Royal Rumble
Promotional poster featuringSantino Marella
Promotion	WWE
Date	January 29, 2012
City	St. Louis,Missouri
Venue	Scottrade Center
Attendance	18,121[1]
Buy rate	443,000[2][3]
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Next → Elimination Chamber
Royal Rumble chronology
← Previous 2011 Next → 2013

The 2012Royal Rumble was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byWWE. It was the 25th annualRoyal Rumble and took place on January 29, 2012, at theScottrade Center inSt. Louis,Missouri. As has been customary since 1993, theRoyal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year'sWrestleMania. For the 2012 event, the winner received their choice to challenge for either theWWE Championship orWorld Heavyweight Championship atWrestleMania XXVIII. It was the first Royal Rumble held since the end of the firstbrand extension in August 2011.

Sixprofessional wrestling matches were featured at the event. The main event was the 2012 Royal Rumble match.Sheamus - the 22nd entrant - won the match by last eliminatingChris Jericho, the 29th entrant. Two title matches were featured: a WWE Championship match withCM Punk defending againstDolph Ziggler, which Punk won to retain the title, and aTriple ThreatSteel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship between the reigning championDaniel Bryan,Big Show, andMark Henry, which Bryan won to retain the championship. Incidentally, this event is also noted asMick Foley's last night as an active wrestler as he would compete in the Royal Rumble match.

The event received 443,000 pay-per-view buys, slightly down from 446,000 buys theprevious year's event had received.

TheRoyal Rumble is an annualprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV) produced every January byWWE since 1988—in April 2011, the promotion ceased going by its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment, with "WWE" becoming anorphaned initialism.^[4] It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series, dubbed the "Big Four".^[5] Theconcept of the event is based on theRoyal Rumble match, a modifiedbattle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The 2012 event was the 25th event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 29, 2012, at theScottrade Center inSt. Louis, Missouri. Tickets went on sale on December 10 throughTicketmaster.^[6][7] It was the first Royal Rumble held since the end of the firstbrand split in August 2011.^[8]

The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers. The2011 event broke tradition and had 40 participants, but 2012 returned to 30. The winner of the match traditionally earns aworld championship match at that year's WrestleMania.^[9][10] For 2012, the winner could choose to challenge for either theWWE Championship orWorld Heavyweight Championship atWrestleMania XXVIII.^[6]

The event comprised five matches, including one on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows,Raw andSmackDown.^[11][12]

A highly promoted match featuredCM Punk defending hisWWE Championship againstDolph Ziggler. On the December 26, 2011, episode ofRaw, Punk was put into agauntlet match byInterim Raw General ManagerJohn Laurinaitis,^[13] with the stipulation that if either one ofJack Swagger, Ziggler, orMark Henry defeated Punk, they would receive a championship match against the latter the next week.^[13] Ziggler won the match after Punk was distracted by Laurinaitisthrowing outVickie Guerrero and Swagger from ringside. The next week, during the title match, Punk wascounted out as a result of another intervention from Laurinaitis. However, since titles cannot change hands via countout, Punk retained the championship.^[14] After the match, Laurinaitis announced that Punk would defend his championship against Ziggler in a rematch at the Royal Rumble, with himself acting as thespecial guest referee. Then on the January 9, 2012, episode, when Punk faced Swagger in asingles match, Laurinaitis added a stipulation that if Swagger lost, he and Vickie Guerrero would be banned from ringside at the pay-per-view; Punk won the match, and thus, Guerrero and Swagger are banned from ringside during the championship match. Additionally, a week later on the January 16 episode, in a segment withMick Foley, Laurinaitis revealed that he was using this opportunity to cost Punk his title for disrespecting him.

Another match heading into the Royal Rumble featuredJohn Cena againstKane. Upon returning to WWE on the December 12 episode ofRaw, after an absence of nearly four months, Kane interrupted Cena's match againstMark Henry, and though it was Henry who put him out of action, he bypassed him and attacked Cena,chokeslamming him before revealing his new mask. While demanding an explanation for these events the next week onRaw, Cena was again attacked by Kane, who revealed in the next several weeks of his desire to have Cena "embrace the hate" (his current on-screen character and T-shirt promoting otherwise) within caused by the anti-Cena crowd who continued to boo him. When Cena dismissed any intentions of doing so, Kane not only continued his attacks on Cena, but began to direct his attention to his close friendZack Ryder, assaulting him as well, to the point of injuring him (kayfabe), ultimately leading to Ryder losing hisUnited States Championship to Jack Swagger on the January 16, 2012, episode, under orders from John Laurinaitis. The same night, Laurinaitis put Cena in a one-on-one match against Kane at the Royal Rumble, in addition to booking Cena in a match against Swagger. Before the match even officially started, Cena started to attack Swagger aggressively to avenge Ryder's loss, prompting Kane to appear on the TitanTron and congratulate him to have started "embracing his hate". On the January 23 episode, during aFalls Count Anywhere match (in which Laurinaitis had prevented Cena from interfering, on the pretext of never granting Ryder a rematch for the United States Championship if he did so), Kane chokeslammed Ryder through the entrance stage, incapacitating him. As Ryder was stretchered and taken away in an ambulance,Eve Torres (Ryder's storyline girlfriend) blamed Cena for Ryder's injuries, leading to Cena knocking the microphone out of interviewerJosh Mathews' hand in frustration, and donning a very aggressive look in response to this entire situation.^[15]

