Royal Rumble 2012 Results

The Road to Wrestlemania is officially underway with a bit of an underwhelming Royal Rumble. There were a few high notes, but just as many lows, let's do this.

Daniel Bryan def Mark Henry & The Big Show by Escaping the Steel Cage.
6/10 Great match to start the night, a little short, but it had a great finish.

The Bella's, Beth Phoenix & Natalia def Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox, Eve & Tamina vis Pin
2.5/10 One of the things that really sucks about doing this blog is that (on PPV's at least) I has to watch the Diva's match. This was another example of the Diva's running around not making any sense out of the match, and executing sloppy moves. And what took Kelly Kelly so long to jump off the top rope, that was one of the worst telegraphed moves I've ever seen because all the girls are just standing there, waiting for her to jump for like 30 seconds, it was ludicrous.

John Cena & Kane Fight to a Double Count Out
6.5/10 This match was a little more to my liking then the average John Cena fair. It was bare bones and hard hitting. I should have gone with my gut when I was predicting matches, oh well.

Brodus Clay def Drew McIntyre via Pin
3/10 One of the things I hate most is when the entrances take longer then the match itself, this is especially true with this match for two reasons: 1. The Brodus Clay entrance it the most embarrassing thing the WWE has put on television since Snooki pinning Michelle McCool at last years Wrestlemania. and 2. Drew McIntyre is supposed to be The Chosen One, and he's getting squashed by someone called The Funkasaurus. That's just sad.

CM Punk def Dolph Ziggler via Pin

7/10 As you may recall, this was the singles match I was most looking forward to as the two have very similar styles and are in such great condition that it could go on for hours, and they're so skilled at what they do, it would be compelling to watch them for hours. What we got instead was still a good match, but not as good as it could have been. The story line involving John Laurinaitis as guest referee overshadowed the story of the two men in the ring. Ziggler's quick comeback countering Punk's GTS with a rocker dropper had me thinking he might pull out a win, But Punk prevailed after a second GTS.

Sheamus wins the 2012 Royal Rumble match

Final Four: Sheamus, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton & The Big Show.

8.5/10 I am disappointed that Jericho didn't win, I'm sure he will at some point, maybe next year, that's really the only thing he has left to do in the WWE. I am overall pleased with how everything went down. The Miz did a great job lasting over 45 minutes being eliminated #23. Cody Rhodes also shinned, coming in at #4 and getting eliminated at #24. I'm not a particularly big fan of The Big Show, so to see him come in and knock out three of my favorite guys back to back to back was a little hard to watch, especially after they'd lasted as long as they had. As for the surprise entrants, it was kind of a mixed bag. actually, no it wasn't. I like seeing Road Dogg again, and Kharma coming back as only the third women to ever compete in the Rumble was cool. I didn't care to see Khali back, hopefully he won't be back full time. Nor did I like seeing Jim Duggan back, his return in 07-08 was the saddest thing I'd seen in a long time. I kinda liked seeing all three of the announcers getting in on the match, but all those slots could have gone to more deserving guys in the back, like Mason Ryan, Johnny Curtis or Michael McGillicutty. Another ting I really enjoyed was Mr. Socko vs The Cobra, that was hilarious. Also I liked Kofi's Riddler themed outfit and his unique way of staying in the match, since Morrison started that last year I think we'll be seeing something along those lines at each Rumble.

All in all it was decent show, but it still only gets a score of :

5.75/10 Not the best way to start the year in wrestling, but not the worst.

Royal Rumble Preview

Well, it's that time of year, again. The holiday's are over, everyone has already given up on their New Years Resolutions and the NFL Post season is in full swing. Which means the Road to Wrestlemania is underway. This Sunday St. Louis plays host to one of the biggest pay per views of the year, the Royal Rumble.

I'm going to make this a quick post about the event, along with my predictions because today is a very big day for me, tonight is the premier of a movie I wrote called The Housewife Slasher ( I know, I know, I didn't come up with the title so please don't hold it against me.) The previews and predictions are something I tried and meant to do last year, but to be honest a lot of the time I forgot there was a PPV until the night of, so I will try to be more on top of these things in the future.

Up first we has Daniel Bryan taking on The Big Show and Mark Henry in a Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Bryan's slow heel turn has been working well for him in my opinion, and I expect his trend of finding a sneaky way out of losing the title will continue tonight.
D Bryan retains World Heavyweight Championship by Escaping the Cage. He'll probably sneak out while Show and Henry are going at it and neither one notices he's gone till it's too late.

Up next we're looking at Kane taking on John Cena. Cena's full of rage against Kane, and I half expect this one to end in a No Contest or a DQ with Cena beating Kane all the way to the backstage area. If That happens I would then say that Kane will get the last word throwing Cena into a car windshield or doing something to mess him up.  However, I'm going with my gut and calling it for Cena in the ring.
John Cena def Kane via Pin.


The final singles match on the card is the one I'm looking forward to the most, as Dolph Ziggler goes one on one with the Straight Edged One CM Punk. They had an amazing match last year on Raw after TLC and I fully expect this match to top that one. This will be the second year in a row that Ziggler has fought for a World title at the Royal Rumble, last year again Edge was #9 on the Top 10 Matches of the Year, I expect this one to be even higher on the list. Sadly though, even though I'm pulling for Ziggler, I think this one's going to go to Punk to retain. A lot of this ties in with my Rumble winner pick, but I also don't see them giving the title to Ziggler right before Wrestlemania. I think Ziggler/Punk will be like Rock/Mankind in '99 where Mankind just served to get The Rock over till his match with Austin at Wrestlemania.
CM Punk def Dolph Ziggler via Pin


As I said that was the last scheduled singles match, but with only 4 matches on the card, I wouldn't be surprised if there is another impromptu match maybe a Diva's match or an Intercontinental Title match, maybe Rhodes will take on Gabriel again.

