WWE Royal Rumble results and fallout

It has been another huge week for news in the mat world with WWE Royal Rumble results and fallout, a second demise for ECW, more bold moves from TNA and yet another death of a wrestling legend.

Edge (Adam Copeland) made a triumphant return from his July surgery for a torn Achilles tendon to capture the 2010 version of the Royal Rumble last Sunday on pay-per-view. John Cena was the last adversary thrown out by Edge after Cena ducked a Batista assault attempt that catapulted the Animal over the top rope. Batista had dispatched Shawn Michaels from the event moments earlier, with Michaels knocking tag partner Triple H out on his list of priors.

Sheamus retained the WWE championship with a disqualification victory over Randy Orton when Cody Rhodes blatantly interfered right in front of the ever-alert referee. A livid Orton attacked Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. made the save and subsequently paid the price for it when Orton attacked him, but Sheamus laid out the challenger with a serious boot to the head.

Christian retained the ECW title over Ezekial Jackson in a short, but decent opener. Mickie James took all of about 20 seconds to pin Michelle McCool and dash her hopes for the diva crown. The Undertaker may have gotten a broken nose from an errant shot to the proboscis by Rey Mysterio's knee brace before finishing the diminutive one's championship aspirations with a mile-high Last Ride for the pinfall.

Monday's Raw in Nashville saw the return of Bret Hart for another confrontation with Vince McMahon on their way to WrestleMania. Edge tangled with Sheamus after a strong opening promo. Randy Orton defeated Shawn Michaels to qualify for the Elimination Chamber at the next ppv. John Cena bested Cody Rhodes to join that elite group, as did Triple H when he took the measure of Jack Swagger.

Kofi Kingston managed a DQ win over Big Show to qualify for the chamber and Ted DiBiase got a solid victory over Mark Henry to do the same. On the Smackdown side it will be Undrtaker defending in the chamber against Punk, Jericho, Morrison, Truth and Mysterio in two weeks.

Back to the drawing board

Vince McMahon appeared on ECW Tuesday night to announce the brand would be extinguished once again in a few short weeks and replaced by something different. He paid perfunctory tribute to all those who worked to make it what it was and promised it would be replaced by an innovative program that would take television to the next level. Give me a break!

Suffice it to say that didn't go over well with some of the original alumni of the brand, including Taz, who had some comments on his Twitter page indicating his disappointment with the brand's treatment. Certainly, Tommy Dreamer's recent departure now seems to make more sense. Jim Ross was much more complimentary toward the originals in ECW this week from his barbeque hideout in Oklahoma.

Speaking of Oklahoma, former Oklahoma State NCAA wrestling champion and NWA world champion Jack Brisco passed away last week at the age of 68 due to complications from triple bypass surgery. Considered one of the best pure professional wrestlers in the business during his prime and remembered specifically for the hour-long broadways he would work with Dory Funk Jr. as both challenger and champion, Brisco captured the then highly-coveted NWA crown from Harley Race on July 20,1973 in Houston.

Brisco was the first Native American NCAA wrestling champion and parlayed his success into a very smooth and believable style in the pro ranks. The consummate mat technician, the confident, good-looking and classy Brisco also captured tag team titles in several territories with his younger brother Gerald, who has been a long-time office man in WWE since Jack suddenly tired of the travel during a 1980s run with the WWF and retired to Florida to run the well-known Brisco Brothers Body Shop.

The Briscos were involved behind the scenes as part owners of the Georgia territory in the early 1980s who sold their share to enable Vince McMahon Jr. to take over the TBS Saturday night time slot and put his WWF wrestling on in place of the NWA stars and Gordon Solie.

There was a huge television viewer revolt and the station was inundated with phone calls and letters demanding the return of their Georgia wrestling show. The revolt worked and some complicated maneuvering led to the quick return to TBS of the original popular southern stars. That is when the brothers Brisco headed to WWF for their final run as wrestlers.

(Shamokin's Bill Gilger "arranges" the interview each week with The Insider)

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