WWE Royal Rumble 2012: Preview and Predictions from GSM, RiZE, C-CooL, and SiD
In mere hours, WWE will present the 25th anniversary of the Royal Rumble event live from St. Louis, Mo., in their premiere pay-per-view of 2012. Despite only four matches being advertised for tonight's show, each contest looks to be enjoyable in its own right.
As we kick off the Road to WrestleMania, anticipation builds as two major championships will be contested for on tonight's card, along with a grudge match that has reached its climax.
Most importantly, the show will be headlined by the traditional Royal Rumble match, where 30 Superstars will fight for the chance to compete for a World Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 28.
Here, I am once again joined by the past, present and future of Bleacher Report to help me analyze tonight's electric pay-per-view with their intelligent insight on all things wrestling.
John Cena vs. Kane
1 of 5GSM: Although this feud has had me rolling my eyes at times, I believe it's been a success so far in the sense that it's made John Cena's stale character somewhat interesting again. While I still don't think this whole angle is leading to the much-anticipated Cena heel turn, it will certainly call for a more ruthless Cenation leader on Sunday.
Cena defeating Kane clean would destroy any momentum the Big Red Monster has had up to this point, so I'll go off on a branch and say that Cena gets himself disqualified out of frustration, thus continuing the rivalry in the process.
RiZE: While I’m sure some may question my logic here, I still don’t believe John Cena is turning heel. Yes, the WWE has consistently teased it but this doesn’t exactly mean it’ll happen. I do find Kane’s antics and the involvement of Zack Ryder clever but I still feel this entire angle is filler until the WWE starts building Rock vs. Cena at WrestleMania 28.
Because of this, I can’t decide on a winner, so I’ll choose the intelligent option. When in doubt, predict John Cena to win.
C-CooL: If you think this one is ending clean, you should take a closer look. I can only envision either Cena or Kane getting disqualified, or just a no-contest brawl.
I don’t expect Cena or Kane to participate in the Elimination Chamber match next month, so they can finish their feud then—right in time for Rock vs. Cena to take a full-swing.
SiD: I don't know why, but this feud doesn't seem good to me at all. Call me a spoilsport, but I hate Ryder's involvement in this feud. Thank god he's been written out. Kane has been doing great work: promo wise and charisma wise. I really don't like this feud, or the direction this is going to.
But, it's been built as the main feud of Raw, so I have to care about it. I think Kane needs a win here, but if Cena will move on to the Rock next, then the face needs to win. So, WWE has booked itself into the corner here. I think Kane will win here, with the obvious screwing.
Overall Consensus: Cena-1, Kane-2, No Contest-1
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry (Steel Cage for the World Championship)
2 of 5GSM: Sure, I've grown immensely tired of the feud between Big Show and Mark Henry, but adding Daniel Bryan into the mix has certainly made it interesting again. Despite my original thoughts, Bryan has been able to truly shine as a heel, both on the mic and his excellent chemistry with Show and Henry in the ring.
Although the Steel Cage stipulation doesn't add much to matches these days, it will provide for a fun environment for all three men. Sadly, Henry appeared to be seriously injured following this past Tuesday's SmackDown taping, so hopefully he can recover in time for the upcoming bout.
I see no reason to give the belt back to either Goliath this quickly, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened. Regardless, expect the American Dragon to escape the cage in a sneaky fashion to successfully retain his World title.
RiZE: In undoubtedly the most intriguing storyline in all of professional wrestling today, Daniel Bryan will defend his World Championship against Mark Henry and the Big Show. I wasn’t fond of Daniel Bryan turning heel at first but the WWE really surprised me by having Bryan come off as intelligent instead of cowardly.
His nefarious and deceitful behavior combined with Henry and Show’s distaste for the World Champions antics makes this that much better. However, Henry recently re-injured his leg causes me to question to the quality we’ll get out of this match-up. For all we know, he may not even be in this match-up.
Nonetheless, I feel Daniel Bryan is just getting started and it wouldn’t make sense to take the strap off him now. So I firmly believe Bryan will win this match-up with a cheap tactic that’ll likely be him escaping the cage while his adversaries wage war.
C-CooL: If this match doesn’t end with Daniel Bryan sneakily escaping the cage, I’ll be surprised.
SiD: This has been one of the best turns in recent memory. Daniel Bryan is taking his time turning into a heel, and boy, I am loving this. Big Show is okay, though. I didn't really like the "crying" part and injuring AJ, that was totally unnecessary.
