411 PPV Roundtable Preview – WWE Royal Rumble 2012

Introduction:

It’s a new year once again, and with the dawning of 2012, we start barrelling down another Road to WrestleMania. First stop, the Royal Rumble PPV, home of WWE’s most successful gimmick match, and the place where we will determine one Superstar who will punch their ticket to a WWE or World Heavyweight Championship match at the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania. How do they do that? Why, by winning the Royal Rumble match, of course. If you’re new to this, here’s how it works. Thirty Superstars qualify for the match and are assigned a “random” draw. The first two competitors start the match, and every (roughly) ninety seconds, a new Superstar enters. The only way to be eliminated (except in special cases on a year-to-year basis) is to be thrown over the top rope and have both feet touch the floor. It’s one of the longest, most gruelling, and most exciting matches in WWE, and the last man standing gets to choose which title they want to challenge for at WrestleMania XVIII.

But that’s not all, because in the undercard, John Cena faces the enigmatic Kane, who may have finally pushed Cena over the edge completely after hospitalizing his friend and former United States champion Zack Ryder. Plus, Daniel Bryan defends his World Heavyweight title against two of the most massive competitors in WWE, The Big Show and Mark Henry, while trapped inside the confines of a solid steel cage. And CM Punk will put his WWE Championship on the line against Dolph Ziggler, but Punk also must worry about the presence of the special guest referee: Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw Johnny Ace, who declared on Raw that he intends to ensure that Punk does not leave the Rumble with the WWE Title. However, Ace’s intentions may have shifted after last week’s Raw, when it was announced that his machinations have been noticed by the WWE Board of Directors and his job is up for review the night after the Royal Rumble.

It’s one of WWE’s biggest shows of the year, where anything can happen and usually does, and the 411 Staff is here to tell you everything that they think about this Sunday’s PPV!

The Staff

Stephen Randle, The Wrestling News Experience

Wes Kirk, The Wrestling Sandwich

Ross Rutherford, The Wrestling 8-Ball

David McGregor, 411 Instant Analysis: Smackdown

TJ Hawke, 411 Wrestling Interviews

Robert S. Leighty Jr., From The Bowery

Michael Weyer, Shining A Spotlight

James Wright, The Heel Report

Chad Nevett, High Road/Low Road

John Cena vs Kane

Stephen Randle: I see this one going down where either Cena gets DQ’d for excessive use of force, or he gets the win in much the same way (except, legally, I guess). Kane starts laughing because he got Cena to give into the dark side, and scene. Or, move that scenario to the Elimination Chamber (since Cena won’t be competing for the WWE Title at Mania anyway) and this one has Kane get the win because Cena just won’t give in to anger and Kane beats him down for his compassion.

Winner: Kane (probably by DQ)

Wes Kirk: This is likely the next chapter in changing John Cena over to a full-fledged heel rather than the boring All-American babyface he’s been playing for years. I don’t really see Cena winning the match, which would lead towards his frustrations continuing to boil over and then having to face the ridicule of The Rock and the accusations by Eve that he’s responsible for Zack Ryder getting hurt. Ultimately I think in this match Cena costs himself the match at some point and Kane capitalizes on it, getting a needed victory to boost Kane as an invincible monster heel while getting Cena to “embrace the hate” leading into WrestleMania bit by bit.

Winner: Kane

Ross Rutherford: I don’t see this match leading to any sort of clean victory. I would expect a dusty finish with either Cena getting himself DQ’ed or maybe a double count out. I can’t really tell what the WWE’s game is with this story. I could see them simply putting Cena over and having him “overcome the hate.” Thus building him up for his match with The Rock at Wrestlemania, but that would bury any sort of momentum Kane would hope to have. Not sure on this one so I’ll stick with my gut and say Kane goes over…somehow.

Winner: Kane

David McGregor: Well this is an odd one because this feud needs to finish soon so that Rock v Cena can restart but at the same time Kane has just returned so needs to come out of this one with some credibility. But seen as Kane just destroyed Ryder and Cena has “embraced the hate” it seems as though Kane is in for a pretty decisive beating come Sunday which will make his return a bit of a flop.

Winner: Cena

TJ Hawke: It’s going to take a lot of effort for this feud not to win the 2012 Worst Feud of the Year. I don’t mean this feud is salvageable; I mean that the WWE or TNA creative staff would have to actively attempt to make a worse feud than this. Cena is wrestling in the main event of Wrestlemania; he ain’t losing to Kane. I hope this match gets changed to a no DQ or something at the last minute, so that this has a chance to be watchable.

