WWE Royal Rumble 2012 1/29/2012

World Wrestling Entertainment presents Royal Rumble
Date: 1/29/2012
From: St. Louis, MO

Tonight, WWE Champion CM Punk defends against Dolph Ziggler. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan defends inside a steel cage against Big Show and Mark Henry. Oh, and there is a Royal Rumble match with 30 of the top WWE Superstars competing for a spot at WrestleMania!

Matches:
1.)WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan defeated Big Show and Mark Henry in a steel cage match to retain the title.
2.)WWE Divas Champion Beth Phoenix, Natalya, & Belle Twins defeated Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, Tamina & Alicia Fox
3.)John Cena wrestled Kane to a double count-out
4.)Brodus Clay defeated Drew McIntyre
5.)WWE Champion CM Punk defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the championship
6.)Sheamus won the 2012 Royal Rumble last eliminating Chris Jericho

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.This a decent chant for Daniel Bryan proving that he still is popular, surely with internet fans. The match starts off with Show spearing Bryan after Henry prevented him from escaping in the opening moments. Show splashes Henry up against the cage a few times as well. Bryan tries to escape on the other side but Show stops him in time. Show misses the knockout punch towards Bryan and hits the cage instead. Bryan dropkicks Show’s leg and works on Henry to keep both big men down on the canvas. Henry gets up and pushes the champs head against the fencing. Show nails Henry with a standing side kick. Show tosses Bryan into the cage as well. This is actually becoming a rather boring cage match. Show signals for the choke slam on Bryan but Bryan kicks his way out of the hold and hits a tornado DDT for a two count! Bryan has the LeBelle Lock on Show! Henry breaks it up. Show knocks Henry out with a right hand but Bryan breaks up the pin fall attempt. Show stops Bryan from escaping but Bryan punches Show from the top of the cage. Show is now on the top of the cage and Bryan is holding onto Show’s arm. Bryan lets go and drops to the floor to retain the title! I found the match to be rather underwhelming but I’m very happy that Bryan retained the championship here. There just isn’t much to do in a cage with two large wrestlers competing in it as well.

2.In a match that wasn’t advertise match, we get an eight diva tag team match. Do you really care about how this match went, because I sure as hell don’t. The fact the match went longer than three minutes is just a bad sign. Kelly took all the girls out with a cross body off the top on the floor. Beth Phoenix finished Kelly off with the Glam Slam.

3.Backstage, Zack Ryder is being wheeled into the arena when Johnny Ace greets him. He wants Ryder to let him know if he needs anything. Eve Torres shows up and talks about what Ace has done to Ryder as of late. She hopes he is fired tomorrow night.

4.Cena hammers away on Kane until he is stopped with a back elbow. Cena clotheslines Kane to the floor but is pulled out of the ring as well. Cena sends Kane into the ring steps. Cena can’t get Kane up for the Attitude Adjustment back in the ring. Kane continues to have control of the bout with a vertical suplex. Cena attempted a bulldog but Kane shoved him away. Kane tries to smother Cena’s face and gets it locked in. Cena counters the hold and gets a Crossface locked in but Kane breaks free and hits a side slam. Kane hits a top rope leaping clothesline! Cena shoulder blocks Kane an hits a spinning slam. Cena runs into a big boot after avoiding the choke slam. Cena headbutts Kane off the middle rope and hits a fist drop off the top rope. Kane elbows out of the Attitude Adjustment and is kicked to the floor by Kane. Well, they are both counted out. Cena hits Kane with a speaker and they brawl towards the back of the arena. They are brawling backstage now. Kane hits Cena with a chair several times and sees Ryder’s locker room. He kicks open the door and Ryder tries to kick him away. Kane smothers his face and Ryder is knocked out. Kane wheels Ryder towards the ring area. Kane flips the chair over and Ryder hits the ground hard. Eve Torres runs down to beg Kane to not do anything. She sure is smart. Kane hits the tombstone pile driver! Cena comes out and can’t hit the Attitude Adjustment. Kane drives Cena down with the choke slam and leaves the ring.

5.So, a guy who hasn’t won in forever gets a singles match on pay per view. That makes sense. Considering Clay hasn’t had a match last more than two minutes… let’s see how long this takes. Well, Clay absorbs a few blows, hits a overhead suplex, splashes Drew in the corner and hits a running cross body for the win. This was just your typical Clay match.