Mark Henry has been one of the most interesting man on this roster, but is really losing steam at the moment. This seemed for an interesting bout, but the recent title matches which ended in a no contest really degraded the world title's credibility.
This seems quite easy, I think Bryan needs to walk out with the victory here. Show and Henry don't need the title here, it will be quite unnecessary. I think Randy Orton will face Bryan at WrestleMania, so a Bryan win is inevitable. I guess Bryan will escape the cage in some way, which will look squeaky.
Overall Consensus: Bryan-4, Show-0, Henry-0
CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler with John Laurinaitis as Referee (WWE Championship)
3 of 5GSM: Of all the scheduled matches on the card, this title bout looks to be the most entertaining, as it features two of the best workers in the company today. We've seen excellent matches from both men before, so I have no doubts in my mind that this surely steal the show.
Despite his most recent efforts, I just don't see Ziggler as a threat to the WWE Championship. Besides, he's stressed the fact that he owns an number of victories over the Straightedge Savior, so that pretty much indicates Punk will be going over on Sunday.
However, Punk's bad blood with John Laurinaitis has been the main focus of this rivalry, so I predict the Raw General Manager to get laid out to allow Punk to score the victory.
RiZE: The title says CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler but the storyline (and every episode of RAW for the last month) would suggest that it’s CM Punk vs. John Laurinaitis. No offense to Dolph Ziggler (pun intended) but he’s the proverbial third wheel in the program. It isn’t about Ziggler potentially winning his first WWE Championship but rather if Laurinaitis will screw Punk or not.
The events of this past Monday Night RAW would suggest Laurinaitis calling it down the middle, but I expect conflict somewhere. With that being said, I do feel if given the right amount of time, this match will set a standard for the year.
They can’t have a good 15-minute match. The WWE has to give these guys a great match that is viewed as a MOTY candidate for 2012. Anyway, I expect CM Punk to retain his WWE Championship as this is more about Punk “overcoming” the odds than Ziggler reaching the pinnacle.
C-CooL: Mick Foley could interfere and cost Ziggler the match, Laurinaitis could impartially judge it, yet get fired tomorrow. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if Laurinaitis cost Punk the match yet keeps his job when Triple H turns heel and begins a Mania feud with Punk. Another scenario I see most is Laurinaitis trying to act like an impartial referee towards CM Punk by screwing Dolph Ziggler—just to prove that he has no bitter feelings towards Punk.
Triple H will insult his stupidity on Raw the next night and fire him as the Raw GM. I honestly am stuck between Laurinaitis screwing Punk (and Hunter turning heel), and Laurinaitis stupidly screwing Ziggler. Triple H vs. CM Punk is now being rumored for ‘Mania so I guess I’ll go with Punk losing the belt tonight.
SiD: This actually seems like a great match, with two of the most hard-working guys on the roster colliding against each other, but with one thorn, John Laurinaitis. To be completely honest, I really like John L. and his character. I'm also really liking Dolph Ziggler's work, he's really improved on the stick and now is one of the main eventers in the WWE.
CM Punk is just himself, pure gold in his work. I hope this match is better than the one they had recently on Raw for the title, because they need to step it up on the grand stage. I can see this match going three different ways.
One, CM Punk defeats Ziggler clean and Laurinaitis acts as a fair referee and all is fair, so that Punk can move on to his inevitable feud with Jericho.
Two, Punk could win but Laurinaitis will be trying to make Ziggler win, but being unsuccessful in doing so.
Third, it could play out as Mick Foley runs out and beats up Laurinaitis and distracts Ziggler to give Punk the victory. Yes, you probably guessed it. I don't think Ziggler has a chance in this match. Anyway, I'll go with the third one with Punk winning with the help of Mr. Socko.
Overall Consensus: Punk-3, Ziggler-1
30-Man Royal Rumble Match
4 of 5GSM: As one of the most unpredictable Royal Rumbles in recent history, anything seems to be possible when it comes to deciding a winner for the traditional bout. With the stipulation being that anyone is eligible, I hope to see either World Champion Daniel Bryan or WWE Champion CM Punk make an appearance to further prove that statement.
Obviously, the surprise entrants are always the greatest factors in the annual Rumbles, so hopefully the entrants live up the hype and provide us with something exciting.
Following his promo on this week's edition of Raw, I predict Chris Jericho to deliver on his promise and "end the world as we know it" by winning the Royal Rumble.
Other top candidates include Randy Orton, Wade Barrett, and possibly Sheamus. I also hope to see Y2J, Barrett, and Orton be the final three competitors given the history between them all.
