COMPLETE WWE ROYAL RUMBLE COVERAGE: THE TITLE CHALLENGER FOR WRESTLEMANIA IS DETERMINED, JOHN CENA FACES THE SCOURGE OF KANE, BOTH THE WWE AND WORLD TITLE ARE ON THE LINE, AND A PLETHORA OF SURPRISES

By Stuart Carapola on 2012-01-29 19:29:50

We go a video package detailing the history of the Royal Rumble match and some of the records that have been set over the years, and then it’s time to Rumble!

Royal Rumble 2012

The Miz comes in at #1 as a result of his loss to R-Truth on Raw, and cuts a prematch promo saying that everybody thinks he’s intimidated by drawing #1, but they’re the same people who thought he’d never main event Wrestlemania or win the WWE Title. He’s proved everyone wrong, and tonight will be no different because h’es the Miz and he’s awesome. #2 is Miz’s former protege Alex Riley, and they stare at the Wrestlemania banner before going toe to toe. Riley gets the advantage and takes out Miz with a clothesline. He tries to dump Miz, but Miz elbows his way out of Riley’s clutches and hits a running boot to the face. Miz tries to dump Miz, but Miz stops himself on the apron and pulls down the top rope to send a charging Riley to the floor. Miz takes a bow with the Wrestlemania banner in the background as we count down to #3, who just happens to be R-Truth. Truth takes Miz down and unloads with right hands, does the split to duck a clothesline and hits a leg lariat. Truth with Miz in a fireman’s carryt and dumps him out to the apron, but Miz shoulderblocks Truth’s ribs and slips back in. They both block each other’s finishers, but Truth with a boot to the gut and went for a vertical suplex, seemed to lose him, and turned it into a slam. Miz is back on the apron as #4 omes in and it’s Cody Rhodes. Rhodes comes in and hits the Beautiful Disaster on Truth,followed by a gourdbuster, then holds Truth so Miz can hit him. Miz enjoys it so much, he holds Truth so Rhodes can takes some free shots. Rhodes hangs Truth on the ropes and kicks him low, but gets dumped to the apron. Truth tries to go back and forth attacking both men but Miz hits a neckbreaker as Justin Gabriel comes in at #5.

Gabriel goes at it with Rhodes as Mizand Truth fight in the opposite corner, and then Primo comes in at #6. He goes after Rhodes and sweeps his legs and hits a standing moonsault, then whips Gabriel to the ropes and hits a headstand Frankensteiner out of the corner as Truth hits a rolling forearm out of the corner on Miz. Miz quickly recovers and dumps Truth over the top rope to eliminate him, but Truth drags him under the bottom rope and hits a Flatliner on the floor. Mick Foley comes in at #7 and he’s looking like he’s seen better days. He unloads with right hands on Primo and backdrops him to the floor, but Rhodes goes after him and they duke it out in the corner with Foley coming out on top and beating him down. Foley with a running knee to Rhodes and he hits the Cactus DDT, then tells Gabriel to help him dump Rhodes. We count down to #8 and it’s last year’s winner, Alberto Del Rio. Actually, it’s not, it’s Ricardo Rodriguez, and he drives into the arena in a beat up old car with the back window duct taped on. The crowd actually chants for this guy as he makes buddies with Foley and Gabriel before going to work on Rhodes. Gabriel dropkicks him and Rodriguez starts firing back, and he and Foley dump Gabriel, then Rodriguez runs around the ring celebrating before Santino Marella comes in at #9. Rodriguez tells Foley he’ll take him, but gets backdropped, then Santino hits an atomic drop, an inverted atomic drop, and leapfrogs him across the ring into the second turnbuckle. Santino gives Ricardo a wedgie and then eliminates him. It’s down to Santino and Foley and the crowd chants for Socko, so Foley takes him out and puts him on as Marella puts on the Cobra sock. They circle until the clock counts down to #10 as Epico makes his entrance.

Epico doesn’t last long as Foley gets the Mandible Claw and eliminates him, then Santino and Foley lock socks until Miz and Rhodes finally get back in and eliminate both Santino and Foley. Mizand Rhodes stare each other down, but the clock counts down and Kofi Kingston comes in at #11. He dives through the ropes and takes both men out, hitting the pendulum kick on Mizand an enziguiri to Rhodes, then wiping both men out with a double dropkick. He does his stupid Boom Drop, then dumps Miz out to the apron. He keeps trying to dump him but Rhodes comes from behind with a dropkick. We count down to #12, and Jerry Lawler’s music starts playing. He gets up from the announce table and comes into the ring where he takes out both Rhodes and Miz with right hands and dropkicks. Lawler goes to the second rope, pulls the strap down, and hits a fistdrop before Rhodes eliminates him. Rhodes goes back after Kofi as Ezekiel Jackson comes in at #13 and grabs Rhodes by the throat, sending him to the throat and rolling over him witha shoulderblock. He takes both Rhodes and Mizout with multiple clotheslines and then puts the boots to Miz in the corner. Zeke’s looking like he’s gotten a bit jiggly in recent months, but hits a side suplex nonetheless on Kofi before beating Rhodes down in the corner. Jinder Mahal comes in at #14 and slowly makes his way down to ringside before coming in and hitting a high knee on Kofi. Mahal with a neckbreaker to Zeke and goes back after Kofi as #15 already comes in and it’s our old buddy the Great Khali!

Khali goes after Mahal and destroys everyone else, then dumps Mahal, clotheslines Zeke out of the match, and chokes Miz in the corner with his boot as Kofi dumps Rhodes out to the apron. Hunico comes in at #16 on a gold plated bicycle, then takes out Kofi, Miz,and finally Rhodes with anAngle slam. Khali flattens Hunico with a chop and then goes after Kofi and Miz in the far corner. Booker’s music hits at #17 and now he gets ujp from the announce table, and he goes right after Cody Rhodes, then lays out everyone else before going face to face with Khali. Khali headbutts Booker and puts the boots to him in the corner as the crowd goes nuts for Booker. Khali turns his attention to Rhodes with a big chop to the chest, and Miz dumps Kofi to the floor, and he braces himself with his hands, and Miz tried tossing his hands off but Kofi did a handstand and walked backward on his hands until he could land on the steps and come back in. Okay, that was a bit ridiculous. Dolph Ziggler comes in at #18 as Hunico barely saves himself from being dumped by Khali, but winds up taking a Harlem side kick from Booker. Khali lays Ziggler out with a headbutt as we count down to #19 and it’s HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN! He lays everyone in the ring out with right hands and goes HOOOOOOOOOO!!! before leading the crowd in a USA chant. Duggan misses a charge in the corner however, and Rhodes dumps him from behind. Khali tries to dump Booker, but Rhodes sneaks up from behind and dumps them both out as Michael Cole becomes the entrant at #20, singlet and all.

Cole comes in wearing his headgeat and singlet and dances around while pointing at the Wrestlemania banner, but doesn’t make contact with anyone until #21 counts down and it’s Kharma! She comes in and takes Cole right out with a clothesline, and Cole hops over the top rope to the apron to try and reason with Kharma, and Lawler and Booker jump up from the announcer booth and pull him down to the floor to eliminate him. Kharma follows up by laying Ziggler out and then dumping Hunico, but Ziggler sneaks in from behind and eliminates her as Sheamus comes in at #22. He lays out everyone in the ring with clotheslines and hits a series of windmill slams on everyone. Kofi goes for a spinning kick, but Sheamus catches him and dumps him to the floor to eliminate him, then ties Rhodes in the ropesfor the rapid fire forearms to the chest and then does it again to Miz. Ziggler goes for the Zig Zag on Sheamus but Sheamus blocks as the Road Doggcomes in at #23. He unloads with right hands on Rhodes, dances, and then lays out both Rhodes and Miz befopre hitting the shaky legs kneedrop on Rhodes. Road Dogg with a pump handle slam on Miz and then goes back after Rhodes as Jey Uso comes in at #24. Uso with a spinning forearm to Road Dogg and a superkick to Miz, followed by the running ass splash to Road Dogg in the corner. Sheamus, Ziggler, and Rhodes are all going at it in the corner as Miz and Uso fight it out across the ring, and we count down to #25 as Jack Swagger makes his entrance.

Swagger comes in and goes after Uso as Rhodes hits a gourdbuster on Ziggler. Wade Barrett comes in at #26 and he goes after everybody in the match and eliminates the Road Dogg. Barrett and Sheamus go at it in the corner as Ziggler hits Uso with a Fameasser, and David Otunga comes in at #27. He goes after Barrett next and lays in shoulderblocks in the corner then winds up fighting it out with Rhodes as Randy Orton comes out at #28 to a thunderous ovation in his hometown. He goes right after Barrett and destroys him with punches before hitting a big snap powerslam. He goes for the RKO but Rhodes nails him from behind, so he dumps Rhodes and Ziggler out to the apron and hits a double hanging DDT. Orton tosses Uso, then hits the RKO on Barrett and dumps him. The lights go out for #29, and here comes Chris Jericho as he physically competes for the first time in nearly two years. He immediately dumps Otunga, then goes after Ziggler as Sheamus chokes Swagger with his boot and Rhodes and Miz double team Orton in the corner. We count down to this year’s lucky #30 entrant, and it’s the Big Show, he pulls Swagger out from the floor before even getting in, then knocks him out with a right hand. Show gets in the ring and goes at it with Sheamus before dumping both Miz and Rhodes, then quickly afterward dumps Ziggler.

We’re down to Sheamus, Jericho, Orton, and Big Show in the final four. Everyone goes after Big Show, but he fights them all off and hits Jericho with a running clothesline in the corner and a chokeslam. Orton catches Show with an RKO out of nowhere, then Orton and Sheamus pick Show up and try to dump him, Show fights Sheamus off but Orton dumps show and then Jericho dumps Orton. We’re down to Jericho and Sheamus, and they do the obligatory pointing at the Wrestlemania banner party, then Sheamus takes it to Jericho with right hands. Jericho goes for the bulldog but Sheamus shoves him off into the corner and Jericho nearly goes over the ropes and Sheamus goes right after him, but Jericho fights his way out and hits a dropkick off the second rope. Jericho puts the boots to Sheamus, but comes off the ropes and runs right into the Irish Curse. Sheamus goes for the Celtic Cross but Jericho slips out and clotheslines Sheamus to the apron. Jericho comes off the second rope with another dropkick and tries to kick Sheamus out to the floor, but Sheamus fights Jericho off and picks himself back up and slingshots over the top rope with a shoulderblock. Sheamus picks Jericho up and tries to dump him, Jericho slips out the back, but runs into an elbow from Sheamus. Jericho ducks the Bro Kickand gets the Walls of Jericho. Sheamus goes to the ropes, but it doesn’t force a break in this match. Jericho holds his fist high and charges Sheamus, but gets backdropped over the top rope and he barely holds on and makes it back to the apron. He and Sheamus go to the top rope and Jericho tries to suplex Sheamus to the floor, Sheamus fights him off, and they both tumble to the ring apron. They both roll back in under the bottom rope and Jericho hits the Codebreaker and goes for a cover for a second, but quickly realizes he can’t go for a pinfall and instead kicks Sheamus square in the chest. Jericho shoves Sheamus backward over the top rope and again tries to dump him, but Sheamus saves himself so Jericho just smacks him repeatedly in the face until Sheamus snaps and grabs him by the throat. Jericho goes for a Codebreaker, but Sheamus holds himself up and dumps Jericho to the apron. Jericho holds on, so Sheamus hits the Bro Kick and Jericho hits the floor.

Winner: Sheamus

Sheamus celebrates as fireworks go off and the winner of the Royal Rumble admires the Wrestlemania banner as the show comes to a close.

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