We’re here live updating the 2012 Royal Rumble! Refresh your screen every 15 minutes or so to get the latest match by match updates.

World Heavyweight Title Triple Threat Match in a Steel Cage
Daniel Bryan retains against Big Show and Mark Henry via cage escape

• Daniel Bryan comes out first. Boo! Champions should always come out last.

Great Puma: Good but short opener. Really interesting finish with Daniel Bryan hanging from Big Show’s right arm on the edge of the cage. St. Louis was pretty amped with the Daniel Bryan chants.

Mascara de Fuego: Good opener, Bryan worked his balls off and took beatings from both Henry and Show. Glad they kept the title on Bryan for at least ONE pay per view!

8-Diva Tag Team Match

Beth Phoenix, Natalya, & the Bella Twins defeat Eve Torres, Tamina, Kelly Kelly & Alicia Fox via Beth’s Glam Slam on Kelly Kelly

• They just set up high spot where Kelly Kelly does a plancha from the top turnbuckle to the Divas on the outside.

Mascara de Fuego: Whatever that shit went too long.

Great Puma: It was what it was. Everything was clean, nobody botched anything. Glad Beth got the clean pin.

Zack is at the arena sporting a back brace and rolling around in a wheel chair. Eve tells John Laurinaitis off.

John Cena and Kane battle to a double countout

• Kane fought out of an STF and Cena did a You Can’t See Me fist drop from the top turnbuckle. Back and forth battle.
• Kane knocked Cena out in the back and then dragged Zack Ryder to the ring. Kane Tombstons Zack as Eve begs for mercy. Cena comes in for the save but gets chokeslammed for his efforts.

Great Puma: Decent match. Kane countered everything but still couldn’t put Cena away. The storyline continues.

Mascara de Fuego: Thought it was a decent fast paced match. They are doing wonders for putting Kane back into the spotlight as a SUPER monster. Not sure what this does for Cena in the long run but right now Kane is the one shining out of this feud.

Funkasaurus Brodus Clay defeats Drew McIntyre via High Cross Body

• Brodus Clay comes out in Celtic green. There’s a Jurassic Park-ish “Funkasaurus” logo on his booty. Awesome.

Mascara de Fuego: Short and sweet like Puma called. Dude is catching on AND he got a chant!? Fuck man, I guess the WWE does know best. Hope Clay will be in the Rumble still.

Great Puma: Great stuff! I just hope they have the Funkasaurus in the Rumble. A little disappointed that Drew got in the most offense out of all of Clay’s opponents so far.

WWE World Championship Match
CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler

• John Laurinaitis comes out first. He says that he’s going to be officiating from outside the ring.
• Huge CM Punk chant prior to Punk coming out.

30-man Royal Rumble match

The writers of FighterHayabusa got together with the Wrestling Arts and Sciences Institute (WASI) and worldrenowned pro wrestling mark and twitter user, @RayRayfrom35st, to formulate the odds of the 2012 Royal Rumble.

The following table lists the wrestlers from the favorite to win the Rumble to the least favorite.

After the jump, you can see the wrestlers listed via alphabetical order.

ODDS TO WIN THE 2012 ROYAL RUMBLE

Odds to Win 2012 Royal Rumble (ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Daniel Bryan puts on a manipulation clinic. Yoshi Tatsu sighting! Orton returns and more.

Tucson, AZ

They open with another AJ injury highlight package.

Big Show comes out and looks preoccupied. Somebody is wearing his acting underwear tonight. Show publicly says he’s sorry to AJ. He said that AJ forgave him immediately. He’s always injured people since he was a kid. But unfortunately those types of incidents are not behind him. Show teases his retirement.

Daniel Bryan interrupts without his World Heavyweight Title belt on. Daniel Bryan says that AJ was ‘heavily medicated’ at the time she accepted Show’s apology and that she doesn’t even remember the moment. DB says that he thought that the WWE is for athletes, not for genetic freaks. DB also says that Big Show is no Andre the Giant. DB says that Big Show isn’t sincere and that he should just retire right now. DB starts yelling at show and slaps the shit out of his face twice. Show backs DB into the turnbuckle and reiterates that the AJ deal was accident, then throws him down.

This brings out Mark Henry. He reminds them that it’s a Tripe Treat match. Henry doesn’t care about Show’s hurt feelings and Daniel Bryan’s Napoleon Complex. He said he also doesn’t care about some 95 pound girl with a training bra. Classic! Henry advances towards Bryan and threatens to whup his ass.

Teddy Long says that Wade Barrett is facing Randy Orton in the main event tonight. Teddy Long makes Big Show vs. Mark Henry tonight.

WWE Intercontinental champ Cody Rhodes pins Justin Gabriel via Cross Rhodes

~ Good but brief match Gabriel got a little more offense in than he did in their last encounter. Gabriel was hanging with Cody move for move. Loved how Cody showed off a little more technical moves here. Good stuff and I look forward to seeing Cody have a good outing in the Rumble.

Santino and Yoshi Tatsu are speaking with Teddy Long in the back. Santino and Yoshi argue about their tag team name being “Santoshi” or “Yoshitino.” Drew comes in and gets blown off by Teddy…again.

Sheamus pins Drew McIntyre via Brogue Kick

~ Another decent but short match. Drew got in some nice offense and even managed to pull off a solid northern lights suplex. If you’ve seen a Sheamus squash match in the last three months, this one looked just like it and that’s not a bad thing.

WWE Tag Team champions Epico & Primo defeat Yoshi Tatsu & Santino Marella via Epico’s Back Stabber on Santino

~ Anytime I get to see Santino play the Air Vuvuzela I’m a happy wrestling fan. I hope Epico and Primo come out with a legit double team finisher.

Daniel Bryan approaches Mark Henry while he’s warming up. DB tries to Jedi Mindtrick Mark Henry into taking the Big Show out of their match at the Rumble.

~ Holy shit! Daniel Bryan is rocking the douchey manipulative heel roll here. Excellent stuff. WWE, please keep the title on Bryan. I’m excited just to see the promos between Bryan and Orton.

Wade Barrett is in the ring with a mic. He says that Randy Orton is a spiritually broken man. Wade claims that Randy Orton is not the same man after his injury.

Randy Orton and Wade Barrett brawl to a no-contest

~ This is what most injury returns should look like. Orton turned on the intensity and you could really buy into the animosity of the feud.

Daniel Bryan is speaking with Kaitlyn in the back. Bryan tells Kaitlyn to tell the Big Show that Mark Henry is going to try to injure him. Kaitlyn tries to ask him about how he feels about AJ but he quickly directs the conversation towards the Big Show.

~ Again Bryan shines here.

Hunico (with Camacho) pins Ted DiBiase via a modified Angle Slam

• After the match, Hunico and Camacho attack DiBiase’s injured left arm.

~ Pretty good for the limited time given. The story was set with Hunico going after the arm early. Both men played their parts perfectly. Hopefully this leads to a more than moderate push for Hunico.

Aksana and Teddy Long are watching some shit in the back. Natalya demands a rematch with Tamina. However Teddy makes Natalya vs. Aksana. Somebody farts, they all leave and then Santino walks through it and gags. Hilarious.

Brodus Clay pins Alex Riley via Flying Cross Body (What the Funk?)

~ This is the first time an opponent was actually getting into Brodus Clay’s entrance. This was unbelievable short. Is Brodus Clay being fast tracked towards a major title this year? It certainly looks like it.

Aksana pins Natalya via roll up

• After the match, Natalya beats Aksana down and puts her in the Sharpshooter.
• Tamina comes out, wrecks shop with a Samoan Drop, and then hits Natalya with the Superfly Splash.

~ I wish Natalya wasn’t getting jobbed so quickly but I do like Tamina’s push. I think the crowd is catching on every week.

Big Show defeats Mark Henry via countout

• In the opening moments of the match, Mark Henry collapsed while he was attacking the Big Show. He rolled out of the ring and was counted out.
• Daniel Bryan entered the ring and attacked Big Show with a steel chair. Bryan then put Show in the Lebell Lock. Show eventually powered out and dropped Bryan with a chokeslam. Bryan ran out of the ring before Show could give further punishment.

End of show

~ Not sure if Henry is going to make it to the Royal Rumble. That didn’t look like a planned finish and the interwebs is reporting that Henry has suffered a hyper-extended knee. This is probably a product of Henry overcompensating for his groin injuries. Minor injuries always lead to major injuries if athletes are not careful.

Perhaps they’ll take Mark Henry out early in the pay per view to excuse him from wrestling in the Smackdown Triple Threat. I was looking forward to seeing Daniel Bryan wrestle two of the biggest wrestlers in the WWE but I’m sure Big Show and Bryan will more than carry their weight in a one on one steel cage match.

This changes my Royal Rumble predictions where I picked Mark Henry to have the most eliminations. Now I’m guessing it’s either going to be Sheamus or Brodus Clay. This was a good episode of Smackdown and Daniel Bryan’s manipulative actions throughout the show really added to the drama and intrigue of the World Title angle.

MMAFighting and UFC on Fuel correspondent, Ariel Helwani, caught up with WWE World Champion, CM Punk. Punk talks about Chael Sonnen, Chris Jericho’s “dive” tweet, Brock, his BJJ training and more.

Mascara De Fuego: Welcome everyone to Fighter Hayabusa’s Royal Rumble predictions, how are you Puma?

Great Puma: I’m swell. I had my bionic arm replaced and it’s feeling great…if not sexy.

Mascara De Fuego: Sounds like you’re going to be doing a lot of stick shift driving.

Great Puma: I’m certainly excited! Well then shall we?

Mascara De Fuego: Yes we shall… lets start this off… for our first topic…

First Entrant into the Royal Rumble:

Mascara De Fuego: I have a gut feeling we’re seeing Dolph Ziggler take this point once again pulling pay per view double duty. This obviously means I don’t think he is going to win the WWE Title and will weasel his way into the match to try to get another shot at the title at the biggest show of the year.

Great Puma: I don’t think they’re going to allow the number one entrant win the Rumble for a while but the first entrant is usually a bigger name. I’m going to go with R-Truth. People need someone to root for in the early moments of the Rumble.

Last Entrant into the Royal Rumble:

Mascara De Fuego: I’m going with Chris Jericho to come out at number 30 and take full advantage of his number position… more on that later.

Great Puma: Wade Barrett. Wade being last improves the possibility of him getting another opportunity at a World Championship. The fans will react appropriately and this will definitely add more risk, drama and doubt to the eventual winner (not Wade) of the Rumble.

Most Eliminations in the Royal Rumble:

Great Puma: If this was last year, it would be so easy to say Big Show or Kane. However, I think they’re gonna give the big rub to Mark Henry. He deserves it, if rumors are true, it would be a nice reward and Royal Rumble record prior to his eventual retirement i 2012.

Mascara De Fuego: I’m going with Sheamus. I think this would be a nice rub for him seeing as he has been building a solid fan base in the last several months. Good push for him if he can lose the Rumble yet still clean house.

Quickest Person Eliminated in the Royal Rumble:

Great Puma: This is a hard one. I’m going with David Otunga. As much as I enjoy watching him, I know the WWE Universe does not. I think the WWE will make this happen to make the crowd happy. I think Ricardo Rodriguez would be another strong quickest elimination candidate.

Mascara De Fuego: If Evan Bourne was around at the moment I’d go with him but seeing as he’s at home enjoying the Rumble from the comfort of his couch, I am going with the continued burial of Drew McIntyre. He’s the only dude they keep crapping on yet they don’t move him to NXT or WWE Superstars. He’s a high priced Future Endeavor.

Surprise Entrants into the Royal Rumble:

Great Puma: MVP. I felt a disturbance in the force when I read his latest interview. It’s probably not going to happen but if it did, I think the crowd would go bananas. Just to pick a second option, I would say Christian.

Mascara De Fuego: I think we’ll get Hacksaw Jim Duggan since he won the first televised Royal Rumble 25 years ago. Also, I could see Christian making his return as well and possibly someone like Rob Van Dam depending on what his TNA status is.

The 2012 Royal Rumble Winner:

Great Puma: Prior to Chris Jericho’s promo on Raw, I would have picked Sheamus. Now I’m picking Jericho. There’s a hot fan-made storyline that’s circulating around the interwebs that has Jericho being number one, he does his high-fiving around the ring, and he does not enter the ring until the very end. That would be entertaining. For myself, I’d like to see Jericho enter around the 15th or 20th person mark so he can take out some major players in the Rumble. I think he needs to show the world that he still has ‘it’ and solidify his status as one of the WWE’s elite wrestlers.

Mascara De Fuego: Chris Jericho. I have a feeling we’re going to see the most controversial Rumble win in the history of the event. I can see Jericho coming in at the last minute after the two before him eliminate themselves leaving the Royal Rumble to be won by the last participant. Jericho then comes out, celebrates all the way to the ring as he’s announced the winner. He cuts a very basic promo like at RAW and we’re still left in the dark as to what his real motives are.

Kane vs. John Cena

Mascara De Fuego: John Cena. That’s all I have to say about that. As Jim Ross would say, this is going to be “bowling shoe ugly”. Cena will be more serious for once but his movie set will still take you out of the moment since you can’t take that shit seriously. Kane will look good possibly getting a spot in the Elimination Chamber match out of it.

Great Puma: Kane. This is more wishful thinking than a prediction. Shit. Is it bad that I don’t give a shit about this match? I’ve decided that John Cena should NOT turn heel. Perhaps he could turn heel after Wrestlemania but not now. If anything he should turn heel, I think the fans will just go all Madison Square Garden on the angle and cheer him. If they want a definitive Heel vs. Face confrontation at ‘Mania Cena should just go super-face and ham it up.

Steel Cage Match: World Champion Daniel Bryan vs. The Big Show vs. Mark Henry

Great Puma: Daniel Bryan. I think Bryan’s finally getting a strong reaction from the crowd and he’s just beginning to develop his WWE heel persona. Big Show and Mark Henry have been great but I think the real money match for Smackdown is Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton.

Mascara De Fuego: It’s a shame, I would like to see Bryan come out of (at least)this ppv with the World Title intact but I just don’t think they see him at that point yet. I do think he will get there in time with this WWE heel version of character but they will sleep on him for a bit. I think the title is going back to Mark Henry who will carry the title to WrestleMania.

WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler w/Vicki Guerrero – John Laurinaitis as the special guest referee

Great Puma: CM Punk. Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk is one of the few matches the WWE can make for Wrestlemania that gives that main event feel to the card. Ziggler will get his much deserved run at a World Title this year but it won’t come until the summer.

Mascara De Fuego: Punk. The Rumble always steals the show but I think this will be a close second. Ziggler has been working is balls off in recent months and I do think he deserves a decent run with a major title but I don’t think this is the time. Punk has to go to Mania and he has to face Jericho. That will be the match for the wrestling-heads at that show. Laurinaitis will make his presence felt but he will fail and he will have his match with Punk in due time.

Go-home show time.

Show starts with WWE Champion CM Punk coming out to the ring. He reminds us what’s going on at the ppv with he and Dolph Ziggler. He also tells us about Ziggler’s last three wins over him and how Laurinaitis had something to do with each one of those victories. Punk mentions how Laurinaitis finally admitted that he is going to screw Punk at the ppv. He then calls out Laurinaitis and wants to hear these things to his face. This gets a Punk chant. He doesn’t come out which gets Punk telling Laurinaitis he is going to find him. John Cena’s music hits and this dude comes out before Punk ended up leaving for the back. Punk said the wrong John came out. Cena then shits on Punk and tells him this is how it is done. Cena then talking shit about Laurinaitis and how he IS going to come out to give Ryder a rematch and Cena another match with Kane. How Laurinaitis will show up to step down as interim GM. Punk is still confused as why the fuck Cena came out. Laurinaitis finally comes out and says he stands by what he said last week and wont be intimated but Cena or Punk. Punk keeps teasing Laurinaitis to come to the ring. Laurinaitis makes Kane vs. Ryder for tonight, no holds barred and if Cena gets involved Ryder will never get another US Title shot. He sets a tag team match for right now…

WWE Champion CM Punk & John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler & US Champion Jack Swagger w/Vicki

-Ziggler tells Punk he needs to worry about HIM not Laurinaitis. How he’s going to beat Punk again. Swagger says some shit.

- Laurinaitis is also at ringside for this one.

-Cena’s going to try to wrestle with Ziggler. It breaks into a Cena match quick.

-Punk in with a series of kicks to the back of Ziggler.

-GTS is teased early before Ziggler goes to the outside for the break.

-Cole says Laurinaitis is looking on intently… he’s actually texting…

-back from the break and Cena made a 2 ½ count on Ziggler.

-Ziggler shows off before tagging into Swagger.

-Cena takes a shot at Ziggler on the apron before taking a Swagger clothesline.

-Cena is cornered where Ziggler can get revenge on that punch.

-the fuck tennis shoes is Cena wearing. Good lord for a second I though they were Adidas… THAT was a close one…

-series of elbow drops by Ziggler who then does situps on Cena for a 2 count.

-Swagger bomb in the corner for a two count on Cena.

- Lawler brings up Laurinaitis’ texting at ringside.

-AA by Cena to Swagger into the hot tag to Punk.

-running high knee into the bulldog on Ziggler.

-GTS teased into a kick to the head for a close three that is broken up by Swagger.

-Swagger and Cena fight on the outside when Punk goes to the top.

-Laurinaitis gets on the ropes only to get pushed off by Punk.

-Ziggler then rolls up Punk for the win.

Winner: Ziggler & Swagger

After the match Punk gets back on the mic and says one day he will beat the hell out of Laurinaitis. Punk then wants Laurinaitis for one night to be a WWE Superstar and challenges him tonight! Laurinaitis then accepts! This really wont happen.

Jericho is shown in the back smiling all excited. We’re apparently getting a Highlight Reel tonight?

Recap of Jericho’s match from last week before he is intro’d.

Jericho then comes out and is shushing up. This is getting mixed boos. Jericho runs out of the ring saying hold on just one second… yeah is finally speaks and its wasted on those words. He then goes to the back and comes back to the ring with one of those t-shirt guns. He does the whole t-shirt gun tease and the crowd is going ape shit over this shirt. Jericho then asks the camera man for the camera and starts to show the crowd as they cheer for a fucking t-shirt. Haha Jericho then points to the flat screen then shows footage of Jericho’s WWE career in its entirety up to his return. Jericho then shush’s us again and then finally he says “this Sunday at the Royal Rumble the world will end as we know it”.

Since they’ve been holding off they should have maybe waited for the Rumble for his first words but maybe this might make a few more people order the ppv.

They recap last September’s match between Ziggler and Ryder where Hugh Jackman got involved in, timely… well I guess it is since the DVD to that robot movie comes out tomorrow. Such pluggers.

Truth vs. Miz tonight, well that could have waiting for the ppv…

I love the Royal Rumble by the number recaps. Such a nerd for these facts. Haha! Best hype video they could have shown for the Rumble, they should have been showing this shit off on Television since December.

Foley in the back with Ryder and Eve. Foley gives advice on Kane before walking off. Eve tries to talk Ryder out of this shit. Cena then walks in to a mixed bag. Ryder tells Cena to stay out of it…

Zack Ryder vs. Kane – falls count anywhere match

-Ryder is out with tape on his ribs.

-Ryder starts off strong but Kane throws him off and kicks Ryder in the ribs.

-Ryder is then kicked off the ring apron and hits head first on the announce table.

-Kane beats on Ryder at ringside then sends him back first into the corner post.

-the beating continues as Eve comes out to ringside.

-Kane takes Ryder’s back to the announce table before we take a break.

-back from the break and the ass whoopin’ continues.

-Kane does that face chokey thing to Ryder before throwing him over the barricade and into the crowd.

-Ryder tries for a small comeback but all for not.

-this is going long…

-this then heads up to the stage area over by the big ol’ WWE symbol.

-Ryder kicks out of a pin attempt which gets a Ryder chant finally.

-Ryder tries again to fight back but is taken down quickly and choke slammed through the stage!

-Kane then turns to Eve and chases her back to the ring.

-Cena then finally shows up on the stage when Kane heads out through the crowd.

-Cena looks in shock over the hole that Ryder is in, such a bad actor. haha

-Eve gives us crocodile tears. Haha

-Ryder is getting the long EMT spot before we go to another break.

Winner: no contest

Back from the break Ryder is still getting carted out of the hole. He gets cheered on the way out. Ryder has been taken some ass kicking. Ha. Another long segment follows Ryder all the way to the back and into the ambulance. Eve blames Cena for this shit and climbs into the ambulance with Ryder. Cena looks sad when Josh comes up and asks him about this. Cena looks mad faced before he turns and knocks the mic out of his hand. Cena then looks into the camera trying his hardest to look crazed.

Jinder Mahal vs. Sheamus

-solid reaction for Sheamus.

-Sheamus beats on Mahal while Barrett comes out for commentary.

-eventually the distraction works in Mahal’s favor to take the advantage.

-Sheamus recovers teases the celtic cross when Mahal fights out.

-Mahal then takes the brog kick for the pin.

Winner: Sheamus

Sheamus is over and I’m going with him to get the most eliminations at this Rumble. Sheamus and Wade have words before Barrett backs off. Sheamus tells Barrett to take note as he will win the Rumble on Sunday.

Miz in the back when Josh asks him about his match tonight. He shits on Big Show and Morrison, how he will headline WrestleMania again by winning the Rumble. Truth interrupts in “disguise”… he tells Miz he is #1 in being shitty in the ratings. They argue before Laurinaitis comes in all mad that he cant focus on his match later tonight. He says that the loser of the Miz/Truth match will be the #1 entrant into the Rumble.

William Regal is now at ringside. Cole brings up Regal dancing against Brodus on Friday before he got splashed by Clay.

Brodus Clay vs. Heath Slater

-Clay comes out doing the t-rex.

-Slater is laughing at Clay before catching a shoulder block.

-Slater gets a dropkick on Clay before he catches a running head butt.

-move set of funk for the pin.

Winner: Clay

I’m going with Clay getting a surprise elimination on a high mid card guy at the Rumble.

The Miz vs. Truth – Loser starts the Royal Rumble at #1

-Miz the first to head to the outside before he’s clotheslined by Truth.

-Miz recovers in the ring with a series of stomps.

-slingshot suplex onto the ropes then sends Truth to the outside.

-back from the break we have a abdominal stretch broken by Truth

-close pin attempt by Truth with an inverted victory roll.

-Truth then gets a back slide before getting hit with the backbreaker/neck break combo by Miz.

-Truth avoids SCF and Miz blocks the mic check before Miz hits his short DDT.

-Truth finally hits the mic check out of nowhere and pins Miz.

Winner: Truth

Loser starting at #1 on Sunday: Miz

Lawler declares Ryder having a… broken back… how long are they keeping this kid off TV?

Laurinaitis in the back wearing a boxing style robe. Otunga brings Laurinaitis a fax, he looks grumpy face over it.

WWE Champion CM Punk vs. John Laurinaitis

- Laurinaitis is intro’d a couple of times before he comes out with Ortunga.

-Cole puts Laurinaitis being a champion in New Japan.

- Laurinaitis says he has unfortunate news from a fax he got. Otunga reads that the board is concerned about Laurinaitis saying he is going to screw Punk. They aren’t happy and Laurinaitis gets a job review next week for his GM job. HHH is conducting this review.

-Punk says Laurinaitis cant screw him or he is out of a job.

- Laurinaitis takes this fax as a wakeup call and apologizes to Punk and the crowd.

- Laurinaitis puts Foley in the Rumble as a nice thing and claims he was going to call Punk vs. Ziggler down the middle all along he just got hot.

-this is a talking match…

-Punk fumbles his words calling Vince grandpa. Saying Punk is going to be fired.

- Laurinaitis claims the match isn’t happening and he has a substitute with Ortunga

-Otunga jumps Punk and beats on his in the corner.

-Punk comes back with a spear and locks the Anaconda Vice on Ortunga while Laurinaitis watches on.

- Laurinaitis and Punk are face to face and the crowd is eating this up.

- Laurinaitis puts out his hand to shake.

-CM Punk chant.

-GTS to Laurinaitis!!!!

-Ziggler out of nowhere with the zig zag!

-Ziggler then stands over Punk while Laurinaitis sells the GTS.

Winner: no contest

Decent show and push towards the Rumble. Although it felt they could have done more to push the ppv I’m not sure what that could have been.

Smackdown heats up in the desert and gets us ready for the Royal Rumble.

Las Vegas, NV

They start with a video highlighting AJ-Gate.

Daniel Bryan comes out to tons of boos. He says Big Show committed a sin by knocking AJ down. DB accuses Show of doing it on purpose. The crowd eats this up and reacts to everything DB is says. DB goes on to say that AJ’s career might be over because she was with him at ringside. DB reminds the crowd that AJ confessed her love for him and that he ‘admires’ her. He says that he’s going to unleash his fury on the Big Show if he doesn’t quit.

~ Another week and Daniel Bryan cuts the best promo of his career. Excellent stuff.

They cut Santino, Alicia Foxx and others playing poker. Teddy Long explains the roulette wheel to Aksana. Cody interrupts and says he’s the last hope for the Rhodes family. Cody spins the wheel and he gets a player’s choice. Cody picks Hornswoggle.

Cody Rhodes and Hornswoggle ‘wrestle’ to a no-contest

• Cody starts beating Horny down but then Justin Gabriel comes down and challenges him.
• Cody Rhodes pins Justin Gabriel via Cross Rhodes

~ Really solid but short match. Justin Gabriel got a lot more offense in than most of Cody’s opponents have lately. There were some nice counters by Gabriel at the end, including a slick backslide pin attempt.

Mark Henry is with Teddy Long in the back. Henry says that Teddy is putting Daniel Bryan in harm’s way. Henry tells Teddy to spin the will since it’s his idea. Henry gets a Lumberjack match and that Daniel Bryan is going into the Hall of Pain.

They replay Epico & Primo’s House show Tag Title win in Oakland.

Tornado Match

Epico & Primo defeat the Usos via Primo’s Backstabber on Jimmy Uso

~ Eh. I liked this match a lot until the ending. Unless a tag team is made of two megastars (e.g. Rock n’ Sock Connection) I prefer seeing a tag match ending with a double team attack. I really liked a lot of the Uso’s offense. Their double hip attack/butt bump looked pretty cool as well as a few other moves. I think the Usos are the best tag team in the WWE right now as far as chemistry goes. I realize the WWE is pushing Prim-ico to the moon right now but I think the Usos have been allowed to show more in the ring.

They cut to Aksana spinning the wheel for Sheamus. Sheamus lands a tables match versus Wade Barrett. They somehow fit in “what happens in Vegas…” in the segment.

Dance Off

Funkasaurus Brodus Clay defeats Vicky Guerrero and William Regal

• Vicky says she knows how to shake “her thang.” Vicky breaks out her inner-Elaine sexy robot dance. Brodus lets his dancers do some shaking and then reels himself into the middle of the ring and does his thing. He ends his dance in a b-boy stance. Haha!

• William Regal runs down to console Vicky and chastises the crowd. Before Regal can leave, Brodus calls him a chicken and challenges him to another dance off. Regal obliges and tells the soundman to hit his music. Regal does some weird old man shit and then Brodus blasts him with his flying body press. “My bad,” says Brodus and he then celebrates with his dancers. Wow.

~ I’m a mark for Brodus Clay but I’m a bigger mark for William Regal. I liked this segment but I didn’t love it. I still want to see Regal vs. Bryan in the WWE sooner than later.

That being said I didn’t think I’d ever see someone do the Elaine Dance on WWE programming. #Randomassshit

Wade Barrett defeats Sheamus in a Table Match (Jinder Mahal distracts Sheamus prior to Wade throwing him through a table)

• After the match Jinder jumps Sheamus but is Brogue Kicked instead (a little botched in my opinion). Sheamus then rewards him with a shoulder tackle through a table.

~ This is probably the best Wade Barrett match I’ve seen in months. The near table crashes were well timed and executed.

It’s amazing to me how much they’re protecting Sheamus. I can’t remember the last time he was submitted or pinned clean.

Ted DiBiase defeats Hunico in a flag match (DiBiase was able to grab the US Flag)

~ Interesting match. Both would hit each other with a big move and then slowly climb up the flag poles only to be knocked down by each other. I hope they do more with both wrestlers.

They show Daniel Bryan speaking with Kaitlyn. They looked concerned for AJ.

Drew McIntyre is in the back with Teddy Long. Teddy fires Drew but Santino pleads with Teddy to give Drew another chance since his last win over Drew was considered a fluke. Drew is stoked about the opportunity. Drew spins the wheel and it lands on a blindfold match. I start thinking about Jake the Snake.

Santino defeats Drew McIntyre in a Blindfold Match

~ This was actually pretty funny. I think Santino is in Colt Cabana’s ballpark when it comes to pro wrestling comedy matches. I have to give kudos to Drew for holding up his end of the comedy. Entertaining match.

Lumberjack Match

Mark Henry and Daniel Bryan wrestle to a no contest after the “lumberjacks” attack both men

• After all hell broke loose, Daniel leaves the ring. Teddy intercepts him in the back and tells him that Bryan is going to defend his World Title at the Royal Rumble in a Triple Threat match against Big Show and Mark Henry.

~ Very fun match. It was neat to see how the lumberjacks reacted to both competitors. Daniel took some deadly bumps and kept on ticking. Henry was Henry and it’s good to see him a lot healthier this week. He was a beast in this match and I loved the Hulk spot where he pushes away a crowd of wrestlers off of him.

Great UWF style ending with a gang of wrestlers fighting it out in the ring. As usual, Smackdown was entertaining and made sense. I’m not sure what they’re doing with Aksana, Hunico or Drew McIntyre but that’s just nitpicking. All the major storylines are moving forward nicely. I’m pretty psyched for the Rumble, are you?

*Photo courtesy of wwe.com

Hana over there at Supahcute said it best:

Copyright infringement is wrong — but so are overreaching laws that don’t give a damn about due process. Under SOPA, IP rights holders can proceed vigilante-style against allegedly offending sites, without any court hearing or any judicial intervention or oversight whatsoever. A “good faith belief” that an identified Internet site is “primarily designed or operated for the purpose of” infringement would be enough to initiate the process of blocking access to that particular site. Are we really going to let government block websites based on a “good faith belief”?

If you would like your internet to stay the same like I do, Contact Congress now!

#SOPABlackout

RAW is in our backyard but we skipped going to the show to bring you this post… ok, actually we’re saving our cash for WrestleMania this year but it sounded good.

Of course being MLK Day we get the video they run every year to open RAW featuring Martin Luther King Jr. They only time the WWE isn’t racist. Fuckers.

MICK FOLEY is out to start the show. Lets hope this is a better outing for Foley since his return to the WWE. We get a small Foley chant although a small one. He shills Disneyland (YAY!) and Anaheim. He brings up the shit he’s done since coming back. He explains he didn’t mind doing those things after what he’s done in the WWE like headline WrestleMania in Anaheim. He said he wants his kids to see daddy in the ring one more time and wants into the Royal Rumble! Nice! Vicki and Dolph interrupt with the crowd shitting on Vicki. She intros the next WWE Champion in Ziggler. Ziggler shits on Foley for wanting to take a precious spot in the Rumble just so he can show off to his kids. Dolph makes fun Foley’s chance to win the Rumble. Shit was funny actually. Foley gets serious on wanting to WIN the Rumble not just be in it. Ziggler brings up being in the WWE year round and his current track record before going back to Foley’s chances and how it would suck if he had to defend the WWE Title at Mania against him. Dolph is cutting the promo of his career thus far. Ziggler tells Foley to go away before WWE Champion CM Punk comes out. Punk gets a chant… small. Come on Anaheim. Punk says he and Foley are unconventional not like Ziggler and they don’t hide behind a woman. How he and Foley earned their spots and how Ziggler’s got Laurinaitis in his corner at the ppv. Punk says it would be damn cool to take on Foley at Mania. They argue some more before Laurinaitis comes out and reminds us who he is. Also he claims to be unbiased at the Rumble and will consider Foley’s request then tells him no. Well shit.  Vicki laughs in Foley’s face for an odd long time before it cuts to the former tag team champions Air Boom.

WWE Tag Team Champions Epico & Primo w/Rosa vs. Air Boom

-none of the teams get a proper into after the break.

-they show the house show footage of the title switch.

-“you missed out Ryan” is the sign of the night.

-champions take the advantage quick on Bourne off the bat.

-nice hurricaneranna by Bourne for the hot tag.

-near fall similar to last night attempt into the trouble in paradise

-Evan goes for to the top but is distracted watching what was going on with Kofi.

-Evan takes the ropes to the chest then the back stabber for the pin and the win.

Winner: Epico & Primo

Johnny Ace is in the back when Otunga walks in, he opens the door and its Jericho who’s in a match tonight. Jericho doesn’t say anything just turns off the lights and stands in the dark with his light up jacket. Haha.

Smackdown’s from Vegas this Friday.

I still call this arena The Pond. Fuck Honda Center.

Ryder is in the back with Eve with his ribs taped up. Striker asks if he’s ready for this tonight. Ryder says he’s going to the ring no matter what. Eve is going with it… oh man this doesn’t sound good for Ryder…

Video package on Kane and what has gone on with Ryder’s involvement in this.

Jack Swagger w/Vicki vs. Unites States Champion Zack Ryder w/Eve

-Cole shows the footage of last week with the controversial pin.

-right off the bat Swagger attacks Ryder’s taped up ribs.

-Lets go Ryder chant, biggest chant by this crowd.

-back breaker into a Swagger bomb for a 2 count.

-gut wrench powerbomb by Swagger but Zack kicks out.

-another got wrench powerbomb…1..2…kickout!

-multiple elbows to Ryder’s back.

-another gut wrench! 1…2…THREE!

Winner: Jack Swagger is the new US Champion!

Interesting… I wonder what the WWE is up to with this? Is the Ryder experiment over?

WrestleMania commercial featuring Rock vs. Cena.

Recap of Swagger winning the title after three cut wrench suplexes.

Ryder is being looked at when Laurnaitis comes in and says “my bad” when he admits that he JUST read the letter from Ryder’s doctor saying he couldn’t compete.

Perez Hilton gets the biggest boos of the night. He is guest ring announcing for the Diva’s.

Kelly Kelly & Alicia Fox  vs. The Bella’s

-oh man so um Twin magic which sets off Hilton who keeps yelling “you’re cheating, you’re cheating”. This sets up for the roll up win for Kelly & Fox.

Winner: Kelly & Fox

This shit gets WORSE! The Bella’s come into the ring and talk shit to Hilton before one of the Bella’s lightly pushes Hilton and he takes the worse slow mo, delayed, overacted back bump in the history of back bumps! Christ where is that rock keep to hide under?

Cole and Lawler recap what happened to AJ on Smackdown. Show just runs this bitch over! FUCK! LOL!

’92 Royal Rumble recap. This was my personal favorite only because Flair won the WWE Title that night. Interesting footage to show seeing as he is STILL TNA…

R-Truth is out but before he can say anything Wade Barrett comes out. He says he’s winning the Rumble. Barrett mentions Truth being in the Rumble as well. Truth goes into his Ultimate Warrior style promo about Disneyland  and shows a picture of him with Mickey and Minnie, Donald Duck and Pinocchio… Truth says was told by Pinocchio that Wade was winning the Rumble when all of a sudden Pinocchio’s nose grows! Truth then says “I don’t even know if that’s PG!” LOL! Oh shit, not gonna lie that shit made me laugh out loud! Truth says he can believe a talking mouse of an elephant that can fly over Barrett winning the Royal Rumble. HA! Before Truth can finish the Miz comes out and beats on Truth. Barrett joins in before Sheamus make the safe. Sheamus and Truth stand strong before Teddy Long comes out. He says Johnny Ace is busy so he’s making an over the top rope challenge for tonight between these four.

Over the top rope challenge

Miz vs. Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus vs. Truth

-all four pair up in the ring with the person they are currently bickering with.

-Barrett gets thrown out when he gets triple teamed.

-Truth tries to throw Sheamus out but he fights out.

-Truth takes down Sheamus before taking down by Miz.

-Truth gets thrown over by Miz but he makes it to the apron.

-Sheamus takes down a charging Miz.

-Sheamus pounds Miz’s chest to the count of ten.

-brog kick is side stepped and Sheamus almost goes over the top.

-Miz and Sheamus teeter until Truth comes out of nowhere and throws both over the top!

Winner: R-Truth

Miz takes a brog kick on the outside to finish the segment.

Laurinaitis in the back texting when Cena comes in yelling at what happened to Ryder tonight. Ace makes a match against Swagger and Cena… next!? Odd.

United States Champion Jack Swagger vs. John Cena

-no Vicki?

-Cena has his serious face on tonight.

-Cena jumps Swagger before the bell and beats his ass.

