Daniel Bryan (c) defeated Mark Henry and Big Show to retain his World Heavyweight Championship in a Steel Cage Match. The bout itself was decent enough. Big Show and Henry were each allowed their spell of dominance during it, while Bryan would try and escape when he could and take advantage of the other two wrestlers when they were down, which suits his current character perfectly. Bryan won after escaping to the outside when Show had a hold of his wrists in an exciting moment as Bryan was just dangling there, but the champ was able to break out of it and land to the floor. The result seemed to please the crowd in attendance, and myself.
Beth Phoenix, the Bella Twins and Natalya defeated Kelly Kelly, Tamina, Eve and Alicia Fox in an average Divas tag team match. The audience seemed indifferent towards the bout for the majority of it and like myself I imagine they were just waiting for it to end. At least Beth picked up the win, it's good to see her back in action.
Kane versus John Cena ended in a double count out. The match itself was actually more entertaining then I had anticipated, maybe that was because Kane was given more offense during it I'm not sure. Afterwards they both carried on the fight into the back where 'The Big Red Monster' got the upper hand after a few chair shots to Cena's back. He then spotted Zach Ryder's dressing room, so he broke into it and choked out the former US Champion. Kane then wheeled out the injured Ryder into the ring, where he Tombstone Piledrivered him in front of a pleading Eve. A valiant Cena came racing back to the ring, only to then be Chokeslammed.
Brodus Clay defeated Drew McIntyre in another one of his recent squash matches. Although to be fair Drew was made to look a little more competitive here then 'The Funkasaurus's' recent opponents. So the loosing streak that does nothing for McIntyre continues...
CM Punk (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain his WWE Championship in an awesome contest between the two. Both men who clearly take pride in their craft put in a great effort here in this competitive bout, filled with nice action and near falls. Before the bell rang John Laurinaitis announced that he would not be officiating the match in the ring but outside it and also banned Vickie Guerrero from ringside to appear fair and impartial, with his impending evaluation coming up on tonights Raw.
Towards the end of the title bout Punk had Ziggler tapping to the Anaconda Vice, but unfortunately the referee was knocked out at ringside and Laurinaitis spent anunusually long time checking on his condition. The same happened again when CM Punk had Dolph in a roll up pin far exceeding the three count. Eventually the ref made his way back and as he counted for Punk's winning GTS on the challenger, Laurinaitis raced into the ring to also make the count along with him. I'll give him credit, the current Interim Raw GM is certainly making things interesting.
The Miz kicked off the Royal Rumble Match with a mic in hand announcing that he was going to prove everyone wrong as he has done before and win the Rumble as the number one entrant. The Miz eliminated the second entrant Alex Riley after a decent period of action between them. Fourth entrant Cody Rhodes and The Miz began double teaming on the third entrant R-Truth until Justin Gabriel and Primo entered to fasten the pace a bit. The Miz then threw R-Truth over the top rope for a surprisingly quick exit for him. Mick Foley then entered to a huge ovation and quickly eliminated Primo.
Then Alberto Del Rio's music hit, but as a much more crummier car appeared around the corner then we're used to seeing from the Mexican aristocrat, his ring announcerRicardo Rodriguez instead was the next entrant. As he entered the ring there were chants of "Ricardo!" sounding in the arena, it was a brilliant moment as the pale and a little out of shape announcer imitated his bosse's usual entrance, complete with the trademark white scarf. Him and Mick Foley then teamed up to eliminate Justin Gabriel. The next entrant Santino Marella then had a brief comedy period with Ricardo until he wedgied him and threw him over the top rope.
Then we had a genius moment with a face off between Foley's Mr. Socko and Marella's Cobra, which the crowd just ate up. They had a brief break as they used their trademark hand puppets to eliminate Epico. Cody Rhodes and Miz then teamed up to throw over Marella and Foley. Kofi Kingston next entered to an awesome and fast paced sequence, for some reason Booker decided to put on an awful Jamaican accent during this time. Cody Rhodes next eliminated Jerry Lawler from the Rumble. The Great Khali entered the bout (I really hope this doesn't mean he's back permanently) and quickly eliminatedJinder Mahal and Ezekiel Jackson. In an extremely memorable Royal Rumble moment Kofi Kingston was thrown over the top rope by The Miz, only to then handstand his way on the outside back to the steel steps and into the ring. Needless to say, the fans were very impressed.
