[OFFICIAL] Sheamus Wins The 2012 Royal Rumble Discussion

[HorsemenNo4]

uhh.......this does not automatically put Sheamus in the World Heavyweight Championship picture. What if Sheamus decides to challenge CM Punk. He gets to choose who he fights.

Because it's Wrestlemania. They won't book a Face vs Face title match! It's nearly always Face vs Heel for the title (I don't recall any Face vs Face but I could be wrong) because it sells better. Punk won't turn heel for awhile since he's red hot on RAW. Sheamus is the same on Smackdown.
And before you may mention Cena vs Rock (both faces). That's a whole other story. It's a match of the decade, special build.

 

[Martin Gabriel]

Sheamus didn't deserve to win the royal rumble and for one reason: he had no build up prior to the rumble match. He has been floating around as of late and has done nothing but squash Jinder several times within the past month or so. I honestly have been looking at Sheamus as nothing more than a mid-carder since he hasn't done anything relevant for awhile.

Sheamus is about as good as the Miz when it comes to wrestling and that's not a compliment. He's stale, boring to watch and has little to no charisma. His chest slaps, clotheslines and power moves gets extremely boring after awhile. I swear the only reason he's getting his big push is because he's workout buddies with HHH and was complimented by HBK before he left the WWE. I'm not exactly sure what people see in Sheamus but to me the guy is bland.

As for Jericho not winning the rumble, this doesn't mean he's not going to get pushed but he would have been the logical choice and should have won the rumble match. Man, I think Barrett had more build-up within recent weeks than Sheamus. The whole Barrett Barrage thing and taking out Orton sounds alot better than squashing a jobber named Jinder for the past month. Anyways, this rumble winner was a real letdown.

xcoN, a lot of what you said makes sense, but I think there's more to it than that. To begin with, on Sheamus' skill, I personally mark like hell for every stiff forearm and kick he delivers. He doesn't need to be a master of counter holds and submissions to be a great wrestler. He makes strikes count and times his matches perfectly, getting terrific responses for just about everything he does. For a man so large, he's surprisingly adept at bumping, rolling and even a few feats of athleticism. Those first two might not sound all that impressive, but considering men much smaller, from The Miz to Cena to William Regal are often cited for poor examples of bumping, guys who've spent years perfecting their craft, you should be able to glean just how challenging it can actually be to master those fundamental qualities.

I agree Sheamus didn't really have much storyline significance to indicate a likely Rumble victory, but from a kayfabe sense, he's been built as a wrecking machine quite capable of winning the Royal Rumble. Then while Wade Barrett may have had better storylines going into this Rumble, he still is not as big of a draw or as much of a proven wrestler as Sheamus is. Though left off the main card last year, he still performed well with Triple H at WrestleMania 26, something casual fans who tune in just for WrestleMania and its build are going to remember better than Wade Barrett, who's done very little at or around WrestleMania, WWE's peak of ratings and pay-per-view sales and thus the most opportune time frame to make an impression.

To expand upon the notion that Sheamus is a simply superior wrestler to Wade Barrett, it's a simple matter of fact that one can point out more quality matches with Sheamus than Wade Barrett. Off the top of my head, he's had very good matches with John Morrison, Daniel Bryan, Christian and Triple H. Wade Barrett has not proven himself as much as Sheamus.

As for Chris Jericho, though of course he was a more logical winner from what we've seen thus far, my expectation is that he uses this loss as a premise to his inevitable heel turn. And whether he's challenging Undertaker or CM Punk for their respective mantles, he didn't need that win.

 

[docseabee]

was I disappointed with this rumble, no one that could be seen as a contender entered until Sheamus. All of the tag teams entered where IMO a waste of an entry, and did anyone actually see Hacksaw, Cole, King, or Booker T actually winning. Heck where was the Undertaker.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Because it's Wrestlemania. They won't book a Face vs Face title match! It's nearly always Face vs Heel for the title (I don't recall any Face vs Face but I could be wrong) because it sells better. Punk won't turn heel for awhile since he's red hot on RAW. Sheamus is the same on Smackdown.

WM23 had Face vs. Face Title matches but yeah when you consider that Punk and Sheamus are not established headliners yet it would make more sense to pair them up with either a top face or a heel to protect them from the crowd.

I can see the WM card going like this

WHC: Sheamus vs. Orton - they have history, and they could make a story where Sheamus has never beaten Orton yet.

WWE Title: CM Punk vs. Triple H - this was rumored they can already use the story with Johnny Ace to build on this

Jericho vs. Undertaker - this could be the last chance to have Jericho and Undertaker face each other on PPV.

Then of course with Rock vs. Cena, you have a pretty sexy card.

As for the Rumble ... I have some Plus and minuses

What I didn't like:
Too many guest entrants, I counted 7/30, that almost 1/5th while I had fun seeing the Announcers an Foley (though they could have done something with him), Im surprised they could not fit in Cena, Kane, Henry, Ryder, McIntyre in the card.

A lot of dead time in the beginning. The Miz and Rhodes had to carry 2/3 of the Rumble.

What I liked:
Rhodes and The Miz being on the Rumble early and going coast to coast. Nice to see the WWE putting faith in Rhodes or The Miz carrying the whole thing.

Back to 30 ... 40 participants was just too much for me.

The ending ... Loved that they dedicated plenty of time with Sheamus and Jericho at the end. Last three rumbles have been lackluster here having quick eliminations when it went to the final two. For this year it was nice having the last two going at it for a long period. Adding a climatic finish to the Rumble.

 

[Nate DaMac]

was I disappointed with this rumble, no one that could be seen as a contender entered until Sheamus. All of the tag teams entered where IMO a waste of an entry, and did anyone actually see Hacksaw, Cole, King, or Booker T actually winning. Heck where was the Undertaker and where was Brock, we have all heard the rumors.

Did anyone with even a shred of credibility say that Brock or Taker were possibilities? I really doubt that's true. Taker is someone I could have foreseen, but to think Brock was even a slight possibility is so incredibly ******ed that I'm quite literally afraid to use the same water fountain as anyone who thinks otherwise. These rumors are built up by fans, just like you and me(mostly you) who grasp for the most illogical angles out there. Could you imagine the amount of money the WWE would be throwing away by having Brock fucking Lesnar show up at a PPV unannounced? Sure, it would be an awesome moment. But last I heard, Eric Bischoff isn't running this company. "Working the marks" should never take precedent over making money.

On topic now, Sheamus rules so I have nothing to gripe about. I doubt Dick Butt holds on to the title that long. He'll drop it to someone else, Henry, Big Show, Christian maybe. Whoever he faces at Wrestlemania has to lose though. If not, that little bit at the end of the "By the Numbers" video package is probably going to have to be edited out since the number would be too low to be noteworthy.

 

[Police Penis Sucking Goat Fucker]

I'm surprised how many coments were posted so quick

I'm a big Sheamus fan although I was expecting Jericho to win since a Royal Rumble win is one of the only things Jericho has yet to do. I said when Sheamus entered the ring he will win the rumble within the next 3 years I just wasn't expecting it to be tonight. I thought it was a great final two and a huge surprise. As long as we still get to see Punk vs Jericho I'm fine with Sheamus winning the Royal Rumble I'm actually looking forward and hopeing to see him fued with Daniel Bryan for the title I just can't see him and Punk fueding.

 

[gwarren]

Anyone else find it ironic that this time last year, Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan was a dark match at WM for the US championship? Lol

 

[Minarin]

I don't understand the hate for the ppv at all.

Only issues I had were Michael Cole and how they made Primo and Epico look weak.

