WWE 2012 Royal Rumble Preview

Probably the second biggest wrestling pay per view in the business, Summerslam is what lays the foundation for feuds and storylines leading up to the wrestling's biggest pay per view, Wrestlemania. This year will be no different as the rumors are rampant that there will be plenty of surprises for an already pretty stacked card.

With any superstar eligible to enter this could be a Rumble with a surprising winner. Below I will give you the three announced matches and who I think will win. I do not know what the order of the matches but I assume they'll save the Rumble for last. And yes, we will have a Rumble Liveblog/chat on Sunday. Whooo!



John Cena vs Kane: 

After coming back Kane has been trying to get Cena to realize that you can't go through life just smiling and and appreciating it when half the people in your life openly despise you even if the other half embraces you because you're just a top notch guy. Kane has done this by brutally beating Cena's bestest bro ever(or 6 months), Zack Ryder to get Cena to realize that sometimes it is OK to tell your naysayers to shut the hell up. Some people see this as the beginning of Cena's heel turn in preparation for his match against The Rock at Wrestlemania 28. I am in this camp. However, it is a very real possibility that this is just another filler feud to keep Cena relevant. Next month he could be in feud with Ryder because Ryder ultimately blames Cena for the constant ass kicking he has received from Kane. I say Cena beats Kane and begins to go to far, likes it, and then pulls back.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Big Show vs Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan(c)
The evolution of Daniel Bryan from wimpy,but gifted,technician who just isn't big enough to be a successful WWE superstar to sneaky, cocky, champion is one of the most underrated stories the WWE has done in the last year. Pitting him in a three way cage match with two of the biggest guys on the roster in Big Show and Mark Henry after he has managed to not lose his title to both of them through luck is a good way to make people wonder how is going to hold on to his title. With Henry and Big Show's attention on Bryan he will have to find a way to take advantage of Show and Henry's disdain for each other to have a shot. And I think he will do just that and walk out of the Rumble with is title around his waist.

WWE Championship Match
Dolph Ziggler vs CM Punk(c) w/ John Laurinitis as special guest referee 
This is my pick for match of the night. Though he has kinda been the forgotten man in this feud because of CM Punk's problem with Laurinitis, Ziggler is one of ,if not the best, performer between the ropes on the roster and should tear down the house with Punk, who isn't too shabby in the ring himself. Vicki Guerrero and Jack Swagger are banned from ringside,and with Laurinitis being the ref, I expect this match to go smoothly with a controversial ending to set up Laurinitis' job review by Triple H on the following Monday Night Raw. I expect Ziggler to win this match and have to face Punk in a rematch on Monday.

30 Man Royal Rumble
With almost zero build up this is a difficult match to predict as the only entrant we know for sure to be there is the Miz at number one after he lost to R-Truth last Monday on Raw. The popular pick to win however is Chris Jericho, who after more than a year away from the WWE came back promising the end of the world as we know it with cryptic vignettes and has done nothing to explain what exactly that means. Another interesting aspect of the Rumble is the return of Mick Foley, who has not wrestled a match in the WWE for four years. With announcement that any superstar on the roster can participate expect at least one surprise entrant(rumors are abound about Batista coming back). While there are several people expecting Randy Orton to win in his hometown of St. Louis. that would go against the WWE's tendency to have superstars to lose in their home town to generate heat from the live audience. I think Jericho will win and reveal what the end of the world as we know it actually means on Monday.


For shits and gigs here is a half hour interview with CM Punk from Ariel Helwani, a must follow for any MMA/WWE fan.