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Royal Rumble (2012)

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Royal Rumble (2012)
Promotional poster featuring Santino Marella.
PromotionWWE
DateJanuary 29, 2012
CitySt. Louis, Missouri
VenueScottrade Center
Attendance18,121[1]
Pay-per-view chronology
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Royal Rumble chronology
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2013

Royal Rumble (2012) was the twenty-fifth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on January 29, 2012 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.[2][3] It has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania (in this instance: WrestleMania XXVIII) for his choice at either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship.

Six professional wrestling matches were featured at the event. The main event was the annual 30-competitor Royal Rumble. Sheamus, the twenty-second entrant, won the match by last eliminating Chris Jericho, the twenty-ninth entrant. Two title matches were featured: a WWE Championship match with CM Punk defending against Dolph Ziggler, which Punk won to retain the title; and a Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship between the reigning champion Daniel Bryan, Big Show and Mark Henry, which Bryan won to retain the championship. Incidentally, this event is also noted as Mick Foley's last night as an active wrestler as he would compete in the Royal Rumble match.

The event received 443,000 pay-per-view buys, down from 446,000 buys the previous year's event received.[4][5]

Production

Background

The pay-per-view featured the annual Royal Rumble match, which has been featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. It features 30 wrestlers, and the match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring, after all 29 other wrestlers have been eliminated via being tossed over the top ring rope and having both feet touch the floor. The winner would earn a world championship match of their choosing at WrestleMania XXVIII.

Storylines

The card included six matches that resulted from scripted storylines with results predetermined by WWE. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown.[6][7]

A highly promoted match featured CM Punk defending his WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler. On the December 26, 2011 episode of Raw, Punk was put into a gauntlet match by Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis,[8] with the stipulation that if either one of Jack Swagger, Ziggler, or Mark Henry defeated Punk, they would receive a championship match against the latter the next week.[8] Ziggler won the match after Punk was distracted by Laurinaitis throwing out Vickie Guerrero and Swagger from ringside. The next week, during the title match, Punk was counted out as a result of another intervention from Laurinaitis. However, since titles cannot change hands via countout, Punk retained the championship.[9] After the match, Laurinaitis announced that Punk would defend his championship against Ziggler in a rematch at the Royal Rumble, with himself acting as the special guest referee. Then on the January 9, 2012 edition of Raw, when Punk faced Swagger in a singles match, Laurinaitis added a stipulation that if Swagger lost, he and Vickie Guerrero would be banned from ringside at the pay-per-view; Punk won the match, and thus, Guerrero and Swagger are banned from ringside during the championship match. Additionally, a week later on the January 16 episode of Raw, in a segment with Mick Foley, Laurinaitis revealed that he was using this opportunity to cost Punk his title for disrespecting him.

Another match heading into the Royal Rumble featured John Cena against Kane. Upon returning to the WWE on the December 12 edition of Raw, after an absence of nearly four months, Kane interrupted Cena's match against Mark Henry, and though it was Henry who put him out of action, he bypassed him and attacked Cena, chokeslamming him before revealing his new mask. While demanding an explanation for these events the next week on Raw, Cena was again attacked by Kane, who revealed in the next several weeks of his desire to have Cena "embrace the hate" (his current on-screen character and T-shirt promoting otherwise) within caused by the anti-Cena crowd who continued to boo him. When Cena dismissed any intentions of doing so, Kane not only continued his attacks on Cena, but began to direct his attention to his close friend Zack Ryder, assaulting him as well, to the point of injuring him (kayfabe), ultimately leading to Ryder losing his United States Championship to Jack Swagger on the January 16, 2012 episode of Raw, under orders from John Laurinaitis. The same night, Laurinaitis put Cena in a one-on-one match against Kane at the Royal Rumble, in addition to booking Cena in a match against Swagger. Before the match even officially started, Cena started to attack Swagger aggressively to avenge Ryder's loss, prompting Kane to appear on the TitanTron and congratulate him to have started "embracing his hate". On the January 23 episode of Raw, during a Falls Count Anywhere match (in which Lauranaitis had prevented Cena from interfering, on the pretext of never granting Ryder a rematch for the United States Championship if he did so), Kane chokeslammed Ryder through the entrance stage, incapacitating him. As Ryder was stretchered and taken away in an ambulance, Eve Torres (Ryder's storyline girlfriend) blamed Cena for Ryder's injuries, leading to Cena knocking the microphone out of interviewer Josh Mathews' hand in frustration, and donning a very aggressive look in response to this entire situation.[10]

Another featured bout involved Daniel Bryan defending his World Heavyweight Championship in a Triple Threat Steel Cage match against Big Show and Mark Henry. In December 2011, at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, after Big Show defeated Henry in a Chairs match to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, Bryan immediately cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Big Show, after a post-match attack on the latter by Henry. Using his rematch clause, Big Show faced off against Bryan on SmackDown, only for the champion to agitate Henry at ringside, who pushed Bryan, thus retaining his title. The following week on SmackDown, Bryan defended his title against Big Show again, this time in a No Disqualification, No Count-Out match, which ended in a no contest, when Big Show accidentally ran into and injured Bryan's storyline girlfriend, AJ. The next week on SmackDown, Henry finally enacted his rematch clause against Bryan in a lumberjack match; however, that match also ended up as a no contest, when the lumberjacks became too hostile because of how Bryan had agitated them, and the post-match scenario erupted into a large brawl involving nearly everyone. This forced SmackDown's General Manager Theodore Long to officially book Bryan, Big Show and Henry in a Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble.[11]

