Over the Limit (2012)

Over the Limit (2012)
The promotional poster featuring Randy Orton
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	Raw SmackDown
Date	May 20, 2012
City	Raleigh, North Carolina
Venue	PNC Arena
Attendance	8,000
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous Extreme Rules (2012) Next → No Way Out (2012)
Over the Limit chronology
← Previous Over the Limit (2011) Next → TBA

Over the Limit was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina on May 20, 2012. It was the third event under the Over the Limit chronology.

Ten professional wrestling matches took place at the event, nine of which were broadcast live on pay-per-view. In a main event from the Raw brand, John Laurinaitis defeated John Cena. Another main event from the Raw brand featured CM Punk defeating Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Championship. In the main event from the SmackDown brand, Sheamus defeated Alberto Del Rio, Randy Orton, and Chris Jericho to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

Background

See also: Professional wrestling

Over the Limit featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines which were played out on WWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown. Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

One of the prominent feuds from the Raw brand was between John Cena and the General Manager of Raw and SmackDown, John Laurinaitis. On the night after losing to The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII in early April, Cena's promo was interrupted by a returning Brock Lesnar, who immediately attacked him with an F-5. It was revealed the next week on Raw that Laurinaitis hired Lesnar to replace Cena as "the face of the WWE" by taking him out at Extreme Rules. A battered Cena barely managed to defeat Lesnar, and in a post-match promo, emphasized his injuries and announced he would be "taking a vacation." The next night on Raw, Lesnar attacked WWE COO Triple H (while he was arguing with Laurinaitis about the validity of Lesnar's contract), breaking his arm. With Lesnar's WWE job now in jeopardy, and after advice from his Executive Administrator Eve Torres, Laurinaitis decided on Cena's next opponent, for Over the Limit. Later that night, while Cena was in the ring, Laurinaitis appeared on the entrance stage to announce that opponent, and introduced Lord Tensai. Laurinaitis and Tensai then attacked Cena, and Laurinaitis revealed that he (Laurinaitis) would be Cena's opponent. The WWE Board of Directors stipulated the only way to win would be by pinfall or submission, anybody interfering in the match would be immediately fired and, if Laurinaitis lost the match, he would be fired.

The main event feud from Raw heading into Over the Limit was between WWE Champion CM Punk and challenger Daniel Bryan. Following the Extreme Rules pay-per-view (where Punk successfully defended his title against Chris Jericho in a Chicago Street Fight and Bryan failed to regain the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in a 2 out of 3 falls match), Eve Torres announced Punk's next challenger would be be decided by a series of Beat the Clock matches on the April 30 edition of Raw. In the final match of the evening, Bryan defeated Jerry Lawler in the fastest time to become the #1 contender.

The main storyline from the SmackDown brand led to World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus defending his title in a Fatal 4-Way match against Alberto Del Rio, Randy Orton, and Chris Jericho. After defeating Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII to win the title, Sheamus faced a returning Alberto Del Rio in a non-title match on the April 6 edition of SmackDown. Del Rio defeated Sheamus via disqualification to earn a future title shot. Sheamus again defeated Bryan at Extreme Rules to retain his title and end their rivalry, opening the way for Del Rio's title opportunity at Over the Limit. On the May 7 episode of Raw, Sheamus and Orton faced Jericho and Del Rio in a tag team match. Jericho pinned Sheamus after a Codebreaker, after Sheamus accidentally kicked Orton in the face. They argued, in John Laurinaitis' office, about who should be next in line for the title. Laurinaitis announced a Fatal 4-Way match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Over the Limit, instead of the originally advertised singles match between Sheamus and Del Rio.

Event

Results

#	Match	Stipulations	Time
Pre-show	Kane defeated Zack Ryder	Singles match	6:52
1	Christian won by last eliminating The Miz	20 Man "People Power" Battle Royal where the winner gets his choice of a United States or Intercontinental Championship match later in the show.	12:24
2	Kofi Kingston and R-Truth (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger (with Vickie Guerrero)	Tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship	12:17
3	Layla (c) defeated Beth Phoenix	Singles match for the WWE Divas Championship	7:10
4	Sheamus (c) defeated Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez), Randy Orton and Chris Jericho	Fatal Four-Way Match for the World Heavyweight Championship	15:53
5	Brodus Clay (with Cameron and Naomi) defeated The Miz	Singles match	4:12
6	Christian defeated Cody Rhodes (c)	Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship	7:25
7	CM Punk (c) defeated Daniel Bryan	Singles match for the WWE Championship	23:56
8	Ryback defeated Camacho (with Hunico)	Singles match	1:54
9	John Laurinaitis defeated John Cena	Singles Match. If John Cena won, John Laurinaitis would have been fired. Any superstar/diva who interfered would have been fired	17:04
(c) – refers to the champion heading into the match