WWE Royal Rumble 2013 Pre-Show: US Championship - Antonio Cesaro (c) VS The Miz

[aza1294]

The king of pre-show has returned! I can't see Cesaro losing here. neither man will have much going on heading into the road to Mania, so I expect this feud to continue for a couple of months, so to do that I think Cesaro needs a cheap win. Cesaro to win via countout, dq or other dastardly (yes I just said dastardly) methods of victory.

[WallsofZakku]

tell me why i feel like miz is going to win?
knowing wwe their probably going to give miz the belt to get the fans more invested in him in his face turn

[THE Great GAMMA]

No way Miz wins on a pre-show. I reckon this fued goes to mania where Miz wins on PPV cementing his face turn.

[bestintheworld.j.h33]

I really hope that Miz don't win the U.S. title at all ever again. I am a Miz fan face or heel. Miz needs to go back to the main event picture. The promos between him and CM Punk would be hilarious. I'm a huge Punk fan but am sick of him v ryback, cena and in my opinion the rock shouldn't be getting a title shot period. I do think Miz wins this match but will not win the title.

[Mitch H. Winnfield]

I honestly can't stand Miz now. He went from being an entertaining smug asshole to this corny and cheesy face with horrible comedy lines. The forced transformation didn't help anything, but Miz isn't innocent. I'd place 50% of the blame on the writers, and the other 50% on Miz.

Anyway, Cesaro should retain here. He's been consistent as US Champ, and I don't see a real reason to take the title off of him yet. UNLESS WWE tries to force another boost for Miz's character by throwing the US title on him. I highly doubt it'll happen on a pre show, but when it comes to WWE these days, you never know.

[Dagger Dias]

This match seems like a waste of time so I'm glad it's the pre-show and not part of the main card. Miz's face turn has been so akward and I don't see why they would put the US title back on him right now. Miz is capable of better matches higher up on the card at the moment. I'd guess that this is about continuing to make Cesaro look good as a champion. If he goes over Miz, a former WWE Champion, it will add more to his credibility. Cesaro retains and I'd predict they both go on to compete in the Rumble, which neither of them are going to win.

DAGGER'S PREDICTION
Antonio Cesaro will retain the US Championship.

[Lorenzo von Matterhorn]

I was originally upset that these guys got shoved to the back-burner of the Rumble PPV, but given the show's importance I realized it's better to be on the card than not wrestling at all.

I really hope Cesaro retains. Miz is the first legitimate competition he's come up against. Not that there hasn't been better athletes, but from a booking perspective I just don't think anybody else had a shot. I'm a little scared that WWE has been so high on Miz lately. I don't think he "needs" the US title, but I do fear that WWE will put the belt on him just because he can't be seen as "weak" when going up against a rookie like Cesaro.

The biggest reason I'll be upset is that WWE could have done such great things with Cesaro as the CHampion. The whole "no American can beat me" thing can, and NEEDS to be played upon to a great extent. Invoke former champions, and people that stand for the USA. And of course, it could have been the first Jack Swagger feud I could have gotten excited about since...well, ever. There's just no reason that I could see for WWE to put the belt on the Miz right now. He doesn't need it, and Cesaro DOES in fact need the belt to stay relevant.

[Wally Dangerously]

I agree with the majority. No way the title changes hands during the pre-show like last time, and Cesaro is too hot right now to drop it. I'm really excited about the career of this new talent. His raw strength is impressive to say the least. I look for Cesaro to have an impressive showing in the Rumble match as well, but I digress....

Prediction: Miz wins via count out