WWE Over the Limit 2012: Sheamus VS Del Rio VS Orton VS Jericho [World Championship]

[Martin Gabriel]

Alberto Del Rio returned to SmackDown looking for a fight. On May 20, he will meet the Superstar who loves to do just that. The Mexican Aristocrat battles Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Over the Limit.

Del Rio will face a champion who has been on an absolute tear, depriving Daniel Bryan of the World Heavyweight Title in 18 seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII and emerging victorious in a grueling 2-out-of-3 falls rematch at Extreme Rules. Since then, The Great White has continued clashing with the embittered submission specialist while also taking on other formidable opponents like The World’s Strongest Man, Mark Henry. Now, the Irish brawler must defend his title against one of WWE’s most dangerous and distinguished Superstars in Alberto Del Rio.

After several months away from competition due to injury, Del Rio made his exultant return the day after WrestleMania, on the April 2 Raw SuperShow. Confronting Sheamus and vowing to become World Heavyweight Champion, the ambitious Superstar made no secret about his intentions to reenter the World Title picture and reclaim his place at SmackDown’s summit.

The Mexican Aristocrat took the first step toward those lofty goals when he defeated Sheamus on SmackDown on April 6. Although Del Rio’s controversial disqualification win that night was a non-title victory, it guaranteed him a future World Heavyweight Championship Match. Since then, interactions between the two grapplers have grown more and more intense, especially since Del Rio and his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, were officially traded from Raw to SmackDown on April 20.

The conflict between Sheamus and Del Rio did not truly explode until the May 4 edition of SmackDown, though, as both the No. 1 contender and Daniel Bryan viciously applied their signature submissions to Sheamus’ already damaged left arm. The injured appendage of the champion could play a significant role in the Over the Limit title match, as Del Rio is – no pun intended – a handful.

Opportunistic and ruthless inside the squared circle, The Mexican Aristocrat is known for systematically deconstructing his opponent. Capable of high-flying or powerful moves when necessary, Del Rio prefers to fight a smart fight, allowing his tremendous grappling technique and experience to carry him to victory. His devastating finisher, The Cross Armbreaker, can easily end a contest – or a career – in a split second. Sheamus experienced just a taste of the move’s effectiveness and brutality firsthand on SmackDown.

Though clearly dangerous, Del Rio is far from the inevitable victor. The World Heavyweight Champion is a true powerhouse, a bruising Celtic thumper with an in-ring style reminiscent of a runaway train. If The Great White utilizes his strength and gains momentum in a match, he’s nearly impossible to stop. He also boasts remarkable speed and athleticism for such a large and physically imposing man, leaving adversaries few options in the squared circle. With no shortage of ferocious finishing moves of his own – The Celtic Cross, White Noise and the deadly Brogue Kick – Sheamus is also capable of ending a match in the blink of an eye, or, more appropriately, a boot to the eye.

An X factor in this bout is the health of each Superstar. Del Rio is returning after a long absence with a freshly healed body and a full tank of gas. Sheamus, on the other hand, is coming off a prolonged and taxing rivalry with Bryan, in addition to working an exhausting travel and competition schedule. His injured appendage, courtesy of both Del Rio and Bryan, will make retaining his title even more of an uphill battle.

On Sunday May 20, the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina will play host to a donnybrook, as World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus puts his title on the line against the aggressive and arrogant Alberto Del Rio. Can The Mexican Aristocrat stop the momentum of the surging Great White and become WWE’s new World Heavyweight Champion? Find out at WWE Over the Limit, only pay-per-view.

I think this will be a very good match and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Alberto Del Rio is quick and athletic, Sheamus is hard-hitting and strong and they've both put on good main event matches in their careers.

Discuss and please do not spam.

[Nate]

Hmm... Well Sheamus has quite the task ahead of him if he wishes to match the quality of his match with Daniel Bryan at Extreme Rules. Doesn't help that he has Alberto dragging him down, but for some reason, I think these 2 will probably work well together if given enough time. Sheamus showed some of his best selling at ER and with Alberto's tendency to focus on the arm, the limb psychology should be pretty solid.

