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 DaMac]

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.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

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.

 

[#SAWFT]

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.

 

[JamJam]

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]

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.

 

[Benson]

The first thing that's KILLING Del Rio right now is his lack of mic skills. And it's not just mic skills, it's lack of conversation ability. Even on commentary, it's painful to listen to. I know it's because he has to translate everything to English before he says it, and there is that little delay that's going to prevent him from ever being smooth on the mic, but still. I'm not sure that's the sole reason he's poor on the mic.

Secondly, is the Cross-Armbreaker. Sorry, but submission holds don't work for WWE heels, because no top face is EVER going to tap out in today's WWE. It, in some way, works for Daniel Bryan mostly because they established it while he was a face, and they have Bryan pick up most of his big wins through a cheap pin. Del Rio, however, has not ever made a top guy tap out clean with the Arm-Breaker. I mean, Chris Jericho figured this out and added the Code Breaker. Del Rio needs to add an Impact Finish to his arsenal.

Third, is that he has no character development. In two years, NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. At all. We know that he's rich. We know that he's a cheater. That's it. In two years, that's what they've established with us.

That's why I'm not at all a fan of this Sheamus/Del Rio fued. Sheamus is good enough, and I don't mean to say that he needs to be carried, but I don't think he's good enough to have a grat match with anybody. Now, if there's one saving grace in all this, it's that Del Rio can go in the ring. But why should I care? The WWE has not given me ONE reason to give a shit about Alberto Del Rio. So while the match itself will be very good, I'll likely struggle to keep my interest in it.

 

[Martin Gabriel]

The first thing that's KILLING Del Rio right now is his lack of mic skills. And it's not just mic skills, it's lack of conversation ability. Even on commentary, it's painful to listen to. I know it's because he has to translate everything to English before he says it, and there is that little delay that's going to prevent him from ever being smooth on the mic, but still. I'm not sure that's the sole reason he's poor on the mic.

Secondly, is the Cross-Armbreaker. Sorry, but submission holds don't work for WWE heels, because no top face is EVER going to tap out in today's WWE. It, in some way, works for Daniel Bryan mostly because they established it while he was a face, and they have Bryan pick up most of his big wins through a cheap pin. Del Rio, however, has not ever made a top guy tap out clean with the Arm-Breaker. I mean, Chris Jericho figured this out and added the Code Breaker. Del Rio needs to add an Impact Finish to his arsenal.

Third, is that he has no character development. In two years, NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. At all. We know that he's rich. We know that he's a cheater. That's it. In two years, that's what they've established with us.

That's why I'm not at all a fan of this Sheamus/Del Rio fued. Sheamus is good enough, and I don't mean to say that he needs to be carried, but I don't think he's good enough to have a grat match with anybody. Now, if there's one saving grace in all this, it's that Del Rio can go in the ring. But why should I care? The WWE has not given me ONE reason to give a shit about Alberto Del Rio. So while the match itself will be very good, I'll likely struggle to keep my interest in it.

I disagree about the armbar. The only time I've really felt letdown by his want of an impact finisher was when he won the WWE Championship off of an enziguri after cashing in Money in the Bank. I know Punk had also taken a Jacknife Powerbomb, but even then, other wrestlers had taken more abuse before a successful cash-in than Punk did. It's nit-picky and insignificant in how Punk's push would develop, but it stuck out to me at the time.

I doubt you really mean Del Rio has NEVER cleanly forced someone into submission with the armbar, because he was pushed hard in his brief time with WWE and has had plenty of squashes or at least one-sided matches, which he won with the armbar regardless of any dirty tactics. However, it shouldn't matter if he has to use dirty tactics to win with an armbar. He's a heel, he'd probably do them anyway. Also, so much of his offense is based off of working the arm, like the armbreakers he uses, that his offense would lose that pointed, refined feel I get when seeing him focus so much of his effort into setting up just one move.

The lack of character development is certainly true, though at least WWE acknowledges it, as we saw in his promos with Punk. I have to say, though, I'm still confused by how impatient people seem with this feud. They only started building it this week, not considering the fact he was already named number one contender a few weeks ago, since Sheamus still had to wrap up his feud with Bryan before really beginning a program with Del Rio. Give it a few weeks. Even if it's not a great story by Over the Limit, if they shoot for a rematch it could be built up better by then. I felt like the story for Bryan-Sheamus was a lot stronger going into Extreme Rules than it was for WrestleMania. Considering the life of a world title feud is often two or three pay-per-view matches, it should always be expected that the earliest match might be in want of some extra build. Not every rivalry itself, like Punk-Bryan could. Fuck, I'm so excited to see where they take that on Monday. I want Bryan to be like, "Fuck you Punk, they were calling me 'Best in the World' while you still wore shorts and dyed your hair blonde."