Event

Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
English Commentators Michael Cole
Booker T
Jerry Lawler
Spanish Commentators Carlos Cabrera
Marcelo Rodriguez
Backstage interviewer Josh Mathews
Ring announcers Lilian Garcia
Justin Roberts
Referees Mike Chioda
Charles Robinson
Scott Armstrong
Rod Zapata

In a dark match prior to the PPV broadcast, Yoshi Tatsu defeated Heath Slater.

Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with a Triple Threat Steel Cage match with Daniel Bryan defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Mark Henry and Big Show. Bryan retained by escaping the cage after he fell from Big Show's grasp (Bryan was climbing out of the cage, and Show was trying to pull him back in over the top) and fell to the arena floor.

The next match was an Eight-Diva tag team match with Alicia Fox, Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly and Tamina Snuka taking on The Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie Bella) and The Divas of Doom (Divas Champion Beth Phoenix and Natalya). The latter team won after Phoenix tagged herself in and performed a glam slam on Kelly Kelly, scoring the pinfall.

The following match was between John Cena and Kane. After a back and forth contest, the action would spill from the ring, and the match ended in a double count-out. After the match, Kane would continue his assault, hitting Cena with multiple chair shots before attacking an injured Zack Ryder, who was watching the event from a private office. Kane dragged Ryder to the ring and performed a Tombstone Piledriver on him. Cena then reentered the ring and tried to retaliate, but Kane chokeslammed him.[10]

The next match was made after Drew McIntyre requested a spot in the Royal Rumble, asking Smackdown GM Teddy Long for an opportunity to prove himself, so he gave him a match against a mystery opponent who turned out to be Brodus Clay. Despite McIntyre starting the match well, Clay would quickly defeat him after a running splash.

The penultimate match of the card was the WWE Championship match between reigning champion CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler with Raw interim GM John Laurinaitis serving as outside enforcer. As per the match stipulations, Ziggler's tag team partner Jack Swagger and manager Vickie Guerrero were both banned from ringside. The first part of the match was a hold-for-hold encounter. Towards the latter part of the match Punk had Ziggler beaten, but the referee was knocked out and unable to make the count. Punk would execute a second GTS and both the referee and enforcer Laurinaitis counted to three and Punk retained his championship.

Main event

Sheamus won the 2012 Royal Rumble.

The main event was the annual Royal Rumble match, where the winner would get a World Championship match of their choice at Wrestlemania XXVIII. The Miz entered first (a result of losing a match on Raw to R-Truth), and would last nearly 46 minutes until entry #30 Big Show eliminated Miz. Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes entered at #4, lasting nearly 42 minutes, and scored the most eliminations with six. WWE legends Mick Foley, Hall of Famer (and first ever Rumble winner) "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, and Road Dogg were all surprise entries in the match. All three announcers who called the event (Jerry "The King" Lawler, Booker T, and Michael Cole) also entered the match at various points as official entries. Kharma was another surprise entry, making her the third female superstar to enter a Rumble. Kofi Kingston was a highlight of the Rumble match, who was nearly eliminated by The Miz, when he stood on his hands at ringside and hand-walked to the ring steps to avoid elimination. Later that year, the hand-walk move earned Kofi Kingston a Slammy Award for the "Tell Me I Did Not Just See That" Moment of the Year.

The final four consisted of Sheamus, 2009 Rumble winner Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, and Big Show. Show and Orton were quickly eliminated, and Sheamus and Jericho would then go back and forth with attempted eliminations for over five minutes. Sheamus tried to throw Jericho out off the ring with High Cross, but Jericho countered attempting a Codebreaker on Sheamus, but he threw Jericho off the ropes and Brogue Kicked to eliminate Jericho and win the Rumble match. Sheamus ultimately challenged for (and won) the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania XXVIII.

Reception

The event received mixed reviews. The Sun gave the event a rating of a 6.5 out of 10, stating that it "felt like a fun show for much of the night, but with precious little substance".[12] The Canadian Online Explorer also gave Royal Rumble a 6.5 out of 10, with the Royal Rumble match receiving the same rating. The World Heavyweight Championship match and the John Cena vs. Kane match were rated a 5 out of 10 and the Divas' tag-team match a 3 out of 10. The WWE Championship match received the highest rating with an 8.5 out of 10.[13]

Results

No.Results[20]StipulationsTimes
1Yoshi Tatsu defeated Heath SlaterSingles match[14]04:00
2Daniel Bryan (c) defeated Big Show and Mark Henry by escaping the cageSteel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship[11]09:08
3Beth Phoenix, Natalya and The Bella Twins (Brie Bella and Nikki Bella) defeated Kelly Kelly, Eve TorresAlicia Fox and Tamina SnukaEight-Diva tag team match[15]05:29
4Kane vs. John Cena ended in a double count-outSingles match[16]10:56
5Brodus Clay (with Cameron and Naomi) defeated Drew McIntyreSingles match[17]01:05
6CM Punk (c) defeated Dolph ZigglerSingles match for the WWE Championship with John Laurinaitis as special guest enforcer[18]14:30
7Sheamus won by last eliminating Chris Jericho30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII[19]54:55
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

  – Winner
Draw Entrant Order Eliminated by Time Eliminations
1 The Miz 25 Big Show 45:39 2
2 Alex Riley 1 The Miz 01:15 0
3 R-Truth 2 04:57 0
4 Cody Rhodes 24 Big Show 41:55 6
5 Justin Gabriel 4 Mick Foley & Ricardo Rodriguez 07:42 0
6 Primo 3 Mick Foley 01:57 0
7 Mick Foley 8 Cody Rhodes 06:34 3
8 Ricardo Rodriguez 5 Santino Marella 02:19 1
9 Santino Marella 7 Cody Rhodes 02:31 1
10 Epico 6 Mick Foley 00:11 0
11 Kofi Kingston 18 Sheamus 17:55 0
12 Jerry Lawler 9 Cody Rhodes 00:43 1
13 Ezekiel Jackson 11 The Great Khali 03:46 0
14 Jinder Mahal 10 01:17 0
15 The Great Khali 14 Cody Rhodes 07:29 2
16 Hunico 16 Kharma 09:00 0
17 Booker T 13 Cody Rhodes & Dolph Ziggler 04:40 1
18 Dolph Ziggler 26 Big Show 19:46 2
19 Jim Duggan 12 Cody Rhodes 00:57 0
20 Michael Cole 15 Booker T & Jerry Lawler[a] 01:23 0
21 Kharma 17 Dolph Ziggler 01:02 1
22 Sheamus — Winner[21] 22:22 3
23 Road Dogg 19 Wade Barrett 04:55 0
24 Jey Uso 20 Randy Orton 07:05 0
25 Jack Swagger 23 Big Show & Sheamus[b] 07:59 0
26 Wade Barrett 21 Randy Orton 03:55 1
27 David Otunga 22 Chris Jericho 03:15 0
28 Randy Orton 28 05:46 3
29 Chris Jericho 29 Sheamus 11:34 2
30 Big Show 27 Randy Orton 01:51 4
  1. ^ Booker T and Jerry Lawler were both eliminated prior to eliminating Cole.
  2. ^ Big Show had not entered the match before assisting in eliminating Swagger.

References

  1. ^ http://www.wrestleview.com/wwe-news/30094-recent-wwe-attendance-figures-1-28-to-1-31
  2. ^ "WWE presents Royal Rumble, 01-29-2012". WWE. 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  3. ^ "Scottrade Center Events: WWE Royal Rumble". Scottrade Center. 2011-12-11. Archived from the original on 2011-12-02. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  4. ^ Johnson, Mike (May 3, 2012). "WWE Releases 2012 First Quarter Earnings Report". Pwinsider. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  5. ^ "WWE Reports 2012 First Quarter Results" (PDF) (Press release). WWE. May 3, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  6. ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  7. ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  8. ^ a b Murphy, Ryan (December 26, 2011). "WWE Raw SuperShow results: Kane rises to hate". WWE. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  9. ^ Medalis, Kara A. (January 2, 2012). "WWE Raw SuperShow results: Kane's hateful torment continues". WWE. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  10. ^ a b Passero, Mitch (January 29, 2012). "John Cena vs. Kane (Double Count-out)". WWE. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  11. ^ a b Melok, Bobby (January 30, 2012). "World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan def. Big Show and Mark Henry (Triple Threat Steel Cage Match)". WWE. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  12. ^ McNichol, Rob (January 30, 2012). "Sheamus wins Royal Rumble". The Sun. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  13. ^ Plummer, Dale; Tylwalk, Nick (January 30, 2012). "The Great White takes a big bite out of the 25th Royal Rumble". Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  14. ^ "WWE News: 2012 Royal Rumble dark match result". Prowrestling.net. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  15. ^ Matthew Artus (January 30, 2012). "Divas Champion Beth Phoenix, Natalya & The Bella Twins def. Eve, Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox & Tamina". WWE. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  16. ^ Mitch Passero (January 30, 2012). "John Cena vs. Kane (Double Count-Out)". WWE. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  17. ^ Anthony Benigno (January 30, 2012). "Brodus Clay def. Drew McIntyre". WWE. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  18. ^ Kevin Powers (January 30, 2012). "WWE Champion CM Punk def. Dolph Ziggler (John Laurinaitis as Special Guest Referee)". WWE. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  19. ^ Murphy, Ryan (January 29, 2012). "Sheamus won the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match". WWE. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  20. ^ Caldwell, James. "Caldwell's WWE Royal Rumble report 1/29: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV - Rumble match, Punk-Ziggler, Cena-Kane, steel cage". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  21. ^ Ryan Murphy (January 30, 2012). "Sheamus won the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match". WWE. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
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