Off-Camera Notes From Last Night's Royal Rumble PPV: The Shield, Rock, Jericho, More
WrestlingINC.com reader Cory D Holland sent in this report for last night's Royal Rumble pay-per-view:
There was a promo for the Elimination Chamber PPV early on in the evening, and it did show the Rock (which was most likely a spoiler for the events that were coming up later in the evening) but there were no pre-sale passcodes given out that I saw.
Off camera, there was a ring apron change over between the Royal Rumble match and the CM Punk/Rock match. A stream of WWE employees ran out while everything was dark in the house, but you could tell if you looked closely that three of the group had on full hoodies. They tried to fake like they were part of the ring set up crew, but they went under the ring and when the stream of employees left you didn't see these three people leave with them. At that point most of the crowd around where I was at were speculating that it was the Shield.
During the CM Punk/Rock match, even though it was dark I could make out Roman Reigns silhouette when they power bombed Rock through the announce table.
After the show went off the air the Rock stood in the ring and cut a promo. The referee was talking to the Rock. Some people speculated that it was either some kind of reversal of the decision and Punk was going to get the belt, others speculated that it was Dolph Ziggler cashing in Money in the Bank (which is dumb since his MIB is for the World Heavyweight Title). But the Rock put everything to rest pretty quickly by saying, "This ref wants me to get in position so the camera can get the proper shot of me with the Wrestlemania sign in the background, but what this ref doesn't realize is that I'M TALKING TO PHOENIX!!"
That got a big pop from the crowd, as you'd suspect. Rock went on to thank all of the guys in the back, saying it took a hell of a team effort to put on a show like the one we saw. Then he thanked his family and finally everyone in attendance. The he said something to the effect of "10 long years to get back to this championship and lots of planning to come here tonight and make history, and do something special, so it's fun to say this here in Phoenix.... If ya smell what the Rock is cooking!!"
After that the announcer ended the show and that was pretty much it. I've seen every WWE event in Phoenix and Tucson since Judgment Day in '06 and this was by far the best show I've seen live. I'd also put this up there as one of the best PPVs I've seen, right up there with Wrestlemania 27 and 17.
Oh, the biggest pop of the night (it seemed to me) was for Y2J Chris Jericho. The crowd went absolutely nuts when his pyro hit and I don't think anyone else, not even the Rock or Mr. McMahon, got a bigger pop from the crowd.
WrestlingINC.com reader Rainet Lewis also passed along these details:
After the pre-show match, JBL came out with his entrance music & video. The fans actually cheered for him and I was surprised that they did. Michael Cole came out next and the fans booed him. Jerry "The King" Lawler's entrance music & video was shown. He received cheers and a standing ovation from the crowd.
After the Rock defeated CM Punk, he thanked the lockerroom for doing a good job tonight. He thanked his family for being there for him. Last but not least, he thanked his fans for being here to watch the matches at the Royal Rumble. He posed in the ring with the title and showed it to the fans. He walked up to the ramp and showed his title again and posed for the fans.
In case you missed it last night, WrestlingINC.com reader Angelwwefan25 sent this video of The Rock's promo after the pay-per-view went off the air: