WWE Royal Rumble 2012 Review
World Heavyweight Championship
Daniel Bryan(c) def. Mark Henry and The Big Show(9:08)
Thoughts: This all began when Bryan cashed in his MITB shot after Show defeated Henry at TLC 2011. Each man got a title shot, only to have it end in a no-contest, drawing the ire of SmackDown GM Theodore Long, thus leading to the triple threat cage match. If there was a fourth man involved in this feud, you just know this would be a tag team match. LOL! Anyway, this was a weird choice to open and an even weirder match with a very surreal setting. We had Cole running down D-Bry on commentary like he was a face, Booker T defending him like he was a face and the crowd chanting for him like he was the face…but then he did the whole cowardly heel shtick the whole match and a weird dynamic. About as good as you could expect given the limitations of 2/3rds of the participants though. Bryan celebrated afterwards like he just won the Super Bowl which I found a bit funny.
Rating: **
Beth Phoenix, Natalya and The Bella Twins def. Kelly Kelly, Eve, Alicia Fox and Tamina Snuka(5:29)
Thoughts: Only the second match on the show and you could tell this was everyone's piss break match. I really hoped with all the Divas involved that it wouldn’t be the normal piss/food break. It turned out to be a decent match, playing off some feuds(Tamina/Natalya), and Kelly Kelly provided a great effort in this match. I was glad to see Beth pick up the win here, because she WAS the champion at the time. For Divas standards, it wasn't terrible. Yeah, there were a few sloppy moments, but the plancha spot from Kelly was quite nifty.
Rating: *3/4
Thoughts: I'm not sure if it's the welder mask or what, but Kane looked good here; the best he had looked in years. The match really surprised me; not only did they actually keep me interested for the entire match, but they also kept the crowd into the match as well. I actually like the double count-out finish here, because it protects both men and honestly either man who took the fall would suffer here. The finish allowed for the beatdown that followed to occur,and I was glad to see that Kane got the upper hand. I was hoping that he would. Cena tried to be SuperCena and rise above the hate and in the end, Kane proved to be the stronger. This would ultimately set up their rematch at EC. Also, always nice to see someone Tombstoned.
Rating: **1/2
Thoughts: Say hello to the burial of Drew McIntyre. This was just a squash match to make Clay look good...and the crowd seemed into it, so they got the job done.
Rating: 1/4*
CM Punk(c) def. Dolph Ziggler(14:32)
Thoughts: Amazing match from amazing performers. I had high expectations for this match, and they didn’t disappoint! It was every bit as awesome as I wanted it to be and the only negative was the overbooking during the match. What could have been a great match was marred through the unnecessary storyline going into it, and it really broke up the match. The positive is that it was only a small hindrance. This match was back and forth bad assery. I could literally watch these two guys wrestle each other every single day and twice on Sunday. Hot crowd, some absolutely stellar counters (the GTS into the Fameasser was awesome) and just an overall great little match.
Rating: ***3/4
Sheamus def. 29 other competitors; last eliminating Chris Jericho(54:54)
Thoughts: Very interesting Rumble effort this this time around. There was a LOT of comedy and nostalgia acts involved so be forewarned if you can’t take a bit of that spread out in a match, you’re not likely to enjoy this as much as others. The second half of the match kicked up the heat though and the final showdown with Jericho and Sheamus was excellent stuff; about as good as you can work a battle royal match. Jericho was supposedly supposed to be the winner here, which would have made sense given his recent return to the company, but they apparently changed it to Sheamus at the last minute to swerve us. It definitely worked as the crowd seemed stunned when Jericho lost. Not one of the best Rumbles or anything and not anywhere as good as the previous year’s matches, but a nice combination of fun and hard-hitting action in the finish made this a fairly good and entertaining Rumble match, ending an otherwise mediocre show.
Rating: ***1/2
Final Rating:
2.23 out of 5
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