Winner: John Cena

Robert S. Leighty Jr.: Cena wins, but does so by embracing the hate and then sells the anguish in his actions afterwards while Kane takes pleasure in getting Cena to embrace his darkside.

Winner: John Cena

Michael Weyer: Pretty obvious Cena wins here but expect it to be a hard match, push him to the limit, to help set up the Rock battle more. It should be a good brawl to fire up the crowd and pay off all the build it’s been getting the last few weeks but in the end, filler for Cena until Rock.

Winner: John Cena

James Wright: With Kane trying to get Cena to ’embrace the hate’ you have to imagine that Cena will have to lose this match for the storyline to continue whatsoever. Sure things might not pan out in the end but it looks like the WWE are sticking with this idea of Cena being pushed to frustration, which will work a hell of a lot better once the Rock comes back between Elimination Chamber and Wrestlemania. Whether or not Cena snaps and takes the role of the heel is debatable but I’m pretty sure his angle with Kane will continue into Elimination Chamber since he has little else to do until then, and if he wins on Sunday then what more is there to do?

Winner: Kane

Chad Nevett: As an idea, I like what they’re doing here with Kane and John Cena feuding over the concept of ‘hate.’ It fits both characters well and would be a natural point of conflict. The only problem is that they don’t know what to do with that concept. How do you translate it into a wrestling angle? Apparently with slasher flick crap and John Cena getting very, very mad at a camera. I think Kane needs the win here to stay at least a little credible. It’s his first feud since his return and he needs the win more — or, at the least, to look strong in losing like John Cena snapping on him, so he loses the match, but wins the inner battle or something.

Winner: Kane

Daniel Bryan © vs Mark Henry vs The Big Show
Steel Cage Match
World Heavyweight Championship

Stephen Randle: Escape rules and a champion who’s spent the past month running the hell away when he knows he can’t win. Gee, let me guess how this ends.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Wes Kirk: There certainly doesn’t seem to be a way out now for D-Bry, does there? That’s precisely why I think Daniel Bryan is going to win this one as a cage has multiple ways of victory and frankly the only one who can climb it would be Bryan. Henry is working through a groin injury and Show reportedly has some back issues stemming from the past week so I’m not keen on the actual match itself as anything more than a way for Bryan to manipulate the two giants against each other and find a way to escape at the end.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Ross Rutherford: My thought remains that Randy Orton will be walking into Wrestlemania as World Heavyweight Champion, or maybe as Bryan’s challenger. Either way I think Orton is the only viable contender for the title after this match. Both Henry and Show are working hurt, and Bryan has been playing his part to a tee. So I see him going over by some sort of dusty finish, but I think a clean victory would benefit him a lot (even if he is a heel). However, I don’t imagine he will be walking into Wrestlemania with the title around his waist. I would be shocked. I’d love it, but I would be very surprised.

Winner: …and still Work Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan

David McGregor: I think if this had been any other two guys from the Smackdown roster then Daniel Bryan’s title reign would be in serious jeopardy. But with Big Show rumoured to be facing off against Shaq at Wrestlemania (let’s be honest he shouldn’t be anywhere near the World Title in 2012 anyway) and Mark Henry still recovering from his groin injury in late 2011 it looks like this will be an easy win for Bryan, although no doubt it is a chicken shit heel victory because bar Mark Henry the WWE haven’t booked a dominant heel champ in years and even Henry didn’t last long!

Winner: Daniel Bryan

TJ Hawke: We’ll know how much Vince McMahon likes Daniel Bryan by the result of this match, as I am guessing that the winner of this match ends up defending the title against Randy Orton at Wrestlemania. I’m guessing that Vince wants Smackdown to return to the Hall of Pain.

Winner: Mark Henry

Robert S. Leighty Jr: Bryan’s slow build heel turn has been tremendous and it’s going to be great to watch how he turns the two monsters against each other so he can once again escape with the title. Show and Henry have some injuries they are nursing but we can get a decent match here as Bryan will do the heavy lifting as he bounces off both big men and the cage.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Michael Weyer: Tempting to say a change here with maybe Henry but think Vince may be smart enough to know that keeping the belt on Bryan until Mania is a good thing as his build has been great. The cage makes it more certain as Bryan is a lot more likely to escape than Henry or Show, each of whom has their issues (injury for the former, Shaq for the latter) that makes their getting the belt unlikely so Bryan retains here.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion: Daniel Bryan

James Wright: What I’m going on here is part optimism and part scepticism over how Big Show or Mark Henry will be fit to wrestle as champion going into Wrestlemania. Both big men’s health has come into question recently and nagging injuries might make the WWE trepidations enough to counter their natural tenancy to hold back any indy-made stars. I can’t possibly predict how Bryan will get out of this predicament but I’m certain that he will, finding out will just be half the fun.

Winner: Daniel Bryan

Chad Nevett: Two big, slow guys… and Daniel Bryan. I’d expect Bryan to win via escape here with the two big guys basically taking one another out.

Winner and STILL WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Daniel Bryan

CM Punk © vs Dolph Ziggler
WWE Championship
Special Referee: Johnny Ace

Stephen Randle: Okay, so the deck is clearly heavily stacked against Punk, so obviously he’s going to retain. I suspect Ace is forced to call the match square out of fear for his job, which, don’t worry, I’m pretty sure he’s losing to Foley on Monday anyway.

Winner: CM Punk

Wes Kirk: Yeah I’m likely going to get flamed big time for it but I think Dolph Ziggler is highly overrated. Against CM Punk I think the differences are night and day and Ziggler wrestles a different style than Punk, as Punk knows more than five or six rest holds and one of the crappiest looking finishers in history. Ace will likely get involved one way or another and that’ll lead to a whole bunch of confusion coming into RAW to figure out if the guy keeps his job or not, and I think the best thing we can get is Punk retaining so Ace is fired but the question will be who replaces him? Somebody who might say that at WrestleMania, Punk has no chance in hell…

Winner: CM Punk

Ross Rutherford: This really should be the best match of the night. These guys have had awesome television matches in the past and now that they finally get to work together on a Pay-per-view they should be able to really blow the roof of the place. I don’t see Ziggler being given the title this close to Wrestlemania. They did a similar thing last year when Ziggler lost to Edge at the Royal Rumble; I do think Ziggler will become a World Champion before 2012 is over, but not yet.

Winner: …and still WWE Champion, CM Punk

David McGregor: The biggest problem with Championship matches at the Royal Rumble is unless it is two main event stars the outcome is very rarely in doubt and sadly for Dolph Ziggler I feel that is the case here as well. Had this been Extreme Rules or Over the Limit I think Ziggler would have a serious chance of walking out WWE Champion but right now there is no big money match Ziggler can have at Wrestlemania therefore his chances are limited. Although they could pull a shocker and give Ziggler another short reign but that isn’t going to help anyone. Also Punk is on quite a nice reign so far and the ratings are going up for his segments, finally.

Winner: CM Punk

TJ Hawke: This match has been built up by making the fans interested in CM Punk beating up Johnny Ace…which he just did this past Monday. Stupid. I expect Punk to win in a possibly excellent match. Ace’s involvement should make it easier for the fans to believe that Dolph Ziggler has a chance to win, but he won’t.

Winner: Punk

Robert S. Leighty Jr: I think was kind of a mistake to let Punk get his hands on Ace before the PPV as should have saved that for here, but a minor point. These two can produce a high quality match and I think both are determined to steal the show from the Rumble match itself (like HHH/Foley, Angle/Benoit, and Cena/Umaga). I don’t see anyway Punk loses here after Dolph beating him at every turn in the build, and really I can’t see Punk losing the title before we get to WrestleMania.

Winner: CM Punk

Michael Weyer: Nice to see it’s not just Cena getting the “deck stacked against him” odds battle. Ziggler and Punk should be able to give us a great battle, expect lots of interference and near-falls with Ace trying to swing things to Ziggler’s way. But in the end, Cena manages to pull out a win (maybe reviving the old “make knocked-out ref’s hand make the count” thing) to retain and set up his inevitable one-on-one with Ace.

Winner and STILL WWE Champion: CM PUNK BABY!!

James Wright: This one is tough to call, both men deserve to be champion and both seem to be in good stead with the company. I think it all comes down to Johnny Ace and where his future is heading. Either he will be fired on Monday, in which case I’m betting that Punk overcomes his efforts to screw him out of the WWE title. Whereas if he is able to stay on then the WWE will most likely be continuing their Punk vs. Johnny Ace storyline, which would proceed much better if he does manage to screw Punk. Since the WWE are fickle in their booking, and because they gave Johnny the GTS on Raw, I’m going with him leaving Monday, giving Punk the green light to retain the title.

