WWE Royal Rumble Opener:

The Royal Rumble opened with a video package putting over the history and importance of the Royal Rumble and how it leads to the main event at Wrestlemania. It then hyped this year's event, and the three title matches on the card, with emphasis on Umaga's attack on John Cena from Raw last week. All three announce teams were positioned at ringside, and welcomed us to the show.

Referee: Jack Doan MNM vs. The Hardy Boyz

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler handled commentary for this match. They replayed the injury from Armageddon after MNM entered, and a month later, it is still nasty to watch. Mercury is still sporting his protective mask. As the Hardys entered, they showed MNM's attack on Matt Hardy from Smackdown two weeks ago. They said Hardy suffered a dislocated jaw from that attack.

The start:

Matt dared Mercury to start the match, but Nitro jumped him from behind. Nitro beat Matt down, then tagged in Mercury to continue the assault. Mercury hit a kneelift and went after his jaw with punches. Nitro tagged in and worked over Hardy in MNM's corner. Hardy fought back with forearms, but Nitro tagged Mercury, who rammed Matt into a turnbuckle. Matt fought back with bodyshots, as Mercury covered up his face. Jeff got the tag and hit a slingshot kick to Mercury. However, Mercury got Jeff into his corner and tagged out to Nitro.

Mid-match notes:

Jeff tripped Nitro and hit a legdrop to the groin for a two count. The Hardys hit a double back elbow and elbow/backsplash combo on Nitro. Mercury ran in and Matt suplexed him. Matt gave Nitro a neckbreaker for a two count. Matt went for a slam, but Nitro floated over and decked Matt with a punch to the jaw. Mercury tagged in and punched Hardy in the jaw twice, hurting his hand on the second punch. Nitro tagged in, and worked over Matt with forearms, then choked him against the middle rope, where Mercury kicked him in the head. Nitro scored a two count, then applied a cravate. Matt tried to fight out, but Nitro hit him with a knee to the gut. MNM gave Hardy a double facebuster to their knees. Mercury mounted Matt and punched at his face, then gave him a short arm clothesline for a two count. Mercury applied a rear chinlock, but Matt fought out of it, only to be yanked down by the hair. Mercury went for a second rope elbow, but Matt moved out of the way. Matt punched Mercury in the mask, hurting his hand, and tagged Jeff.