, WWE or any other wrestling promotion).
Thank you for taking a moment to share that information regarding Adamle. I was totally unaware of his issues with CTE and I pray that he's able to heal and improve his quality of life. ❤
It's legit my favorite one of his due to how smooth it is. And I'm much higher on that match than Brian is here, I liked much more than the Edge/Rey title one, and thought it was pretty damn solid overall.
Its too 3 for me. The first "outta nowhere" one against Carlito was amazing, the Jeff one was buttery smooth, but the all time best is the Rollins curb stomp counter at mania. (Sorry Evan Bourne)
I enjoy the video you can find where Cody talks about this being his first Rumble match & how Taker shocked him by not just telling him to do a dropkick but that Taker actually bumped for it. Just to hear Cody tell it shows how much it meant for him that Taker was willing to let a newbie like him shine that early on, even if only for a quick moment.
2008 was a blur for me watching WWE...my brother had just passed in Dec. 2007 and we both watch WWE religiously since 1998...so it's refreshing knowing about what I missed in 2008 watching these call back videos 😊
I kinda stop watching wwe in late 06 after angle left and super cena was boring af altho my gf at the time was a cena stan. This rumble was me getting back into wwe u have no idea how mad I was 2 see cena back that night. I threw my water bottle and my gf laughed her ass off
BEARDED ZANE!! PRAISE HIM!! Sorry you're affected by the storm Brian. After living in Michigan for all my life, I always think about moving then I see the sheer amounts of snow the East Coast gets, the extreme heat the West Coast gets and I realize, the Midwest ain't so bad. Hopefully the power gets back on soon!
Glad you and your family are doing well Brian! I'll always remember this event for Buffer's introduction of Shawn Michaels as just the Heartbreak Kid lmfao
I remember watching this on PPV live with friends and Cena's return was a HUGE shock. Social media wasn't huge in 2008 and Cena was stated to return much later that year. Was definitely cool to see him return early.
Shelton Benjamin: (Appears in a Rumble) Shawn Michaels: I don't like you. (Eliminates him) The only time this doesn't happen is in 2010, bizarrely enough when both guys were also in the ring.
We're going to the Rumble this weekend. It's the first one we've attended since 2009 in Detroit. Can't wait! I'm watching every Rumble review I can find all week long!
I was at MSG for this rumble. The entire crowd was shocked to see Cena. But after a few minutes we started to boo him and was hoping for anyone else to win the rumble. But we all knew Cena was going to win once we heard his music
royal rumble 2008 was a great ppv I haven't watched this ppv in years since I stopped watching wwe in December 2007 since I began watching TNA so the fact that brian is reviewing this is awesome so I can refresh my memory great review brian.
To answer your question Brian, If memory serves me right in between Billy and Chuck and the Biker Chuck gimmick, Chuck Palumbo was part of the FBI (Full Blooded Italians) in WWE on SmackDown in 2003 and 2004 along with Nunzio and Johnny Stamboli. Wouldn't blame you for forgetting that tbh, I only remember because of his inclusion in Smackdown Vs Raw in 2004.
Love the review. Glad you and your family are OK. Much props for the Mike Adamle video not happening. That's a true sign of a good person, not taking advantage of a person's shortcomings for a cheap video.
Sorry to hear about your unfortunate situation. I go crazy when the power goes out on my block for a few hours, so I could only imagine what you guys are going through. Hopefully things get better soon!
I actually in attendence for this Rumble and while, objectively, its not the best Rumble match, it'll always be my favorite. The crowd was deflated when Jeff lost because we really thought it was his time but then a few weeks after this, he got the 60 day suspension. NOBODY knew Cena was gonna come out and the guys around me thought Big Show was gonna come out. When Cena's music hit, that place was SO loud it caused a headache... It was insane! This Rumble will always have a special place.
This will forever be one of my favorite rumbles as a kid. As a huge Cena fan, I actually cried when he came out at #30. It will forever be in my memory.
Brian what you said about 2008 just trying to start a career in television while balancing balancing a love of wrestling that was fading. I was on a parallel track, minus the indie wrestling. They set us back with the 2008 re (depre)cession. But you found your niche and still got into media. I am happy for you and proud of you.
Referring to Bradshaw getting all that pyro on one of the last 2007 Raw’s (one of my favorite clips also), I think the story was that WWE got new pyro for the new year and for the HD cameras and this was just their way of getting rid of the old excess.
The part where Jericho makes his comeback against JBL and the crowd boos randomly is because of Jericho botching a Bulldog on JBL. The Network (And now on Peacock) edited out the botch so it just looks like they boo for no reason.
So that's why we never will have a Mike A. Video. Thanks for sharing the background of why. I always wanted to see one video talking about that weird time on WWE with Mike as GM and everything
Glad to hear your all ok over there. Crazy 110mph winds and -14°c weather here in the very north of Scotland.....Boy those fireworks in this video look warm!!
What Snuka did aside. That moment in the Rumble was Iconic, If you look closely there is not a SINGLE guy in the ring not smiling and marking out for it.
Glad to hear y'all are ok. Stay safe of course. Excellent video as always! Never any Wregets watching your content! Major respect to you for explaining the Mike Adamle situation, and declaring you won't make a video about it! Class act! This is why you're my favorite Wrestling RUclipsr!
This card was the first pro-wrestling event and first WWE event that I ever attended! Thanks for reviewing it! For the record: Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore pinned Deuce and Domino in a tag-team dark match in 4 minutes 11 seconds.
7:42 I was live at the Collision at the Prudential Center in NJ, when Ricky Starks got FORTY-FIVE seconds of Pyro and when I tell you I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard, it was SUCH an absurd amount of pyro, but also very cool to see up front and in person
Glad you're making it through the power outages. I live in Junction City and it suuuuucked the lil while I was without power. Here's to hoping it's all fixed for yall soon.
I admit there is a slight bit of bias from me here as I travelled from the UK to be live at this event.. I always wanted to watch a wrestling show live at Madison Square Garden and the Royal Rumble is my favourite PPV.. You're damn right I wasn't going to miss this. Looking back now yes it's not the best Rumble ever but it's still a decent enough PPV and I still remember how shocked everyone was when Cena came out.. That said I was making notes of Entries and Eliminations and Finlay completely ruined it. :P, It's crazy to think this was 16 Years ago now. I still remember the show really well.
Zane saying how things weren't hitting for him round this time, which is kinda fits, sure I had only been a fan for 5 years at the time, and was still enjoying the product, but it'd be round two years later where I took a break from it tbh. Seeing endless Cena champion, and Punk jobbing vs Big Show pretty much sealed it.
As a kid, this was my era of wrestling and nothing is funnier than realizing in retrospect how Hornswoggle is just a regular guy with this insanely tone def gimmick.
Fun fact: The JBL pyro was the last of what they could use with that stage setup. The next week they had their HD set, so they decided to use the rest of the old pyro they had instead of just tossing it.
I was at this show. A lot of fun. I remember in the crowd nobody knew who number 30 would be. The general consensus was the big show and a few people saying Matt Hardy nobody I talked to that night thought Cena. Also you do know why there was the let’s go giants chant right? The giants were the ones that played and beat the undefeated patriots in the Super Bowl the following Sunday.
Great video as always! Wasn't this the first show where they started using the ribbon scoreboard that arenas to advertise RAW & Smackdown as well as PPVs?
Glad to hear you and the family are doing ok Brian! Now that I'm watching this, I also felt 08 was around the time I really started pulling away from WWE and trying to figure out what I loved about wrestling. Cool coincidence.
When Cena's music hits the reaction from the crowd. Still just send chills and he looks up. You know doing his entrance and everything. Good moment, you know, it's one of those moments. I'll remember of WWE until I die. There's a lot of them though l o l. The crowd Makes the moment that's for sure
I'm pretty sure this was the first PPV I watched where I was old enough to remember. I screamed SO LOUD when Cena theme hit and he stood there with the wrists and looking down I can still feel all of that energy in my body from that wonderful memory. Definitely my favorite Rumble besides 07.
puuuh... for me this is one of the best Rumbles. Top 3 for sure. Still a great review, laughed a lot. Hope you will get your power back to watch the rumble.
21:08 godamn it, I knew you were gonna say something, so I was trying to restrain myself so I wouldn’t have to laugh out loud and scare my cat. But I failed. Too funny lol
I was pretty nervous that one of the trees in our yard would fall on us this last week. First winter ice storm in Portland was eventful to say the least! Hope you and your family are staying safe and remain in good spirits Brian.