Winner: C.M. Punk

Chad Nevett: For the second year in a row, Dolph Ziggler gets a world title shot at the Royal Rumble. He’s been a slight afterthought in the build-up, but, come on, we all know he and Punk are going to deliver in the ring. Punk getting screwed out of the title seems unlikely at this point with Ziggler winning so many times thanks to interference. But, hey, you never know…

Winner and STILL WWE Champion: CM Punk

30-Man Royal Rumble Match
Winner Receives A WWE or World Championship Match At WrestleMania XXVIII

Stephen Randle: As much as I’ve been touting Sheamus as a dark horse here, and as much as I’d like to see some of the Jericho speculation that’s been going around come true, this Rumble has been Randy Orton’s to win for months now…for some reason. Seriously, in 25 years, do you know how many people have won the Rumble more than once? Three. Stone Cold, HBK, and Hulk Hogan. And now they want to give that status to Orton? Hey, WWE, Sesame Street called, they have this song called “One of these things is not like the other” that you really should hear.

WE KNOW #1, WHO WILL BE #2?: Brodus Clay

WHO WILL BE #30?: Christian

WHO WILL HAVE THE MOST ELIMINATIONS?: Sheamus

WHO WILL BE THE IRON MAN?: Miz

Winner: Randy Orton

Wes Kirk:

WE KNOW #1, WHO WILL BE #2?: R-Truth

WHO WILL BE #30?: Chris Jericho

WHO WILL HAVE THE MOST ELIMINATIONS?: Sheamus

WHO WILL BE THE IRON MAN?: Kofi Kingston

Winner: Chris Jericho

Ross Rutherford:

WE KNOW #1, WHO WILL BE #2?: Alex Riley, R-Truth. I don’t know on this one, but I have to think it will be someone The Miz has had a past with.

WHO WILL BE #30?: Christian or Rey Mysterio. One of them HAS to return during this, right? I could see Orton potentially entering last also…

WHO WILL HAVE THE MOST ELIMINATIONS?: Sheamus. This is another one where I have a hard time thinking of one. The first two entrants tend to go a long way in the match. Chris Jericho entered the 2003 Royal Rumble at #2 and had six or seven eliminations and stayed in over 30 minutes. So I would say The Miz, but I could see Sheamus entering early and getting a lot of eliminations.

WHO WILL BE THE IRON MAN?: Sheamus. This one kind of goes hand and hand as the “Iron Man” tends to eliminate a lot of his competition. Although this isn’t always the case, it is a majority of the time (Example: Kane’s run in the 2001 Royal Rumble.) So I think these two picks almost have to be the same person.

Winner: Chris Jericho. This is just wishful thinking, plus what else does he have going on? The climax of this whole “End of The World As We Know It” has to come on Raw after the Rumble. I mean come on, the WWE would be missing a huge opportunity by not booking Punk/Jericho for Wrestlemania. Who else would the WWE want Jericho to work with? If Y2J doesn’t win I will be sorely disappointed.

David McGregor : It is amazing how a simple change to a battle royal match could create a staple of professional wrestling like the Royal Rumble, thank god for Pat Patterson! Like every other person I love the Rumble and this year is no different, there is at least a good 5 or 6 people who could seriously win this year and with the added “every man is eligible” we could even see Punk or Bryan in there on Sunday. 2012 looks like a good year for the Royal Rumble.

WE KNOW #1, WHO WILL BE #2?: John Cena. I was going to say R Truth but then it pretty much makes the match on Raw pointless. I’m guessing John Cena starts it off with the Miz and both of them fight it out at least for the first half of the Royal Rumble.

WHO WILL BE #30?: Cody Rhodes. I was thinking Jericho but it seems too obvious, also I wouldn’t be surprised if the number 30 is one of the World Champions.

WHO WILL HAVE THE MOST ELIMINATIONS?: John Cena. If he is in early he will be eliminating people left, right and centre.

WHO WILL BE THE IRON MAN?: Miz. I’m not a fan of people staying in for a long period of time as it drags the match down a little but if anyone is going to do it I would like it to be the Miz, I mean the guy needs something after the awful 2nd half of 2011.

Winner: Randy Orton. The Royal Rumble is in his home town of St Louis, Missouri and he is just returned from an injury and he looks like the only real threat to the World Heavyweight Championship. Everything points to a win here but it also seems quite obvious but then again so does a Jericho, Sheamus or Barrett win. To be honest I really don’t know who will win but that why I love the match so much.

TJ Hawke: There are a couple of keys to a good rumble match. There needs to be some good stories being told throughout the match; it can’t just feel random. Most of the eliminations need to happen before the #30 entrant comes out, otherwise the last 10-15 minutes is just a clusterfuck Battle Royal (think the 2009 Rumble). I’m guessing the story of this match is going to be how unpredictable the result will be as the match goes on. I expect all 7 men who are in undercard matches to be in the match in some way, possibly to set up more matches going forward (like Jericho eliminating CM Punk, which will put some heat on their expected Wrestlemania match).

WE KNOW #1, WHO WILL BE #2?: CM Punk (WWE has said everyone is eligible)

WHO WILL BE #30?: Christian

WHO WILL HAVE THE MOST ELIMINATIONS?: Randy Orton

WHO WILL BE THE IRON MAN?: CM Punk

Winner: Chris Jericho

Robert S. Leighty Jr: To me this seems to be a 2 man race for the winner. It comes down to Randy Orton, making his return in his home city, and Chris Jericho, who is promising the end of the world. They are favorites because it seems we are getting Bryan/Orton for World Title and Jericho/Punk for WWE Title at WrestleMania, so one of these two need to win the match. With that said, it has been a few years since the Rumble winner has won at WrestleMania (Undertaker at WM 23), so I think that happens this year as well. Both Jericho and Orton have a great shot at going over and winning the title at Mania, but I think Orton has a better shot. I am hoping it is Jericho, but I will go with the safe pick of Orton. The Rumble itself is a hard match to screw up and I expect our normal good to great match depending on how things are booked. I do expect most guys on undercard to pull double duty, and that is becoming norm for Ziggler on PPV so I think would be sweet to see him be the Iron Man in the match.

WE KNOW #1, WHO WILL BE #2?: Truth

WHO WILL BE #30?: Chris Jericho

WHO WILL HAVE THE MOST ELIMINATIONS?: Sheamus

WHO WILL BE THE IRON MAN?: Dolph Ziggler

Winner: Randy Orton

Michael Weyer: It’s always tricky here, that’s for sure. The chance WWE may actually push someone new (like they did last year with Del Rio) is possible but with rumors Orton is coming back, I think I’ll lean toward him. It was set up already, him winning in his home town so I’ll pick him to make the “surprise return” and end up victorious en route to Mania.

WE KNOW #1, WHO WILL BE #2?: John Morrison

WHO WILL BE #30?: Christian

WHO WILL HAVE THE MOST ELIMINATIONS?: Randy Orton

WHO WILL BE THE IRON MAN?: The Miz

Winner: Randy Orton

James Wright: I’ve always found the Royal Rumble match entertaining and it is pretty much my most anticipated match of the year whatever the case. This year should be better than the 2011 Royal Rumble, which rested far too much on it being ‘the biggest Royal Rumble in history’, which actually made very little difference. What I do like about this year is the feeling that there is no one certain winner, and while it will most likely be Orton or Jericho who ends up as the last man standing I wouldn’t be too surprised if the WWE pulled some kind of swerve seeing as neither title match will be the main event this year. (Unless of course Cena rises above the hate and beats Kane, then the Rock makes a surprise entrance and wins the Rumble, having Cena then win the title at Elimination Chamber, but the WWE would never be crazy enough to do that…would they?)

WE KNOW #1, WHO WILL BE #2?: John Cena (Win or lose it works in terms of storyline)

WHO WILL BE #30?: The Rock (It’s a long shot but I’m worried it might be the case)

WHO WILL HAVE THE MOST ELIMINATIONS?: Sheamus

WHO WILL BE THE IRON MAN?: Drew McIntyre (Another long shot but a good swerve if it happens)

Winner: Chris Jericho

Chad Nevett: The Royal Rumble is my favorite WWE pay per view and, this year, it’s on my birthday! I haven’t liked how, over the past few years, there’s been less and less build to the Rumble match itself. The WWE, thankfully, turned back to its roots a little by having the Miz get the #1 spot thanks to his loss to R-Truth. If only they’d given away #30, too…

WE KNOW #1, WHO WILL BE #2?: Sheamus

WHO WILL BE #30?: Randy Orton

WHO WILL HAVE THE MOST ELIMINATIONS?: Sheamus

WHO WILL BE THE IRON MAN?: Sheamus

Winner: Chris Jericho

Remember to join 411 for our LIVE PPV coverage, starting at 7:30pm Sunday night, and The 411 on Wrestling Podcast immediately following the PPV!

411 on Twitter!

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma