WWE Royal Rumble 2012: Everything You Need To Know Before Tonight's Event
WWE's first pay-per-view of 2012 is tonight, as the 25th edition of the Royal Rumble takes place in St. Louis. Unlike past Rumble events, this year's edition is completely unpredictable. Only four matches are scheduled for the card, but all four have a large importance to the landscape of WWE.
John Cena may potentially "embrace the hate" when he squares off with Kane tonight. World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan will attempt to win a cage match over the two behemoth challengers of Big Show and Mark Henry. Bryan hopes to continue his improbable run with his first world title in WWE.
Speaking of world titles, CM Punk defends his WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler, who is running a hot streak right now. Will Ziggler leave St. Louis as champion or will Punk overcome John Laurinitis as special guest referee and retain his title?
Most importantly in the Royal Rumble is the match derived of the same name. The Royal Rumble match features 30 superstars with the last man standing in the ring gaining a world title opportunity at WrestleMania XXVIII. This year, every superstar can appear in the Rumble, which can lead to insanity and craziness that has been almost unheard of in recent years.
So, how can you sort through all of the information about Royal Rumble? Consider this your cheat sheet. This article is complete with previews, analysis, predictions, as well as links to other great articles around the site. Keep it here for everything you need to know before the 2012 Royal Rumble.
30 different men will compete in the 25th Royal Rumble match.
It's impossible to really preview a Royal Rumble match well. There are 30 different people who could win the match and title shot at WrestleMania. All that we know are some men who say they are in it, including Chris Jericho and Mick Foley, who both return to WWE pay-per-view. We also know that The Miz begins at number one. Beyond that, it is anyone's guess. This year is so unpredictable that it's hard to truly pick one person who is guaranteed to win the match.
Even last year, we knew it was Alberto Del Rio's Rumble to shine. This time around, there is no clear front runner and, as advertised, anyone is eligible. Does this mean Daniel Bryan can win a cage match and a Royal Rumble in the same night? I suppose it is.
I won't dare predict someone to win and tell you to take it to the bank. Many writers, in preview for this event, have written pieces to persuade readers as to who is the favorite. These articles include Wade Barrett, The Miz, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton and my personal inclusion to the argument, Sheamus.
Big Show vs. World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry inside a steel cage
It has seemed like Daniel Bryan has been World Heavyweight Champion for a long time. It was only at the last pay-per-view that Bryan cashed in Money in the Bank to win the world title from the new champion, Big Show. In the last few weeks of 2011, all three of these men were the champion at some point. Since winning it, Bryan has seemed to wish upon a few shooting stars and be granted some Christmas miracles a few weeks after the fact.
Big Show wants one more run and probably won't get it. His accident with AJ is giving him so much grief that it may be the thing that breaks the giant emotionally. As for Mark Henry, he was injured on this past Smackdown and was covered up on the TV airing. I would imagine that Henry gets his injury written into tonight's match or even by not making it to the ring.
Bryan is the only one not emotionally or physically scarred at the moment, so he is an easy win. It also seems real easy to me to say that he needs someone new to brawl with for WrestleMania. At least in my mind, that spells a Smackdown guy winning the Royal Rumble.
WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler with John Laurinitis as Special Guest Referee
Last year at Royal Rumble, Dolph Ziggler took Edge to his limit, narrowly missing out on the World Heavyweight Championship. A year later, Ziggler has grown as a heel and seemed more poised now than he was 12 months earlier. This time around, it is CM Punk's WWE Championship. Ziggler has defeated Punk on a few occasions, shocking the wrestling world in the process. As Ziggler impresses wrestling fans everywhere, the question of when CM Punk's world title reign with failed ratings will come to an end.
John Laurinitis, the RAW Interim GM, will be the special guest referee in the match. Johnny Ace has already promised to screw Punk out of his title, but a review of Laurinitis is scheduled to be done tomorrow night on RAW. If Laurinitis wants to keep his job, he may just need to call this down the middle after all.
While I love Ziggler and hope that 2012 is his year to have a world title reign longer that makes it to ten minutes, this is still Punk's title. I think Punk makes it through to WrestleMania with it, while Ziggler uses his great showing tonight to stay in the main event for the entire year.
John Cena vs. Kane
John Cena has always been a reasonably level-headed guy. Even when he was a bad guy, Cena would still be able to keep his cool. This seemed to anger the returning Kane, who has had his sets sighted on Cena for weeks now. Tonight, the two finally square off one-on-one.
Kane has recently taken exception to John Cena's "Rise Above Hate" campaign. The BIg Red Monster believes that hatred is very natural and should be experienced by all. Cena continued to raise above it all, even as Kane would be responsible for countless attacks on both Cena and friends, including Zack Ryder. Kane's latest and most damaging attack on Ryder seemed to finally push Cena to an area he rarely visits mentally.
Has Cena actually begin to let the hate pour over him? Will we see a new side of John Cena tonight against Kane? WIll Kane continue his dominance of Cena? My money is on Kane, but I think that it will be done with disqualification coming in to play. Cena's hate may bubble over, causing the 10-time WWE Champion to snap.
I also really hope that Cena gets pissed off again. His angry face looks like Teddy Long farted again.





3 Comments
Loading comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete