If you could rebook the winner of the 2011 Rumble who would it be?

[WWEvsJosh]

I am not going to lie I am not a fan of ADR and part of the reason why was this Rumble. I really dont think he was the best choice. To be honest going into the ppv i thought the only choices were Sheamus, Morrison, and Punk. Why those three?

Sheamus
I thought then he could be the right heel to switch to SmackDown to challenge Edge for the World Title

Morrison
This could have been a chance to push him to the top and have a fued with his former partner The Miz. Even though he lost their match on Raw earlier that month (good match by the way) ths could have been his second chance.

Punk
With him being the leader of the New Nexus he could have became this big time heel who was planning to take over with his group. Cena could have won the title at The EC ppv and there you go. Cena vs Punk for the WWE title.

I think thoose three were the better choices then ADR. Also there is one more

Santino!
This would have been a moment to remember if he won. You could have had so much fun with this. Him choosing which title he wants to fight for and what not. He could even loose his right to fight at Mania but it would have been awesome if he won the ppv.

Who do you think should have won or would you keep it the same?

 

[Diet Soda]

I would've liked Punk to win it, but to challenge Edge instead. I think that would've garnered more hype than with Del Rio as with hindsight we can see that he clearly wasn't ready for that level.
Furthermore, I think that Punk vs. Edge would be placed higher up on the card, and would be remembered more fondly, being Edge's last match.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Alberto Del Rio was the perfect winner. If any Royal Rumble needs to be rebooked it should be Royal Rumble 2012 not 2011. Alberto Del Rio winning was great and it was part of the push he was getting. People cared about about Alberto Del Rio vs Edge more than they seem to care about Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan.

Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan is the least cared and talked about match in the Wrestlemania 28 match card.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I would still have kept Del Rio as the winner because he was on a roll at the time and it worked for his "destiny" gimmick to emerge as the winner of the Royal Rumble that year. My main problem with that match was Santino. This is a guy who is made out to be a joke on a daily basis, yet he got to receive the honor of coming in second place in the Royal Rumble? WHY? He holds the record of shortest time in a Rumble match in history at ONE SECOND. He was not believable whatsoever to win. Santino is someone who you have come out and get eliminated quickly for a comedy spot, not someone you let almost win the event.

Here is what I would have done instead. Santino comes out as an earlier entrant. He is eliminated within less than a minute by someone, it doesn't matter who. Then it comes down to Del Rio, Kane, Orton, and Barrett. That way you have two guys who are newer that could be believable to win, alongside former world champions in Orton and Kane. Del Rio still wins the match and then I'd have him go on to have his match with Edge at Wrestlemania 27 but they don't open and instead go on towards the middle of the card. The PPV event itself also should have had some type of filler match, having only 4 matches on the card felt like a waste of money. Seeing Santino get 2nd place only made that worse. There was nothing wrong with Alberto winning it though in my opinion.

 

[Harthan]

Punk. Had Punk won the match, he could have surprised everyone by challenging on SmackDown instead of Raw, leaving the Cena/Miz/Rock thing completely interrupted while the Nexus harassed Edge endlessly on the way to WrestleMania, setting up Edge vs Punk at WrestleMania in what would have been an infinitely better last match for Edge than curtain jerking with Alberto del Rio and a proper last hurrah for the Nexus. You can run Alberto del Rio vs Orton in place of the Punk vs Orton match and still have yourself a fine little match there. It improves the title match, leaves a better record for posterity, and puts Punk into his proper position as a title contender. Nothing changes post WrestleMania - Punk loses, Edge retires, and everyone goes on their merry way down the same path that leads Punk to superstardom, except in this alternate reality we got a far superior title match and buildup than del Rio vs Edge, which was the definition of underwhelming.

 

[The12thMan]

I would still keep Del Rio as the winner of the 2011 Rumble. It made sense at the time. I personally think if his match with Edge at Wrestlemania was later in the card and had him booked to win, his win at the rumble wouldn't be as questioned as it is now.

Besides the reason Del Rio isn't getting over really is because he's in the same boat as guys like Barrett, Dolph, Swagger, Miz, Rhodes and more. Too many guys that need to get over simply aren't and its showing.

