WWE Royal Rumble 2012 Results: Why this pay-per-view was not worth it

While WWE's annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view provided some entertainment value and had its share of shocks and surprises, overall it's a fair assessment to say the event probably wasn't worth the small lump sum of your hard-earned cash.

While the show was heavily hyped on various episodes of Raw and Smackdown and looked very exciting on paper, in practice it never quite managed to live up to its potential end . 

Certainly, throwing out the eagerly anticipated three-way steel cage match between World Champion Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry and The Big Show in a throwaway opener was unwise. After the gripping and heated build up on recent episodes of Smackdown, the (relatively) short match came off as a complete anti-climax,  

While the company may have been put in a difficult position due to Mark Henry's knee injury (who was in visible pain throughout this match), they could have surely come up with something better than this weak offering. Possibly Mark Henry could have been written out early and most of the bout been long exchanges between Bryan and The Big Show.  

The two thrown out matches were also insulting. The forgetful, short eight woman divas match (which saw Beth Phoenix, Natalya and The Bella Twins take on the team of Kelly Kelly, Eve, Alicia Fox and Tamina to complete silence in the arena) was only notable for Kelly's risky dive near the end. Likewise, Brodus Clay versus Drew McIntyre was a waste of time, even if the crowd in the Scottrade Center dug Clay's dance act.

In one of the more pushed matches on the show, John Cena took on the monster Kane in a complete calamity of a bout that, in an insult to paying customers, also went to a double count out. The most notable event here was yet another savage attack on the already injured Zack Ryder, who was explained previously as visiting backstage at the show, and found himself being unceremoniously wheeled to the ring by the deranged Kane for a brutal tombstone.  

A poor, overbooked debacle, this segment served only as yet another stepping stone in the horrendous Kane/Cena rivalry and was not worth anyone's money.     

WWE Champion CM Punk versus Dolph Ziggler was good. It was not the spectacular match many had expected, mainly due to all the ref bumps and the antics of Vickie Guerrero and John Laurinaitis at ringside, marring the the in-ring action. 

As for the rumble itself: it was exciting in places, and provided its fair share of surprises, notably Kharma returning to WWE television after being gone for several months due to her pregnancy. Commentators Booker T and Michael Cole also provided some comedy moments as they "shockingly" entered the bout and attempted to win.

It was all largely fine, but the match lacked the spark that made other Royal Rumbles so great. While Sheamus winning was a good, logical decision, for fans expecting some sort of massive swerve (major stars like The Rock, John Cena and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal were just some of the names thrown around for the eventual victor) it was a mild disappointment.

Certainly when The Big Show came out at No.30, instead of some major shocker everyone was expecting, you could almost hear the commentators groan in frustration. What a letdown that was.

The only time the action really heated up was in the final minutes as the last two competitors, Chris Jericho and Sheamus, fought desperately to toss out the other one. 

It also served to highlight the roster's startling lack of depth. Indeed, the company seemed to struggle to fill up 30 spots, we should be grateful they didn't go with 40 guys, like last year. 

Summarily, this event was fine, and even enjoyable in places, but ultimately a deep disappointment considering all the huge amounts of potential it had on paper. Certainly not what you would expect from the WWE's purported "second biggest event of the year."