Very interesting to hear your opinion of the state of the show at this point as I believe this was around the time as a kid that wrestling was at it's peak of interest for me. Also to your point about Chris Jericho rehashing his '99 gimmick, I think it's important to note that by 2008, there was a whole new generation of wrestling fans who were not there for that initial run (such as myself), so to that demographic it was fresh, what's old is new and whatnot.
I'll never forget this, simply because at immediate first glance, Cena looked taller than I remembered, so I thought it was Orton dressed as him to troll the crowd. I even yelled "That's Orton!!" during the watch party I was at. And also as a really big WWECW fan (though I could never get into NXT for some reason, despite it being a bigger, badder WWECW), I was PISSED when Chavo entered the Rumble, as it just showed that those in power didn't give a shit about WWECW, as he was ECW Champion. Even though we knew Taker wasn't gonna go after the ECW Title in 2007, it was still cool to see him show up and threaten Lashley, and it helped provide a hint of legitimacy to the new/revived belt. "Y2J + 7". Hell yes. A new pun every week Brian. Keep. Them. Coming. In fact you should do that everytime you cover a Jericho WWE match from now on. 2000 + however many number of years since 2000.
I threw a party for this ppv with about 40 people in attendance. We were all disappointed when Cena came out at # 30. I had almost everyone convinced that Bobby Lashley was gonna come out at # 30 and win it all. Others thought Jeff Hardy was gonna win the Rumble after being defeated earlier. A few people thought Vladimir Kozlov was gonna win it in his debut match. We were all wrong.
Oh crap, that sucks about that storm. Hope everything goes alright back at your home, I am glad to see and hear ya, still doing your thang, you do so well.
Brian says he forgot what Chuck Palumbo did between Billy & Chuck and the biker gimmick. Chuck was a member of FBI along with Nunzio and Johnny Stamboli on Smackdown in 2003 and 2004.
@22:00 chavo was the current ecw champion. You can hear taz’s utter confusion and contempt when chavo enters. Previously the ecw title was treated as another world title. So for chavo to be in the match, it confirms the title’s relegation.
I love how Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Tazz and Joey Styles all got their calls in when John Cena first comes out.
I also like that Jim Ross compared Morrison to a young HBK
@@Venemofthe888love JoMo
Joey Styles sounded the least passionate about Cena returning.
@@sheepdavis Understandably so. Even without the whole faceoff with RVD, Cena and ECW were oil and water. And that Cena victory marked the moment I gave up on WWE. He had just returned and they just couldn't resist strapping the rocket right on him immediately. I had, yes, Cena nuff--not his fault but just so little variety it was boring.
I almost didnt say this but I felt the same way once I saw how the rumble ended. I didnt feel as attached to ECW but I knew the boss was going to run right back to a sure thing for money which took potential variety away from the main event. This started my declined interest in WWE.@@closethockeyfan5284
This also started a trend of Santino Marella being eliminated very easily by everyone at the Rumble. But while he was eliminated in one second in 2009 he did almost win the 2011 Rumble!
Given who won in 2011 I would’ve taken Santino over Del Rio 😂
@@claymathewselevator8121 Wouldn't that have been an interesting WrestleMania main event?
@@claytonrios1I'd take it over The Miz and John Cena. Hell I think if Santino won. It would have been an interesting underdog story they could've done. John and the Miz could have treated him like a 3rd wheel in the whole lead up, and in a massive upset, maybe thanks to The Rocks interference, Santino could've won making it a huge upset and the biggest curve ball in Wrestlemania history. A comedy 3rd wheel character getting a huge upset over the Miz and John would've certainly made Wrestlemania 27 more memorable than outright infamous.
@@sebastiancintron29 I can imagine it now.
"Santino has gone from being an absolute joke to being an absolute champion! Cena and Miz are in utter disbelief!"
Santino should have pinned Daniel Bryan at the Elimination Chamber. He was so over.
The sidebar regarding Adamle and why there won't be a video is much appreciated. Kudos.
Very classy.
