Sheamus is going to MANIA!

Solid Royal Rumble event, not better than last year's though. Steel Cage match was ok, it was good seeing Brodus Clay, like always, and Ziggler and Punk had a solid contest. The GTS into the leg drop bulldog was FANTASTIC. Let's get to the big match though.

WOW, in a huge shocker, dark horse Sheamus won the 2012 Royal Rumble match! He wasn't one of my top picks but hey, I'll take it! We also got to see Road Dogg and KHARMA! She's back! Kharma/Phoenix for Mania! Anyway, STRONG performances from The Miz and especially Cody Rhodes. Miz went through ALL 30 entrants like I called while watching the event and Rhodes REALLY looked strong in defeat, unlike Wade Barrett. I mean, COME ON! He didn't even last until the final 4? My MAIN PICK? What is WWE going to do with him? He doesn't win the Rumble, so what's next for Barrett? The world didn't end but Jericho became the runner-up which usually means, according to Royal Rumbles 2005-2010, that you'll get the other title match at Mania. Well, it was a pretty interesting contest and I'm glad some of the young guys got to shine. Rhodes for MITB winner this year? I can only hope so.

So, what happens next on the Road to Wrestlemania? We now know Sheamus is guaranteed a title shot on the Grandest Stage of them All, but who will he face? Punk or Bryan? Will those two even survive until Wrestlemania? Sheamus is featured on the Elimination Chamber promo correct? He's not going to be competing in one though, so what was the point of that? If I was booking Mania, I would do Barrett/Sheamus. Have Barrett eliminate Orton last in the chamber, setting up the big match for Mania. With Rock/Cena, Taker's 20th match, and the potential Punk/Jericho, will anybody really CARE who's in the World Title match? Mind as well feature two young guns competing for the title. And I love Barrett, but the Rumble winner HAS TO WIN THE TITLE THIS YEAR. It's at a 4 year drought. That's unacceptable. If Barrett isn't the one though, have Orton regain his World Title then have a triple threat with Sheamus/Bryan/Orton or just do a singles match with Orton/Sheamus. I don't know! Unlike last year's Rumble, they really didn't set up all the main events for Mania. Last year, Punk cost Orton the title, Miz cost Cena the Rumble, and Del Rio won the Rumble. There's the big matches right there. WWE didn't do that this year as that made the next PPV WAY TOO predictable. Good job WWE you got me guessing again.

Alright, time for my post Royal Rumble Wrestlemania card.

Rock/Cena
Punk/Jericho
Taker/Orton
Shaq/Big Show
Barrett/Sheamus
Miz/Triple H
MITB
Kharma/Phoenix

I'm guessing guys like Bryan, Ziggler, and Rhodes will be looking for that MITB briefcase. After Rhodes DOMINANT performance in the 2012 Rumble, a MITB win is absolutely necessary. Orton has yet to face The Undertaker since he transformed into Super Orton. And to be honest, if Taker couldn't face Cena or Punk, Orton's the next possible guy. I've already been on board for a Miz/HHH feud since they announced plans for it during the summer. Triple H is returning on Raw tomorrow, let's plant the seeds for the big match! I don't know where Kane would fit in or even Henry. Christian and Del Rio are lost as well. Kane should be featured at Mania without a question especially after all this dominance. Oh well, this is my new card and I'm sticking to it!

Congrats Sheamus! You deserved it!

Royal Rumble predictions

Here we go, the division playoffs of the WWE, the 25th anniversary of the Royal Rumble! Let's do get right into it!

Will Daniel Bryan overcome two Goliaths in a steel cage match at the Rumble? He has to, for Wrestlemania's sake. Either Big Show or Henry as champion going into Wrestlemania calls for a horrible match at the biggest show of the year. Bryan though as champion, matched with the right person, calls for an excellent match. And also with Henry's new injury, I'm sure Bryan is the definite favorite to walk out of the Rumble as the World Champion. Big Show will then go on to start his inevitable feud with Shaquille O'Neal. Don't know how, but Daniel Bryan will retain his World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble.

Will John Cena embrace the hate? We ALL want to see a Cena heel turn but if WWE wants to survive as a company, they can't turn a guy who makes them 10 million dollars in a year heel and lose all that money. I don't think we'll see a heel turn at the Rumble but we'll definitely see some more of that hardcore Cena we've been seeing on the last two Raws. I'm really looking forward to this match. When I went to Raw back in December, they were the dark main event and they only got like 7 minutes, but I liked what I saw from the match. I don't think they'll have a clean finish since Cena will show some crazy antics, but he really needs the victory here. He will facing The Rock in the next two months. Cena needs all the momentum in the WORLD before his big match, but I'm going with a no contest.

Will CM Punk retain his WWE Championship? Dolph Ziggler, for the 2nd year in a row, has a big title match and all the cards are in his place to walk out as champion, but as we saw last year, that doesn't mean anything. Edge still managed to defeat Ziggler even without being able to use the Spear, even though he did. Also, with Ace getting a job evaluation the next day, can he really screw Punk out of the championship? Hopefully, the addition of the special ref doesn't diminish this match as it has the potential to be a real show stealer. I'm really on the fence with this one. Punk needs a victory to continue his title reign and set up for the match everyone wants to see at Mania against the returning Chris Jericho. On the other hand, Dolph Ziggler is being billed as the next top heel of Raw and a title victory here would solidify that position but if he does win the title, he'll probably drop it at Elimination Chamber. I'm going with CM Punk to retain over The Showoff Dolph Ziggler in what will be an amazing 25 minute match.

The Royal Rumble match. Never before have there so many possible winners. You have returning superstars such as Chris Jericho and Randy Orton to rising stars such as Sheamus, Rhodes, and Barrett to even World Champions CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. For the 1st time ever, EVERY WWE superstar will be eligible for the Rumble match, which mean whoever are the World Champions at the time have a potential to be in the Rumble. I did a list of all the potential superstars who could be in the match not including some jobbers but including ALL 7 men from the previous matches, and I got 25 superstars, which leave 5 open slots. If the rumors are true that Road Warrior Animal, Road Dogg Jesse James, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan are going to compete, you have 2 empty slots. There's gotta be a return somewhere, either Taker or Christian and one more jobber that I didn't include. Maybe, possibly. Well, who will I pick to win it all? It's hard, I have to be honest. I'm going to do it like I did it last year, I'll pick one from Raw and Smackdown. From Raw, I'm picking the returning Chris Jericho, though he doesn't need it all. To be honest, if he just came out on Raw this Monday and said he wanted a WWE Title match at Mania, he would get it. It would go nicely with Jericho's long list of accomplishments. From Smackdown, I'm picking the hottest rising superstar in the WWE, Wade Barrett. Barrett should've been World Champion by now, but by winning the Rumble, he'll catapult right into the title hunt. With Rock/Cena, possibly Punk/Jericho and Taker's match, the World Title match will take the backseat again this year, so why not throw a young guy in there? Barrett's the perfect one. If I had to pick JUST ONE, I would go with Wade Barrett. Jericho and Orton are going to get title shots REGARDLESS! They're two of the biggest superstars in the past 10 years! Barrett needs the Rumble victory and unlike Del Rio from last year, Barrett has paid his dues and is ready to be pushed to the main event. The Barrett Barrage will continue with a huge win at the Royal Rumble.

The Royal Rumble is my favorite PPV of the year, easily. It's so unpredictable and has the potential to make superstars legendary. Come on back late tomorrow night for my reaction post.

Best time to be a wrestling fan

I love when the Royal Rumble comes around, because all the internet dirt sheets start speculating the big matches for that year's Wrestlemania. In 2010, the dirt sheets were all right, saying Edge/Jericho, Batista/Cena, and Taker/HBK 2 would all be the main matches for WM 26. Last year, not so much. Many thought Barrett/Taker was going to take place on the card, but other than that match, the dirt sheets were right again. So here we go again, ladies and gentlemen, Wrestlemania 28 speculation!

Alright, since Jericho has come back, we've all wanted to see him clash with Mr. Best in the World CM Punk at the Grandest stage of them all right? Well, according to Wrestlezone, that's not what WWE is planning. Jericho/Taker and HHH/Punk are two of the planned matches to take place at the card. To tell you the truth, Jericho/Taker is the match I've wanted to see since HHH couldn't get the job done back in April. Punk/HHH has the potential to be a really great match-up, but since it already happened very recently, is it really Wrestlemania worthy? I'm guessing Punk/HHH will be for the WWE Title and of course Jericho would be going after the Streak, so none of those guys will be winning the Rumble, which means it's down to Barrett and Orton on Sunday. Looks like my dream of a Triple Threat at Mania might come true.

Now, if I was booking WM 28 and if Jericho HAD to face Taker, I would do Punk/Bryan without a question and Miz/HHH. If anyone has history that isn't finished, it's Miz and The Game. The whole conspiracy storyline made me believe that a match between the two was imminent and why not bring it back up now? I guess we'll have to wait until the actual Royal Rumble event to see what WWE has in store for us, but I'm sure they won't disappoint. I'd rather see Jericho face Taker than HHH do it for a 3rd time. And if Jericho is with WWE for the long run, we could see a Punk/Jericho feud down the line. Can't until Sunday! Predictions will be up Saturday!

Love me some Wrestlemania season

Well, Wrestlemania season is in full effect and with that comes crazy speculations. Last year, I was expecting either Punk or Del Rio to win the Royal Rumble that year, Triple, Christian, and Bourne to return, and Ziggler to win his 1st World Title against Edge. My, what a year it has been! This year's Rumble match is up in the air, just like last year's was. Not saying the other Rumble haven't been hard to predict, but this year is pretty hard with all the possible outcomes and all. I guess the top two favorites are Randy Orton and Chris Jericho. Oh yeah, I'm loving Jericho's 3rd appearance in the company. It's fresh and original and I watch Raw every single week for it. Well that and one of my new favorite wrestlers Brodus Clay. Was that not one of the best debuts in a long time? Seriously! It came out of nowhere. Just when you thought WWE was going to go one way, they hit one to left field. Amazing. Anyway....

The Royal Rumble is in St. Louis this year and guess which WWE golden boy is from said city? You got it, Randy Orton. And with Orton being away on injury, what better way to reintroduce him to the crowd by having him win his 2nd Rumble match? That way, we get Bryan/Orton in what could a fantastic World Title match. Chris Jericho is another name that comes up when discussing the Rumble. Since Punk started using the Best in the World gimmick, a match between the two started being discussed between the IWC. And it can become reality if Punk can beat Ziggler and survive at Elimination Chamber and also if Jericho can win the Royal Rumble match. Regardless of the Rumble match, I'm sure we'll still get Punk/Jericho AND Bryan/Orton. Those have the potential to be the best two World Title matches since Wrestlemania 23.

Don't sleep on my boy Wade Barrett though. The Barrett Barrage isn't done just because he took out Orton. He now has to win the World Title and all he has to do to get his shot is to win the Rumble. I could see Barrett winning, Bryan dropping the title to Orton in the Chamber, and then the three having a Triple Threat at Mania. It's not like the World Title match is going to be one of the top matches, so why not feature two young guys? I also wouldn't be surprised if Sheamus or Miz won either. My top three are Barrett, Orton, and Jericho though.

Alright, what happens AFTER the Royal Rumble though? Well first, I think Cena is going to try one more time at getting the WWE Title before Mania, so we'll be treating to Cena being in the EC with Punk, Ziggler, Kane, Miz, and Truth, with Punk winning, unless Jericho didn't win the Rumble. I have a couple scenarios dealing with Punk/Ziggler/Jericho but I'll leave them for next Saturday. Bryan will probably defend against Show, Henry, Orton, Barrett, and Rhodes, with Orton winning the strap, UNLESS Barrett or Orton won the Rumble. If Barrett wins, Orton wins the title. If Orton wins, Bryan keeps the title. Either way, these three guys need to collide in some fashion at Mania.

So Rock/Cena, Punk/Jericho, and Taker's match will be the three main events of the show this year, with the World Title match and the MITB trailing behind. What about guys like Miz, Ziggler, and Rhodes? Where do they fit in at? I'm still pulling for Miz/Triple H and Ziggler/HBK somehow, but that doesn't leave anybody for Taker. Unless they're give it my boy Sheamus and have Rhodes face his brother. That's a solid WM card for you!

Rock/Cena
Punk/Jericho
Taker/Sheamus
Bryan/Orton/Barrett
MITB
Miz/Triple H
Ziggler/HBK
Rhodes/Goldust

Add Shaq and Big Show and a pointless Divas match and that's my WM card. MITB participants would be Kofi, McIntyre, Brodus Clay, Truth, DiBiase, Gabriel, Mahal, and Slater. Maybe. I think Ziggler and Miz will be apart of the match if they don't face HBK and HHH respectively. I know, my card is a pipe dream but I'm banking on Punk/Jericho and some World Title match featuring Bryan/Orton/Barrett. Everything else, not too confident on. Until we meet again Internet!