 

[King of the Words]

I would love to have seen Morrison win and take on The Miz for the WWEC. at Mania 27. They could have brought rock around earlier to build up a match against cena. Instead they teased a feud last year and now we had to wait a whole year for that match. Way too long to wait, and boring most of the times. Del Rio I would have kept building for a match at summer slam for a title. I would have had Punk and Edge for the WHC. Del Rio could have took on Orton in a decent match, having Del Rio win and continue to build his star. Plus with Undertaker and the Game, this could have been one of the best Mania`s of all time.(IMO)

 

[Mr. HD]

Punk. Had Punk won the match, he could have surprised everyone by challenging on SmackDown instead of Raw, leaving the Cena/Miz/Rock thing completely interrupted while the Nexus harassed Edge endlessly on the way to WrestleMania, setting up Edge vs Punk at WrestleMania in what would have been an infinitely better last match for Edge than curtain jerking with Alberto del Rio and a proper last hurrah for the Nexus. You can run Alberto del Rio vs Orton in place of the Punk vs Orton match and still have yourself a fine little match there. It improves the title match, leaves a better record for posterity, and puts Punk into his proper position as a title contender. Nothing changes post WrestleMania - Punk loses, Edge retires, and everyone goes on their merry way down the same path that leads Punk to superstardom, except in this alternate reality we got a far superior title match and buildup than del Rio vs Edge, which was the definition of underwhelming.

I agree, I think Del Rio was rushed to the title picture a little too soon. And at WrestleMania of all places.

Punk seemed like the better choice to me. The match would've been better, the buildup would've been a lot better as we both know Punk and Edge are damn good on the mic. It's one of those matches where Punk would've lost, but he would come out looking stronger and getting more cred in his first WrestleMania World Title Match.

I agree with Orton/Del Rio as well. Del Rio as the up and comer going after one of the top faces to make a name for himself. That story writes itself. I think Orton and Del Rio would've had a good match as well.

 

[JJ15776]

I would still have kept Del Rio as the winner because he was on a roll at the time and it worked for his "destiny" gimmick to emerge as the winner of the Royal Rumble that year. My main problem with that match was Santino. This is a guy who is made out to be a joke on a daily basis, yet he got to receive the honor of coming in second place in the Royal Rumble? WHY? He holds the record of shortest time in a Rumble match in history at ONE SECOND. He was not believable whatsoever to win. Santino is someone who you have come out and get eliminated quickly for a comedy spot, not someone you let almost win the event.

Here is what I would have done instead. Santino comes out as an earlier entrant. He is eliminated within less than a minute by someone, it doesn't matter who. Then it comes down to Del Rio, Kane, Orton, and Barrett. That way you have two guys who are newer that could be believable to win, alongside former world champions in Orton and Kane. Del Rio still wins the match and then I'd have him go on to have his match with Edge at Wrestlemania 27 but they don't open and instead go on towards the middle of the card. The PPV event itself also should have had some type of filler match, having only 4 matches on the card felt like a waste of money. Seeing Santino get 2nd place only made that worse. There was nothing wrong with Alberto winning it though in my opinion.

This is the second time I've seen this type of comment, and it still makes no sense whatsoever. Let's be realistic here. Santino didn't come in second place. He didn't almost win. At no point was he ever treated as somebody who could win, as anything more than a quick comedy spot.

In fact, the Royal Rumble match went almost EXACTLY like you said you'd want it to, with the only slight difference being that it was Cena in Kane's place. Just like you wanted, Santino Marella was in the ring for 20 seconds. Just like you wanted, the final three were still Del Rio, Orton, and Barrett with Del Rio winning. I'll remind you that at this point, the match was essentially over. Del Rio was celebrating, Ricardo Rodriguez was screaming, his music was playing.

Who cares if Santino came back in the ring for another 20 seconds? In his two stints in the ring combined, he still wasn't in there for a minute. It was just another quick elimination for a comedy spot, just like you wanted. It didn't take anything away from the match, because the match was already over at that point. He wasn't treated like somebody who could believably win, he was never even in the ring. It's not like he stuck around in the ring the whole time, holding his own and beating out Barrett, Orton, etc.

I swear, some people......

Anyway, Alberto Del Rio was a fine winner. I can't think of anybody who would've been a better winner, given the way things played out.

 

[The Rob]

I actually would of booked Wade Barrett to win last year's Royal Rumble match. He was on such a roll as a heel as the leader of the Nexus and at that point he had been booted from the group. I would of had Barrett go singles then and not form The Corre, have him beat on people like he was come the end of 2011, enter the Royal Rumble quite late on and eliminate someone like a Randy Orton to win the whole thing. He was more than ready to become the next top heel in the company and in many ways he already was at that point so to have him win the Royal Rumble would of been a way of confirming his status on the roster. Him and Edge could of had a decent feud leading into WrestleMania and I would of also booked him to beat Edge for the title as well.

 

[MattRhys20]

Big Show. He could have lost the title match and given Cody Rhodes another thing to shout about with the losing at Wrestlemania streak

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

I would of kept ADR. Sure not alot of people are behind him. but like Sheamus, SD! Needs the Rumble winner to make the WHC match at WM buildable

 

[Jimmy Carter]

Why the heck not Santino? It would have royally pissed off ADR to have his "destiny" interrrupted by of all people an Italian. This could have pushed both to greater success with ADR's underhanded cheating tactics being repeatedly thwarted by The Cobra. If nothing else, it would have given people a reason to watch a Del Rio match for once.

 

[Headman]

Either Wade or Santino. ADR was pointless. I'm still not sure what they saw in him but it can now be stated as fact that he did nothing to add to the Wrestlemania card. Edge vs ADR didn't look good on paper and it wasn't very good in reality either. They didn't mesh, and who knows if Wade Barrett vs Edge would have been any better, but my personal opinion is that Wade has main event potential while ADR has career midcarder written all over him. Santino would have been cool just for laughs.

Actually another person would be Christian. I am by no means a Christian fan. I don't see what others do in him, but knowing now that this would be Edge's final match the C.L.B. probably would have been a nice opponent for him.

 

[jmess09]

i said punk going into because of the nexus and fued with cena, i thought punk would win and cena would win the elimination chamber for the belt. that would have been better then adr winning i think

 

[ProWrestlingFan84]

I personally had ADR pegged as one of the people that would win the Rumble in 2011 but looking at the Mania match and honestly just him as a whole, just something never clicked. Maybe it was because he was one of the ones forced down our throats for no real reason and was okay at best on the mic but way too much too soon. I think a great idea for someone who should've won instead was CM Punk. He had the whole new Nexus working for him and the WWE could've had something similar to how Legacy helped Randy Orton win the rumble in 2009. Another good option would have been Wade Barret, similar reasons to CM Punk but with the Corre and he was already on Smackdown and in hind sight it would've been better than that awful excuse of a match that did take place with him and the Corre vs Santino and company.

 

[cmedge]

I would have had Alberto win it still because that guy was on a major role. I would have arranged Mania to be like...

Miz vs. Morrison for The WWE Title
Edge vs. CM Punk for The World Title
Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio (him have his match at EC and lose)
John Cena vs. Wade Barrett (Guaranteeing that the whole Nexus thing continues)
I would have removed Jerry Lawler/Cole feud and allowed them to do their real JOBS.

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

I would have still had Alberto Del Rio win, but I would have had him enter A LOT earlier than he did. He entered at #38 and was in the match less than 10 minutes. I know that other winners have entered later and been in there a less amount of time, and I hated when they did it too. You don't have to be a babyface to enter early and stay in it until the end. Look at Ric Flair in '92 (entered at #3), Shawn Michaels in '95 (entered at #1), Steve Austin in '97 (entered at #5) or even recently with Randy Orton in '09 (entered at #8)... the all entered early, won the match and still kept their heat. Actually entering earlier, and still winning, would have better suited Del Rio's "Destiny" thing that he had going on at the time, and built him up as a serious competitor who could last in the ring, not some guy who got lucky with a late draw.

Here is how the final minutes would go...
Randy Orton has just entered at #39 with the only people in the ring being Orton, Del Rio (who I would have had enter at #3 or #4), Punk and all of the members of The New Nexus (Harris, McGillicutty, Otunga and Ryan). Then The buzzer goes off and John Cena enters at #40 and charges to the ring and in quick order eliminates the members of Nexus (which I felt happened FAR too early in the real match) and then he locks eyes with his real target, CM Punk. Punk ducks out of the ring with Cena hot on his tail, chasing him around the ring, Punk slides back in the ring with Cena still chasing him, and at at the last second ducks down and grabs the rope causing Cena to go over the top. As Punk gloats and taunts Cena about outsmarting him Orton walks over and casually dumps Punk out. This would set up a fresh Orton to seemingly have the match won since Del Rio has been in the match for about an hour at this point. As Randy starts to stalk Del Rio Punk would jump up on the apron distracting Orton allowing Del Rio to sneek over and dump him out, and win the Rumble.

 

[LSN80]

Sheamus
I thought then he could be the right heel to switch to SmackDown to challenge Edge for the World Title

I think he was too damaged on Raw at this point to have won the Rumble. After he lost the WWE title for the second time, him winning KOTR turned out to be a huge flop. He couldn't get wins over even lesser faces, and was even beaten by Santino. This would truly have been an "out of nowhere" win, and a Sheamus/Edge feud wouldn't have been a marquee Wrestlemania match. It could be argued that Del Rio/Edge wasn't either, but Del Rio had incredible momentum heading in, and Sheamus did not. Need more evidence? His match was bumped off the WM card. It was too early for Sheamus.

Morrison
This could have been a chance to push him to the top and have a fued with his former partner The Miz. Even though he lost their match on Raw earlier that month (good match by the way) ths could have been his second chance.

I thought this match should have happened at the Royal Rumble, but Morrison vs Miz, like Edge vs Sheamus, fails to sell Wrestlemania. What you have to understand is that WWE was obviously planning for the future when they booked the WWE Title match at Wrestlemania, so how do you get to Cena/Rock through Wrestlemania 27 if Miz vs Morrison is your...possible main event? Alot of people would be turned off by the idea of that as an off-brand PPV as a main, and at Wrestlemania? Rock as guest host couldn't have saved that card. Morrison was wasted at WM 27, no doubt, but he didn't deserve a title match either.

Punk
With him being the leader of the New Nexus he could have became this big time heel who was planning to take over with his group. Cena could have won the title at The EC ppv and there you go. Cena vs Punk for the WWE title.

They really blew it on the New Nexus angle, didn't they? This I could have gotten behind. Upon returning from injury, Punk was immediately inserted into a short feud with John Cena, and had control of the hottest(though fading) faction in years. Punk was the perfect choice to both rebuild the faction, and get pushed himself as a result of it.

Further, I think Punk could have done a better job then Miz did of ensuring he didn't play second fiddle to Rock and Cena, and it would have made for a better match as well. The only issue I have is this: Would it have compromised Punk's storyline over the summer by inserting him into the title picture too soon? An integral part of Punk's shoot is that he had been overlooked for title matches. Kind of hard to make that argument if you're main eventing Wrestlemania, right? Still, if we're looking at it the time, before the shoot, Punk would have been the best choice.

I think thoose three were the better choices then ADR.

At the time, ADR seemed like the right choice, and a lock to take the title at Wrestlemania. He was being pushed hard on both shows, and even got a great rub from HBK when he interrupted him and found himself on the receiving end of a superkick. The build between he and Edge with Christian thrown in was very good, as he was having good to great matches with Christian every week heading in. But not putting the belt on him does make the Rumble win look like a mistake, in hindsight.

Im not an ADR fan, and think he's been really exposed as a mediocre performer on Raw. But at the time, he was being pushed to the moon, and he looked good on the taped Smackdown shows. But his losses at Mania(bad call) and Extreme Rules(right call) along with being drafted to Raw really hurt him.

At the time, ADR seemed like the right choice. But in hindsight, I'd absolutely say that CM Punk would have been a better choice to win the Royal Rumble, and he would have made a great challenger for either Edge or John Cena, had Cena won the title before Wrestlemania. There would have been risk factors, as I noted, such as inserting him into the title picture too soon, as it would have greatly spoiled his shoot that he hadn't been getting title shots.

ADR wasn't a bad choice at the time. Throw any discussion of the shoot and the "summer of Punk" out the window, and focus solely on Punk at the time, and he would have been the best option.

Why the heck not Santino? It would have royally pissed off ADR to have his "destiny" interrrupted by of all people an Italian. This could have pushed both to greater success with ADR's underhanded cheating tactics being repeatedly thwarted by The Cobra. If nothing else, it would have given people a reason to watch a Del Rio match for once.

Ignoring the fact that Italians and Mexicans aren't natural enemies, what you're overlooking here is that unless Santino put his title shot up- which was stupid when Mysterio did it in 2006, and would have been stupid in 2011- is that what right would ADR have for a shot at Santino? This would have meant Santino Marella, resident comedy jobber, being in one of the biggest matches on the biggest show of the year. Winning the Rumble isn't just bragging rights, it's for a title shot at Wrestlemania.

Wrestlemania 27, as it was, mediocre at best. I'm a fan of Santino in small doses, but he's always been presented as a fluke when he wins, for 5 years now. Is that really the type of guy you want headlining Wrestlemania? I don't see the logic.

 

[JJYanks121]

The guy I was pulling for, though he wasn't even in the thing, was Christian. He was about to come back from an injury (played story I know) and was a guy who had worked a long time and never really gotten that shot. It would have been great to see him win the Rumble. Once past it, I had it like this:

Christian vs. Miz
Cena vs. Punk (non-title)
Edge vs. whomever as I would have him retain

The ending of Mania could have been Christian winning the title and Edge celebrating with him with the confetti and all that crap. I think it would have been a nice moment, an even bigger moment than we got a month later when it was contrived with Edge's retirement. No one would have thought about the retirement, just that Christian made it on his own. That's the way I would have gone.

 

[AwesomeRko]

Christian so that we finally got to see him and edge fueding over the world title just before edge retired. The grandest stage of them all is made for marquee fueds and the biggest matches and this one would certainly have held more interest then Edge/Del Rio, it could have been a showstealer.

 

[WWEvsJosh]

I think he was too damaged on Raw at this point to have won the Rumble. After he lost the WWE title for the second time, him winning KOTR turned out to be a huge flop. He couldn't get wins over even lesser faces, and was even beaten by Santino. This would truly have been an "out of nowhere" win, and a Sheamus/Edge feud wouldn't have been a marquee Wrestlemania match. It could be argued that Del Rio/Edge wasn't either, but Del Rio had incredible momentum heading in, and Sheamus did not. Need more evidence? His match was bumped off the WM card. It was too early for Sheamus.



I thought this match should have happened at the Royal Rumble, but Morrison vs Miz, like Edge vs Sheamus, fails to sell Wrestlemania. What you have to understand is that WWE was obviously planning for the future when they booked the WWE Title match at Wrestlemania, so how do you get to Cena/Rock through Wrestlemania 27 if Miz vs Morrison is your...possible main event? Alot of people would be turned off by the idea of that as an off-brand PPV as a main, and at Wrestlemania? Rock as guest host couldn't have saved that card. Morrison was wasted at WM 27, no doubt, but he didn't deserve a title match either.



They really blew it on the New Nexus angle, didn't they? This I could have gotten behind. Upon returning from injury, Punk was immediately inserted into a short feud with John Cena, and had control of the hottest(though fading) faction in years. Punk was the perfect choice to both rebuild the faction, and get pushed himself as a result of it.

Further, I think Punk could have done a better job then Miz did of ensuring he didn't play second fiddle to Rock and Cena, and it would have made for a better match as well. The only issue I have is this: Would it have compromised Punk's storyline over the summer by inserting him into the title picture too soon? An integral part of Punk's shoot is that he had been overlooked for title matches. Kind of hard to make that argument if you're main eventing Wrestlemania, right? Still, if we're looking at it the time, before the shoot, Punk would have been the best choice.



At the time, ADR seemed like the right choice, and a lock to take the title at Wrestlemania. He was being pushed hard on both shows, and even got a great rub from HBK when he interrupted him and found himself on the receiving end of a superkick. The build between he and Edge with Christian thrown in was very good, as he was having good to great matches with Christian every week heading in. But not putting the belt on him does make the Rumble win look like a mistake, in hindsight.

Im not an ADR fan, and think he's been really exposed as a mediocre performer on Raw. But at the time, he was being pushed to the moon, and he looked good on the taped Smackdown shows. But his losses at Mania(bad call) and Extreme Rules(right call) along with being drafted to Raw really hurt him.

At the time, ADR seemed like the right choice. But in hindsight, I'd absolutely say that CM Punk would have been a better choice to win the Royal Rumble, and he would have made a great challenger for either Edge or John Cena, had Cena won the title before Wrestlemania. There would have been risk factors, as I noted, such as inserting him into the title picture too soon, as it would have greatly spoiled his shoot that he hadn't been getting title shots.

ADR wasn't a bad choice at the time. Throw any discussion of the shoot and the "summer of Punk" out the window, and focus solely on Punk at the time, and he would have been the best option.



Ignoring the fact that Italians and Mexicans aren't natural enemies, what you're overlooking here is that unless Santino put his title shot up- which was stupid when Mysterio did it in 2006, and would have been stupid in 2011- is that what right would ADR have for a shot at Santino? This would have meant Santino Marella, resident comedy jobber, being in one of the biggest matches on the biggest show of the year. Winning the Rumble isn't just bragging rights, it's for a title shot at Wrestlemania.