Very classy indeed. And that was something that I totally forgot about also. A lot of ppl just jumped on the guy because he didn't start in wrestling and such but he was a former NFL RB. Tough guy
At the time we didn't know much about CTE, so it would have been an easy video to match in the early days. This is probably something that you're thankful you never made a video about Adamle. It would be very hard to watch now if you did. So good on you for not doing that.
I remember Cena’s return here very well. Was watching the RR at a crowded sports bar with friends when his music hit for #30 - all of Buffalo Wild Wings shook as the place erupted in cheers!! As for me… I was the GIF of that blonde kid from WM30 mad that The Undertaker lost 😡 my shock quickly evaporated into rage as I knew then that Cena was going to win - “lol” 😑😑😑
I think the fact people still rag on him knowing his diagnosis feels a little nasty
It’s sad seeing Ashley Massaro knowing what happened in 2019. She was a month younger than me and, for some reason, followed me on Twitter. I know she wasn’t great in the ring or anything, but she was always one of my favorites.
Indeed, she was bad in the ring but I was a fan of her and her character. I felt really sad when she passed away
She followed me too! I never talke to her but i told i commented on a photo that she was beautiful and she followed me after.
What is the backstory?@@TheBlockerNator
That's it, i left the comment and she followed me but i never tried to talk to her after@@OhSoNasty
@@2mad4yaThat was the shitty thing about WWE back then they never bothered to actually take time to train the women not that it really mattered since they almost never got time to have matches. But most every women who won the diva searches basically got zero time to get better before instantly being thrust into the ring. Which is why most successful diva search women were the ones that didn't win yet got signed and had time to get better in the ring before being on the main roster. Like Maria, Maryse, McCool, Bliss and Mendes not saying all of them were great in ring. But if not they at least had solid characters and were decent in the ring. Only winners who did anything were Layla and Eve Torres. Other than that u have Hemme who did nothing in WWE did better for herself on TNA. Ashley who's time in WWE was just tragic and awful but not shocking. And then u have the final winner Eva Marie who was just a waste of space.
"Hall of famer and likely murderer" THANK YOU! I have seen so many videos that fail to mention that part when his legacy is brought up
Snuka definitely did it, and Vince paid off the police.
If you watch Cultaholic Wrestling's "WWE Golden Age" documentary you can pretty much remove "probably" it really is a disgusting bit of injustice.
@@denniswilliams6519 I watched the Dark Side of the Ring episode that covered it and damn it was sad. Vince basically got a murderer to walk free
The temporary background makes it look like you're a mid-noughties children's TV presenter and I love it.
Wregret's World of Wrestling
How u get in the Firefly fun house
OMG, so true
*Terry Funk voice* I've changed the channel, its a kid's show now
lol mid-noughties
Glad to hear the Zane family is okay. Thank you for putting out content despite your circumstances.
21:03 The sad part about Shelton Benjamin getting eliminated by Shawn Michaels (in seconds) is that this is the third year where Shawn eliminated Shelton.
The guy can never catch a break. :(
There just ain’t no stoppin’ it!
Tell his momma
I just listened to his podcast with Kurt Angle
Wait really?? Wow didn't know that
HBK loves to bury Shelton, unlike HHH.
Glad to hear that your family's all good after those winter storms, heard they were a nightmare for many. Also liked the HD gag at the beginning, but that made me think that it could be a nice stylistic choice for the future classic PPV reviews to keep the editing in 4:3 for those shows that remain in standard definition. Keep up the good work Brian!
I’ll never forget an online columnist was basically saying “anyone but Triple H!” and he flipped a lid the week after when Cena returned and won. It was one of those be careful what you wish for moments for them
Just as bad, maybe even worse
It was cool and weird to see the old Raw set in proper widescreen the week or two before the first HD set was introduced at the time.
Cena getting cheered in Madison square garden at this time shows you how miraculously fast that recovery was.
Maybe he faked it, like Roman faked cancer, to get cheered
@@Kingofb0ngstyle What?
@@Kingofb0ngstyle that is an unbelievably stupid thing to say and think.
@@Kingofb0ngstyleHow about you grow a pair you filthy Mark.
@@Kingofb0ngstyle You're disgusting
I laughed way harder at the 4x3 to 16x9 aspect flip.
You know it’s the hd era when most of the entrances videos got updated with scenes of the superstars in the stage with the led background
I don't blame Brian one bit for not doing an Adamle episode.