I really enjoyed the royal rumble. Didn't see Seamus winning at all and thats what I want. I don't want a predictable royal rumble. Jim Duggan was obviously in it as its the 25 year anniversary and the crowd loved it from what I can tell. Road Dogg was carrying on from where he left off. Great Khali was huge shock. Booker T and Lawler were suprises, Booker still has it and he's good enough to still be main eventing. Cole was a waste of an entrant. Kharma was a huge suprise and for someone who's recently had a kid, she did a lot. Del Rio's announcer was a nice suprise. He's funny and will take bumps. He had quite a loud chant.

Also for those who hate how it happened. Remember they've had injuries and suspensions recently. Henry is probably to injured to take a major bump out of the ring. DiBiase has his injured arm, Evan Bourne is suspended. There's three major changes. Cena was selling the beat up by Kane.

They are giving Sheamus the ball for wrestlemania, what happens is up to him, will he run or will he fail.

 

[thebarber]

yep, the marks all banging on about Jericho and Orton forced the bookers to come up with something different. Sheamus vs Bryan, as predicted over a month ago when putting my Mania 28 card down in the mania 28 thread. Jericho wins Elimination Chamber then challenges Punk. Gives 3 more weeks to tidy up the Punk/Laurinatis storyline so Punk is fresh to commence the 6 week build up to Mania with Jericho.

 

[MVA09]

I think we all agree Sheamus deserved to be the winner...The question was not whether he should have won or not...the question is how good was the rumble...how good were the entrances...how were the surprises...basically, i never felt any goosebumps...For instance, even though i dint agree with alberto winning the rumble last year(which did no good to his carrier-a complete waste), but we did see some good surprises in booker T and diesel. It would have been awesome if Christian had been in the rumble and some of the big names like HHH or Undertaker...biggest let down-Kane not being in the Rumble...lawler and cole being there...well that was a complete waste...

 

[Aeon Mathix]

I thought it was a solid PPV all around. It started out pretty shitty with a lackluster first hour, but it picked up around the WWE title match. I liked the rumble too. Lots of guys got to show their stuff and had some hilarious moments. No arguments from me here.

As for Sheamus winning, my jaw literally dropped when he eliminated Jericho. I was so sure Jericho was going to win that I was considering not even paying to watch the show. Glad I got worked though and Sheamus is a damn fine choice to win. Congrats to him he deserves it and is getting more pops than 90 percent of the roster at the moment. I think it was great they pulled the trigger with him.

On to Wrestlemania, this is where I am really confused. I for the life of me cannot pick a possible World title scenario for Sheamus. As in who he should face. I can't see him facing Bryan at all, Barrett would have been an interesting feud and match had they not already wasted it on smackdown, Sheamus has fought Orton too much, I don't want Show or Henry anywhere near the title picture come Mania. I could see Jericho somehow getting the strap for Mania somehow. They put on a GREAT showing at the end of the rumble and already have the story set in place, so I think that would make for a pretty damn fine World title match

 

[lloyd7]

I like Sheamus and have no real issue with him winning the rumble my only problem is they used four months building up this return for Jericho I mean Christ he didn't talk until last week and when he spoke the crowd went nuts he has had us all in the palm of his hands. Now his first match that he actually participates in he loses? And clean? He said Sunday at the rumble would be the end of the world as we know it, unless he meant his good supernova I just see no way they turn this around to make sense. Their writing for the whole ppv just seemed out of sync. Kane and Cena worked I'm glad it will continue some but Honestly not much else seemed to make sense the Rumble itself seemed to be somewhat of a joke in many areas. I would have rather seen Jericho hit the code breaker on Sheamus then stop smile look around and eliminate himself honestly that keeps both Sheamus and Jericho look solid and Jericho explains on Raw that it's not about winning it's about taking what's his and that's the title of best in the world.

 

[M]

I still find it hilarious that the two people everyone was bitching about not appearing at last wrestlemania are now going to be in a main event on the grandest stage of them all, it's like they just said "fuck it, you want these guys, you can have them, happy now?"
- I actually couldn't be happier for this to happen though, two guys that we will see in years to come as the headliners of the future being given their chance to shine is great for the future of the company, it shows that they have the depth required to move on to more diverse title pictures, which is sorely needed.

