Royal Rumble 2012 Predictions: John Laurinaitis Will Help CM Punk Retain Title

John Laurinaitis needs to save his job after learning on Raw that he'll undergo an evaluation following the Royal Rumble. As a man of the people—or so he says—Laurinaitis knows what the WWE Universe wants is for CM Punk to defend the WWE Championship, so he'll make sure it happens.

Punk and Dolph Ziggler haven't fully developed their feud because the focus has been more on the champion and interim general manager than the match itself. That trend will continue on Sunday night.

Laurinaitis has actually done a nice job of turning the crowd against him and getting a reaction on a weekly basis. As superstars who struggle mightily to get the audience to do anything can attest, that's no easy task.

That said, his schtick has run its course. He's done about all he can do, so it's probably time for a fresh face to lead Raw for a while. Mick Foley would be my choice.

The WWE title match should be a pretty good back-and-forth battle between two of the company's best workers. Ziggler's in-ring work has come a long way in recent months. It's probably the main reason he's been given a push lately.

After a pretty long match, both guys will be worn down, and that's where Johnny Ace will make his move. A spot will probably be run where it will look like he was supposed to knock out Punk, but will catch Ziggler instead.

Punk will reluctantly take advantage of the “error,” retaining his belt and getting the crowd pumped up for the Rumble match.

The next night, Laurinaitis should receive his walking papers from Triple H, opening the door up to other possibilities to fill the void. It's been a nice run for the executive vice president of talent relations, but there's really nothing left for him to do.

All told, everybody will walk away from Raw happy. Punk will keep his belt, Ziggler can look strong in defeat and Laurinaitis can go back behind the scenes where he belongs.

It's the best thing to keep the product moving forward as the road to WrestleMania gets underway in earnest.