But It should be noted Mike Adamle repeatedly asked wrestling fans to stop saying his health issues were to blame for his poor announcer performance as it was costing him work while he was trying to get it.
According to Adamle, he was anxious because he wasn't a wrestling fan and he really didn't enjoy being in WWE because it was so high pressure. He was quite adamant that neither his epilepsy or his later CTE diagnosis had anything to do with it, and pointed out that he had announcer jobs in arena football after without botches.
Of course both of those things complicate everything and there's no way to know how much either affected him (and possibly made his anxiety worse from all we know about CTE) and Brian is right to avoid that topic like the plague. It'd just be piling on him, no matter what he's said or what he personally claimed about the situation.
Given that he apparently didn't like working for WWE and his belief that wrestling fans cost him work and money, as well as how he became a joke on RAW and a meme among the fans, I can't imagine Adamle likes pro wrestling much these days. Just a hunch I have.
I've seen a video of him talking with fans on a live show. Seeing him admitting to his mistakes and inexperience while those fans were sarcastically saying "you're the best" made me feel a number of different emotions.
Chuck was a member of the Full Blooded Italians in that in between time that you’ve forgotten about. Arguably the best run of his career
I preferred him as himself, the biker gimmick
I was gonna say that. Can't help but remember the FBI.
I use 2 love him lil guido and johnny the bull. Johnny could do some amazing things strength wise. Didnt he also do a moonsault??
But he’s not..? Italian?.. is he?!
@@gatchywatchyentertainmentb2090 Neither were Tracey Smothers, J.T. Smith, Tony Mamaluke, or Tommy Rich, and THEY were part of that faction one time or another.
When Snuka and Piper started tussling against each other in the Rumble, everyone stopped whatever they were doing and got to see two legends of the past clash inside Madison Square Garden (all of them are youngsters in the past who grew up watching classic WWE wrestling or maybe others are not born when Piper and Snuka clashed in the past but are somehow avid fans of wrestling, WWE or any other wrestling promotion).
Thank you for taking a moment to share that information regarding Adamle. I was totally unaware of his issues with CTE and I pray that he's able to heal and improve his quality of life. ❤
That RKO to Jeff is one of the most underrated ones in my opinion, it's never really brought up but it looked so smooth
It's legit my favorite one of his due to how smooth it is.
And I'm much higher on that match than Brian is here, I liked much more than the Edge/Rey title one, and thought it was pretty damn solid overall.
Its too 3 for me. The first "outta nowhere" one against Carlito was amazing, the Jeff one was buttery smooth, but the all time best is the Rollins curb stomp counter at mania. (Sorry Evan Bourne)
I enjoy the video you can find where Cody talks about this being his first Rumble match & how Taker shocked him by not just telling him to do a dropkick but that Taker actually bumped for it. Just to hear Cody tell it shows how much it meant for him that Taker was willing to let a newbie like him shine that early on, even if only for a quick moment.
2008 was a blur for me watching WWE...my brother had just passed in Dec. 2007 and we both watch WWE religiously since 1998...so it's refreshing knowing about what I missed in 2008 watching these call back videos 😊
I kinda stop watching wwe in late 06 after angle left and super cena was boring af altho my gf at the time was a cena stan. This rumble was me getting back into wwe u have no idea how mad I was 2 see cena back that night. I threw my water bottle and my gf laughed her ass off
BEARDED ZANE!! PRAISE HIM!!
Sorry you're affected by the storm Brian. After living in Michigan for all my life, I always think about moving then I see the sheer amounts of snow the East Coast gets, the extreme heat the West Coast gets and I realize, the Midwest ain't so bad. Hopefully the power gets back on soon!
I’m in Ohio and I totally understand what you’re saying
I think it stems from the fact that we, as Midwesterners (I'm in Illinois myself), are used to the extremes of weather.
I remember watching this show in a movie theatre. When that music hit I was literally shouting "No! We were promised six months."
Brilliant.
Glad you and your family are doing well Brian! I'll always remember this event for Buffer's introduction of Shawn Michaels as just the Heartbreak Kid lmfao
I remember watching this on PPV live with friends and Cena's return was a HUGE shock. Social media wasn't huge in 2008 and Cena was stated to return much later that year. Was definitely cool to see him return early.