 

[Y2JBL]

Really strange Rumble. I agree with a comment I saw that said it was like no real competitors entered the Rumble until Sheamus (or maybe Ziggler was before him). So many wasted spots. Heck, I almost agreed with Ziggler telling Foley on Raw that it would be a waste to give him a spot, yet I knew once King and Booker had been involved that eventually Cole's name would come up, and Hacksaw and a few others were entertaining but pointless. So Foley wasn't the only one robbing a spot from someone more deserving. Should have been another 40 man rumble if they wanted to include so many strange names. And despite being booked earlier on the card it was kinda lame not having some big names like Kane and others involved. So many spoilers were wrong, maybe WWE was trying to swerve the IWC all along, but no Ryback, Christian, etc.

Anyways, as far as the winner, I like Sheamus, so it doesn't bother me much. He hasn't had much to work with except a boring feud with Mahal week after week, hasn't been in the title picture for a while, and I think he is one of the best of the new generation of stars, so I'm glad he got his spot at WM. I don't think Orton needed or deserved the win, and having Jericho proclaim that the Rumble would be the beginning of the end yet not having him win was actually a nice surprise. Other than Sheamus, Orton, or Jericho, I don't really know who would have been a fitting winner, so I guess it's fairly reasonable.

Still overall just a strange and somewhat disappointing Rumble match.

 

[Roskell]

I think like myself what people are going on about Jericho not winning, is that your right he doesn't need to win it, but if Jericho is not going to win then having two month build up and then proclaim that at the Royal Rumble it's going to be “END OF THE WORLD AS YOU NO IT!” which was the whole thing behind the comeback videos…then do nothing but finish runner up.. it pretty much killed his return. It wasted two months of slow build, at least the past few RAW’s it was building momentum. Last night did nothing to progress his return, it just lost the mystique around it all, it didn’t plant the seeds for something bigger down the line…he just lost like 28 others. It’s becoming a thing about Jericho not living up to the hype of his returns.

Other than that I thought it was a great PPV and a great Royal Rumble.

(P.S I am a massive Jericho fan, my all-time favourite. I think the excitement of another return of his was lost last night.)

 

[SD619]

That was surprising.

I highly doubt that many people expected to see Sheamus win and that too by eliminating Jericho. Sheamus winning is quite a good decision as he is a really over guy and gets good pops. I think that he will challenge the World heavyweight champion at Wrestlemania, and the champion will not be Bryan.

 

[XXJJ]

I think like myself what people are going on about Jericho not winning, is that your right he doesn't need to win it, but if Jericho is not going to win then having two month build up and then proclaim that at the Royal Rumble it's going to be “END OF THE WORLD AS YOU NO IT!” which was the whole thing behind the comeback videos…then do nothing but finish runner up.. it pretty much killed his return. It wasted two months of slow build, at least the past few RAW’s it was building momentum. Last night did nothing to progress his return, it just lost the mystique around it all, it didn’t plant the seeds for something bigger down the line…he just lost like 28 others. It’s becoming a thing about Jericho not living up to the hype of his returns.

Other than that I thought it was a great PPV and a great Royal Rumble.

(P.S I am a massive Jericho fan, my all-time favourite. I think the excitement of another return of his was lost last night.)

I agree that it does hurt Jericho's 2 month build. It would be like if Orton came back to SD this past friday and cut a promo about how much it would mean to him to win the Rumble in his hometown..and then he didn't win it. It would just make him look bad. But he didn't do anything like that, he didn't even mention the Rumble. He just went after Barrett on Friday.

I think they did hurt Jericho's build. He didn't back up his first words spoken on Raw. What was the point of him speaking? He should of just trolled around the ring for another week. What was the point of all those cryptic promos? His first action resulted in absolutely nothing. He would of been better off just eliminating himself at the RR, lol.

 

[mb47]

I am of the feeling that Sheamus' Rumble win was a last minute type thing.

Now I am firmly for Sheamus being given the win and I'm all for him in a WM Main Event. But to me the win didn't seem right. Sheamus has done great in whatever position asked of him but he's been out of the main event picture for a short while and not really been doing much. This is where the problems begin for me;

Jericho's first words since returning now seem weak, he seems weak and whatever he ends up doing makes both people involved look weak. Say Jericho vs. Punk happens, with Sheamus having won the Rumble and stopped Jericho's thunder then it makes Punk look the lesser champion, he looks weaker because Jericho looks weaker.

Orton and Jericho are in there at the end of the match. To me Sheamus looked out of place, it looked as though the original finish involved Jericho and Orton.

Sheamus didn't need the Rumble win, just a good showing eliminating some top guys and in the final 3 would be enough of a push to throw him back in the main event and say next PPV somehow Bryan cheats a win from Sheamus to keep the title setting up a WM feud. At the expense of predictability this win needed to be Jericho's. I think that even last Monday when Jericho finally spoke, he was the intended winner. I think Sheamus was going to get a WM title match against Bryan as well though.

I think they pulled the switch for the main reason of unpredictability and to make Sheamus seem dominant and really put him at that top level. Also I believe they're confident that Jericho will be able to pull it back and the loss won't slow down his momentum. In my eyes though Jericho's momentum is gone and he should have won the Rumble and Sheamus vs Bryan happen on SD this week with Bryan TRYING to get DQ'd and Sheamus picking up a clean win, this starts off their feud to WM.

 

[thrashtastic]

I would have rather seen Jericho hit the code breaker on Sheamus then stop smile look around and eliminate himself honestly that keeps both Sheamus and Jericho look solid and Jericho explains on Raw that it's not about winning it's about taking what's his and that's the title of best in the world.

How in the world would that make Sheamus look solid?

Anyway, I enjoyed the Rumble match. Sure, I wanted Jericho to win (I still want Punk/Jericho like no other!), but I have no problem with Sheamus winning. I like him, and he gets a great reaction from the crowd. I'd like to see him and Daniel Bryan go at it at Wrestlemania. I'm liking Bryan as a heel and feuding with an over babyface like Sheamus will give him more of a rub in my opinion.

 

[GameOver]

Agree with all the naysayers, i'm usuall one to defend WWE but that was one if not the weakest Royal Rumble PPV's ever.

Mostly jobbers come out for the first half then all the bad asses come out at the end and just about everyone gets eliminated quickly. Zzzzz

did anyone notice too that the time was not 2minutes it was more like 1minute.

Jericho should've won, Sheamus makes little sense seeing how he's been fueding with nobodies. He's a great championship choice I guess and they need someone to fued with Bryan now.
but Jericho should've won to further his supposed epic statements.

The rest of the matches were very forgettable too.

What about the commentry statements relating to who was eligible. The promo's at the start and the last few weeks stating "everyone" is eligible, yet during the rumble it was only people that didn't win a title and a 5 were people not even on the active roster. Lastly poor Kane's record number of rumbles in a row comes to an end at 13 think they woulda given him entry to reward him for putting up with that dismal match with Cena.

Shame WWE Shame Shame Shame. i can feel another ordinary WrestleMania coming up

 

[MurfDirt]

I don't know what was worse, the ruble itself or The Miz's fake tan!
Tag Team champions totally buried,
Far to much comedy and novelty entries,
One Uso but not the other,
Big Show but no Mark Henry,
Entries wasted on Booker, Jawler and Cole,
No Funkasaurus!

All in all the rumble was very messy and altogether poor.

 

[you.think.you.know.me]

I don't know what was worse, the ruble itself or The Miz's fake tan!

LOL... it was all over the ring. i couldn't believe how much fake tan he had on... he must of got a spray that morning! my tan never comes off like that. JESUS! i hope he has learnt a lesson. not to steal maryse's fake tan before a main event!

