WWE 2012: Showing YOU The Light

[Castiel]

Big Show killed AJ, Cena & Eve broke Zack Ryder's heart, these people are EVIL! Chris Jericho doesn't say a single thing and he's booed?! WWE is certainly messed up right now so I've got some things to fix. All of this will be reviewed and changed as I re-book the WWE starting at the beginning of 2012. It's about time it gets booked in a whole new way, a way that will help you (wait for it...) SEE THE LIGHT!

This project will be done in the style that has been dubbed around the internet as "Papa Style", which is when you recap months of a company as apposed to weekly shows. I'll recap up to a PPV then do a recap for the PPV it's self.

I planned on just recapping RAW Supershow and featuring Smackdown "regulars" but since I'm only really going to be following the feuds that will be on PPV cards for the most part I figure it will be easy to do both shows, Smackdown may be to a lesser extent though but I'm not going to ignore the World Heavyweight Championship by any means.

To let you get a feeling of who is going to be featured however I'm going to include only those I plan on using on the "roster" as apposed to a regular roster list. The list can change though when new people come into play. ?Really there won't be much of a Brand Split anyways but what's the point in including people on the roster listing when they aren't going to be seen? When they are going to be seen they'll be included.

NXT will also be followed and a big part of this BTB because I love NXT and I've got plans for it. Hopefully you all learn to enjoy it too and don't worry there will be NO competitions or anything. It will be much like current NXT just a brand of it's own in a way but with changes that will be very noticeable.

Any changes you notice will be explained in the recaps, don't worry.​

 

[Castiel]

RAW Supershow

WWE Champion | World Heavyweight Champion | Intercontinental Champion | United States Champion
CM Punk | Daniel Bryan | Cody Rhodes | Zack Ryder

WWE World Tag Team Champions | Divas Champion
Puerto Rican Magic (Primo & Epico) | Beth Pheonix

GM: John Laurinaitis
Commentary: Jerry Lawler - Michael Cole - Booker T


Core-Roster

Alberto Del Rio | Brodus Clay | Chris Jericho | Dolph Ziggler | David Otunga

Evan Bourne | Jack Swagger | John Cena | Kane | Kofi Kingston

Mason Ryan | The Miz | R-Truth

Smackdown Regulars

Big Show | Justin Gabriel | Mark Henry | Randy Orton

Sheamus | Ted DiBiase | Wade Barrett

Vicki Guerrero(manager to Ziggler & Swagger)
Rey Mysterio(inactive)
Christian(inactive)
Aksana(Teddy Long's lover)

Divas
AJ(girlfriend of Daniel Bryan)
Alicia Fox
Beth Pheonix
Brie Bella
Eve
Kaitlyn
Kelly Kelly
Maxine(girlfriend of Derrick Bateman(?))
Natalya
Nikki
Rosa Mendes(valet to Primo & Epico)

Tag Teams
AirBoom - Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne
Cheshire Dynamite - Trent Barreta & Tyson Kidd
No Days Off Crew - Darren Young & Michael McGuilicutty
Puerto Rican Magic - Primo & Epico
Sons Of Change - Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks
The Uso's - Jimmy & Jey Uso
​

NXT

GM: William Regal
Commentary: Josh Matthews & Road Dogg

Regulars

Alex Riley | Curt Hawkins | Darren Young | Derrick Bateman

Heath Slater | Jey Uso | Jimmy Uso | Johnny Curtis

Michael McGuillicutty | Trent Barreta | Tyler Reks | Tyson Kidd | Yoshi Tatsu

Rookies

Brad Maddox | Corey Graves | Jake Carter | Mike Dalton | Nick Rogers | Richie Steamboat | Seth Rollins | Xavier Woods ​

 

[Castiel]

LEAD UP TO

It was now officially 2012, and it was set to be a good year. Both CM Punk & Daniel Bryan had finally risen from Independent fame to the top of the food chain in the WWE! John Laurinaitis, the RAW Supershow Interim GM and Executive Vice President Of Talent Relations (RSIGM-EVPOTR) hated this fact though. Daniel Bryan may have been growing on him but he still hated CM Punk with a passion.... as the year started Laurinaitis gave the WWE Champion a New Years gift and put him right into a Gauntlet match for his WWE Championship determined to take the belt off of him! He put Dolph Ziggler, the debuting Brodus Clay, and most surprising the US Champion Zack Ryder against Punk! Many figured Ryder was chosen in the hopes that he would seize any opportunity to become champion and turn to the dark side. Laurinaitis wanted this due to the power Ryder held over the WWE Universe.

The Unstoppable Brodus Clay was the first to face Punk, everyone was sure Brodus was going to squash Punk right away but though he towered over him, Punk was not intimidated. Mr. Laurinaitis stood at ringside and cheered on anyone that apposed Punk. Before anyone knew... anything Brodus was down thanks to a swift knockout kick to the head from Punk! 1-2-3! And that was all for the "unstoppable monster"! Dolph Ziggler was Punk's next test, he seemed like he had Punk on many occasions and was definitely looked at as the best challenge afterwards. Ziggler's cockiness got the best of him however, as he taunted, Punk grabbed a quick school boy! 1-2-3! These two were sure to meet again in the future.

The United States Champion got the final shot at Punk who was wore out from his battle with Ziggler. Ryder didn't take complete advantage of Punk though as he let him regain his composure before they grappled up. Laurinaitis was visibly disappointed that the chance to strike a beaten down Punk didn't jolt Ryder to give into his "darker side", nice try Johnny... Ryder gave Punk a surprisingly good battle! If he could've hit the Rough Ryder he would've become champion for sure, but he couldn't. A classic GTS put Ryder to sleep in the end. CM Punk enjoyed laughing in John Laurinaitis' face after the match, literally right in his face. It was great.

Laurinaitis wouldn't give up that easily though! Since all else failed the next week he introduced Punk's Royal Rumble opponent as the returning Alberto Del Rio! Del Rio claimed that a year ago he got one of the biggest wins of his career when he won the largest Royal Rumble in history! This year he was "DESTINED" to relive his glory but not by winning another Rumble, by winning another WWE Championship! CM Punk of course took kindly to this and they were both friends leading up to the Rumble. Wait, no... that isn't what happened at all! It was basically Del Rio talking about how it was his destiny to win the WWE championship again and CM Punk owning him a lot. John Laurinaitis used the excuse that Del Rio may not really be 100% yet so he didn't want to risk anything going into the PPV, this pretty much kept Del Rio out of the ring until his title match. Though he did have a quick match / victory over Santino. During this little match he proved he was a vicious competitor though as he nearly snapped Santino's arm off with his ARM BREAKKAAAAAA!!!!

Elsewhere on RAW John Cena saw KANE! He saw him backstage everywhere and generally just freaked out a lot... this continued all month long, Kane would never venture into the arena lights however.... the only other person Kane wanted to see him seemed to be Eve! He tortured Eve which would cause Cena to spring to the rescue! Zack Ryder was a busy guy, he had a Youtube show to maintain and was getting shots at the WWE Championship, he couldn't spend all his time protecting Eve! Cena however had nothing to do until The Rock decided it was time to pop into Raw and start talking his favorite cereals or something again. The complete opposite of Kane, Cena loved being in front of the fans! He would go out to the ring and challenge Kane to a match at the Royal Rumble! Kane would answer him but only on the titantron, he of course in cliched wrestling fashion accepted the challenge!


1-2-12 came... as the videos finished airing the lights in the arena went black... the crowd silenced.... but the silence was broken when John Cena came running out with a microphone in hand! The WWE's super face demanded the lights come back on as he tried to tell everyone that there was no 1-2-12 and it was all just a big terrible joke by Kane! He told everyone not to worry though because he was there to protect them.

Chris Jericho would return however. A week later during a battle royal to determine who got the the #30 spot in the Royal Rumble, which was won by Dolph Ziggler, Jericho would walk out in casual clothing and take a walk around the ring sizing up the men inside it, he would grab a headset on commentary for a moment and say "This is a pretty good match." but left before Cole & King were done welcoming him. The next week Jericho would come out to ringside with his classic countdown entrance, he would wear his awesome light up jacket but would also sport a wig making people think he had grown his long hair that they loved so much back... in a week somehow. Jericho would go to the ring and say "It's good to be back", then he would leave again. The week before the Rumble he would come out and tell the world in his old Y2J persona that his intentions were to win the Royal Rumble, the one thing he had never accomplished in his time with the WWE.


Daniel Bryan was also forced to defend his World Heavyweight Championship the first week of 2012 against Big Show! Show would accidentally slam into AJ Lee, Bryan's girlfriend while outside of the ring! Bryan didn't pay attention to this though as Show was counted out he just yelled "YES! YES! YES!" in the ring! After he won he rushed to AJ's side. Over the next few weeks he would accuse Big Show of hurting AJ on purpose! Big Show would break down and cry every time until just a week before the Royal Rumble where he would get a Falls Count Anywhere rematch against Bryan for the title. This week, unable to muster up fake tears Big Show admitted that he attacked AJ on purpose! He told everyone that he just couldn't stand her annoying cheers to Bryan and he was already frustrated enough that Bryan kept running away from him so he just let his frustration out by slamming into her! Show went on about how he was sick of seeing guys pass over him and get the world title while he always just sat on the back burner and that's why he buries all the talent that is sent against him, hoping he can squash them enough until he's the only choice appealing enough for a title shot!

R-Truth was put in a match against Wade Barrett where the loser would have to enter at #1 in the Royal Rumble match, Barrett had become very friendly with EVPOTR John Laurinaitis this month and there were signs that Laurinaitis didn't like R-Truth, Truth kept thinking about his conspiracy theory but would always shut it down whenever he brought it up. It might not have been such a bad theory however since he was entering first in the Rumble match...

Brodus Clay was speculated to return in the Rumble match, in an interview with WWE.com he stated that his unstoppable monster deal wasn't working and he would be trying something new and he would have it perfected come Rumble time.

Smackdown was home to 4 big potential winners of the Rumble, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus, and Mark Henry all made it clear that they intended on going to Wrestlemania and would involve each other in their business week in and week out, Smackdown look like the strongest brand going into the Rumble match with these 4 on the top of everyone mind.

 

[Fuji Vice]

So far so good Cas, and I do like the use of the familiar style from our good friend BP. That alone makes me enjoy reading this, as I prefer that style to other BTB's. It's nice to see the subtle changes you made to the first part of this year and I have to say I like that gauntlet match a lot. It was a good way to get Clay back into the mix but even better will be when he comes back with his altered persona. Here's hoping somebody's going to need to call his momma!

The Cena swerve to the 1-2-12 thing was pretty nifty and had me aggravated at him, which is more than WWE has been able to do so good job there. It's also cool to see the changes to Jericho's return, I like the idea of him casually walking over and making one comment on the match and then leaving. Can't wait for the falls count anywhere match between Bryan and Show, should be great. Interesting to see you pull the trigger on the Show heel turn, can't wait to see how that develops and whether Bryan will also follow suit or not.

 

[Castiel]

Thanks big time for the feedback Fuji! <3
Glad you enjoyed it and prefer this style, it's certainly easier to write this way and I feel every booker should give it a try at some point.

Good to see interest in Cena, his character is certainly going to be going through some crazy stuff in this BTB. (Edit: ) Every time I see Big Show on my TV he's burying someone or doing something that should be considered heelish and I have no clue how he isn't a heel so it had to be done first thing. It's like if I were booking when Randy Orton took away Christian's world championship only a few days after he won I would make Orton the heel because that was some heelish stuff right there!

As for Jericho's return, I want him as a face and seeing as how his whole return to the 1-2-12 promos were pointless anyways I said forget that and just had him stroll out. Lol, he spoke just not a lot only giving real insight a week before the Rumble sorta like real life but in the Y2J persona because that shit rocked way more and I was disappointed when he really just ended up going back to a variation of his character before he left now, a Y2J return is needed!

 

[Castiel]

LEAD UP TO

Over on NXT they had no championships, but they did have some huge stuff going on to kick off their 2012! With the competition being thrown out the window a long time ago NXT officially became it's own brand! The brand was definitely looked at as a place where the future of the company prepared for said future with it's list of regulars. With that being the theme host Matt Striker made the call for a whole new crop of Rookies to join the roster!

The rookies were hand picked by Striker & William Regal who worked closely with the FCW talent. This would be Striker's last move as Host as he handed the duties over to William Regal knowing he could mold the rookies into the future of the company. Road Dogg who was going to be hosting a show for WWE's Youtube channel with Josh Matthews joined him on commentary replacing Regal. But anyways, these were the men selected:

SETH ROLLINS

Spoiler

Rollins can be the nicest guy you'll ever meet... or he can be the worst man you'll ever encounter. Though Seth likes to take it easy he's all business inside the ring, if you disrespect him or don't take him seriously he'll unleash fury on you!

MIKE DALTON

Spoiler

Mike Dalton has always been looked at as an underdog, this Canadian had to work his way to America which he did all because he hoped to get his shot in the WWE. Dalton was trained by Lance Storm and has picked up a lot of useful things along the way as he continues to learn tricks of the trade.

COREY GRAVES

Spoiler

Nobody is really sure what Corey Graves intentions are in his career, the reason for this is because Graves is like an enigma. He likes to keep to himself, but from a watchers point of view Graves just doesn't seem to care about... well, anything.

RICHIE STEAMBOAT

Spoiler

Son of the great Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Richie Steamboat is a true prodigy. It doesn't seem like too many second generation stars inherit their fathers true talents these days but Richie certainly has. Ever since he was a kid Richie has been all about showing off his accomplishments, whenever he gets a new medal which is often for various activities he carries it around with him to show off.

BRAD MADDOX

Spoiler

Overly sarcastic Brad Maddox is an outspoken gentleman for sure. Burning all the bridges he's had in the past Maddox's attitude tends to get him in trouble a lot but the in his own mind celebrity is talented and that's what got him picked for NXT.

XAVIER WOODS

Spoiler

Xavier always wants others to look on the bright side of things, listing his top idol as DDP Woods' second love is motivational speaking! Though he always puts wrestling first Xavier always likes to help cheer up anyone around whenever he gets the chance!

NICK ROGERS

Spoiler

The most enthusiastic man on the whole roster! Nick Rogers has no problems looking on the bright side of things 100% of the time! Never a downer, we'll see if that sticks if someone gets a win over him.

JAKE CARTER

Spoiler

Jake Carter is.... average. Not chalk full of charisma, out of his mind, or overly wacky Jake is simply the definition of the "American Average". William Regal seems to see something special in him though, maybe one day we'll see him break free of his average image, maybe one day Carter will simply snap!

Much like everything else in the WWE Universe the show shared talent and had no real roster but instead a list of regulars that would usually appear every week. NXT became very well known for it's tag team action around this time, the stand outs became Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks who demanded CHANGE within the WWE as they thought they deserved to be on the main shows but were being held down! The other team that stood out to oppose them was Tyson Kidd & Trent Barreta who just loved to have fun and were viewed as greatly gifted competitors. Kidd & Barreta became known as Cheshire DYNAMITE, this was a play on their names (T)rent (n) (T)yson or TnT and how they were always smiling like Cheshire Cats. Hawkins & Reks would become known as the Sons Of Change for obvious reasons.

Each week the teams raked up victory's over other tag teams until one of them had to be picked to face Epico & Primo, who had been dubbed 'Puerto Rican Magic', for the Tag Team Championships at Royal Rumble! Regal wanted to simply choose Kidd & Barreta but he knew the Sons Of Change would just whine more if he did and wanted to give them a fair shot! This lead to a Number One Contenders match on NXT with the Tag Team Champions sitting at ringside. Sons Of Change would come out victorious after a hard fault battle. Primo & Epico would go to congratulate their fellow heels but only to be attacked by the devilish Hawkins & Reks who didn't like to make nice with anybody. With tension between these two teams built up high after this Regal thought a normal tag match wouldn't work for their Rumble match... instead he decided upon a Tables match!