Shelton Benjamin: (Appears in a Rumble)
Shawn Michaels: I don't like you. (Eliminates him)
The only time this doesn't happen is in 2010, bizarrely enough when both guys were also in the ring.
It wasn’t until recently that it occurred to me that he eliminated him in 3 straight rumbles haha
Wait did Shawn actually not like him?
First WWE PPV in HD, and the PPV theme song "Stand up for Rock and Roll" by Airbourne was awesome.
That Cena return reaction is insane.
Right, so many gullible hypocrites in the crowd. It's like when some one dies, and then all of a sudden everyone loves them.
The Purple Room era of Wrestling with Wregret.
Prince vibes
The Purple Reign.
Only wanna see you laughing in the Purple Room
He could've been "gifted" a Red Room...but that may have been too much for Zane to manage 😉
We're going to the Rumble this weekend. It's the first one we've attended since 2009 in Detroit. Can't wait! I'm watching every Rumble review I can find all week long!
I was at MSG for this rumble. The entire crowd was shocked to see Cena. But after a few minutes we started to boo him and was hoping for anyone else to win the rumble. But we all knew Cena was going to win once we heard his music
royal rumble 2008 was a great ppv I haven't watched this ppv in years since I stopped watching wwe in December 2007 since I began watching TNA so the fact that brian is reviewing this is awesome so I can refresh my memory great review brian.
I can't help but point out that this was also the last Royal Rumble of the Ruthless Aggression period.
To answer your question Brian, If memory serves me right in between Billy and Chuck and the Biker Chuck gimmick, Chuck Palumbo was part of the FBI (Full Blooded Italians) in WWE on SmackDown in 2003 and 2004 along with Nunzio and Johnny Stamboli. Wouldn't blame you for forgetting that tbh, I only remember because of his inclusion in Smackdown Vs Raw in 2004.
23:57 I love some funny "pause at the right moment" faces. Kudos for the perfect shot
I’d love to see you do the 2007 Rumble - I feel like it’s underrated.
Love the review. Glad you and your family are OK. Much props for the Mike Adamle video not happening. That's a true sign of a good person, not taking advantage of a person's shortcomings for a cheap video.
That Cena entrance is one of the most insane pops I've ever heard.
Amazing Willie Regal reference with the "Umanga" line. That is the shit that makes this channel the best.
Triple H reaction to Cena coming back is pure gold. The others in the ring all turning was great too but Triple H sold that moment perfectly for me.
Sorry to hear about your unfortunate situation. I go crazy when the power goes out on my block for a few hours, so I could only imagine what you guys are going through. Hopefully things get better soon!
Cena’s return was a legit surprise, I miss when we got huge actual surprises like that. I remember I actually let out a scream when his music hit 😂
I actually in attendence for this Rumble and while, objectively, its not the best Rumble match, it'll always be my favorite. The crowd was deflated when Jeff lost because we really thought it was his time but then a few weeks after this, he got the 60 day suspension. NOBODY knew Cena was gonna come out and the guys around me thought Big Show was gonna come out. When Cena's music hit, that place was SO loud it caused a headache... It was insane! This Rumble will always have a special place.
Thats actually the only thing I remember when John Cena returned it was unexpected
This will forever be one of my favorite rumbles as a kid. As a huge Cena fan, I actually cried when he came out at #30. It will forever be in my memory.
Pathetic
I remember 2008. I was killing it back then. Undisputed Champion of 4th graders.
Those were the good times.
Brian what you said about 2008 just trying to start a career in television while balancing balancing a love of wrestling that was fading. I was on a parallel track, minus the indie wrestling. They set us back with the 2008 re (depre)cession. But you found your niche and still got into media. I am happy for you and proud of you.
Referring to Bradshaw getting all that pyro on one of the last 2007 Raw’s (one of my favorite clips also), I think the story was that WWE got new pyro for the new year and for the HD cameras and this was just their way of getting rid of the old excess.
Glad to hear you’re doing okay, Brian! Thank you for your content, despite the difficulties you’re experiencing!
Just rewatched this Rumble again the other day and had actually forgotten how loud MSG actually POPPED for Cena at #30.
🤯
Then a large chunk of the crowd remembers they hate Cena and start booing him.
The part where Jericho makes his comeback against JBL and the crowd boos randomly is because of Jericho botching a Bulldog on JBL. The Network (And now on Peacock) edited out the botch so it just looks like they boo for no reason.
So that's why we never will have a Mike A. Video. Thanks for sharing the background of why. I always wanted to see one video talking about that weird time on WWE with Mike as GM and everything
11:27 you don’t gotta remind us about his knee surgeries. 15 years later and I still hear Rey’s voice saying he had surgery 5 times in his left knee.
Glad to hear your all ok over there. Crazy 110mph winds and -14°c weather here in the very north of Scotland.....Boy those fireworks in this video look warm!!
Love my Wednesday morning Wrestling with wregret 😊
Same
I feel you Zane, we lost our power last week due to winter storms here in the Midwest stay warm and safe.
What Snuka did aside.
That moment in the Rumble was Iconic, If you look closely there is not a SINGLE guy in the ring not smiling and marking out for it.
This was my 1st ever live wrestling show I've ever attended back in 5th Grade & omggg what a life changing experience 🙌🏿
Glad to hear y'all are ok. Stay safe of course.
Excellent video as always! Never any Wregets watching your content!
Major respect to you for explaining the Mike Adamle situation, and declaring you won't make a video about it! Class act! This is why you're my favorite Wrestling RUclipsr!
This card was the first pro-wrestling event and first WWE event that I ever attended! Thanks for reviewing it!
For the record: Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore pinned Deuce and Domino in a tag-team dark match in 4 minutes 11 seconds.
7:42 I was live at the Collision at the Prudential Center in NJ, when Ricky Starks got FORTY-FIVE seconds of Pyro and when I tell you I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard, it was SUCH an absurd amount of pyro, but also very cool to see up front and in person
Thank you for going out of your way for the review!
I hope you review The Iron Claw when it comes out on DVD and streaming
Watch CM Punk's reaction during the Snuka/Piper sequence; you can see him beaming and laughing during the bit.
Thanks for the review Simon ❤
Glad you're making it through the power outages. I live in Junction City and it suuuuucked the lil while I was without power. Here's to hoping it's all fixed for yall soon.
It's been good since Tuesday, thanks! Glad you made it through as well!
@@WrestlingWithWregret Just in time for RUMBLE!!!!
I admit there is a slight bit of bias from me here as I travelled from the UK to be live at this event.. I always wanted to watch a wrestling show live at Madison Square Garden and the Royal Rumble is my favourite PPV.. You're damn right I wasn't going to miss this. Looking back now yes it's not the best Rumble ever but it's still a decent enough PPV and I still remember how shocked everyone was when Cena came out.. That said I was making notes of Entries and Eliminations and Finlay completely ruined it. :P, It's crazy to think this was 16 Years ago now. I still remember the show really well.
Love the broadcast graphics
Zane saying how things weren't hitting for him round this time, which is kinda fits, sure I had only been a fan for 5 years at the time, and was still enjoying the product, but it'd be round two years later where I took a break from it tbh. Seeing endless Cena champion, and Punk jobbing vs Big Show pretty much sealed it.
As a kid, this was my era of wrestling and nothing is funnier than realizing in retrospect how Hornswoggle is just a regular guy with this insanely tone def gimmick.
We need a new royal
Rumble 2000 review
19:46 he did the FBI angle ( Full Blooded Italians)
Fun fact: The JBL pyro was the last of what they could use with that stage setup. The next week they had their HD set, so they decided to use the rest of the old pyro they had instead of just tossing it.
The super fly snuka intro was great lol
I was at this show. A lot of fun. I remember in the crowd nobody knew who number 30 would be. The general consensus was the big show and a few people saying Matt Hardy nobody I talked to that night thought Cena. Also you do know why there was the let’s go giants chant right? The giants were the ones that played and beat the undefeated patriots in the Super Bowl the following Sunday.
Great review of such an historic Rumble PPV, wonder if you'll do a review of the Documentary "Beyond the Mat" one day for a future video?
Beyond The Mat was my introduction to wrestling
Dennis Stamp ♥️
One of my first PPVs watching wwe with. This era of wwe formed my childhood. Thank u BZ
Begging for the day when he reviews 2003 rumble!
Jericho was the MVP in that Rumble! One of his best days
Great video as always! Wasn't this the first show where they started using the ribbon scoreboard that arenas to advertise RAW & Smackdown as well as PPVs?
I’m going to my first royal rumble this Saturday, I’m pumped so this video came just in time . Laying on some nostalgia 🫡
Glad to hear you and the family are doing ok Brian!
Now that I'm watching this, I also felt 08 was around the time I really started pulling away from WWE and trying to figure out what I loved about wrestling. Cool coincidence.
RIP Ashley Massaro, that magazine meant so much to my teenage self.
This was the first ever royal rumble I watched, so this will always have a special place in my heart
"It makes sense. I'll allow it." Lmao
When Cena's music hits the reaction from the crowd. Still just send chills and he looks up. You know doing his entrance and everything. Good moment, you know, it's one of those moments. I'll remember of WWE until I die. There's a lot of them though l o l. The crowd Makes the moment that's for sure
I am glad that you are safe during the winter storms.
Glad you're ok Brian appreciate you getting this video out despite everything.
I'm pretty sure this was the first PPV I watched where I was old enough to remember. I screamed SO LOUD when Cena theme hit and he stood there with the wrists and looking down
I can still feel all of that energy in my body from that wonderful memory. Definitely my favorite Rumble besides 07.
Mike adamle was the sports guy on the local news here in Chicago. Was so random seeing him appear in wwe
puuuh... for me this is one of the best Rumbles. Top 3 for sure.
Still a great review, laughed a lot.
Hope you will get your power back to watch the rumble.
21:08 godamn it, I knew you were gonna say something, so I was trying to restrain myself so I wouldn’t have to laugh out loud and scare my cat. But I failed. Too funny lol
Chuck Palumbo was in the FBI with Nunzio and Johnny The Bull. So there you go, he did that in between.
I was pretty nervous that one of the trees in our yard would fall on us this last week. First winter ice storm in Portland was eventful to say the least! Hope you and your family are staying safe and remain in good spirits Brian.
Very interesting to hear your opinion of the state of the show at this point as I believe this was around the time as a kid that wrestling was at it's peak of interest for me.
Also to your point about Chris Jericho rehashing his '99 gimmick, I think it's important to note that by 2008, there was a whole new generation of wrestling fans who were not there for that initial run (such as myself), so to that demographic it was fresh, what's old is new and whatnot.
I'll never forget this, simply because at immediate first glance, Cena looked taller than I remembered, so I thought it was Orton dressed as him to troll the crowd.
I even yelled "That's Orton!!" during the watch party I was at.
And also as a really big WWECW fan (though I could never get into NXT for some reason, despite it being a bigger, badder WWECW), I was PISSED when Chavo entered the Rumble, as it just showed that those in power didn't give a shit about WWECW, as he was ECW Champion.
Even though we knew Taker wasn't gonna go after the ECW Title in 2007, it was still cool to see him show up and threaten Lashley, and it helped provide a hint of legitimacy to the new/revived belt.
"Y2J + 7". Hell yes. A new pun every week Brian. Keep. Them. Coming.
In fact you should do that everytime you cover a Jericho WWE match from now on. 2000 + however many number of years since 2000.
I threw a party for this ppv with about 40 people in attendance. We were all disappointed when Cena came out at # 30. I had almost everyone convinced that Bobby Lashley was gonna come out at # 30 and win it all. Others thought Jeff Hardy was gonna win the Rumble after being defeated earlier. A few people thought Vladimir Kozlov was gonna win it in his debut match. We were all wrong.
Thank you, probably went thru a lot of trouble to up load this
Oh crap, that sucks about that storm. Hope everything goes alright back at your home, I am glad to see and hear ya, still doing your thang, you do so well.
Thank you, probably my second favorite royal rumble
Brian says he forgot what Chuck Palumbo did between Billy & Chuck and the biker gimmick. Chuck was a member of FBI along with Nunzio and Johnny Stamboli on Smackdown in 2003 and 2004.
@22:00 chavo was the current ecw champion. You can hear taz’s utter confusion and contempt when chavo enters. Previously the ecw title was treated as another world title. So for chavo to be in the match, it confirms the title’s relegation.
I think cause chavo was announced already for the rumble and just before won the ecw title with the help of edge they just kept him in
Love the color added to ric flair at the end! That gave me a good chuckle 😂😂😂