wrestling / Columns
High Road/Low Road 02.09.07: Undertaker Winning the Royal Rumble
Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road! A brief explanation of the column: Uncle Trunx takes the Low Road (negative view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related “stuff” while Sat takes the High Road (positive view).
The Results for the Last Man Standing Match:
High Road: 81%
Low Road: 09%
Both Roads: 10%
E-Mails:
These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.
Wesley Rice Writes:
I’m taking the high road on this one because I know Umaga is a monster and he lost, but he really looked like a monster in this match. Cena (who everyone knows is going to win 9 out of 10 of his matches) had to use the ring ropes TWICE to knock him out. Even if he has been devalued they could always send him to SmackDown or ECW have him win there World Title and then have him return in a year or so.
Uncle Trunx: Moving him to another brand would have continued to devalue those brands. It seems that every time someone’s devalued on Raw, they shove them down to one of the other brands.
Sat: I think Umaga came out of this match looking pretty good. I think that Umaga can survive on any brand because of his great match with Cena. I actually think that Umaga would be better off on ECW or SmackDown.
This week’s High Road/Low Road featuring…
High Road:
It was a good choice by the WWE to have the Undertaker win the Rumble because he was one of the greats to never win the Rumble. The Undertaker is one of the best that the WWE has ever seen and he deserved to win the Rumble at least once in his career.
Low Road:
I can’t deny that Undertaker deserved the Rumble win at least once in his career. However, I can’t help but feel it would’ve been better had he won it back in about 1997 or so, when he was on a red hot streak, rather than now when he’s virtually part time. Pushing ‘taker into the main event title picture means resuming a full time schedule for him or leaving fans disappointed, and a full time schedule unfortunately means we’re likely to see the end of ‘takers career sooner than if he stays on a lighter schedule. I can’t know this for sure; Undertaker is the only guy who can know how much more he’s got to give. However, I would have rather seen his rumble win happen when he was truly at the height of his powers.
High Road:
By having the Undertaker win the Rumble, we are seeing that any of the three matches can work at WrestleMania. This is the first time that a Royal Rumble winner looks good against all of the challengers. Batista and the Undertaker is the most likely match up and that is a dream match. The Undertaker versus John Cena has been done before, but not with “Superman” John Cena against the Undertaker (I’m ignoring that short match on RAW). The last match is not a dream match, but it is definitely an intriguing match up. Of course, I am talking about the Undertaker versus Bobby Lashley. This match probably shouldn’t happen right now, but it would still be nice to see.
Low Road:
Well, I’m at an advantage here because I’m writing after Raw, so I know that Undertaker is facing Batista. To me, this is going to lead to one of two scenarios; ‘taker loses his streak to Batista or ‘taker wins the belt. I have no problem with Undertaker being the champion; he deserves it. However, for the reasons I stated above, I don’t think it’s a great idea to put the belt on him now.
The other scenario is that he loses the undefeated streak to Batista. To me, this would be wrong; Having overcome legends at WrestleMania to keep the streak going, losing to Batista would feel like one heck of an anticlimax. If Undertaker is going to lose the undefeated streak, it should be against one of the all time greats. I don’t feel Batista is that.
High Road:
The Undertaker’s win allows for a very intriguing match to happen. The match that I am talking about is the streak versus the title. This match will be the Undertaker’s toughest because this match will be the main event against a very tough opponent. His last few opponents haven’t been that good, but however he faces here will be a tough challenge for the Undertaker. Also, the streak versus the title match writes itself.
Low Road:
Streak vs. Title does write itself and makes for an intriguing storyline. However, I don’t think it’s the right way to go for the reasons listed above. Either ‘taker has to lose the streak to a guy who is, long term, not in his league or he has to pick up the grueling pace of the champion. He could, I suppose, lose the title very rapidly after WrestleMania but that would only cheapen the event, something I’m sure WWE want to avoid.
High Road:
The Undertaker was the only logical choice to win the Rumble. There was nobody deserving on ECW or on SmackDown. RAW had the better options, but it seems to be like they are heading towards a Fatal Four way, so the Rumble winner couldn’t come from RAW. The best option was to have the Undertaker win the Rumble.
Low Road:
Surely they could’ve used the Rumble to elevate someone from the upper mid card to main event status? That way, it would’ve made the “anyone could win it” claim more realistic, and it would’ve legitimized the contender, especially if they were booked in the right way in the run up to Wrestlemania. There are quite a few guys this could apply to, the most obvious of them wasn’t even in the Rumble; Mr. Kennedy.
High Road:
The Undertaker’s win allows for a great main event at No Way Out. The main event at No Way Out allows for us to get a preview of WrestleMania. Two of the Undertaker’s potential opponents will be in the same ring as him. I think that this match is a great way to build towards WrestleMania. Is the Undertaker going to have a problem with his partner? The WWE has already started to plant the seeds for this feud and the problems at No Way Out can jump start it some more. Or is the other champion going to pin the Undertaker? This also makes a good feud because it allows for the champion to say that he beat the Undertaker and the Undertaker challenges him to prove a point. One of the problems with this main event is that ECW is not involved, but we all know that it is on its last legs anyway.
Low Road:
Unfortunately they’ve blown that potential storyline by revealing the Undertaker’s opponent already. It might’ve been a good way to set things up but now we know he’s facing Batista.
High Road:
The Undertaker’s win also had an effect on future Royal Rumbles. Now, the WWE can say that the number thirty has won the Royal Rumble. This is huge because the WWE would make a huge deal about the person that drew number thirty. But, nobody had won from that position in nineteen years, so number thirty was a bad number to draw. The Undertaker has helped to establish the number thirty has a great number to draw.
Low Road:
It has seemed somewhat illogical that nobody has won the thing from no.30, while several people have drawn 1 or 2 and won it. However they made such a song and dance about no.30 having never won that as soon as Undertaker stepped out as the 30th entrant, it was fairly obvious what was going to happen.
While I’m glad that the Undertaker gets to add “Royal Rumble Winner” to his list of achievements, I can’t help feel that it would’ve been better had he won it in the past. I think he’s either going to have to lose the streak or become the champion, neither of which are good options now for reasons stated above.
Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?
High Road/Low Road Plugs
We are taking the high road on these articles so you should read them…
Andy Clark’s The Shimmy
Ari Berenstein’s Column of Honor
Bayani Domingo’s Truth B Told
Fact or Fiction
Larry Csonka’s 3R’s & Wrestler of the Week
Mathew Sforcina’s Not An Evolution Schematic
Michael Weyer’s The Goodness
Prag-Thomlison’s Hidden Highlights: The Cryme Time Edition
Ron Gamble’s Just S’pose
Ronny Sarnecky’s The Piledriver Report
Ryan Byers’ Ask 411
Samuel Berman’s The Independent Mid Card & 411 Roundtable Retrospective: Samoa Joe in ROH
Scott Slimmer’s Top Ten
Sean, David & Alex’s The Triple Threat
Sforcina-Marsico’s The Fink’s Payload
Stuart Carapola’s Friendly Competition & That Was Then
Zac Calhoun’s The Ripple Effect
There are other articles that we didn’t list, so check them out as well.
E-mail us your reasons for taking the High Road or the Low Road and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road at [email protected]. Your reply will be included in next week’s column.