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I guess people were bitching when Hogan won the Rumble two times in a row and never gave the chance to Macho Man or The Ultimate Warrior. And then when the WWF decided to give it to young guys like HBK and Austin people were bitching again. After that Vince wins it in order to further a storyline and people bitch again. Then comes the burial of Kane in 2001 and "The rumble being given to a rookie" in 2003. In 2006, "Mysterio doesn't even now to cut a promo" and "Am I suppossed to take this guy seriously" or the other "Orton looks like crap after being eliminated by Mysterio, he should have won it". In 2010 "Edge was too predictable" and last year "Del Rio sucks, why not Kane?" (who was in his 40's). This year "Why Sheamus? Jericho got ruined! Where's the end of the World?"

Sheamus has been talking about winning since the first Smackdown after TLC. Why not helping him establish himself as a top face alongside CM Punk, Cena and Orton? And what's all about Jericho's promise? He's a heel! Heels don't keep their promises. And he also was a heel. Only three times heels have won a Rumble. In 2009 when Orton won it and last year when Del Rio did. Orton won it by working with a team, something heelish and you saw where Del Rio went. And I don't believe anybody wants to see a Vince McMahon-like victory. What could Jericho do in order to make hem look as the ultimate heel? Only to enter in #30 in an empty ring after everyone has been eliminated. Really? REALLY? How disgrefull would that be to the entire concept? Jericho came in fought and died like a heel. And he did something he's been doing since 2009 and that's putting over younger talent. Hart did it in 1997, Undertaker did it in 2003, Big show one year after and many others. Why not Jericho?

And think of this: If Jericho really is a "corporate" guy, then he won't have a problem entering the WWE Chmpionship match or challenging the Streak.

Now as far as the rest of the PPV goes, I thought it was bad. I believe they should come up with a more unique ending in the cage match. I thought that Johnny L. would be the REFEREE. Isn't that what a special guest ref is? A superstar that replaces the actual ref? Mick Foley style in the past? That wasn't a special guest ref, that was an outside enforcer. I believe that the match lost its interest after that decision.

 

[peter316]

I'm glad Sheamus won (even though he soaps HHH's backside) but Jericho is ruined.

Whatever Y2J has to say on RAW...what does it matter ? He's gonna call out Undertaker or Punk ? He can't even beat Sheamus who was in there a...what would make people believe he is anything but a loudmouth now ? The end of the world as we know it...well, judging from the amount of "talent" that infested the Royal Rumble last night, it might be the end of something...ratings and such.

 

[#1HEEL]

I think certain factors impacted the Rumble. First off, so many wrestlers are injured at the moment. Henry, Christian etc...

Second, Cena seemingly couldnt be in it, because he's facing Rock so this way he doesn't look weak.

Kane... not sure why on earth they wouldn't have made an impact with Kane in the rumble. Imagine is taker's gong sounded and Kane got eliminated... i know it's happened before, but you all would have marked hard.

Ryder... you know he'd have brought entertainment, but they are writing him off or building towards something.

Barrett/Orton - why introduce them so late if there is no intention on either winning. Bad booking IMO, Orton was out there for a few minutes thats all, same for Barrett. You filled the match out with midcarders mostly, amongst the upper mids of Ziggler/Rhodes and Miz. Truth... gone early. Makes little sense to me.

RR Problem: protecting the main eventers. Thats the problem, they were trying to protect the Cena/Orton/Kane/Undertaker/HHH's. Guys who needed to be present.

Other matches: will not be discussed not worthy.

However: Ziggler/Punk

Why, why, why WWE!

Epic potential, and what they did showed that. But you threw in ref bumps and Laurinitis. The method of Laurinitis being involved completely sucked, at least make him the ref instead of enforcer..

You also booked Ziggler WEAK. Yes I know he kicked out of alot of high impact arsenal early, but no finishing moves he performed. He was hit was about 3 GTS and 2 vices. Made to look like a bitch, all the while Booker T is pumping him up on commentary. Bad bad booking.