RiZE: I’ll give credit where it’s due, I don’t have a solid pick to win this year’s Royal Rumble matchup. As I observed the events of this past week’s WWE programming, I’ve cut it down to four WWE Superstars.
Randy Orton, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, and Chris Jericho are the superstars I predict to win the Rumble. Chris Jericho winning the match is too predictable to a point where I question if he’ll win it or not.
Wade Barrett and Sheamus are two superstars the WWE are seemingly behind at this moment and they could easily win the match. Randy Orton would be another logical pick considering the Rumble is in his hometown of St. Louis.
On the other hand, there could always be a surprise entrant who isn’t on our radars at this point in time. Call me delusional but someone like a Triple H winning the rumble and putting over Punk as a star at WrestleMania wouldn’t surprise me at all.
C-CooL: The Royal Rumble matches are always the hardest to predict. The best way to predict these matches are to simply go with your gut, which is why I will be using process of elimination to determine the winner.
I have narrowed the selection down to The Miz, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Randy Orton, Christian, and Chris Jericho. Jericho and Orton would be way too obvious, so they’re out. Sheamus could win, but I don’t think he will tonight.
I truthfully think that Vince McMahon would do everything in his power to prevent Christian from winning, so he’s gone. I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of these six men win, but I would have to predict either Miz or Barrett as my top choices.
Call this a little overkill, but between Barrett and Miz, I’d anticipate Miz being the last man standing just a little more. I expect Miz to move to SmackDown soon—as he really doesn’t have a place on Raw at this point.
A face-turn for him may also be imminent; and what a great way a face-turn could start for him to triumphantly defeat 29 other men as the first entrant.
SiD: Finally, the main match of the Rumble. This is supposed to be the best match of the Rumble. Since it'll take a lot of time to give a prediction on all the superstars competing, so I'll just make a prediction on the most probable ones.
Miz: He's scheduled to enter #1, so I think he can stay till #22 or #23, before being eliminated by Sheamus or R-Truth. Miz is destined to dominate, though.
Sheamus: He's supposed to be the ultimate winner, and he's being the most dominant force in the WWE right now. But, I don't think he'll win it. He'll probably be eliminated by a mishap or something involving two wrestlers or something.
Wade Barrett: The "Barrett Barrage" will not be successful in the Rumble this year. It will be run over by the "Santino Express". Jokes aside, I can see Wade lasting till the final four, then being eliminated by Orton.
Randy Orton: He apparently returned from injury, but as the three men mentioned above, he will not win the Rumble, unlike 2009. He will either be double eliminated with Barrett, or will be eliminated by Sheamus.
Dolph Ziggler: He already is in a match before and his chances are zero here too. As I said, I see him competing with Foley at WrestleMania.
Chris Jericho: This is my pick to win the Rumble. I am loving Chris Jericho's recent work, his troll-ism, and his selfish antics, and though he did speak on Raw, he sent out a big message/clue on who is winning the Rumble, and I think he is.
The reasons I didn't mention the other stars because I simply think that they are fillers/they don't have a chance of winning. Once again, I pick Mr. Y2J to win the Rumble.
Overall Consensus: Jericho-2, Miz-1, Undecided-1
Conclusion
5 of 5Overall, this looks to be like a strong show on paper, with each bout as equally exciting as the other. With the first grudge matches kicking off the event, I've set high standards for an extremely entertaining pay-per-view.
Regarding the Royal Rumble match, the annual bout never ceases to disappoint, so I surely hope they take full advantage of the immense intrigue of the contest. Being the more unpredictable pay-per-view of the year, my fingers are crossed for the upcoming show to be the huge kick-off to what looks to be a memorable year in 2012.
As WrestleMania 28 quickly approaches, expect the initial seeds to be planted for the historic event this coming Sunday. If you're on the fence about purchasing the event, I strongly recommend doing so, as failing to ordering the pay-per-view may result in being a major mistake in the end.
I'd like to thank RiZE, C-CooL and SiD for collectively participating in my Royal Rumble preview, all of which put in valuable time and thought into making their respective predictions. Drop a comment with your thoughts going into the Royal Rumble and be sure to tune into tonight for what could be an outrageously amusing show with the strong card provided.
Also, be sure to check out the following sites for some more awesome links: Sid's Thoughts, RiZE REVOLUTION, EGW, and Post Match Blog.
GSM out.
Visit my website at Next Era Wrestling as well as my WrestleRant and Spoilers podcasts for more of my thoughts and writings, along with WWE/TNA news, rumors, reviews and more.
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