WWE Royal Rumble 2012 Results: Power Ranking the 5 Best Performances of the PPV

The first PPV of the year is over and done with, and now we are most definitely on the Road to WrestleMania.

This was an OK show. Some spots could have been better, and what I believed to be a bit of a weak Rumble contest was saved by an excellent closing segment. The steel cage match was a solid opener, while everything in between was a bit disappointing.

Nonetheless, a good amount of superstars turned in solid performances, and they will be recognized in this power ranking slideshow.

Let's get started.

5) Daniel Bryan

The steel cage contest was decent, with Show and Bryan doing most of the work for the injured Mark Henry.

Bryan must have been thrown into the cage about 10 times, and had a bloody elbow because of that. (It's sad when I point out a bloody elbow. How ya doin', PG?) However, Bryan was still able to sneak out of the cage with a win.

The question now is this: Will he have that title come WrestleMania time? Chances are Orton will have a say, but he only has one more PPV to get through.

As for Show, he might be stuck storyline-less as the weeks proceed. Same goes with Henry, if he even makes it to April with the injuries.

4) The Miz

The Miz was probably not a choice to win the Royal Rumble match by most people, but he was damn impressive in this contest. I thought the Miz would last around 20 minutes or so, but he made it through all of the entrants.

Funny how R-Truth entered at No. 3, making their match on Raw almost completely pointless.

While the Miz had a nice night, it is hard to see just where he will go from there. A little bit of juice is left against R-Truth, but after that, he does not seem to have a solid feud heading down the Road to WrestleMania.

3) Dolph Ziggler

The WWE Championship match was a disappointment.

Punk and Ziggler had a fine match, but we had seen it all before. Add in the lack of enough Laurinitis-Punk tension, and it just did not live up to expectations.

Ziggler should have been featured more here, getting very little offense in for the last few minutes of the contest. However, he did a good job in the match and continued on with a very strong showing in the Royal Rumble.

This is somewhat reminiscent of Edge in 2005, who wrestled Shawn Michaels in the opening contest and then stuck around in the Rumble for over a half an hour. 

Ziggler was not in there quite as long, but to pull double duty between the WWE title match and the Rumble is still an impressive performance.

2) Chris Jericho

For a man who has only said one line since returning four weeks ago, it was surprising when he actually ran into the ring and started wrestling.

Except for forgetting that this is a Rumble match, he looked like he had not missed a beat.

Jericho promised big things on Raw, calling the Royal Rumble "the end of the world as we know it" and saying the same thing on Twitter earlier on Sunday. He did not deliver on big things, and it is probably just another step in the heel turn.

Jericho going out second does not by any means count him out of a title match at WrestleMania. It actually keeps his options open, because now the Undertaker is still a viable option. Furthermore, over the years the final man eliminated from the Royal Rumble is usually in a big match at WrestleMania anyway.

Unless you are Santino.

1) Sheamus

Enter Sheamus, the 2012 Royal Rumble winner.

The Celtic Warrior has proven himself to be a great wrestler, and this is a victory well-deserved. Jericho seemed to be the favorite in the final two, but he lost after promising big things on Raw and Twitter, which further pushes him to heel territory.

He entered as the No. 22 entrant, so while it was not a very lengthy performance, it was impressive nonetheless. Winning the Royal Rumble earns you top spot on this list, unless you somehow won by default.

Where will Sheamus go from here? No doubt he will be on Raw teasing at which title he will choose to target, but the odds heavily favor the World Heavyweight Championship.

That statement is full of irony, because just one year ago, Sheamus and Bryan were bumped to the dark match. Now, it looks like they are on a collision course for a WrestleMania WHC contest.

Then again, Randy Orton vs. Sheamus is also a very realistic possibility.

Check out CM Punk's 10 Greatest Tweets at this link.

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