-Swagger is taken into the ring post then the announce table.

-the chants finally get loud for the battling chant.

-Swagger’s ass getting beat around ringside when Cena whips him into the steel steps.

-Now Swagger continually takes the steel steps to the head.

-Cena then picks up the steel steps and is going to crush Swagger before Kane’s music hits.

-Cena stops and goes to the ring only to get Kane on video. Kane says Cena is finally getting it.

Winner: no contest

Cena then realizes the errors of his ways just now before we go to break. Shame on you sir!

Brodus Clay vs. JTG

-Clay gets intro’d by his dance crew ladies.

-someone call my momma!

-Clay’s doing raptor arms! What the fuck!? haha

-dude at ringside tries to start a JTG chant…

-Clay is doing Dusty straight on.

-running headbutt by Clay.

-t bone suplex by Clay.

-splash in the corner into the high cross body for the pin. Aka “ah funk it”…!?

Winner: Brodus Clay

Clay and his ladies dance after the match… man, maybe this really is it for Clay. Like this is the shit that is going to get his ass over…

Another recap of last Smackdown’s main event and AJ taking the Big Show bump. Great facial expressions by Bryan. Here is comes, I hope you’re ready WWE cause Bryan on a national level is DANGEROUS son!

World Champion Daniel Bryan is out to the stage. He gets a mixed (by booed) reaction. He talks shits on Big Show and what he did to AJ. He says she will never be the same. He calls Show pathetic for putting her in front of him and the title. How he didn’t apologize and fake cried. Bryan tells Show not to show up to Smackdown anymore or he is going to make him pay. The then says he has a match against Henry on Friday night and he dedicates that match to AJ. He says he appreciates AJ loving him and will show her how much he does in that match. nice shit here!

World Champion Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho & WWE Champion CM Punk & vs. Mark Henry, David Otunga & Dolph Ziggler w/Vicki

-lights go out for Jericho’s entrance and we get a solid reaction from Anaheim!

-Jericho is slapping hands with the crowd again.

-Jericho is now taking pictures OF the crowd with their own camera’s before we go to break.

-we’re back from break and Jericho is STILL going around the crowd.

-The heels are in the ring already but Punk is the last to be intro’d

-Y2J chant. is it too early for Jericho to be in a match?

-Punk and Ziggler start off to a Punk chant.

-tag to Bryan who fucks up clearing Ziggler, fuck!

-tag to Otunga… he works over the leg.

-Y2J chant.

-Bryan is trending… can’t be good.

-Ziggler back in to work on Bryan’s leg.

-Bryan gets to the ropes after a Ziggler half crab.

-tag to Punk and Otunga.

-you can’t wrestle chant for Otunga.

-Ziggler back in thankfully. He puts the books to Punk.

-Punk goes to make the hot tag but Ziggler keeps him in and tags to Otunga.

-Otunga puts Punk on the top for a super plex attempt that is fought off into a Macho Man elbow.

-crowd is going nuts and Y2J is finally tagged in who then goes into his crowd pumping thing.

-Jericho tags Bryan in then leaves while still “celebrating”.

-commercial break.

-The match is officially a 2 on 3. Well, its still a 2 on 2 with Henry just hanging out

-another hot tag this time into Punk.

-high knee into bulldog by Punk on Ziggler.

-springboard clothesline for a close 2 that Henry breaks up.

-Henry finally gets involved and brawls with Bryan up the ramp.

-Mick Foley’s music then hits! He says he’s in the match!

-Foley chant!

-Punk tries for the tag but gets a leg drop to the back of the head for a 2 count.

-Foley chant is constant.

-Ziggler with a series of neck breaks for another 2 count.

-hot to Foley who unloads on Otunga in the corner!

-running knee by Foley!

-DOUBLE UNDERHOOK DDT!

-MR. SOCKO!!!! The crowd is bonkers!

-Foley wins!

Winner: Chris Jericho, Mick Foley, Punk & Bryan

Laurnaits is out again and says he never gave Foley permission to be in the match. Ace reverses the decision.

Winner: Henry, Otunga & Ziggler

Punk takes the mic away from Ace. Punk tells Laurinaitis he isn’t going to do shit and tells him to get his balls out of his purse! Punk then shits on Ace’s career and how it must have bugged him when he wasn’t like his brother, Road Warrior Animal. Punk shit’s on Ace saying that he went from sucking to sucking up. Punk says Ace is jealous of what Punk has become cause he couldn’t. Punk goes off on Ace and tells him if he costs him the title he’s going to kick his ass. Punk chant. Punk then makes Ace flinch before he leaves!

Foley is left in the ring with Ace. Laurinaitis introduces himself to us…!? He says he is no pathetic and wont be intimidated. Foley tells Ace to admit that he is going to he is going to screw Punk and gets called a kiss ass. You suck chant. Ace then questions who Foley thinks he is and that he IS going to screw Punk and blows up all over all of us. He still fumbles his words. Laurinitis then winds up and takes the mic to Foley’s head… this was a Perez Hilton looking swing by Ace. Haha

Good lord am I just drunk or was this damn good night of RAW with a little bit here of them pushing the envelope?? Why can’t they do this all the time!?

Primo and Epico defeated Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne to win the WWE Tag Team titles at a house show in Oakland Sunday afternoon.

Epico’s tweet:

We came, we saw, we conquered!! And tonight Primo and Epico are the new WWE Tag Team Champions!!!!!!