Royal Rumble 2012 Results: Daniel Bryan Beat Big Show and Henry, What It Means

For what had been one of the most heavily promoted matches on WWE television in recent weeks, it was interesting, and somewhat disconcerting, that the three-way steel cage match between world heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan, The Big Show and Mark Henry came off as almost an afterthought at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

The cage match was, of course, thrown out as the opening match and its time kept to a minimum, leaving the whole thing feeling like somewhat of an anti-climax, especially after the heated build up in recent weeks (centred around clumsy giant The Big Show accidentally injuring Bryan's girlfriend, AJ).

Factoring in the knee and groin injuries Henry is currently dealing this, this probably isn't too much of a surprise. Although considering the effort the company had put into hyping up the match, you'd think they could have done something more with it.

All three men tried incredibly hard, of course, despite the circumstances. The gutsy Henry, in particular, should be praised for going out and giving it his all when he was visibly wincing in pain at certain points in the match due to his leg problems (an ailing Henry had to be helped to the back by officials when it was over).

But regardless of how lacklustre and disappointing the cage match was, what can we garner from the result of the match, which was sneaky heel Bryan falling to the floor (Big Show was doing his best to hold onto him, from the top of the cage, but eventually his arm gave way and he dropped the World champion)?

Well, obviously, it means Henry (SmackDown's most heavily pushed star last year) has not nearly recovered from his various injuries and is not ready to be champion yet. Of course, given Henry's limited in-ring time lately, we knew that already.   

Most importantly, it also indicates that WWE's booking team are getting fully behind Bryan. In recent weeks the once babyface wrestler has grown increasingly heelish in his behaviour towards The Big Show and other wrestlers. He continues to cut vicious promos on The Big Show for hurting AJ and telling the giant to leave wrestling for good, even though it is incredibly obvious Show is genuinely heartbroken at what he accidentally did to Bryan's girlfriend.      

He also seemed shamefully neglectful towards AJ. Indeed, the young diva has poured her heart out to Bryan about her feelings and even took a heck of a bump from Big Show for him, while he appears to be largely indifferent ("AJ says she loves me," he explained on Raw several weeks ago, "And I appreciate that.").

In his weaselly, unlikable role, the multi-talented Bryan shines and has been garnering some incredible amounts of heat on house shows and television tapings in recent weeks as fans gradually catch on to his wicked ways.

And while a Sheamus versus Daniel Bryan match may not have been one of the original plans for WrestleMania, it looks like WWE are now heading in that direction (per the stipulation, Royal Rumble winner Sheamus can pick any brand's World Championship to go for at the event, although it is difficult to envision him picking a match for Punk's WWE title, so he'll likely go after Bryan instead).

That WWE are willing to shake things up and go with a Bryan title reign now that he has caught on with the fans is one thing we can take from the former ROH star's victory on the show.  For this WM build up, things aren't set in stone like they used to be.