Probably won't be the best match of the night, especially since we have Punk vs. DB on tap, but it should continue the WWE's streak of awesome PPV matches coming in 2s.

I think Sheamus wins it, ultimately. Del Rio failed miserably as champion and Sheamus is just getting started. Hard to believe that they would derail him so soon after winning.

[Rated R Nightmare]

honestly dont care about this match i cant say del rio has ever impressed me to be honest but maybe ill be surprised with a good match here sheamus should beat him should be good to see how sheamus does against someone he has to carry through the match instead of working with a great talent in daniel bryan

[ITALIAN NYC]

I personally have no interest what so ever in this match. I find both of them extremely boring. Neither one of them has gotten over as champion and do not think its going to start now. WWE can add all the cheers they want for sheamus during the smackdown taping, but come Raw, the reaction is very different. The thing is, its neither of there faults. Its just the way creative is booking them.

[Christian101]

I honestly wish that Christian would come back and take out Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus, injuring Del Rio, so Christian can face Sheamus... We can all dream.

Sheamus retains, should be a decent match, but DEFINATELY not best. Could see it being better than Johnny vs Johnny. Oh joy.

[JAM]

Well, it definitely won't be a bad match. Del Rio is pretty good in the ring and Sheamus is pretty skilled for a big guy. The problem is that the match didn't really have much build. Del Rio randomly shows up on Smackdown and gets a title shot is what happened and is really all we ever got. So I expect Sheamus to retain here. Hopefully Christian or maybe even a new talent can come in and make the World Heavyweight Title scene a bit more interesting.

[Martin Gabriel]

Originally Posted by JAM

Well, it definitely won't be a bad match. Del Rio is pretty good in the ring and Sheamus is pretty skilled for a big guy. The problem is that the match didn't really have much build. Del Rio randomly shows up on Smackdown and gets a title shot is what happened and is really all we ever got. So I expect Sheamus to retain here. Hopefully Christian or maybe even a new talent can come in and make the World Heavyweight Title scene a bit more interesting.

I don't understand the comment that it didn't have much build. This is the first week after Extreme Rules, Sheamus just finished his feud with Bryan, it's way too early to say whether a match has been built well. And it's not uncommon at all for two guys to not have much build between each other before one of them is named number one contender. Usually the build is done afterward, except for really good storylines where part of the story is the dude trying to gain number one contendership.

[MCMG]

Should be a fairly good match but I can't see past Sheamus for this one. ADR just doesn't have the momentum and Sheamus has only recently been crowned champ so there would be no point of him losing the belt.

[The Crock]

Well, this match comes as no surprise. They've been angling to get Del Rio back in the title scene ever since he returned, so you had to see this one coming. I can't say I enjoy seeing Del Rio in this position, but he works as a good enough heel challenger for Sheamus, who needs someone fresh to feud with. I don't think there's any chance for a title change, though. I don't see the sense in taking the belt off of Sheamus, when he's only improving and gaining more momentum as a still fairly "fresh" champion, to put it onto Alberto Del Rio, who frankly just isn't that interesting, nor was he really anywhere near a success as champion. The feud probably won't end at Over the Limit, but I still think it's mostly a filler feud to help further Sheamus as the champion.

The match itself won't be bad, but it won't be anywhere near as good as what Sheamus and Daniel Bryan put up. Alberto Del Rio's just not very entertaining (to me, at least), so I struggle to enjoy his matches. His in-ring work isn't sub-par, or anything like that, he just doesn't entertain me. I'm expecting a slower match, but it'll have some decent action. The finish will be probably be a bit questionable, as I don't think they want Sheamus to run Del Rio over in their first PPV match-up (I'm sure they want to stretch this out until at least the next PPV), so I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a count-out or a disqualification. Still, Sheamus should retain.

[thatotherguy]

Should be a fun match. Don't expect anything like match of the night, but Del Rio is a good worker. Still the result is almost too predictable. Sheamus coming in injured all but guarantees his victory here. Don't expect a rematch for Del Rio. Sheamus defeats Del Rio, and moves on to someone else, possibly Christian or Mark Henry.