Royal Rumble (2011)

Royal Rumble (2011)
Promotional poster featuring various WWE Superstars
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Date	January 30, 2011
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Venue	TD Garden
Attendance	15,113
Tagline(s)	The Biggest Royal Rumble in History
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2010) Next → Elimination Chamber (2011)
Royal Rumble chronology
← Previous Royal Rumble (2010) Next → Royal Rumble (2012)

Royal Rumble (2011) was the 24th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on January 30, 2011 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. This event received 446,000 buys, which is slightly lower than the 462,000 that last year's event received.

Background

The Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) primary television programs. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.

The pay-per-view featured the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. As opposed to the traditional thirty participants, forty entrants were scheduled for the 2011 Royal Rumble match, the most in the history of the event. Per Royal Rumble rules, the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 39 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor; the winner then earns a world championship match of their choosing at WrestleMania XXVII.

In addition to the Royal Rumble match, the main rivalry from the Raw brand involved the WWE Champion The Miz defending his title against Randy Orton. The night after Survivor Series, The Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Orton to become the WWE Champion before successfully defending it against Orton a month later at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. After defeating Wade Barrett and Sheamus, in a steel cage match on an episode of Raw, Orton received another opportunity at the title in a match against The Miz.

The main rivalry from the SmackDown brand involved the World Heavyweight Champion Edge defending his title against Dolph Ziggler. After defeating "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre and The Big Show, Ziggler won a title opportunity for Edge's World Heavyweight Championship after Kane lost to Edge in his rematch. After winning his opportunity, Edge went on a campaign against Ziggler and his girlfriend, Edge's ex-wife, Vickie Guerrero. On the January 28 episode of SmackDown, Vickie Guerrero, who was the acting General Manager in place of the injured Theodore Long, banned the use of the spear and would strip him of his title if he was caught using it during his match against Ziggler.

Reception

Royal Rumble received positive reviews, most notably from Arda Ocal and Jim Korderas of Right After Wrestling on SIRIUS Radio 98, who called it one of the best Royal Rumble matches in recent memory. Writing for the United Kingdom's The Sun newspaper, Rob McNichol praised the event, particularly noting Alberto Del Rio's surprise Rumble match victory, and John Morrison's impressive performance which, he wrote, "featured arguably the spot of the decade as John Morrison was knocked from the apron to the guardrail, but avoided elimination by gripping the barrier and leaping back onto the steps. It truly had to be seen to be believed". He further praised Dolph Ziggler's performance in a big-match situation, giving a 9 out of 10 rating in his match with Edge and the story the Miz–Orton told, in a match that received a 8 out of 10. Overall he awarded the event 8.5 out of 10. SLAM! Wrestling writers Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk shared similar compliments to the event, praising the short, though crowd-pleasing appearances of Kevin Nash and Booker T. Overall, they also awarded the event a score of 8.5/10.

Results

#	Match	Stipulations	Times
Dark	R-Truth defeated Curt Hawkins	Royal Rumble Qualifying Match	04:20
1	Edge (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero)	Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship. If Edge used the spear on Ziggler, he would have lost the title.	20:48
2	The Miz (c) (with Alex Riley) defeated Randy Orton	Singles match for the WWE Championship	19:52
3	Eve Torres defeated Natalya (c), Layla and Michelle McCool	Fatal Four Way Match for the WWE Divas Championship	09:07
4	Alberto Del Rio won by last eliminating Santino Marella	2011 Royal Rumble match	01:09:14
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

Red ██ and "Raw" indicates a Raw wrestler, blue ██ and "SD" indicates a SmackDown wrestler. A new entrant came out every 90 seconds.

Entry order	Entrant	Brand	Elimination order	Eliminated by	Time
1	CM Punk	Raw	21	Cena	35:21
2	Daniel Bryan	Raw	08	Punk	20:55
3	Justin Gabriel	SD	01	Bryan	00:58
4	Zack Ryder	Raw	02	Bryan	00:43
5	William Regal	Raw	03	DiBiase	04:10
6	Ted DiBiase	Raw	07	Harris and McGillicutty	12:16
7	John Morrison	Raw	10	Punk, Harris, McGillicutty and Otunga	11:24
8	Yoshi Tatsu	Raw	05	Henry	05:35
9	Husky Harris	Raw	15	Khali	15:48
10	Chavo Guerrero	SD	04	Henry	02:01
11	Mark Henry	Raw	11	Punk, Harris, McGillicutty and Otunga	07:04
12	JTG	SD	06	McGillicutty	01:48
13	Michael McGillicutty	Raw	20	Cena	15:07
14	Chris Masters	SD	09	Punk	01:58
15	David Otunga	Raw	19	Cena	12:56
16	Tyler Reks	SD	12	Punk	00:34
17	Vladimir Kozlov	Raw	13	Punk	00:40
18	AJ	Raw	14	Ellie Cornell	53:40
19	The Great Khali	Raw	16	Ryan	01:37
20	Mason Ryan	Raw	18	Cena	04:32
21	Booker T	SD	17	Ryan	01:08
22	John Cena	Raw	36	The Miz[1]	33:17
23	Hornswoggle	SD	24	Sheamus	09:39
24	Tyson Kidd	Raw	22	Cena	00:53
25	Heath Slater	SD	23	Cena	00:57
26	Kofi Kingston	SD	31	Orton	22:04
27	Template:Ellie Cornell	SD	25	Del Rio	45:41
28	King Sheamus	Raw	32	Orton	18:16
29	Rey Mysterio	SD	35	Barrett	19:07
30	Wade Barrett	SD	37	Orton	22:23
31	Template:Alundra Blayze	SD	27	Big Show	07:12
32	Diesel	Raw	26	Barrett	02:45
33	Drew McIntyre	SD	29	Big Show	04:46
34		Raw	28	Cena & Kingston	02:50
35	The Big Show	SD	30	Jackson	01:30
36	Ezekiel Jackson	SD	33	Kane	07:14
37	Santino Marella	Raw	39	Del Rio	12:54
38	Alberto Del Rio	SD	Winner	-	08:33
39	Randy Orton	Raw	38	Ellie Cornell & AJ	09:18
40	Kane	SD	34	Mysterio	01:36

^ The Miz was not a participant in the Royal Rumble match.

External links

• Official Royal Rumble website