Another featured bout involvedDaniel Bryan defending hisWorld Heavyweight Championship in aTriple ThreatSteel Cage match againstBig Show and Mark Henry. In December 2011, atTLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, after Big Show defeated Henry in achairs match to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, Bryan immediately cashed in hisMoney in the Bank contract to defeat Big Show, after a post-match attack on the latter by Henry. Using his rematch clause, Big Show faced off against Bryan onSmackDown, only for the champion to agitate Henry at ringside, who pushed Bryan, thus retaining his title. The following week onSmackDown, Bryan defended his title against Big Show again, this time in aNo Disqualification,No Count-Out match, which ended in a no contest, when Big Show accidentally ran into and injured Bryan's storyline girlfriend,AJ. The next week onSmackDown, Henry finally enacted his rematch clause against Bryan in alumberjack match; however, that match also ended up as a no contest, when the lumberjacks became too hostile because of how Bryan had agitated them, and the post-match scenario erupted into a large brawl involving nearly everyone. This forced SmackDown General ManagerTheodore Long to officially book Bryan, Big Show, and Henry in a Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble.^[16]

In adark match prior to the PPV broadcast,Yoshi Tatsu defeatedHeath Slater.^[17]

The actual pay-per-view opened with a Triple Threat Steel Cage match with Daniel Bryan defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Mark Henry and Big Show. Bryan retained by escaping the cage after he fell from Big Show's grasp (Bryan was climbing out of the cage, and Show was trying to pull him back in over the top) and fell to the arena floor.^[18]

The next match was anEight-Diva tag team match withAlicia Fox,Eve Torres,Kelly Kelly, andTamina Snuka taking onThe Bella Twins (Nikki Bella andBrie Bella) andThe Divas of Doom (Divas ChampionBeth Phoenix andNatalya). The latter team won after Phoenix tagged herself in and performed a glam slam on Kelly Kelly, scoring the pinfall.^[18]

The following match was between John Cena and Kane. After a back and forth contest, the action would spill from the ring, and the match ended in a double count-out. After the match, Kane would continue his assault, hitting Cena with multiple chair shots before attacking an injured Zack Ryder, who was watching the event from a private office. Kane dragged Ryder to the ring and performed aTombstone Piledriver on him. Cena then reentered the ring and tried to retaliate, only for Kane to execute a chokeslam on him.^[18]

The next match was made afterDrew McIntyre requested a spot in the Royal Rumble, asking SmackDown general manager Teddy Long for an opportunity to prove himself, so he gave him a match against a mystery opponent who turned out to beBrodus Clay. Despite McIntyre starting the match well, Clay would quickly defeat him after a running splash.^[18]

The penultimate match of the card was the WWE Championship match between reigning champion CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler with Raw interim GM John Laurinaitis serving as outside enforcer. As per the match stipulations, Ziggler's tag team partner Jack Swagger and manager Vickie Guerrero were both banned from ringside. The first part of the match was a hold-for-hold encounter. Towards the latter part of the match Punk had Ziggler beaten, but the referee was knocked out and unable to make the count. Punk would execute a second GTS and both the referee and enforcer Laurinaitis counted to three and Punk retained his championship.^[18]

The main event was the annual Royal Rumble match, where the winner would get a world championship match of their choice at WrestleMania XXVIII. As a result of losing a match toR-Truth onRaw,The Miz entered at #1, and started the match withAlex Riley. Miz quickly eliminated Riley and was then joined by entrant #3, R-Truth, beforeIntercontinental ChampionCody Rhodes entered at #4. Miz eliminated R-Truth, who then pulled Miz under the bottom rope and laid him out on the outside.Mick Foley, the first surprise entrant of the match, entered at #7 and immediately eliminated one half of theTag Team ChampionsPrimo (#6).Ricardo Rodriguez then entered at #8 and teamed up with Foley to eliminateJustin Gabriel (#5).Santino Marella entered at #9 and eliminated Ricardo before squaring off with Foley. Marella brought out his Cobra puppet while Foley brought out Mr. Socko. The two then teamed up to eliminate entrant #10Epico, the other half of the Tag Team Champions. Marella and Foley locked Cobra and Mr. Socko together, only for Rhodes to intervene and eliminate Marella. Foley applied Mr. Socko on Miz, but Rhodes then eliminated him as well.Hall of FamerJerry "The King" Lawler, who was sitting on commentary, entered at #12 as a surprise entrant and performed a diving fist drop on Miz, but was quickly eliminated by Rhodes immediately afterwards.^[18]

The ring began to fill up with superstars asBooker T, who was also sitting on commentary, entered at #17 and Hall of Famer andfirst ever winner"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan entered at #19, the latter of whom was quickly eliminated by Rhodes. Miz almost eliminatedKofi Kingston (#11) by causing him to almost fall off the apron. When Miz tried to flip Kingston over by his legs, Kingston instead did a handstand and walked over to the steps without his feet touching the floor, saving himself and staying in the match. Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler (#18) teamed up to eliminate Booker T andThe Great Khali (#15).Michael Cole, the final member of the commentary team, entered at #20, only to be joined by entrant #21,Kharma, the third female superstar to ever enter a Royal Rumble match. Cole climbed over the top rope to avoid Kharma, only for Lawler and Booker T to pull Cole to the floor, eliminating him. Kharma then eliminatedHunico (#16), but was then eliminated by Ziggler. Another surprise entrant,Road Dogg, entered at #23, beforeUnited States Champion Jack Swagger joined the match at #25.Wade Barrett (#26) eliminated Road Dogg only to be joined by2009 winnerRandy Orton (#28), who in turn eliminated him.Chris Jericho came out at #29, eliminatingDavid Otunga (#27), before Big Show entered at #30. As Big Show entered, he assistedSheamus (#22) in eliminating Swagger before hitting Swagger with a knockout punch. Big Show cleared out the ring, eliminating both Miz (who lasted over 45 minutes) and Rhodes (who lasted over 41 minutes and scored the most eliminations with six) at the same time, as well as Ziggler.^[18]

This brought the final four down to Sheamus, Orton, Jericho and Big Show. The former three teamed up on Big Show, who fought them off, executing a chokeslam on Jericho only to be hit with an RKO from Orton. Sheamus and Orton then attempted to eliminate Big Show. Big Show pushed Sheamus away but Orton tipped Big Show over the top rope to eliminate him. Immediately afterwards, Jericho quickly eliminated Orton from behind to put himself in the final two with Sheamus.^[18]

Sheamus and Jericho went back-and-forth as Sheamus countered a running bulldog from Jericho to almost eliminate him, but Jericho fought out of it and hit Sheamus with a dropkick. Sheamus hit Jericho with the Irish Curse backbreaker and set up the High Cross to try and eliminate him. Jericho slipped out and clotheslined Sheamus over the top rope, who held on, before Jericho hit another dropkick to try and eliminate Sheamus, who still managed to hold on. Sheamus fought back into the ring, hitting a battering ram on Jericho before attempting a Brogue Kick. Jericho countered and locked Sheamus in the Walls of Jericho. Jericho tried to clothesline Sheamus over the top rope, but Sheamus countered and flipped Jericho over the top rope onto the apron, who held on just enough to stop his feet touching the floor. The two superstars made their way onto the top turnbuckle, where both fell off but avoided elimination. Jericho caught Sheamus with a Codebreaker and attempted to tip him over the top rope, but Sheamus fought out of it and pushed Jericho away. Jericho ducked a Brogue Kick attempt from Sheamus and attempted a second Codebreaker, but Sheamus countered by catching Jericho and threw him over the top rope onto the apron. Jericho again avoided touching the floor, but as he brought himself back up, Sheamus hit him with a Brogue Kick, which knocked Jericho off the apron to finally eliminate him after a seven-minute clash, meaning Sheamus won the Royal Rumble match.^[18]

The event received mixed reviews. TheCanadian Online Explorer gave the event a 6.5 out of 10, with the Royal Rumble match receiving the same rating. The World Heavyweight Championship match and the John Cena vs. Kane match were rated a 5 out of 10 and the Divas' tag-team match a 3 out of 10. The WWE Championship match received the highest rating with an 8.5 out of 10.^[19]

  – Winner

  –Hall of Famer (HOF)

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