The Royal Rumble is a wrestling Pay-Per-View (PPV) presented by WWE. This years Royal Rumble will take place Sunday, January 29 th at 8 PM EST. The only Match that has been announced for the PPV is the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match. The 30-Man Royal Rumble Match is an over the top rope battle royal. Meaning that a Superstar must be thrown over the top rope and both feet must hit the floor for that Superstar to be eliminated. At last years Royal Rumble, Alberto Del Rio made history by becoming the first WWE Superstar to ever win the 40-Man Royal Rumble Match. Will ‘DESTINY’ strike twice for Del Rio or will another Superstar be punching their ticket to WrestleMania.
Odds are another Superstar will be punching their ticket to WrestleMania but who will it be? To answer that question we should look at the current Champions. CM Punk is currently the WWE Champion. This should not factor in as John Cena wants to win the WWE Championship before WrestleMania so he can defend it against The Rock. That leaves the World Heavyweight Championship Match. The current World Heavyweight Champion is Daniel Bryan. Odds are he will not hold the Championship until WrestleMania but if he does which SmackDown Superstar will be the one to dethrone him? Will it be Wade Barrett, Randy Orton, The Big Show, Mark Henry, Sheamus, Christian or will it be a Raw Superstar winning the Rumble and challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship?
Barrett should be the Superstar challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. That is why I have selected Barrett as my choice to win the 2012 Royal Rumble. Barrett is starting to establish himself as a top heel on SmackDown. Barrett lead his team of Superstars to victory at Survivor Series. Although Orton put Barrett through a table at TLC, Barrett got his revenge on Raw. Barrett will have Orton’s number one more time when he tosses him out of the Rumble.
If Barrett tosses Orton out of the Rumble, don’t count him out of the World Heavyweight Championship Match at WrestleMania. Orton could capture the World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber. Setting up for a World Heavyweight Championship Match with Barrett at WrestleMania, brining the feud between the two Superstars to an end.
The Big Show will not win the Royal Rumble. Rumor has it that he will be facing Shaq at WrestleMania. If the rumor turns out to be true, it would not make sense to have Show win a Championship Match, unless Show uses his Match before WrestleMania or gives it away to another Superstar.
Mark Henry is a long shot to win the Rumble. Henry is currently sidelined with an injury. If he can recover in time for the Rumble he will be a force to be reckoned with, but will most likely be tossed out of the Rumble by Kane.
Sheamus is not ready for the World Heavyweight Championship. Since moving to SmackDown he has not made much of an impact. It seems like the WWE is unsure of what to do with Sheamus. After capturing two WWE Championships he seems to be going backwards. At this time it does not look like the WWE has any plans to have him move forward.
Christian is currently out with an injury. If he can recover in time for the Rumble he could be a dark horse. Christian always wants one more Match for the World Heavyweight Championship. If Christian wins the Rumble he could earn that Match.
I could see a Raw Superstar winning the Rumble and challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship. The first two that come to mind are The Miz and Dolph Ziggler.
The Miz is ‘The Must See WWE Champion In History’ so of course he will be at WrestleMania. With injuries to Christian and Mark Henry, SmackDown needs a top heel. If The Miz won the Rumble he could challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship. By defeating Bryan at WrestleMania he could become the top heel on SmackDown, bringing SmackDown’s ratings up in the process. Odds are The Miz is not leaving Raw. Raw is also lacking in heels. If The Miz left Raw, it would leave Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler to chase the WWE Championship.
Ziggler finds himself in a similar situation as The Miz. If Ziggler wins the Rumble he could jump ship to SmackDown and face Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. This makes more sense than The Miz jumping to SmackDown because Ziggler is a former World Heavyweight Champion. It would also allow Ziggler to transition into a top heel on SmackDown.
Zack Ryder, WOO WOO WOO You Know It. Ryder is a long shot to win the Rumble. He just captured the United States Championship. The WWE needs to see how is run as United States Champion goes before they decide to give him a WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship Match. You never know, the WWE allowed Bryan to win the World Heavyweight Championship. In my opinion Bryan has no personality compared to Ryder.
Alberto Del Rio could make history by becoming the fourth Superstar to win back to back Royal Rumbles. The first Superstar to do it was Hulk Hogan back in 1990 and 1991. Shawn Michaels followed in Hogan’s foot steps by making it back to back in 1995 and 1996. One years later Stone Cold Steve Austin won the Rumble in 1997 and followed it up with another victory in 1998. Austin almost made it a three peat but it was Vince McMahon eliminating Austin in the 1999 Rumble. ‘DESTINY’ may not be on Del Rio’s side at this Rumble. It seems like the WWE lost faith in Del Rio. After capturing Raw’s Money In The Bank Briefcase it appeared Del Rio was destined for greatness. That greatness was short lived as the WWE gave Del Rio two short reigns as WWE Champion. Those short reigns as Champion have me thinking that the WWE will not allow Del Rio to win the Royal Rumble.
Kane could be spoiling the Rumble Match for the other Superstars while picking up the victory in the process. If Kane is not going one on one with Cena, he will be tossing a lot of Superstars out of the Rumble. If the WWE is building Kane as a monster he needs to throw out everyone from Zack Ryder to The Big Show.
Who do you think will win the Royal Rumble? Will it be one of the Superstars mentioned above or a returning Superstar?
Sources:
Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble Winners