LIVE Royal Rumble thoughts - January 29, 2012

10:46 - Sheamus wins. This is somewhat unexpected, but certainly not a bad decision. Like I said in my predictions post, I appreciate it when somebody wins who needs that extra push. The only thing is, he's already been a champion. I assume he'll remain true to his brand and will challenge the World Heavyweight Champion, but do you think that'll be Daniel Bryan?

10:40 - Still twenty minutes left (conceivably). Anybody expecting something to happen post-match? And if so, what?

10:38 - And just like that, it's down to Jericho and Sheamus! Two guys who have never won!

10:37 - Final Four are Orton, Jericho, Show, and Sheamus. I'd be fine with Jericho or Sheamus winning. God, please no Orton.

10:34 - So who's number 30? Kane? Animal? Cena? Punk? Bryan? Triple H? Undertaker? The other Uso?

10:32 - So unless a lot of people get eliminated in a short amount of time, looks like that Jericho idea won't happen. Up to Orton to clear the ring.

10:30 - Only three more competitors, and we know two of them are Orton and Jericho. Who's the other? Does Kane's Royal Rumble streak end at an amazing 13?

10:29 - That is some dreadful theme music for Wade Barrett. By the way, I'm guessing that either Dolph eliminates Swagger, or vice versa.

10:25 - Good call, Kyle, on Road Dogg's return. Less than 10 guys left, and A LOT of top stars haven't appeared yet. Orton? Jericho? Cena? Kane?

10:22 - Kharma's return was exciting and unexpected. Booker and King eliminating Cole was cool as well. I do wish they took advantage of an opportunity, though. Bryan is clearly turning heel, so why not let him tear apart Cole before that happens. That needs resolution. And hey, new gear for Sheamus!

10:20 - All three announcers in the Royal Rumble? I have to admit, that made me laugh.

10:18 - At least one of my surprise entrants is right with Hacksaw. Anybody else surprised that Khali is still in there?

10:16 - Kofi Kingston.....your new John Morrison! That was awesome.

10:13 - I still think they gave up on the dual Sin Caras too quickly. This has been a fine match so far, but has it felt lackluster to anybody else?

10:07 - My sound went off for a while, that was strange. Kofi is in with his awesome Riddler trunks. Lawler makes a surprise entrance. What are the chances that Booker does as well? Notice he's not in the full suit (tie and all).

10:04 - The Royal Rumble is a long match and I don't mind when they do extended comedy segments. The stuff with Santino and Ricardo was good and thankfully kept short. And I found a lot of humor in the Socko/Cobra show down. Particularly when the camera zoomed in on their "duel." Again, it was kept short and harmless.

10:01 - Ricardo Rodriguez's entrance in a beat up, crappy car was absolutely epic. I'm a sucker for the entrances (positive or negative) that bring the entire match to a halt. Great stuff.

9:58 - Based on the fact that Foley can barely run, I doubt he's going the distance. Also, Miz's break indicates he'll probably be in there a while.

9:54 - No new gear for Rhodes, how disappointing. By the way, Miz and Rhodes were two of the guys I predicted might get the marathon treatment. Based on their numbers, it seems possible.

9:50 - Alex Riley as #2 loses a lot of steam after inexplicably disappearing for months, and then reappearing to lose to Brodus Clay in a minute.

9:48 - I could see Miz lasting just because of Lawler's insistence that he won't. I could see Miz going the distance.

9:47 - No near gear for Miz. Massively disappointing. Who's #2? Kofi maybe?

9:45 - A random pet peeve: When people tap immediately during a ref bump. One could argue they're doing it so that the person will release the hold (since they're not going to lose anyway), but if they're not aware of the ref bump, they always put up a fight and struggle for a while.

9:39 - First, you had to know that Ziggler would reverse that one GTS, because Punk had him positioned backwards. Secondly, you had to love Ace running into the ring and counting that three count along with the official. So insincere. A fun match that did have me guessing if they'd screw Punk. I didn't mind that Punk went over so convincingly. Dolph is on his way up, but he's not there QUITE yet. It's okay that he, as a heel, got beat so decisively.

9:31 - I'm glad that the announcers brought up the fact that Ziggler could have conceivably lost, and Johnny Ace didn't interfere. An important consideration.

9:23 - By the way, some kickass new black and blew gear for CM Punk. I like!

9:20 - Oh, and #HEEL > Showoff

9:17 - This tweet says it all:

https://twitter.com/#!/WWE_Creative/status/163807661249413120

9:07 - I expected to dislike the Rock's video package, because he always comes across (due to his character, of course) as so arrogant and angry. For somebody who's not fawning over him, it makes him really difficult to get behind. But I thought that video package was fantastic. He came across as down to earth and rather likable. Bravo, wonderful job.

Oh, and new attire for Brodus Clay!

9:01 - Regarding the ending to the match, it was perhaps their only option. They couldn't job Kane, or else they'd risk damaging his renewed monster persona. And with Cena headlining WrestleMania, it would be questionable to have him lose also. So the double count out was fine. I also found the post-match beat down inoffensive, but entirely too long. Kane looking up and seeing Ryder's dressing room was a great touch, though.

8:41 - It's a small change, but I LOVE Kane's slightly altered new theme music, where you can hear the screaming in the background at the beginning.

8:36 - This Kane/Zack Ryder attack clip is the new Triple H/Kevin Nash attack clip....footage that is shown entirely too often, to the point that it becomes a major annoyance rather than a dramatic situation.

8:34 - I think this is longer than every single Divas match of 2012 combined.

8:27 - Really awesome John Cena video package. Pretty fair and balanced, too. And oh, yay, a Divas match. How quickly will they pin Natalya? And is this the first time we've seen him in attire that isn't primarily pink? Love the color coordination with the face and heel teams.

8:19 - Right result, but bit of an underwhelming ending. The commentary is really, really strange thought. I appreciate that Lawler and Booker defend him and sing his praises, because otherwise they'd just have three people tearing him apart. But the commentary is really making his heel turn difficult to complete. Maybe they're just holding off on Cole to accept him for the very last second?

8:14 - A couple of weeks ago I noticed that every single PPV of 2011 concluded with a Raw match. This is strange, because WWE usually gives Smackdown the nod at least once throughout the year. But last year, they didn't. I'm now realizing that there was probably more than one PPV where the World Heavyweight Championship opened the show.

8:10 - Looks like Mark Henry is going to be in the match. Triple Threat Steel Cage matches drive me crazy. They are a logistical disaster. For example, when Big Show and Mark Henry are fighting, why doesn't Daniel Bryan just walk right out the door? Or when two guys are climbing up the cage, why doesn't the third one just walk out?

8:04 - Things are off to a GREAT start. Daniel Bryan is not only wearing his awesome ring jacket, he's also debuting a new attire design. Awesome. Still annoys me that he's essentially a heel now, and yet Michael Cole STILL tears him apart. At least Booker and King defend him.

8:03 - One immediate bright spot: WWE is FINALLY using "anniversary" correctly.

7:24 - Well, the show has been purchased and we're about 35 minutes away from the proverbial kickoff to the Road to WrestleMania. In my Predictions post, I noted that I wouldn't be surprised to see The Undertaker return. I clarified in the comments section that I didn't necessarily mean as an actual competitor, more just an appearance. Well, I'd like to retract that somewhat. If we are to believe that they're going to be doing Triple H/Undertaker again for WrestleMania (which I haven't subscribed to....that's purely speculation at this point), I think they'll hold off his return for tomorrow night, when Triple H returns for his evaluation of Johnny Ace.

I also came up with an interesting idea for Daniel Bryan, which I don't think will EVER happen. Imagine if Bryan retains his title in the cage match, and then goes on to win the Rumble. However, instead of unifying the titles like everybody assumes, Bryan says that he's decided to defend the title against himself, and then reveals that he's giving himself WrestleMania off and that there won't be a World Heavyweight Championship match. There's then a scramble to get the title off of him, but he keeps sneaking away with the title (and cheaply, at that, so that the audience doesn't sympathize with or root for him). He even manages to win the Elimination Chamber match. However, between that and WrestleMania, he DOES lose the title, and he's forced to use his title shot after all.

I know they won't do it, but I just thought it'd be a fun way to tease the audience with a unification match, only to snatch it away. And by having Bryan do something so cowardly, it cements his heel turn and makes everybody really look forward to his loss.