St. Louis, Missouri will play host to the first WWE Pay Per View of the Year and it promises to be a great show, with many plot twists and turns and a few surprises along the way. Here is a look at the card.
John Cena vs. Kane
Kane made his much-anticipated return to Raw several weeks back and made his intentions clear, with Cena being his target. After weeks of attacks, Kane would explain that he was trying to get Cena to "embrace hate." After seeing Kane take out his buddy Zack Ryder on Raw and having Eve blame him for what happened, Cena's "angry face" seemed to indicate that he is finally starting to "embrace hate." This seems to be setting up a heel turn for Cena just before his big match with the Rock at Wrestlemania. Expect this match to be a brawl all the way as Cena shows off his vicious side and gets a measure of retribution against Kane for all he's put him through.
Prediction: Cena will dominate as he needs to be kept strong building toward Wrestlemania. However, the best way to go here is for Cena to get carried away and get himself DQ'd, further planting the seeds for his heel turn. So, go with Kane to win via DQ, but he won't look much like a winner.
World Title Steel Cage Match (Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry?)
The latest news here is that Mark Henry suffered an injury this week on Smackdown and his status for this match seems to be up in the air. Regardless, the guy to focus on here is Daniel Bryan. Despite his surprise title win a couple months ago, it had become clear that Bryan was growing stale as a face. His heel turn, though, has done wonders for his character and made him interesting again. He is great as the arrogant, obnoxious, sniveling heel who loves to manipulate people. As for the match this Sunday, expect an angry Big Show and an always angry Henry (if he competes) to deliver a good beating to Bryan. As for who walks out with the title...
Prediction: This Steel Cage stipulation favors Bryan becomes now he can get a cheap victory escaping the cage without making one of the big guys look weak. So, look for Bryan to sneak out while the other two guys are preoccupied with each other.
WWE Title Match (C.M. Punk (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler)
It became clear a couple months ago that Ziggler was ready to move up the card and so he dropped the U.S. title and is now going after the WWE title. He has beaten Punk four times over the past few weeks, though none of the wins have been decisive and the booking has become a little repetitive with John Laurinaitis being instrumental in the outcomes. This Sunday, Laurinaitis will be the special guest referee, and although he admitted his plans of screwing Punk, that all changed with the fax he got on Raw pertaining to his job performance. Hopefully, Laurinaitis' involvement this Sunday will be limited and won't take away from what should be a classic match between these two. If they are given the proper time, given the way these two are performing, this could be an early candidate for Match of the Year.
Prediction: There is no doubt that Ziggler will be the WWE champion some day but it is unlikely to happen this Sunday. After losing four straight matches to Ziggler, Punk would look pretty weak if he loses to him yet again. It seems that WWE is throwing Ziggler a bone here while testing him out before they pull the trigger on making him the champ, something which should happen by SummerSlam. As for this Sunday, Ziggler puts up a great fight and proves he belongs, but ultimately, Punk retains.
30 Man Royal Rumble Match
The Royal Rumble is arguably the most exciting and entertaining match in the WWE. With 30 guys involved, it is guaranteed to be action-packed. It is always suspenseful, especially with the anticipation of "who's coming out next." If you like surprises the Rumble will provide a few as every year there are some unannounced returns. So, at the end of the day, who will win the 2012 Royal Rumble? Here is a look at the top candidates and their chances.
Chris Jericho - After weeks of anticipation, Jericho finally spoke this past week on Raw, uttering the words: "This Sunday at the Royal Rumble, will be the end of the world as we know it." After such a proclamation, he must have something big planned, and it's hard to think of anything bigger than winning the Royal Rumble. Then again, while winning the Rumble is a big deal, is it enough to justify such a grandiose proclamation? Jericho's words seem to imply something earth-shattering which could indicate something even bigger than a Rumble win. In the WWE, nothing could be more earth-shattering than ending the Undertaker's Wrestlemania streak, could that be what he has in mind? Will be lay down the challenge this Sunday?
Randy Orton - Orton made his triumpant return on Smackdown attacking his nemesis, Wade Barrett. Even though he was not officially announced as a participant in the Rumble, it's hard to believe he would be brought back a few days before the event if he was not going to be entered in the match. Orton has been out of the title picture for a while and it seems that he would be the most logical candidate to challenge for the World Title at Wrestlemania. History is not on his side, though. First, no one has one multiple Rumbles since Stone Cold won his last in 2001. In other words, there has been a different winner every year since then. Orton of course, won it three years ago which doesn't bode well for him. The other thing is that the WWE for some reason, doesn't like putting guys over in their hometowns, and the Rumble this year is in Orton's hometown of St. Louis.
Sheamus - He has been one of the most adamant about winning the Rumble and it is usually one of those guys who winds up winning. He's become one of the most popular WWE Superstars since turning face, and is on the short list of guys who could conceivably win it. The downside for him is that he has spent weeks feuding with a guy who has mostly been a jobber in Jinder Mahal so it doesn't seem as if he's been being built up for something big here.
Wade Barrett - Along with Sheamus, he's been one of the most vocal guys about winning the Rumble. After getting a big push early in his WWE career it seemed like he fell out of favor for a while, but a couple of months later, the company decided to get behind him again. Barrett has even gotten the better of Randy Orton of late, something very few have done. He's a possibility but not sure if the WWE is ready to go all in with him just yet.
Cody Rhodes - It's becoming clear that the Intercontinental title is beneath Rhodes and he is ready to move on to bigger and better things. Does that include a Rumble win this Sunday? It's not impossible but the more likely scenario is him winning the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at Wrestlemania.
A Surprise Winner - If someone other than the five guys mentioned above won the Rumble it would be a pretty big surprise. Then again, two of the past four Rumbles have been one by guys making a surprise return (Cena, Edge). That is unlikely to happen this year but you cannot discount the guys who are involved in the three other matches on the card. They've made it clear that everyone is eligible to enter the Rumble. So, the losers of the title matches could conceivable be entered. For example, Ziggler could lose to Punk and then enter the Rumble and potentially win it. It is also not impossible for the two champions to enter, with the logic being that they want to have an insurance policy should they lose their title between now and Wrestlemania. John Cena and Kane could enter as well. Even though Cena is already slated to face the Rock at Wrestlemania, it's not impossible he could pull double duty. He could win the title earlier in the night and then face the Rock for it in the main event. Kane has an impressive Rumble track record and you'd like to seem him continue his streak of Rumble participations.
Prediction: The pick to win the 2012 Royal Rumble is Chris Jericho. Winning a Rumble is just about the only thing Jericho hasn't done in his illustrious WWE career and it would be a nice cherry on top of all his other accomplishments. With one simple yet powerful line last week Jericho did more to sell the PPV than anything the WWE has done in the past few weeks. Now it is time for him to deliver on his proclamation. The bigger question is: Will he challenge Punk for the title at Wrestlemania as many have speculated, or does he have something even bigger in mind, and would he forego his title shot to attempt something even bigger, namely taking down the Undertaker and ending the streak? For that would truly would be the "End of the World as we know it;" the WWE world anyway.
Frank Leal - I have a B.A. from Rutgers University. I always enjoyed writing papers and articles, especially about sports. I took a sports writing ...
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