Finally, the Main Event, the Royal Rumble match. Last year they had a 40 Man Rumble, this year they dropped it back down to 30, I don't know why, I liked the extra 10 guys, it means that someone who lost in the title match earlier, could enter the Rumble later that evening. But this year they are saying that it is open to any WWE Superstar. I don't know what that means other then maybe it's their way of explaining having no Royal Rumble Qualifying matched on Raw or Smackdown, IDK. I have yet to find a list of entrants, and maybe that's the idea. I'm sure we will see a good amount of surprise returns, probably Taker will come back. I'm really hoping that The Miz has a great showing seeing as he's entering at #1, it would be great for him to last to the Final Four. I expect Mick Foley to have one, maybe two eliminations and stay in for a good ten minutes before getting thrown out. So my Final Four are Randy Orton, Sheamus, The Miz & Chris Jericho. With Jericho winning the Rumble. And heading to Wrestlemania  to face CM Punk in an epic match for the WWE Championship.

Well there you have it, these are my predictions, lets play a little game. You post your predictions in the comments, winner, and way on winning, one point for each item you get right. We'll keep track of points and the winner at the end of the year will win an awesome prize of awesomeness... that I have yet to come up with. So post your predictions and get your friends to do the same and I'll have all the Royal Rumble results waiting on Monday morning like always.

An Open Letter To Jack Swagger

Dear Jack Swagger,

I'd like to start this off by stating that I am a huge fan. I think of just about every wrestler in the WWE right now, you have the most potential. With your background as an All-American wrestler, your size, and your age, there is no limit to how far you can go with the company. You've already proven that you have what it takes, winning your first World Championship after being in the WWE for only 4 months. You were the first Florida Heavyweight Champion, holding the title for 216 day, the longest reign since the title was introduced. When you held the World Heavyweight Championship, you defeated Edge, Jericho, Randy Orton and The Big Show. You have what it takes to be huge, and you've shown it.

So why am I writing this letter? I'm just going to come out and say it. As of late, you look a little lost in the ring. I know you have a lot on your mind, your wife just gave birth to your first son, congratulations by the way, I'm sure it's tough being on the road all the time with a three month old at home, but you're better then this.

I'm happy to say that your match with CM Punk last Monday was the highlight of the show, but let's be honest, that wasn't your best match. You need to be more aggressive in the ring, and I don't mean throw more punches, you need to tie people up with your amateur moves, make them hurt. What you need is a string of submission wins, just dominate a few people, establish yourself as someone with whom you do not mess. Look at Daniel Bryan, one of the smallest guys in the company right now, but he's holding the World Heavyweight Championship, going toe to toe with The Big Show, and you believe it, because ever since he got the the WWE he's been ruthlessly aggressive. That could be you, that should be you. That should be your fighting D Bryan for the title.

I love that they put you with Vickie, because she is a star maker. That means they know the potential you posses and they are ready to push you when you're ready. So come on, get your head in the game, and lets do this thing!!!

Sincerely, A True Fan,
                                  Mike

Raw Recap: Raw is Jericho Once Again.

Well the first Raw of the new year has come and gone, with varying degrees of success. Here's a quick rundown of my thoughts on the show.

Daniel Bryan vs Cody Rhodes. Champion vs Champion. I was looking forward to this match as the two have met before with great results. I felt like this wasn't their best match, even though it was pretty well put together, the ending seemed to come to suddenly.

Barrett vs Marella wasn't worth watching, nor was The Miz getting beat down by R-Truth when he could have had a great match and gotten beat down by Sheamus.

Next up was the match i was really looking forward to, CM Punk vs my new fav Dolph Ziggler. The match they had a few weeks back on Raw was fantastic and I had really high hopes for this one as well. And while it was a great match, it did fail to live up to the hype I had built up in my own head. I did like seeing Dolph leave with the belt, even though he didn't win it. I have no doubt that their match at the Rumble will be amazing, this will be Dolph's second World Championship Match at a Rumble in as many years, last years match was voted one the top 10 matches of the year.

The divas match was next, I don't know what happened because I fast forwarded right through that bitch.

Finally the moment we've all been waiting for, the return of...Jericho!!!

After a 15 month absence from the WWE, Jericho is finally back where he belongs doing what he does best. He didn't need to say a word, but it would have been nice if he had. Now we only have to wait until he makes the inevitable heel turn, because lets face it, that's the Jericho we all want to see.

The main event was pointless, I was a little hopeful when it came down to Cena & Ryder vs Swagger, I thought, oh, maybe they're going to give Swagger a little push, if he holds his own, maybe even eliminates one of them, and then I remembered that the WWE seems to be doing everything in their power to keep him down, which is not to say that he is blameless in all this, but i digress.

All in all it was a satisfying show, mostly because of Jericho's return despite all the evidence that it would be the Undertaker coming back.

P.S. With Ziggler now in a Championship match and out of the Rumble (unless they do another 40 man rumble) I am having to reconsider my pick. I'm eyeing Jericho, although I don't know who he would face. What are your thoughts?