Cody Rhodes made another elimination as he threw over Jim Duggan, the winner of the first ever Royal Rumble. Khali and Booker were then simultaneously eliminated by The Miz and Cody. Booker and Lawler then helped eliminate surprise entrant Michael Cole as they both pulled him off of the apron after he'd ran off scared from the returning Kharma, it was a pleasant surprise to see her back. She managed to throw over (and I mean literally throw over) Hunico, but was then eliminated by Dolph Ziggler. The next entrant Sheamus managed to eliminate Kofi after a Trouble In Paradise attempt. 'Road Dogg' Jesse James then raced in and applied his trademark Pumphandle Slam and knee drop to chants of "You still got it!"
Wade Barrett made his way to the ring and made quick work of Road Dogg as he threw him over. Randy Orton entered and applied his trademark Powerslams and Hangman DDT's to Ziggler and Rhodes before eliminating Jey Uso and Wade Barrett. Chris Jericho then came out to a big ovation and for the first time since his return got physical in the ring and threw over David Otunga. The Big Show then arrived to a lukewarm reception and helped Sheamus eliminate Jack Swagger before he'd even entered the ring. He carried on to eliminate The Miz and Cody Rhodes simultaneously, then Dolph Ziggler.
So we were then down to the final four, Big Show, Sheamus, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. 'The Viper' managed to chuck Show over the top rope after him, Sheamus and Jericho had triple teamed the giant. This was followed by a quick throw of Orton over the ropes by Y2J. The finishing sequence between Sheamus and Jericho was thrilling, with a few near eliminations for both wrestlers. But Sheamus managed to apply the Brogue Kick to Chris Jericho as he was on the apron and eliminate him to become the surprise victor.
Your Royal Rumble 2012 winner: Sheamus.
Beth Phoenix, the Bella Twins and Natalya defeated Kelly Kelly, Tamina, Eve and Alicia Fox in an average Divas tag team match. The audience seemed indifferent towards the bout for the majority of it and like myself I imagine they were just waiting for it to end. At least Beth picked up the win, it's good to see her back in action.
Kane versus John Cena ended in a double count out. The match itself was actually more entertaining then I had anticipated, maybe that was because Kane was given more offense during it I'm not sure. Afterwards they both carried on the fight into the back where 'The Big Red Monster' got the upper hand after a few chair shots to Cena's back. He then spotted Zach Ryder's dressing room, so he broke into it and choked out the former US Champion. Kane then wheeled out the injured Ryder into the ring, where he Tombstone Piledrivered him in front of a pleading Eve. A valiant Cena came racing back to the ring, only to then be Chokeslammed.
Brodus Clay defeated Drew McIntyre in another one of his recent squash matches. Although to be fair Drew was made to look a little more competitive here then 'The Funkasaurus's' recent opponents. So the loosing streak that does nothing for McIntyre continues...
CM Punk (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain his WWE Championship in an awesome contest between the two. Both men who clearly take pride in their craft put in a great effort here in this competitive bout, filled with nice action and near falls. Before the bell rang John Laurinaitis announced that he would not be officiating the match in the ring but outside it and also banned Vickie Guerrero from ringside to appear fair and impartial, with his impending evaluation coming up on tonights Raw.
Towards the end of the title bout Punk had Ziggler tapping to the Anaconda Vice, but unfortunately the referee was knocked out at ringside and Laurinaitis spent anunusually long time checking on his condition. The same happened again when CM Punk had Dolph in a roll up pin far exceeding the three count. Eventually the ref made his way back and as he counted for Punk's winning GTS on the challenger, Laurinaitis raced into the ring to also make the count along with him. I'll give him credit, the current Interim Raw GM is certainly making things interesting.
