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

[Jack-Hammer]

It was announced earlier today that on the pre-show for the Royal Rumble, Antonio Cesaro will defend the United States Championship against The Miz. WWE has been slowly building a feud between the two for several weeks and this will be their first match.

At first, I was a little surprised that this match wasn't part of the actual card for the Rumble. However, the WHC match and especially the WWE Championship matches are clearly far more important. Given the stipulation of Last Man Standing being added to the WHC and the fact that most are expecting at least a 30 minute match between Punk & The Rock, WWE wants to give these two matches a good deal of time. The Rumble match itself will probably take up 70 to 75 minutes. It'll be a big disappointment, in my eyes at least, if they have a Divas match on the main card rather than a US title match.

As for the match, I think it'll be pretty solid with Cesaro retaining. I personally hope he doesn't drop the title to The Miz at all because I'm enjoying him overall far more than Miz at this point.

 

[The Cult]

Cesaro right now is gold! Although the crowd aren't reacting well currently I think they eventually will, as for Miz I don't mind his face turn as much as others but I did prefer him heel.

I want Cesaro to walk out champ here, I agree with the OP that I expected this on the main card too.

 

[Irig]

Well i too expected this on card but as it wasn't given much time before the rumble they might have opted for preshow. I don't know they might just change the title to Miz as he is face and got himself Ric flair's move. Maybe he will. Will see. IMO Antonio should retain.

 

[fouldsy91]

Miz will win IMO, but not the title. Cesaro has a habit of getting himself counted out or he could get himself purposely DQ'd. I don't see Cesaro walking away from this as easily as he did against R-Truth, since Miz is obviously a much bigger name.

 

[The_Awesome_One]

This match will be good. The Miz and Cesaro are my 2 favorites at the moment. I see Cesaro retaining here. He'll either get DQ'ed, Counted out or cheat in some way. Miz will likely then eliminate Cesaro in the rumble match. I think Miz will be the one to end Cesaro's reign but it won't be until the rumble where Miz will go 4-0.

 

[#hamler]

I get it. It’s the United States title – a somewhat irrelevant title. But why in the fuck is this on the preshow when they’re trying so hard to get both of these guys over in their respective roles as babyface and heel? These two guys need TV time to develop their characters and having their match on the preshow will only hurt their chances to display their abilities to nearly a quarter million viewers. Whatever. It’s fairly nice to see Miz actually doing something other than sitting on a couch doing one incredibly cheesy talk show. While I’m not crazy about the Miz’s face turn, Antonio Cesaro is without a doubt one of my favorite new comers to the WWE.

While Antonio’s character could use a little fine tuning, some of his matches along with his in ring work is simply phenomenal. I would expect nothing less here between these two. I could see the WWE sticking Miz with the United States Championship to solidify his babyface role but Cesaro has been on an incredible roll as of late. Taking the United States Championship off of him now would force him into the undercard where history has shown, it’s easy to fade away. Keeping the United States Championship around his waist would definitely give him a reason to be on the Wrestlemania card. Without it, his chances are slim.

Hamler's Prediction -Antonio Cesaro will retain the United States Championship.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

Gotta give this one to Cesaro. This should be a decent match to get the crowd hot for the night but I just really see no way for Miz to take this one. Maybe WWE could break out a submission finisher for Cesaro here? Just to make him more lethal.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Miz is too big of a name to lose on the pre-show but I don't see him walking out as champion either, so they'll probably just have him beat Cesaro by DQ or Countout, then in the Royal Rumble match eliminate Cesaro, which will earn him another crack at the belt, maybe on RAW or at Elimination Chamber, then Cesaro will defeat him to retain the belt. Miz putting over Cesaro needs to be saved for the main card, where it matters, not some stupid pre-show match. Personally I would've preferred if they used the pre-show for a match to determine the #30 spot or something, but this could be a decent match to kickoff the show and get the crowd excited for the rest of the night.

 

[HBsam31]

I hate when they put any title match on the preshow, and I can't see Miz losing on the preshow as another poster mentioned. Cesaro imo is getting better and better, and I have enjoyed his US title run. I don;t see him losing the title here, and I think Miz will pick up a count out or dq victory here. Cesaro retains.

 

[The Butcher]

I'm not so bothered by this being a pre-show match. Cesaro won the title in a pre-show match back at SummerSlam, if anyone recalls, and maybe that's just the best place for the US title. Whether or not it's the best place for The Miz or Antonio at this point is debatable, but they're both in the Rumble match later in the night.

I can't see the former Claudio Castagnoli losing his title here, and I expect a pinfall win for him via the Neutralizer.

 

[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 Henessey]

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.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

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