By Rick Gardner, PWTorch specialist

There’s a reason why the Royal Rumble continues to draw year after year, while the likes of Summerslam and Survivor Series have slipped to record-low buyrates in recent years. The Royal Rumble match is unlike anything seen on WWE television the rest of the year, and the company has done an excellent job preserving its status.

The unique selling point for this year’s event is that the Royal Rumble match itself has been expanded to include 40 wrestlers. This is a first, although WWE needs to be careful when messing with a winning formula. Last year’s battle royal was disappointing, as it was one of the shortest of all-time.

With all the focus on the main event, the Royal Rumble undercard can often-times seem inconsequential. It is a fine balancing act that can result in presenting matches that make the main event seem less important or killing time until the Royal Rumble match begins. This year, WWE kept things simple by only including three undercard matches, and hopefully this will be a case of less meaning more.

A Pay-Per-View with only four matches may sound like a rip-off, but this should allow sufficient time for each of the matches to develop properly without having to rush the battle royal. In fact, the quality of the in-ring action will probably be much higher than the average WWE Pay-Per-View because of the strength of the matches.

The Miz took the WWE Title from Randy Orton by cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase at the beginning of the year. The two of them have not faced each other often, and The Miz has improved immeasurably in the past year. With the time available on the Pay-Per-View, the match should prove to be highly entertaining.

Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler is a couple of years early for it to be considered a passing of the guard, but it should still be a highly entertaining match. Edge is still recovering from his feud with Kane, and Ziggler has not been presented as a contender due to the constant help he receives from Vickie Guerrero. Nevertheless, a competitive match with Edge could help to raise Ziggler's credibility and prepare him for future life as a main-event star.

The match for the Divas Title will likely be kept short to allow maximum time for the other matches. In all honesty, that is probably for the best, as handicap matches rarely work as spectacles.

While the Royal Rumble battle royal can draw without a strong build, WWE has still made the effort to present it as a prestigious match. The recent exchanges between The Nexus, The Corre, and John Cena have been based around their desire to win the Royal Rumble and there have been some great video packages promoting the match. Still, it would have been nice to have seen some vignettes on some of the other wrestlers who are involved in the main event.

The Royal Rumble is an event that has effortlessly retained its relevance, at a time when the other cornerstone WWE Pay-Per-Views have lost their luster. WWE has done a credible job of protecting this Pay-Per-View concept, and I believe an admirable job of building towards this year’s event.

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