WWE Royal Rumble 2012 Review: Fan's Opinion

The WWE has had an interesting relationship with their viewers the last several years. They book matches and story lines that fans love and then quickly destroy the momentum they have built. This dysfunctional relationship with what the fans want continued at the 2012 Royal Rumble on Sunday, January 29. While the night was historic because of it being the 25th anniversary, the production was not Royal Rumble worthy in the least.

The Royal Rumble is one of the big four pay-per-view events that are expected to be over the top. Every year, something great simply has to happen at the Royal Rumble. In particular, huge returns are often celebrated. This year the biggest returns were not really huge stars even when they were in their prime. No offense to the mid-carders, but this is the Royal Rumble.

The returns this year were fairly limited and very uninspiring. It was almost as though they did not even bother trying to get anyone that would affect the WWE landscape going forward. On top of that, they wasted no less than two returns when they brought Chris Jericho and Kane back in recent weeks. Why not save them for a huge Royal Rumble return? These are questions that I would love to ask the WWE bookers.

As it was, we were left with a spattering of WWE surprises that were just kind of boring.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan came back to a pretty decent pop, but it was short lived, like always. Duggan always was great for that initial pop of excitement at least. It is a bit of a shame when Jim Duggan garners the biggest and best pop from the crowd at an event like the Royal Rumble.

Road Dog came back, and it was okay. Nothing too over the top as far as crowd reaction, but it was a decent moment. It was the typical Royal Rumble second tier surprise. As a matter of fact, all of the Royal Rumble surprises were that way.

Kharma was another surprise in a way, but she was wasted here in my view. I would have loved to see her instead interrupt the Diva fest earlier in the night and wreak destruction.

Outside of that, the participants were who we thought they would be. Sheamus won the Rumble match in the end which was mildly surprising. Still, I am very confused as to who he will face at Wrestlemania. Perhaps the titles will shift some before April. We shall see.

The rest of the nights matches were very lackluster. The Daniel Bryan win over The Big Show and Mark Henry was the best of several horribly booked matches in my view. The C. M. Punk feud with Dolph Ziggler could have been great but they are focusing far too much on John Laurinaitis. Ziggler and Punk can carry a heck of a feud without him.

By far the worst of the night was the John Cena versus Kane match. I hesitate to even call it a match. I can't believe that the WWE made people pay for a double count out finish. That kind of finish is supposed to be reserved for set-up spots on television, not on expensive PPV shows.

The WWE missed the mark with the 2012 Royal Rumble in a big way. Let's hope things get better by Wrestlemania.

*Southern is a huge WWE fan that still misses the old time NWA days and Jim Crockett promotions. He still thinks that Nikita Koloff is the greatest heel in history, though Chris Jericho is not far behind.