Wrestlemania 27, as it was, mediocre at best. I'm a fan of Santino in small doses, but he's always been presented as a fluke when he wins, for 5 years now. Is that really the type of guy you want headlining Wrestlemania? I don't see the logic.

I think you make good points here but I still have to disagree about Del Rio being a good choice. I am not saying this because of the way things turned out I really thought those guys were better choices because more fans knew who they were. I know people are going to name all the things he did before the Rumble but you can even see after Orton was gone no one really booed or cheered until Santino came back in. So even with all the stuff he did before noone cared still.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

I see A LOT of people saying Punk, but honestly, if Punk wins the 2011 we never get the amazing Money in the Bank match and build up for it. He would have no real reason to complain, he got a main event match at Wrestlemania. And even if he did complain, no one would give a shit, because again, he got the main event at Wrestlemania.

I'm fine with ADR winning it that year. I am not fine with Edge winning at Wrestlemania.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Let's be realistic here. Santino didn't come in second place. He didn't almost win. At no point was he ever treated as somebody who could win, as anything more than a quick comedy spot.

In the history books it reads that Alberto Del Rio won the 2011 Royal Rumble by last eliminating SANTINO MARELLA. That means Santino got second place and he almost won. Did you even watch the match?

Santino Marella was in the ring for 20 seconds. Just like you wanted, the final three were still Del Rio, Orton, and Barrett with Del Rio winning.

Santino was in the ring 13 minutes and he was the LAST person to be eliminated. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about other than Alberto winning the match.

Who cares if Santino came back in the ring for another 20 seconds? In his two stints in the ring combined, he still wasn't in there for a minute. It was just another quick elimination for a comedy spot, just like you wanted. It didn't take anything away from the match, because the match was already over at that point. He wasn't treated like somebody who could believably win, he was never even in the ring. It's not like he stuck around in the ring the whole time, holding his own and beating out Barrett, Orton, etc.

I'm convinced at this point that you never even watched the match. Santino was in the match ONCE and it lasted 13 minutes. You claim he was in it twice at 20 seconds each. Go back and watch the match again. They had a comedy relief character emerging as the runner up in what was supposedly "the biggest royal rumble ever". This was a terrible show and the only good thing about it was Alberto winning, which was a smart choice due to him being on fire at the time in terms of momentum. I do agree with you that he was the best choice to have win the match.

 

[LSN80]

I think you make good points here but I still have to disagree about Del Rio being a good choice. I am not saying this because of the way things turned out I really thought those guys were better choices because more fans knew who they were.

I disagree, but for arguments sake, let's assume this argument is true. Isn't the Rumble about making stars, or taking the hottest act in the company and putting them over? Del Rio had just competed for the World Title in a TLC match at TLC 2010, and he was appearing on Raw and Smackdown every week in the weeks leading up to the Rumble. Batista was a made man after winning it all in 2005, and Benoit was pushed from mid-card to main event in 2004. The only problem with Del Rio here was after concluding his feud with Mysterio, he was floating around, getting wins every week on both Raw and Smackdown, but with no direction.

Was it a case of too much, too soon? Sure. But WWE pushed him as a top heel from the moment he debuted when he made Mysterio tap in his debut match. Sheamus had been knocked down several notches, and Morrison isn't a title match at Wrestlemania kind of talent. The argument could be said similarly about Del Rio, but he was being pushed as if he was. He was good enough to have a very good build with Edge(and Christian) heading into Wrestlemania, and I'm not sure Morrison or Sheamus could have done the same.

As I said, Punk would have been my pick. It would have been a terrific opportunity to keep the Nexus relevant, as they faded away quickly following the Rumble. But I only pick Punk looking at things at the time, not in the aftermath that followed in the summer.

But taking everything into consideration, Punk winning the Rumble and main eventing Wrestlemania would have killed his program in the summer, however, so that's not a trade-off I'd have wanted to see made. Del Rio was the heel version of Sheamus in 2011, floating around dominating the mid-card without a real program. Winning the Rumble gave him a sense of direction.

Leaving the summer program out of the way, Punk would have been the better choice. Taking that into consideration, however, and Del Rio was the right call. Not because of what he did following the Rumble, but because of how he was pushed prior.