Royal Rumble 2012: Cody Rhodes and Wrestlers Who Should Have a Match

The Royal Rumble is a pay-per-view that is extremely hard to get a match on. There is limited time to work with, since the 30-man, over-the-top battle royal takes up close to 90 minutes.  

This leads to wrestlers like Cody Rhodes being left out of the card, only to be used in a short manner during the rumble match. 

Cody Rhodes

Cody has a good streak of scoring big victories in pay-per-view matches, which has propelled him to be one of the top heel wrestlers on the SmackDown brand. However, he finds himself out of a match at the Royal Rumble.  

Instead, the WWE should have found some time to fit Rhodes into a quick Intercontinental Title match against someone like Justin Gabriel or Drew Mcintyre.  

A match between any one of these wrestlers would do them good, as they would get their own time at the pay-per-view. Instead, they are going to be lost in the shuffle of the big 30-man, over-the-top-rope match. 

Jack Swagger

Swagger has benefited the most of anyone due to Zack Ryder’s back injury. Since Ryder was injured, Swagger has taken his United States Championship and his spot as the top of the mid-card talent on Raw. 

However, just like Rhodes, Swagger is left off of the card on Sunday.  

Instead, the WWE should have given a quick US Title match against someone like Kofi Kingston or Santino Marella. Here, Swagger can have a good—albeit short match—that gets Swagger over as a dominating champion.  

Instead, Swagger will enter the rumble early in the match, only to get eliminated before the rumble match hits the 20s. It will do nothing for Swagger’s build as a good champion, instead keeping him stuck at the top of the mid-card. 

These two wrestlers will enter the rumble and will have some eliminations. However, their performance in the match will not do as much for their spot on the roster as a win would have in a one-on-one match.

Follow @tjmcaloon