With the tag team scene really coming together on NXT two young simple hard workers decided they might get more success together then in singles competition! Michael McGuillicutty & Darren Young who liked to go by the nickname "Mr. No Days Off" would form a team, appropriately named "The No Days Off Crew"! The two noted that even though they couldn't get a shot at the tag titles at the Royal Rumble they would still be entering the Rumble match and would work together so one of them could win it! Their main focus however seemed to be on the new commentator of NXT, tag team legend Road Dogg! They insulted him weekly and told him that the No Days Off Crew would be greater then the New Age Outlaws and they wouldn't have to resort to childish antics to achieve greatness!

Johnny Curtis wanted to start getting booked more so with William Regal now running the show he demanded to be used better! He did this of course after appearing out of the shadows and scarring our GM! Regal told Curtis how much he didn't like him and told him that instead of more matches he would get NO MATCHES until he proved he was worthy!

Finally a new rule was put into place for NXT competitors, if RAW or Smackdown wanted them they would be given a try out match live on an edition of one of the shows! Titus O'Neil was the first to be given an opportunity as Teddy Long called him up and said "Playa, I'm gonna give you a shot! HOLLA HOLLA HOLLA!" Titus would debut on Smackdown in a losing effort to Justin Gabriel. Smackdown didn't want him and NXT was just glad to get rid of him so with that Titus O'Neil fell away into obscurity.... and by that we mean he was 'Future Endevored'TM

30 MAN ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH

WWE Championship
CM PUNK (C) V ALBERTO DEL RIO

World Heavyweight Championship - Falls Count Anywhere
DANIEL BRYAN (C) V BIG SHOW

JOHN CENA V KANE

Tag Team Championship - Tables Match
PUERTO RICAN MAGIC (C) (Primo & Epico) V SONS OF CHANGE (Hawkins & Reks)​

 

[Fuji Vice]

One thing before I continue, I hope to God Dean Ambrose and Damien Sandow get some sort of NXT shot soon, because they need to be up there buddy.

I mentioned it to you in my rep comment but I wanted to once again point out how awesome it is that you're going to cover NXT as well. I can see only good things coming from this and its great to see such attention to detail. I can't remember ever seeing someone do a BTB that covered an entire company that's currently in business (BP doesn't count since WCW has gone bye bye) so its even more intriguing to me because of that aspect. Love, love, love the No Days Off Crew and am hoping they make a decent showing in the Rumble match.

Too bad Kidd and Baretta didn't come out on top but I still see good things for them in the future (I hope), while I am also now looking forward to the Hawkins/Reks tag match at the Royal Rumble more than I am for anything else on the card. If they win I may just mark right the fuck out...YES YES YES!!!

 

[Castiel]

Your comments always make me blush!
Seriously, thanks man. I know how awesome Ambrose & Sandow are, and don't worry they haven't been forgotten about. You will see them soon enough, but right now the new rookies just weren't what was right for them.... Barreta & Kidd aren't going to just fall away after that loss, don't worry. They're one of the key tag teams in this project!

 

[Castiel]

30 Man Royal Rumble Match
CM Punk (C) vs Alberto Del Rio
John Cena vs Kane
Big Show vs Daniel Bryan (C)
Sons Of Change vs Puerto Rican Magic (C)
​

Tag Team Championship Match

Rosa Mendes was ejected from ringside before the tag team match begun, there was too much fear that she could either be hurt tin the dangerous environment or influence the decision by helping Primo & Epico put one of the challengers through a table. Primo & Epico seemed to have gotten over as faces somehow during this feud. Puerto Rican Magic used a lot of high flying almost putting themselves through tables half the times, while Reks would use power to almost put them through tables. The end would come when Reks killed Primo and placed Epico on a table... next thing you knew Hawkins was coming down on him with a Heatseeking Elbow for the win! New Tag Team Champions!!!

