WWE Royal Rumble 2012: Comparing Top Fighters to NFL's 2011 Playoff Elite

Parallels certainly exist between the WWE and professional sports.

In sports, you have the country's most hated teams (like the New York Yankees), and in wrestling, you have the WWE's most hated heels (like The Miz).

The comparisons between the two can go on and on, but being that this weekend is the NFL's Divisional playoffs round, one might wonder: how does the NFL stack up with the WWE?

With eight teams left in the NFL playoffs, I decided to take a look at the similarities between those remaining squads and some of the top competitors in this year's 30-Man Royal Rumble match.

San Francisco 49ers: Sheamus

Sheamus is undoubtedly the WWE's version of the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers had one heck of a regular season, dominating the NFC West and going 13-3 in their first year under head coach Jim Harbaugh.

However, the lack of competition in San Francisco's division has just about everyone overlooking the Niners as a potential Super Bowl-winning team.

The Celtic Warrior is in a similar situation at the moment.

Sheamus hasn't had a real feud since Christian went down with an injury in November, and he's been relegated to squashing jobbers and beating lower or mid-card workers as of late. Therefore, the fact that he hasn't been going against the big dogs in the main event scene for a while now has wrestling fans completely overlooking him as a possible Royal Rumble winner.

I wouldn't count out Sheamus, though.

He's probably the No. 4 baby face in the entire WWE at the moment, and he's a dark horse candidate to win the Royal Rumble.

Meanwhile, the 49ers can continue to be ignored as well, but they could wind up calling themselves Super Bowl Champions in the near future.

New Orleans Saints: Cody Rhodes

The New Orleans Saints look really good: phenomenal offense, great quarterback and a heck of a weapon that comes in Darren Sproles.

Cody Rhodes is looking pretty damn good himself—nice look, great promos and excellent in the ring.

The link between Rhodes and the Saints, however, is that they both have one thing holding them back.

The Saints likely won't win the Super Bowl because they just aren't the same team on the road as they are at home, and Rhodes probably won't win the Royal Rumble because he's still the Intercontinental Champion.

Both Rhodes and New Orleans look fantastic on paper and could surprise some people by winning the big one, but the more likely scenario is that their glaring weaknesses are what prevent them from doing so.

New England Patriots: The Miz

If you live in the New England area, chances are that you're a Patriots fan.

But where I'm from, 90 percent of NFL fans cannot stand them.

Why? Because of Tom Brady.

Since winning two Super Bowls early in his career, New England's pretty boy quarterback has been anointed as the greatest quarterback since sliced bread. 

Sounds a lot like The Miz to me.

After The Miz won his first WWE Championship in late 2010, people labeled him as "the Shawn Michaels" of his tag team with John Morrison and thought he was destined for greatness.

However, it's been a bit of roller coaster ride for WWE's pretty boy since losing the WWE title, and the lone constant with the "most must-see champion in WWE history" is that the only people who want to see him win anything are the select group of Mizfits.

Just like the only fans who want to see Brady hoist up another Super Bowl trophy are Patriots fans.

New York Giants: Chris Jericho

If you're a New York Giants fan, then they probably leave you scratching your head a lot.

They're just so up-and-down, it's ridiculous. One week, they'll look like a Super Bowl-caliber team, and the next week, they'll look like they don't belong anywhere near the playoffs.

The Giants' lack of consistency fits Chris Jericho to a T.

Since returning to the WWE a couple of weeks ago, Jericho has been all over the place. He was excited upon his return, looked arrogant at the end of it, came back this week and was excited again, and then started crying before leaving the arena.

Like we can't decide whether New York is a good football team or a bad one, we have no idea what the hell is going on with Jericho.

Is he baby face or heel? Is he ever going to talk? Will he participate in the Royal Rumble or not?

Given that we genuinely just can't know what to expect from Jericho, it's possible that, like with the Giants, anything can happen with Y2J.

Baltimore Ravens: Kane

The Baltimore Ravens are a great football squad filled with a number of veterans you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.

If you came face-to-face with Ray Lewis, Ed Reed or Terrell Suggs, you would probably run for your life because you know that they all bring with them that hard-hitting, smash-mouth style football.

If you could combine all the Ravens players and transform them into one professional wrestler, you would probably come up with someone like Kane.

Ever since The Big Red Monster returned with his mask on, he has become the most feared wrestler in the WWE (kind of like Baltimore's defense), and he is a superstar who no one wants to come across.

Like Baltimore, he is an established veteran who has been around the block a few times, and though he may not win the Royal Rumble this year, he will certainly be a forced to be reckoned with during the match.

Denver Broncos: John Cena

Tim Tebow is the most controversial player in the NFL, and John Cena is the most controversial man in professional wrestling.

Thus, the comparison between the two was just too easy.

Both of these men have a clear divide among their fans and haters: either you can't stand Cena/Tebow or you love Cena/Tebow.

Oddly enough, much of the hatred directed toward Cena and Tebow stems from the fact they are excellent role models who seem almost too nice.

They also get a lot of criticism for their "lack of skills" in the ring or on the playing field.

Tebow gets blasted because he isn't the typical pro-style quarterback, and when he leads the Denver Broncos to a win, it generally isn't very pretty. Meanwhile, Cena gets ripped because of his "Super Cena" persona and the belief that, like Tebow, he isn't as good in the ring as the guys who he consistently beats.

The hatred directed toward Tebow has affected the Broncos as a whole, because those who don't like Tebow don't want Denver to keep winning.

Hmmm, a role model who fans don't want to see win? I think I know a guy like that. 

Houston Texans: Wade Barrett

The Houston Texans have had high expectations for the last few years, but this is actually their first trip to the playoffs in franchise history.

They are now looking to capitalize on this opportunity and establish themselves as one of the best teams in the NFL.

That's exactly what Wade Barrett will attempt to do at the Royal Rumble.

Many of us have had some lofty expectations for Barrett since he debuted on Raw as the leader of the Nexus in 2010, but he has failed to meet most of those expectations.

Though Barrett had some notable feuds with John Cena and Randy Orton early on in his career, he has yet to win a World title or become a constant in the main event scene.

The Royal Rumble is where Barrett will have the opportunity to change all that.

Like the Texans have a chance to establish themselves as a top-tier NFL team in this year's playoffs, Barrett can continue the "Barrett Barrage" and make it known that he's here to stay with a career-defining victory in the 30-Man Royal Rumble match.

Green Bay Packers: Randy Orton

If you paid attention to the NFL at all in 2011, then you know that the Green Packers went 15-1 during the regular season and damn near went undefeated.

Entering their first playoff game this weekend, they are the undisputed favorite to win their second straight Super Bowl.

Well, consider Randy Orton the clear-cut favorite to win his second Royal Rumble.

The Royal Rumble takes place in Orton's hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, and the widespread expectation is that he will return from injury at the pay-per-view and win the guaranteed title shot at WrestleMania.

Just like a large portion of NFL fans believe the Packers will win the Super Bowl, the smarter WWE fans think it's pretty much a given that Orton's headed for a World Heavyweight Championship match in Miami.

Count me among the fans who think Orton and Green Bay will both get those big victories within the next month.