WWE Royal Rumble 2012 Review

World Heavyweight Championship – Cage
Daniel Bryan Vs Big Show Vs Mark Henry

Last month I was disappointed by Daniel Bryan's cheap cash-in of Money in the Bank and subsequent world title win. After building him up as an honest face, this seemed like a heel turn but without the turn. That's because what the SmackDown team had in mind wasn't a quick turn, but a slow one akin to CM Punk's in 2009. Bryan has become increasingly dishonest and arrogant over recent weeks, yet never completely turning to the dark side. What's nice about his character is he isn't a coward. He's smart; he'd rather escape than fight every time, but he's not afraid to fight when he has to. In this match he stands right up to both big men and dishes it out just as much as he takes it. The stiffness with which Bryan works puts over his offence despite his size and allows him to look like a worthy world champion even if he isn't a dominant one. This is the kind of heel The Miz ought to have been this time last year, but sadly the Raw writers only know how to write one kind of antagonist, and that's a chicken-shit one. The idea of the heel actually looking strong as Bryan does here just doesn't cross their minds.

This match was a good start to what will hopefully be a decent run of PPV matches now for The American Dragon. Alongside Bryan, Big Show has done some great character development this month and delivers what he needs to in this one. Sadly Mark Henry was injured last week, so his offence is limited to mostly punches and cage rakes, but the triple-threat situation does a good job of hiding his condition. This does limit things however, with hardly any spots utilising all three men at once and a mediocre pace. I'm keen on the story, and I think this did all it could with what it had to work with.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

John Cena Vs Kane

This time of year, John Cena almost always gets involved with a sort of mini-feud that's really just a holding pattern before he moves on for WrestleMania. Last year it was CM Punk, and this year it's Kane's turn. You can't argue that this is a fresh match-up for both men, who despite working around each other for almost a decade have never had a match on PPV. Everyone was excited for masked Kane's return, even if he does look awful, and they managed to weave a good story that for once challenges Cena's squeaky clean character. However with all the violence of the build up and the styles of both performers, I knew this needed a stipulation. Being forced to wrestle between the ropes, Cena and Kane expectedly meandered through a series of power moves and clunky grappling until inevitably being counted out. I wasn't expecting much, but I had hoped it at least wouldn't be boring. All of the interesting qualities to this happened afterwards, as the brawl went backstage and into Zack Ryder's room where Kane proceeded to drag him out the the ring for a tombstone. Unfortunately this whole segment felt like another episode of Raw and lacked anything special to make it worthy of PPV.

Rating: 2 Stars

Brodus Clay Vs Drew McIntyre

When I saw Drew McIntyre coming out for a match I foolishly got excited. After being absent all year on PPV and suffering a huge loosing streak on SmackDown, I figured he'd be motivated and ready to impress on a big stage. As soon as I realised who his opponent was however, my excitement dropped. Now don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed Brodus Clay's turn as The Funkasaurus, but cheap squash matches like this do NOT belong on PPV. I suppose they just wanted to show off Clay to the casual audience who might not watch TV, but this was just the same as every segment he's been in so far, so for the rest of us this was a waste of time.

Rating: 1.5 Stars

WWE Championship
CM Punk Vs Dolph Ziggler
Special Guest Referee: John Laurinaitis

I'm so happy to live in a world where these two men can headline a PPV, even if it isn't the main-event. It wouldn't be wrong to expect a MOTY candidate from this pair, but I figured it would be stunted by the stipulation and that's exactly what we got. There isn't any real focus on Dolph as he's been lost behind the story of Punk Vs Laurinaitis, although he does his best to stand out with some fantastic moves and one of the most amazing counters I've ever seen – the GTS into a Leg Drop. As for the Laurinaitis angle, it gains an interesting twist as rather than screw Punk, the GM of Raw does everything he can to make it a fair fight and even counts the pin himself. I can't say I'm happy with the WCW-style booking of using a PPV to build towards an episode of television tomorrow, but unlike Kane/Cena at least we get some progression. Much like last year against Edge, Ziggler steps up and makes it clear why he should be a regular feature in the main-event scene. I'm glad they're not rushing him to the top like they have so many others, and hopefully he can continue to grow and become a natural superstar. For now Punk rolls on and hopefully we'll soon have an idea of what awaits him at WrestleMania.

Rating: 4 Stars

Main-Event of WrestleMania XXVIII - Royal Rumble
Winner: Sheamus

After being tremendously disappointed at last years Royal Rumble match, I approached this one with trepidation. Thankfully this year's event wasn't the mess that one was, with a better focus overall and more stand out moments for all the key players. This was a star-making event for a number of young names with The Miz and Cody Rhodes out early and lasting almost the whole time. Between the two of them they took the records for longest time in the match (Miz) and most eliminations (Rhodes, with 5). Mick Foley had a great run, complete with the ultimate showdown between Mr. Socko and Santino's Cobra! Later on, Kofi Kingston got to top John Morrison's stunt from last year, escaping elimination by doing a handstand and walking back in upside down! All three commentators got to jump in, which I suppose was nice but it pains me to watch Cole get the spotlight again. I wish Booker could just go back to wrestling and declare his attempts at being a commentator a failure. Cole's presence was at least put to good use by having him eliminated by the third woman ever to enter the Rumble, the returning Kharma.

The best section was of course the finish, which saw an extended match between Chris Jericho and surprise winner Sheamus. Although I'm sad one of my absolute favourites lost out on a historic win AGAIN, this is fantastic for Sheamus who has been one of the best faces in the company lately on SmackDown after falling down the card as a heel a year ago on Raw. There was some really good drama in the final minutes from both men, with things really looking like they could go either way. I expected the final two to include Randy Orton in his home town, but I think this ending was what Sheamus needed to really break out as a huge star. Lately he's lacked direction, so this is just what he needs to move to the next level. I assume it'll be Bryan Vs Sheamus at WrestleMania, the match that was nixed at last year's event no less. Whatever happens, WrestleMania XXVIII is shaping up to be a historic night for the new generation. I'm a bit annoyed with the Jericho storyline however, with all this build up and promising “the end of the world”, only to go out and wrestle the Rumble as usual without even winning it, or doing anything else. I just can't help the feeling this wasn't the original long-term plan, even if it works for the time being. Still, an entertaining ending to the night.

Rating: 4 Stars

WWE Royal Rumble 2012 Final Score: 3 Stars

As has been routine for the past few years now, the Royal Rumble did not live up to it's historic greatness. From distracting guest referees and post-match attacks to random divas and a McIntyre squash match, this event included too much filler and content more suited to an episode of Raw than the WWE's second biggest show of the year. However, the main-event showed refreshing focus on the rising stars and the winner was both unexpected and deserved it. Sheamus has all the tools to be a huge star and now it looks like he'll finally have an opportunity to shine. We're still unclear on much of the WrestleMania XXVIII card right now, but with the Elimination Chamber in just three weeks there's plenty to get excited about from the WWE.