WWE Royal Rumble 2012
WWE Royal Rumble 2012 (1/29/2012)- St. Louis, MO
TRIPLE THREAT STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Daniel Bryan(c) vs. The Big Show vs. Mark Henry- 6.75/10. Much shorter than it should have been, but that whole finishing sequence was awesome. Every part of it!
JOHN CENA VIDEO-PACKAGE- Very good. It went a little bit too long, and I don’t think that they spent enough time focusing on the anti-Cena stuff in order to really build to Mania well, but otherwise it was good. It definitely gives me hope that we will see some amazing video-packages for Rock vs. Cena.
THE DIVAS OF DOOM & THE BELLA TWINS vs. ALICIA FOX, KELLY KELLY, EVE TORRES, & TAMINA- 2/10. The crowd was dead because they have been given no reason to cheer in Divas’ matches whatsoever. Every week for the past few months we have been given moderately talented divas like Eve, Kelly, & Alicia Fox beating much more talented heels like Beth & Nattie in under two minutes- week after week after week. With the exception of Kelly , none of the babyfaces are over, and Kelly barely even got a pop when she did a high spot! Beth (the heel) pinning Kelly got a bigger pop than anything else in the match! That is a sign that something is wrong with the division!
Also, the person who thought it was a good idea to have the Divas of Doom and the Bellas were matching outfits should be fired. The Bellas are everything that Nattie & Beth are supposed to stand against.
RYDER, JOHNNY ACE, & EVE BACKSTAGE- not very enjoyable. Ryder was good, as was Johnny Ace, but Eve… was acting. That is exactly it. It felt like she was acting a part, rather than reaction. This felt so much like a speech. People don’t naturally talk like that, and especially not when they are in the situation Eve is in right now. She came in with prepared speech and gave her speech. She is supposed to be out of breath and coming off of the mental strain of wrestling match, now she sees her boyfriend in a wheelchair being spoon-fed BS by someone who she holds partially responsible for his injuries… and she is going to use words like “obsequious?” I’m not buying it, especially not from Eve Torres. I’m saying that Eve can’t be smart… but this diction is very much out of nowhere from her at a time when it seems the least likely for her to reach down into the depths of her brain to pick the most perfect word for the situation. The transition from that to adding on “what an a**!” at the end just made it feel even more like a scripted segment than a natural occurrence.
KANE vs. JOHN CENA- 6.5/10. This was great, but it was just one of those times where the only way to do things right was to have an unsatisfying finish, which hurt the overall feel of the match.
AFTERMATH- good, but Eve’s presence killed it for me. If she were purely a valet or something, this would have been great, but Eve is a wrestler. She is supposed to be tough! She didn’t even try to stop Kane in any physical way at all. I think it would have been a lot better to do this in the back, on the concrete, in front of Cena. The way that they did this, Eve should have taken a chokeslam, too.
I am very curious to see how they play this angle out on Raw tomorrow night, though, as the crowd was very anti-Cena (with “dark” characters like Kane, it is easy to forget that they, too, have hometowns)… to the point where felt a little bit like Punk vs. Cena from MITB. The crowd popping for Cena getting chokeslammed while saving a woman from a beatdown by a sadistic monster seems like it almost has to be a turning point for Cena.
THE ROCK VIDEO-PACKAGE- good
DREW MCINTYRE vs. BRODUS CLAY (w/Naomi & Cameron)- No rating. Good squash. I loved the interactions between these two, but McIntyre shouldn’t have lost so quickly. This is a PPV match! Give it some time!
WWE TITLE MATCH WITH JOHN LAURINAITIS AS SPECIAL GUEST OUTSIDE REFEREE: CM Punk(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler- 8/10. Great wrestling and even better character-work here! Johnny Ace was great! Jumping into the ring to be the one to count the pinfall even though the other ref was fully conscious was GREAT! I was 100% convinced he was going to break the pin up! GREAT stuff. Now he can go out on Raw and say that he counted the pin for Punk. I love it! Johnny Ace has been playing his role PERFECTLY ever since they gave him this gimmick!
MIZ PROMO- okay
ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH- 7.5/10. Some exciting moments, some good returns, and some good comedy, but nothing even close to resembling a story. This Rumble also felt like it really lacked starpower, and no one came out of it looking particularly good aside from Jericho and Sheamus
Here a few of my random thoughts while I was watching the match:
ALEX RILEY!
The Ricardo Rodriguez stuff was AWESOME! I was rolling on the floor laughing! If the same person who suggested that the Bellas and the Divas of Doom wear matching ring gear also suggested this, I am willing to give him or her a pass and rescind my demand that they be fired.
The stuff with Foley and Santino was equally awesome.
Wow. NO REACTION AT ALL for Jinder Mahal.
We get a “USA!” chant when the only two Americans in the ring are heels.
No reaction for Hunico, either.
We got a lot of the great Royal Rumble staples here including good comedy, surprise returns, the ridiculously amazing save,
I really disliked Ziggler being in this match. He already got a title shot tonight. Give this spot to some lower-card guys so other people can look impressive by having a higher elimination count. Same goes for Big Show.
King in the Rumble was okay. Booker made some sense (or at least it would have if Cody had eliminated him without any help). Cole… WHY? What is the point? Forget booking for a second; let’s look at this from the kayfabe point of view. Who thought it was a good to put someone who isn’t a trained wrestler into the Royal Rumble? Who thought that an announcer produce more entertainment and excitement than a wrestler? With Drew Carey, at least there was a kayfabe reason for it!
HOLY SH*T! I didn’t see that coming! I had forgotten that Kong even existed, never mind had a WWE contract! She easily got the biggest pop of the night (with the obvious exception of Foley, but comparing Foley to anyone currently on the roster isn’t really fair). Orton was a close second, though (but it’s possible that Sheamus’ pop was bigger and Orton’s just seemed louder due to the unmistakable high-pitched squeal of excited teenage girls). I would much rather have had Kong just come in and dominate for a few minutes in the traditional big man (or big woman, in this case) style, but what they did was interesting, too.
By my count, the most eliminations anyone got in this match was Big Show’s four, and he was only in the ring for a few minutes. LAME!
Overall, a decent show from WWE. Enjoyable, but nothing too great, and both the World Heavyweight Title match and Rumble itself were disappointing.
TRIPLE THREAT STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Daniel Bryan(c) vs. The Big Show vs. Mark Henry- 6.75/10. Much shorter than it should have been, but that whole finishing sequence was awesome. Every part of it!
JOHN CENA VIDEO-PACKAGE- Very good. It went a little bit too long, and I don’t think that they spent enough time focusing on the anti-Cena stuff in order to really build to Mania well, but otherwise it was good. It definitely gives me hope that we will see some amazing video-packages for Rock vs. Cena.
THE DIVAS OF DOOM & THE BELLA TWINS vs. ALICIA FOX, KELLY KELLY, EVE TORRES, & TAMINA- 2/10. The crowd was dead because they have been given no reason to cheer in Divas’ matches whatsoever. Every week for the past few months we have been given moderately talented divas like Eve, Kelly, & Alicia Fox beating much more talented heels like Beth & Nattie in under two minutes- week after week after week. With the exception of Kelly , none of the babyfaces are over, and Kelly barely even got a pop when she did a high spot! Beth (the heel) pinning Kelly got a bigger pop than anything else in the match! That is a sign that something is wrong with the division!
Also, the person who thought it was a good idea to have the Divas of Doom and the Bellas were matching outfits should be fired. The Bellas are everything that Nattie & Beth are supposed to stand against.
RYDER, JOHNNY ACE, & EVE BACKSTAGE- not very enjoyable. Ryder was good, as was Johnny Ace, but Eve… was acting. That is exactly it. It felt like she was acting a part, rather than reaction. This felt so much like a speech. People don’t naturally talk like that, and especially not when they are in the situation Eve is in right now. She came in with prepared speech and gave her speech. She is supposed to be out of breath and coming off of the mental strain of wrestling match, now she sees her boyfriend in a wheelchair being spoon-fed BS by someone who she holds partially responsible for his injuries… and she is going to use words like “obsequious?” I’m not buying it, especially not from Eve Torres. I’m saying that Eve can’t be smart… but this diction is very much out of nowhere from her at a time when it seems the least likely for her to reach down into the depths of her brain to pick the most perfect word for the situation. The transition from that to adding on “what an a**!” at the end just made it feel even more like a scripted segment than a natural occurrence.
KANE vs. JOHN CENA- 6.5/10. This was great, but it was just one of those times where the only way to do things right was to have an unsatisfying finish, which hurt the overall feel of the match.
AFTERMATH- good, but Eve’s presence killed it for me. If she were purely a valet or something, this would have been great, but Eve is a wrestler. She is supposed to be tough! She didn’t even try to stop Kane in any physical way at all. I think it would have been a lot better to do this in the back, on the concrete, in front of Cena. The way that they did this, Eve should have taken a chokeslam, too.
I am very curious to see how they play this angle out on Raw tomorrow night, though, as the crowd was very anti-Cena (with “dark” characters like Kane, it is easy to forget that they, too, have hometowns)… to the point where felt a little bit like Punk vs. Cena from MITB. The crowd popping for Cena getting chokeslammed while saving a woman from a beatdown by a sadistic monster seems like it almost has to be a turning point for Cena.
THE ROCK VIDEO-PACKAGE- good
DREW MCINTYRE vs. BRODUS CLAY (w/Naomi & Cameron)- No rating. Good squash. I loved the interactions between these two, but McIntyre shouldn’t have lost so quickly. This is a PPV match! Give it some time!
WWE TITLE MATCH WITH JOHN LAURINAITIS AS SPECIAL GUEST OUTSIDE REFEREE: CM Punk(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler- 8/10. Great wrestling and even better character-work here! Johnny Ace was great! Jumping into the ring to be the one to count the pinfall even though the other ref was fully conscious was GREAT! I was 100% convinced he was going to break the pin up! GREAT stuff. Now he can go out on Raw and say that he counted the pin for Punk. I love it! Johnny Ace has been playing his role PERFECTLY ever since they gave him this gimmick!
MIZ PROMO- okay
ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH- 7.5/10. Some exciting moments, some good returns, and some good comedy, but nothing even close to resembling a story. This Rumble also felt like it really lacked starpower, and no one came out of it looking particularly good aside from Jericho and Sheamus
Here a few of my random thoughts while I was watching the match:
ALEX RILEY!
The Ricardo Rodriguez stuff was AWESOME! I was rolling on the floor laughing! If the same person who suggested that the Bellas and the Divas of Doom wear matching ring gear also suggested this, I am willing to give him or her a pass and rescind my demand that they be fired.
The stuff with Foley and Santino was equally awesome.
Wow. NO REACTION AT ALL for Jinder Mahal.
We get a “USA!” chant when the only two Americans in the ring are heels.
No reaction for Hunico, either.
We got a lot of the great Royal Rumble staples here including good comedy, surprise returns, the ridiculously amazing save,
I really disliked Ziggler being in this match. He already got a title shot tonight. Give this spot to some lower-card guys so other people can look impressive by having a higher elimination count. Same goes for Big Show.
King in the Rumble was okay. Booker made some sense (or at least it would have if Cody had eliminated him without any help). Cole… WHY? What is the point? Forget booking for a second; let’s look at this from the kayfabe point of view. Who thought it was a good to put someone who isn’t a trained wrestler into the Royal Rumble? Who thought that an announcer produce more entertainment and excitement than a wrestler? With Drew Carey, at least there was a kayfabe reason for it!
HOLY SH*T! I didn’t see that coming! I had forgotten that Kong even existed, never mind had a WWE contract! She easily got the biggest pop of the night (with the obvious exception of Foley, but comparing Foley to anyone currently on the roster isn’t really fair). Orton was a close second, though (but it’s possible that Sheamus’ pop was bigger and Orton’s just seemed louder due to the unmistakable high-pitched squeal of excited teenage girls). I would much rather have had Kong just come in and dominate for a few minutes in the traditional big man (or big woman, in this case) style, but what they did was interesting, too.
By my count, the most eliminations anyone got in this match was Big Show’s four, and he was only in the ring for a few minutes. LAME!
Overall, a decent show from WWE. Enjoyable, but nothing too great, and both the World Heavyweight Title match and Rumble itself were disappointing.