By Ryan Kester

Royal Rumble Match

This year's Royal Rumble match felt lackluster and flat for me. There were plenty of the usual fun comedy spots and athletic moments. The Mr. Socko vs. Cobra spot was a personal favorite of mine, but the Rumble never really got past the skits until the very end, which ended up feeling rushed.

The Rumble never really felt like the Rumble. The match was jam-packed with nostalgia acts and cute moments, but the match usually rounds out and delivers a bang during the final entrants. That never really happened this year, and the Rumble really exposed the current state of the WWE roster. WWE has not done enough to make their undercard and midcard wrestlers compelling the past year, and the collection of them in the Royal Rumble made the match feel like it lacked star power.

This match is supposed to be the launching pad to WrestleMania hype, yet the announcers involved did nothing to plant seeds for potential feuds. Where were they when Mick Foley got eliminated? Despite Foley's great promo about how he wanted to enter the match for one more shot at glory, there was no follow up. He was even eliminated by Cody Rhodes, a guy who had recently taken out another legend and had an extremely strong showing in the match.

Look, I enjoyed the Rumble from a fan's perspective. There was plenty of entertainment fun involved throughout the event, but the Rumble should be more about that. WWE still has time to plant seeds for feuds and they can hark back to footage from the Rumble. They will be playing catch-up at that point, however, and they really would have done themselves a service by starting strong.

Sheamus was a surprise win for the Royal Rumble, and the man can certainly use this moment for his career. Sheamus has a metric ton of talent in the ring and he has plenty of potential. I hope WWE creative has a solid plan for him, and he can enjoy a stretch of good storytelling to give people more of a reason to invest in his character.

CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler

CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler put on a hell of a show last night. They kept a quick pace and had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands at several spots. I hope we can get more from them down the line.

John Laurinaitis, however, took a lot of the shine off of this match. Laurinaitis has come a long way since becoming an on-air character, but his presence in the match got in the way. I didn't care for the way CM Punk had so many visual victories on Dolph Ziggler, who could really use some protection while he's trying to solidify his place in the main event scene.

Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry vs. Big Show

First of all, kudos to Mark Henry for doing all he did. His legs have been killing him recently, but he has soldiered on despite his injuries. I disagree with the idea of management not allowing him some time to heal, but one has to respect henry's dedication.

Now, as far as the match goes, I was left wanting more. Henry was understandably unable to contribute much, but the match was cut so short that it felt anticlimactic. The build for this match has been written well, but this match did not do it justice.

The announcers put over how close Show got to capturing the championship, so one can safely assume that's the story that will be told on the way to the Elimination Chamber PPV. However, the dynamic between Bryan and Show is getting long in the tooth for me. I enjoy their verbal exchanges, but when it comes time for the two men to lace up their boots, there is only so much the two can do together. I hope Bryan's reign manages to survive the Elimination Chamber because I am interested in seeing what his new character would do with a wrestler closer to his size.

Kane vs. John Cena

This match quickly became my least favorite part of the Royal Rumble PPV. I've made it clear before that the story surrounding this match does little for me, and the lack of chemistry between Cena and Kane only served to further those feelings.

I'm not sure where WWE is going with this story and it's becoming difficult to convince myself to care. I am a fan of Kane and I can easily get behind anything that makes Cena fresh again, but there has been simply so much camp involved here that it becomes impossible for one to invest. WWE doesn’t have a lot of time to make Cena presentable for WrestleMania, so I hope they get to where they are going quickly. If they keep the camp going much longer, I worry that no one will care when ti comes time fro Cena to face The Rock.

Overall Show

I always look forward to the Royal Rumble PPV, but the 2012 edition left me disappointed. This is supposed to be WWE's first effort on the Road to WrestleMania, but they failed to make the event feel special for this viewer.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: