Royal Rumble 2012: WWE Scores with Handling of CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler Match

A lot of questions were going to be answered in the match between CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler and the Royal Rumble, but the only question WWE fans were interested in asking was this one:

How is John Laurinaitis going to screw Punk this time?

Given the recent squabbles between the two of them, it was practically a foregone conclusion that Laurinaitis was going to screw Punk out of a victory, and Punk's fate seemed to be sealed for good when Laurinaitis came out and admitted that he was going to screw Punk over.

However, all bets were off the second Laurinaitis bowed out of his special guest officiating duties. At that point, it became possible that we were going to get a relatively straightforward match, a reality that was somewhere between a relief and a bummer.

WWE deserves all the credit in the world for the way it did choose to play out the match. Laurinaitis did end up screwing Punk over a couple of times, but he did it indirectly, checking the condition of the match's actual referee at a couple moments when Punk had Ziggler beat. Punk, therefore, had to work a little harder to get the victory, but he got it.

That Laurinaitis actually participated in the final three count was icing on the cake.

The ultimate outcome is satisfying because Laurinaitis was able to cause trouble without actually ruining everything for Punk. Seeing as how their feud had been heading that direction, the fact that Punk came out on top when it was all said and done was a clever change-up.

The question now is what the events of the Royal Rumble mean going forward. It's not like Punk and Laurinaitis are going to bury the hatchet any time soon, so we have to now watch out for the next step in their ongoing battle of wills.

Here's how I decipher the situation: By not screwing everything up for Punk at the Royal Rumble, Laurinaitis owes him one. He was on his best behavior because of his pending job review, but it's not going to last. He'll get back to harassing Punk again in the near future, and I'll assume right here and now that the creative team has something big in store.

The question is, who is going to benefit from it, because Laurinaitis isn't going to screw Punk over just for his own satisfaction. That wouldn't be enough of an insult. 

It's definitely a situation to monitor in the coming weeks, especially as we get closer and closer to WrestleMania. At some point, [bleep] is going to get real.