The Miz kicked off the Royal Rumble Match with a mic in hand announcing that he was going to prove everyone wrong as he has done before and win the Rumble as the number one entrant. The Miz eliminated the second entrant Alex Riley after a decent period of action between them. Fourth entrant Cody Rhodes and The Miz began double teaming on the third entrant R-Truth until Justin Gabriel and Primo entered to fasten the pace a bit. The Miz then threw R-Truth over the top rope for a surprisingly quick exit for him. Mick Foley then entered to a huge ovation and quickly eliminated Primo.
Then Alberto Del Rio's music hit, but as a much more crummier car appeared around the corner then we're used to seeing from the Mexican aristocrat, his ring announcerRicardo Rodriguez instead was the next entrant. As he entered the ring there were chants of "Ricardo!" sounding in the arena, it was a brilliant moment as the pale and a little out of shape announcer imitated his bosse's usual entrance, complete with the trademark white scarf. Him and Mick Foley then teamed up to eliminate Justin Gabriel. The next entrant Santino Marella then had a brief comedy period with Ricardo until he wedgied him and threw him over the top rope.
Then we had a genius moment with a face off between Foley's Mr. Socko and Marella's Cobra, which the crowd just ate up. They had a brief break as they used their trademark hand puppets to eliminate Epico. Cody Rhodes and Miz then teamed up to throw over Marella and Foley. Kofi Kingston next entered to an awesome and fast paced sequence, for some reason Booker decided to put on an awful Jamaican accent during this time. Cody Rhodes next eliminated Jerry Lawler from the Rumble. The Great Khali entered the bout (I really hope this doesn't mean he's back permanently) and quickly eliminatedJinder Mahal and Ezekiel Jackson. In an extremely memorable Royal Rumble moment Kofi Kingston was thrown over the top rope by The Miz, only to then handstand his way on the outside back to the steel steps and into the ring. Needless to say, the fans were very impressed.
Cody Rhodes made another elimination as he threw over Jim Duggan, the winner of the first ever Royal Rumble. Khali and Booker were then simultaneously eliminated by The Miz and Cody. Booker and Lawler then helped eliminate surprise entrant Michael Cole as they both pulled him off of the apron after he'd ran off scared from the returning Kharma, it was a pleasant surprise to see her back. She managed to throw over (and I mean literally throw over) Hunico, but was then eliminated by Dolph Ziggler. The next entrant Sheamus managed to eliminate Kofi after a Trouble In Paradise attempt. 'Road Dogg' Jesse James then raced in and applied his trademark Pumphandle Slam and knee drop to chants of "You still got it!"
Wade Barrett made his way to the ring and made quick work of Road Dogg as he threw him over. Randy Orton entered and applied his trademark Powerslams and Hangman DDT's to Ziggler and Rhodes before eliminating Jey Uso and Wade Barrett. Chris Jericho then came out to a big ovation and for the first time since his return got physical in the ring and threw over David Otunga. The Big Show then arrived to a lukewarm reception and helped Sheamus eliminate Jack Swagger before he'd even entered the ring. He carried on to eliminate The Miz and Cody Rhodes simultaneously, then Dolph Ziggler.
So we were then down to the final four, Big Show, Sheamus, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. 'The Viper' managed to chuck Show over the top rope after him, Sheamus and Jericho had triple teamed the giant. This was followed by a quick throw of Orton over the ropes by Y2J. The finishing sequence between Sheamus and Jericho was thrilling, with a few near eliminations for both wrestlers. But Sheamus managed to apply the Brogue Kick to Chris Jericho as he was on the apron and eliminate him to become the surprise victor.
Your Royal Rumble 2012 winner: Sheamus.
Like usual, it was a thoroughly entertaining Royal Rumble match. And it was nice to see the younger wrestlers get as much time as they did to really shine. I'll admit I was hoping for the returns of Christian and Alberto Del Rio but I'm sure they'll both be back in time for WrestleMania anyway so that's the important thing.
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