 

[lenguy]

I'm actually happy to see this match become a fatal four way match. Namely because a one on one match between Sheamus and Del Rio just didn't sound all that interesting,or thrilling for that matter. Nothing against the two,I'm sure the match itself would have been fine but the build would have surely sucked.

So with that said,this fatal four way should be a fun match with a lot of back and forth action. All four men are exciting enough on their own as singles competitors,so throwing them all in a single match should make for some exciting moments. I don't expect a new champion to be crowned. However,if they do go that route,I expect the win and surprise victor to be Del Rio,should they decide to go with the swerve. Orton doesn't need another title reign yet and Jericho is said to be taking his leave soon. So Del Rio seems like the logical suitor if a title change were to occur. With that said,I still expect Sheamus to retain in what should be a fun match.

 

[Martin Gabriel]

​

Yeah, this is definitely a much better way of booking the title. I was among the few on here excited for Sheamus-Del Rio, but in light of the fact Del Rio really was rushed into the title scene, this is a much better way of building his involvement while adding bigger names for extra incentive to tune in.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I'm glad they made this a fatal four way as well. I like Sheamus, but his booking hasn't been great since winning the title. And ADR is just awful. He bores the shit out of me and has cut the same promo over and over for more than a year now.

Orton has been out of the title picture too long IMO and a brief stint back definitely won't hurt. And I've always been a fan of how Jericho can really add a spark to triple threats and fatal four ways.

 

[Shades]

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.

They've (WWE) made Christian look bad over the past couple of months. He would have to regain momentum, since he doesn't have much right now.

I wish Randy Orton would win it... if he goes on a heel after he wins it, then I think that could make a great story line. He plays a great bad guy.

 

[XXJJ]

I thought they did a great job with the tag match. They had Jericho pin Sheamus, Sheamus accidently kick Orton and Orton RKO Sheamus when he was trying to help him up. It felt very organic and not forced like some other fatal fourway matches.

Adding Orton and Jericho into this match was a great idea. I was not looking forward to Sheamus vs Del Rio.

 

[Mebzone]

I say Jericho wins this then continues his fued with punk for best in the world having title versus title matches I dont think the belts will be unified but i can see this happening...i would love for jericho to win and bryan lose but starts calling himself the best in the world Punk vs Y2J vs Bryan at summerslam for the best in the world

 

[Dagger Dias]

This is going to be great. Fatal Fourways are a great match type, they are very underrated. The inclusion of Jericho and Orton made this match appear far more interesting. Other than perhaps Del Rio, anyone in the match has good odds of winning. Jericho has yet to win a major match since his return and this would be a great place to start. He could have blinking lights temporarily added to the belt to match his jacket if he wins. Orton has decent odds as well and is always a good world title candidate. Del Rio is not winning. He shouldn't really even be a contender, although worse people have been given shots before. Then there's Sheamus. WWE would be smart to keep the belt on him so that he can still be pushed as a strong champion and a face despite what happened at Wrestlemania. He is great in the face role and should continue on the path toward becoming the top face of Smackdown. Sheamus should have a lengthy reign full of good title retentions. He could move on to feud with any of these guys one on one afterwards.

DAGGER'S PREDICTION
Sheamus will retain the World Championship.

 

[Carlito_Orton]

After the way they've been booking Sheamus since turning face up until now I highly doubt he's going to lose the title this soon.So my pick is Sheamus for this one and I'm glad they turned this into a 4 way match Del rio vs Sheamus wouldn't garner as much interest.

I go into more detail on why I think Sheamus is going to win and why I doubt the others will in this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBJyGwLtlSs
[youtube]zBJyGwLtlSs[/youtube]

 

[The Cult]

I'm really looking forward to this match and I expect to see sheamus retain. The company has put a lot into him since turning face and to be honest I can't see any of the others winning I would love Y2J to win but I think sheamus will retain

 

[strasaphere]

I think this would be a great opportunity for Jericho to steal the title.

He's definetly lost steam, and can't really put anyone over at the moment. I mean, losing every match he's had since his return, a new kid beating him really wouldn't prove match anymore. Jericho need's to win this, so he can then in-turn put someone else over.