BY MIKEY MIGO
Like a lot of people, one of my favorite PPVs of the year is the Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble match builds on anticipation, surprise, and history. I love the “numbers” promo they kept showing with all the random facts. Some of my fondest wrestling memories come from watching the Royal Rumble as a kid and young adult. It sets the tone going into Wrestlemania, but many times ends up being better than it.
This year was no different. I sat down and watched Royal Rumble this year with a bit of anticipation and excitement. The matches on the card were well booked. I wasn’t super excited about any of those matches, but they all served their purpose and entertained me. The opening title cage match wasn’t as good as I had hoped. I expected Daniel Bryan to win by iffy antics. He didn’t “cheat”, but the result still felt “cheap” and not very decisive. Mark Henry was pretty much a non-issue in it. Was he hurt or something? Big Show isn’t fun to watch. I appreciate them adding all the layers of emotion and personality to the character, but Big Show is just that interesting.
They had a filler diva match that’s not even worth talking about. Beth’s finishing move is cool. That’s literally the ONLY thing that I can think of about it. Kane and John Cena had a normal match. Why the hell was this a normal match? It should have been a No DQ or Falls Count Anywhere. They keep using hype footage of Kane and Cena fighting everywhere BUT the ring. This was a waste. It was another storyline segment. It really did nothing. Cena and Ryder got beat up and Kane is still a monster. Same ol’ soup just reheated. I wish Eve would get choke slammed already.
Then we got ANOTHER filler match with Brodus Clay beating Drew McIntyre in like two minutes. It’s not worth talking about. I enjoyed the WWE Championship match because Dolph Ziggler is the most entertaining person in WWE right now. I know the main focus was the Punk/Laurinatis storyline. I’m just waiting for the blow off to this time-wasting feud. It’s NOT “Austin vs. McMahon of this era”. It’s “Shane McMahon vs. Steve Blackman”. Punk is being wasted. His whole shtick is “mix things up”. Then how about not having the five billionth “rebellious face vs. evil boss” story? Is it Stephanie McMahon on the other side of Johnny Ace’s text messages? Most likely. Who cares? I just want Laurinaitis gone. He’s Michael Cole meets Mike Ademle in all the worst ways.
The show closed out with the 30 man Royal Rumble match. It was a lot of fun. Sheamus winning was a surprise. Before watching it I told someone that Randy Orton was my pick, but Sheamus was my “dark horse” of the show. I really expected Orton to win and go on to face Daniel Bryan at Mania. Sheamus and Jericho at the end was cool. Jericho proved that he didn’t lose a beat since last wrestling. He and Sheamus pretty much put on a main event quality match once it got down to the “final two”. I really liked it and enjoyed it. It put over Sheamus well and I have no problem with him winning. Hell, when it got down to the final six or so I said out loud “I’m cool with anyone winning OTHER THAN the Big Show”. I got that. The actual Rumble was fun and had tons of great spots. Kofi’s hand-walking spot, Kharma’s work, Miz and Cody going the distance, Mick Foley’s stuff with Santino, Ricardo Rodriguez’s awesome work, and probably a few other moments I’m forgetting. I expected a few comebacks like maybe a Rey or a Christian. Hacksaw and Road Dog got huge reactions, but neither have any longevity in 2012 WWE. I’d have rather their two spots have gone to a Tyler Reks or William Regal. I really don’t have anything to complain about. It’s not a show I’ll watch over and over again, but I’m glad to have taken the three hours to watch it. Royal Rumbles are in that pizza and sex world of thought. Even a bad Royal Rumble is still pretty good. Luckily for us, 2012’s Royal Rumble was probably a B+ event in my book.
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