6.Remember, Johnny Ace is the special referee for the title match. That gives many people to think that Punk has no chance to retain the championship tonight. Neither man is able to get a clear cut advantage in the opening moments, but Punk nearly gets the Anaconda Vice on Ziggler. Punk drops Ziggler across the top rope and the challenger drops to the floor. Punk comes off the ropes and hits a suicide dive on the floor. Ziggler yanks Punk off the top rope and gets a near fall back in the ring. Ziggler hits a neck breaker and drops several elbows to keep the advantage. Punk battles back with a back suplex to get out of a head lock. Punk misses a clothesline and Ziggler gets a sleeper locked in, and avoids a counter attempt by Punk to keep the hold on. Ziggler gets a two count following a dropkick. Punk catches Ziggler and hits a sit down power bomb but isn’t able to put Ziggler away! Punk hits a spin kick and a swinging neck breaker. Punk knee lifts Ziggler in the corner and hits a running bulldog! Punk signals for the finish but Ziggler breaks free and catapults Punk into the corner where Punk hits a cross body but Ziggler rolls through for a two count. Punk avoids the Zig Zag and kicks Ziggler right in the head for a near fall. Punk slams Ziggler before hitting a top rope elbow drop but Ziggler kicks out again. The fans are chanting Randy Savage! Ziggler gets out of the GTS and shoves Punk into the referee. Here we go, cue Johnny Ace. Punk has the Anaconda Vice on Ziggler, who is quickly tapping out but Ace is checking on the referee. Ziggler rolls Punk up but Punk counters with a roll up but there is still no referee. Ace rolls the referee back into the ring. Punk hits the GTS, which sees Ace sent to the floor due to Ziggler’s legs. Punk has the cover, but Ace decides to not make the count. Ziggler counters the GTS with a Fame Asser but Punk kicks out before three! Punk catapults Ziggler into the corner and hits another GTS to win the match. For some reason Johnny Ace rolled int the match and counted the fall as well. It was a fine match, but Ziggler didn’t get enough offense in at all. I feel like they didn’t want Punk to look like he had a weakness and Ziggler only got cheap wins over him. They are going to need to build Ziggler back up to make him a credible main event heel in the future, for sure. Ziggler is far too talented to not be a main event guy in the WWE.

7.Alright, for the Royal Rumble I’m just going to note the entrants and eliminations along with whatever catches my eye. Miz comes out to cut a promo saying that the wrestlers in the back think he is afraid of being in the number one spot. He says that those same people never thought he would be a WWE Champion. He is going to be the last man standing and is going to headline WrestleMania.

Entrants:
1.)The Miz
2.)Alex Riley (remember him?)
3.)R-Truth
4.)WWE Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes
5.)Justin Gabriel
6.)WWE World Tag Team Champion Primo
7.)Mick Foley
8.)Ricardo Rodriquez (hilarious.)
9.)Santino Marella
10.)WWE World Tag Team Champion Epico
11.)Kofi Kingston
12.)Jerry Lawler
13.)Ezekiel Jackson
14.)Jinder Mahal
15.)The Great Khali
16.)Hunico
17.)Booker T
18.)Dolph Ziggler
19.)Jim Duggan
20.)Michael Cole
21.)Kharma
22.)Sheamus
23.)Road Dogg
24.)Jey Uso
25.)WWE United States Champion Jack Swagger
26.)Wade Barrett
27.)David Otunga
28.)Randy Orton
29.)Chris Jericho
30.)Big Show

Eliminations:
1.) Alex Riley by The Miz
2.) R-Truth by The Miz (Truth pulled Miz out from the floor and drove him face first into the floor)
3.) Primo by Mick Foley
4.) Justin Gabriel by Ricardo & Foley
5.)Ricardo Rodriquez by Santino Marella
6.)Epico by Mick Foley
7.)Santino Marella by Cody Rhodes
8.)Mick Foley by Cody Rhodes
9.)Jerry Lawler by Cody Rhodes
10.)Jinder Mahal by The Great Khali
11.)Ezekiel Jackson by The Great Khali
12.)Jim Duggan by Cody Rhodes
13.)Booker T by Cody Rhodes & Ziggler
14.)Great Khali by Cody Rhodes & Ziggler
15.)Michael Cole by Lawler & Booker (they left commentary)
16.)Hunico by Kharma
17.)Kharma by Dolph Ziggler
18.)Kofi Kingston by Sheamus
19.)Road Dogg by Wade Barrett
20.)Jey Uso by Randy Orton
21.)Wade Barrett by Randy Orton
22.)David Otunga by Chris Jericho
23.)Jack Swagger by Sheamus & Big Show
24.)Cody Rhodes by Big Show
25.)The Miz by Big Show
26.)Dolph Ziggler by Big Show
27.)Big Show by Randy Orton
28.)Randy Orton by Chris Jericho
29.)Chris Jericho by Sheamus

Your Winner of the 2012 Royal Rumble: Sheamus

Notes:
1.)Foley and Santino had a standoff with the Cobra and Socko.
2.)Ricardo Rodriquez did a great job playing his role on this show. I found him to be hilarious.
3.)There was an Ahmed Johnson chant for Ezekiel Jackson.
4.)Kofi Kingston saved himself from elimination by walking on his hand!
5.)Jim Duggan easily got the biggest pop for the Rumble. Considering the same happened to Nash and Booker last year, maybe he will get one more feud in the WWE? Probably not.
6.)Yes, Michael Cole entered in the Royal Rumble.
7.)Kharma made her return during the Royal Rumble. Thank God! She hit Ziggler with a double under hook face buster.

Final Thoughts:
Well, aside from the WWE Championship match and the Royal Rumble match, this show was rather boring and uninteresting. I didn’t like how they booked Ziggler on this show at all. I feel like he didn’t get any offense in against Punk in their title match. I’d say Punk had control of the match for 90% of the match. I can’t give this show a thumbs up, but I can’t say it was awful either. So, I guess I’ll settle for a thumbs in the middle. I’d just skip ahead for the last two matches if you want to watch this pay per view.

Thanks for reading.