WWE Royal Rumble 2012: Reported Reason for Sheamus Winning the Royal Rumble

Most wrestling fans seemed to expected to see Randy Orton or Chris Jericho win the 2012 Royal Rumble match.

But in a surprise move—although not to me!—Sheamus last eliminated Jericho to win the Rumble and the guaranteed world title shot at WrestleMania 28 that comes along with it. 

The creative team’s decision to give Sheamus the victory was indeed a big swerve, and now we know why that swerve happened. 

Here’s a hint: It happened for the reason you probably think it did. 

From PWInsider.com (via WrestleZone.com): 

"

PWInsider.com is reporting that the primary reason why WWE decided to go with Sheamus as the winner of the Royal Rumble last night is because most insiders were predicting that Chris Jericho would get the big win.

Furthermore, WWE had the announcers push the "swerve" with the line questioning which title Sheamus would choose to challenge for. Additionally, the line puts over the unpredictability of the match, and the shake-up of the WWE landscape.

It's being said that Sheamus has been getting a great reaction from crowds at recent live events, and that WWE officials are firmly behind him as a top babyface in the company. 

"

I know a lot of people are up in arms over the decision to have Sheamus win the Royal Rumbe match, calling it “a swerve just for the sake of a swerve” or one that “makes no sense.” 

But I actually have no problem with the WWE changing things up after plans leaked out on the Internet. After all, had Jericho won the Royal Rumble, we probably would have been complaining about it being “too predictable.” 

It was really a lose-lose situation for the WWE. They were damned if they did, and damned if they didn’t. 

At least in my view, though, you can’t really go wrong with having Sheamus win the Royal Rumble match. While I will admit that his victory makes the projected WrestleMania card a bit cloudier, I can’t deny that the Great White deserved the victory. 

He’s gotten over big-time as a babyface, and he’s sort of been stuck in No Man’s Land over the last several months, ever since Christian went down with that ankle injury back in November. 

Sheamus has been patient, and along the way, he’s developed into a very reliable face who always puts on good matches and gets great reactions from the crowd. 

I can’t hate on Sheamus because the creative team pulled off the swerve. I like the decision, even if most others didn’t.

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