WWE Royal Rumble 2012: 5 Superstars Who Deserve Their 1st Rumble Win

The New year approaches and for WWE fans that can mean only one thing—The Royal Rumble. This event is one of WWE's tent-pole PPV events, which they use as a stepping stone to WrestleMania.

Personally, this is my favorite PPV of the year because the Rumble win is generally only reserved for the best of the best. The long list of winners is a who's who of WWE legends.

Bret Hart, Lex Luger, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Stone Cold, The Undertaker, the list goes on and on. Some of today's top stars like John Cena, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio also hold the distinction of having won the main event of the night.

The inaugural event happened in 1988 and was won by Hacksaw Jim Duggan, who was the only winner not to receive a title shot for the victory.

Winning this match is almost as good as winning a title in WWE, because everyone knows the winner is going to be big at some point down the road if they aren't already.

This year we have more young talent worthy of a win than I can ever remember. I will list five people who I believe deserve their first Rumble win.

Guys like Orton, who may deserve a win, won't be listed. This is meant to focus on WWE's next generation.

Cody Rhodes

Over the last year, Cody Rhodes has proven one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt: He is a future main event player in WWE.

His feuds with Mysterio, Orton and more recently Booker T have been some of the more interesting programs on SmackDown over the past year.

His mask gimmick got him to a new level, but since losing the mask I feel that Rhodes has shown he can stand on his own two feet without a gimmick to back him up.

Anyone else bringing paper bags to the ring would have been overlooked, but Rhodes made the gimmick work and in return WWE has given him a great run as IC Champion.

Rhodes winning the rumble would propel him to that next level and give WWE one more person to help carry the weight.

Rhodes may never sell millions worth of merchandise, but he will always be respected for what he is capable of. His family name is no longer his most notable trait—his talent is.

I would be very excited to see Rhodes win because if WWE keeps the title on Daniel Bryan through WrestleMania, then they could definitely have the match of the night.

Dolph Ziggler

I would probably qualify as a Ziggler mark because right now this is one of my favorite superstars in all of WWE. He is such a breath of fresh air from WWE's normal superstars that I can't help but root for him.

Like Rhodes, Ziggler has made his mid-card title interesting again. Until losing the US title to Ryder at TLC, he was the longest-reigning champion in WWE, something he was sure to remind us of.

His new persona of being a showoff compliments him well because he can actually back it up. How many people can say WWE held a poll on their website that asked fans if their match was better than HBK vs. Taker at WrestleMania? Only two people: Ziggler and Daniel Bryan.

Their match when they were both US and IC champion tuned so many heads in the back that Ziggler has been destined for greatness ever since.

Bryan deserves his share of the credit, but it takes two people to have a five-star match. Ziggler can be that guy anytime he has someone of equal or greater talent to work with.

His recent matches with Orton and Punk seem to indicate WWE management is testing him for main event level matches with these stars.

If Ziggler wins the Rumble, you know he will be celebrating like nothing you have ever seen. I am not saying he should win the title in the main event of WrestleMania, but he deserves the win at the Rumble.

Daniel Bryan

I know he is Champion, but hear me out. Let's say WWE takes the title off him at Rumble by having him lose to Henry, Show or a returning Christian perhaps.

Then he comes out as entrant No. 30 and wins the whole thing, fulfilling his promise of main-eventing WrestleMania. This could be a very successful angle for WWE if done right.

Bryan is becoming a more recognizable face in WWE's main event after his cage match with Mark Henry and his title win after cashing in on Big Show.

CM Punk said it was his privilege to introduce Bryan as the new World Champion, and WWE should take note of how well the fans have reacted to him as Champion.

He cashed in on an injured babyface champion and still got the biggest pop of the night; Punk did that and got booed by half the crowd when he cashed in on Hardy.

Bryan can take anyone in WWE in terms of sheer technical talent, but I think the fact that he is not the cookie cutter image of a wrestler may be his most endearing quality.

Like Mick Foley, he is breaking the mold for what a WWE World Champion should be, and a win at the Rumble would help cement that forever.

Christian

If Christian were to return and win the Rumble, it would help him prove he belongs in the main event. Ever since he won his first World title, I have been very disappointed with how WWE has booked him.

He has been made to play a heel who would rather run from a fight than stand toe-to-toe, and while that works well for some, I feel Christian would be better suited as a conniving heel in the same way Edge was portrayed.

Christian is talented and still young enough to have a good, long run ahead of him if he stays healthy and uninjured in any major way.

His recent injury may have kept him off TV and out of people's minds, but if there is one thing SmackDown could benefit from, it is a little more Christian.

Having Christian face Daniel Bryan, Big Show or even Sheamus for the title at WrestleMania would provide for some very good entertainment.

He could also opt to face CM Punk or whoever the WWE Champion is if Punk does not keep the title until WrestleMania.

I admit that Christian has his downsides, but he has far more upsides that justify a Rumble win. His years of great matches should be enough to back him up.

When he was ECW Champion I actually cared about ECW. What does that tell you?

The Miz

I firmly believe Miz will play a big part in WWE's future for years to come. He has had the most inspiring rise to fame anyone could imagine.

He stated way back on his season of The Real World that his biggest dream was to be a WWE champion.

We watched him for years on those challenges, where he proved he was a great athlete, and then eventually on Tough Enough.

When he first showed up in WWE, he was used as a host of SmackDown because of his mainstream exposure on MTV for all those years.

He also hosted the Diva's search, where he proved he had a decent sense of humor. Eventually he was given a shot and WWE sent him to ECW, where I thought he was destined to die out.

He showed me I was wrong when he and Morrison teamed up to make the best tag team in WWE at the time. Their WWE.com show was a huge hit, and WWE took notice.

After a US title run and a few big feuds, Miz eventually proved he could stand with the top guys by winning the WWE title.

Despite losing, he had a great showing at TLC, and a win at The Rumble could help Miz main event WrestleMania two years in a row.

He won last year; why not have a repeat performance?

Honorable Mentions

Other members of the roster who may be deserving of a Rumble win would be R-Truth Kane, Sheamus, Wade Barrett or Mark Henry.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to share your thoughts on who should win the Rumble.