World Heavyweight Champioship

Daniel Bryan would be cheered in his match against Big Show, this was mainly due to Show laughing and making fun of the crowd and the fact that Big Show attacked AJ! She's just so darn cute, how could you not hate some giant that hit her? Daniel Bryan didn't play his usual cowardly role tonight, instead he was hell bent on taking down the giant! Bryan wanted to rely on his missile dropkick but it wouldn't take Show down! Show would throw Bryan around a bit until Bryan decided his only choice was to remove the turnbuckle padding and by dodging a murderous right hand Show would hit that exposed turnbuckle! Following this Bryan would force in the Label Lock for the submission!

Show would leave frustrated, the fans would cheer Bryan , and AJ would come out to congratulate him.... as AJ went to hug Bryan he would side step her and instead grab his World Heavyweight Championship and hold it up high as he shouted "YES! YES! YES!" immediately forcing the cheers to turn into boos and causing AJ to facepalm.
____________

In between matches we saw superstars picking out their numbers for the Royal Rumble match, a tradition that had been long missed! Among them was Santino who was still hurt from a beating Alberto Del Rio had given him, Santino was overly excited about his number but was pushed down by Mark Henry who with his new attitude was fully confident that he would win no matter what his number was!

Cena V Kane

John Cena was hell bent on defeating a very devious yet calm Kane. Though he was relentless with shots Kane would simply beat down. Cena was flying all around the ring! He was then choked on the mat until Eve came running out to help him, Ryder was busy focusing on the Rumble match! Eve cried for Kane to stop and he did as he left Cena dying on the mat.

WWE Championship Match

Punk and Del Rio would put on a great match! Both would try submissions but to no avail, in fact the only way the match came to an end was with Del Rio slipping up and getting caught in a inside cradle for the surprise pin! Del Rio went mad following his loss! He would throw a fit throwing chairs and the like as Punk just laughed at him.


Royal Rumble Match

R-Truth was the first out which only furthered his thoughts of a conspiracy, his old partner and rival The Miz would join him to start things off. These two were at each other like cats & dogs or some other old saying that involves things that hate each other! As if being chosen as #1 wasn't odd enough for Truth #3 entrant heard "OHHHHHHH! WWHHHATTTT A RUSH!" the nameplate would read "Animal Laurinaitis" which would make things obvious the EVPOTR John Laurinaitis had brought him in! Animal would immediately go after R-Truth but in the end Truth would come out victorious eliminating him.

#7 would mark the debut of a familiar face but a new man... "Somebody Call My Momma!" hit and FUNKASAURUS came dancing down to the ring! Nobody had any clue what to make of it.... Soon they would learn he was one bad motha...! Only to be taken out when Mark Henry entered the match, the 2 giants met in the middle of the ring and things would end with Henry proving he was the better beast throwing Funkasaurus out!

Randy Orton was on fire when he entered the match! First he would toss Jack Swagger out and as Swagger was crying to Vicki Guerrero Ted DiBiase would crash onto the mat right in front of them! Swagger would help DiBiase up as they looked at each other and Vicki laughed like a mad witch!

Another victim of Randy Orton's would be Johnny Curtis. Regal wasn't booking the Rumble, just NXT, so Curtis would be able to return to the ring! William Regal left behind his GM position to enter the match. Johnny Curtis came creeping out from underneath the ring, where he had been for God knows how long and snuck up behind Regal tossing him out!

Road Dogg made a surprise entrance going after Darren Young who had been insulting him for weeks! But his assault wouldn't last long as Young's partner Michael McGuillicutty came in next! No Days Off Crew would pick Road Dogg apart as he was helpless to their attack! UNTIL! "I'M AN ASS MAN"! Billy Gunn came running down to the ring and saved his partner! The New Age Outlaws were back together and they would get the best of the No Days Off Crew eliminating both!

On the titantron Yoshi Tatsu was getting ready to come out but Triple H would tell him that he didn't even know he still worked here, and then tell him to get out of here as he was taking his spot! Degeneration X music would play as the gang reunited in the ring and did their DX Chops! Following that Triple H would attack and eliminate R-Truth! The New Age Outlaws weren't sure what had gotten into Triple H, as a result he didn't both trying to help them when Mark Henry tossed them both over!

Mark Henry seemed unstoppable until Sheamus came in, these two battled but Sheamus would come out on top forcing him out!

The surprises weren't quite over yet though... Mick Foley had made it known that he was back hanging around the WWE these days and something he'd never done in his whole career was win a Rumble so of course he entered! As the fans booed Triple H Foley would surprise him and toss him over from behind!

Alberto Del Rio wasn't scheduled to be in the match but would attack Santino as he came down to the ring and take his place! He would throw Justin Gabriel over the top and then celebrate but he'd turn around into SOCKO! Followed by both Ryder & Foley throwing him out!

#30 Dolph Ziggler had earned his spot and wasn't a surprise to anyone, he was still cocky as hell though as he took time to taunt during the match leading to Jericho tossing him out ending his short time in the match that he thought he had in the bag! Ziggler would throw a tantrum on the outside as Jericho laughed at him, Wade Barrett snuck up Jericho and tried to hoist him over and with help from Dolph Ziggler who pulled him down he got him!

Cody Rhodes was very impressive through out the match, but he was shocked when Goldust came out at #29! Goldust would make him his target and beat him down, but a swift pulling down of the ropes got Goldust eliminated!

The final 4 came down to Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, and Zack Ryder! The future was definitely being represented here. Wade Barrett would be eliminated first after a Brogue Kick sending him flying over the top rope! Cody Rhodes would dip his shoulder sending Ryder almost out but landing on the apron... Rhodes would grab him and perform a Cross Rhodes hitting Zack's neck off the ropes and sending him to the floor!

The final two went at it for a while, Sheamus looked to have the upper hand ready to eliminate Rhodes the same way he did Barrett, as he went for the Brogue Kick this time Rhodes ducked! Sheamus was hung up on the ropes as Cody connected with the Beautiful Disaster kick sending him down to the floor!

CODY RHODES HAS WON THE RUMBLE!

# | Entrant | Eliminated By
1. R-Truth (eliminated by Triple H)
2. The Miz (eliminated by Zack Ryder)
3. Animal Laurinaitis (eliminated by R-Truth)
4. Kofi Kingston (eliminated by Evan Bourne*(1))
5. Jack Swagger (eliminated by Randy Orton)
6. Tyson Kidd (eliminated by The Miz)
7. Brodus Clay (eliminated by Mark Henry)
8. William Regal (eliminated by Johnny Curtis)
9. Randy Orton (eliminated by Cody Rhodes)
10. Ted DiBiase (eliminated by Randy Orton)
11. Cody Rhodes (WINNER!)
12. Johnny Curtis (eliminated by Randy Orton)
13. Mark Henry (eliminated by Sheamus)
14. Darren Young (eliminated by Road Dogg & Billy Gunn)
15. Evan Bourne (eliminated by The Miz)
16. Road Dogg (eliminated by Mark Henry)
17. Michael McGuillicutty (eliminated by Road Dogg)
18. Billy Gunn (eliminated by Mark Henry)
19. Triple H (eliminated by Mick Foley)
20. Sheamus (eliminated by Cody Rhodes)
21. Mick Foley (eliminated by Wade Barrett)
22. Zack Ryder (eliminated by Cody Rhodes)
23. Wade Barrett (eliminated by Sheamus)
24. Justin Gabriel (eliminated by Alberto Del Rio)
25. Alberto Del Rio (eliminated by Zack Ryder & Mick Foley)
26. Mason Ryan (eliminated by Sheamus)
27. David Otunga (eliminated by Chris Jericho)
28. Chris Jericho (eliminated by Wade Barrett & Dolph Ziggler*(2)
29. Goldust (eliminated by Cody Rhodes)
30. Dolph Ziggler (eliminated by Chris Jericho)

*(1) - Bourne was pushed into Kofi Kingston by The Miz
*(2) - Ziggler was already eliminated but helped pull Jericho out

 

[Fuji Vice]

First off, I totally knew Reks and Hawkins would win the belts but that's awesome. Can't wait to see how they do as champs. AJ facepalming at the end of the Bryan match was awesome too, and the win was the right thing to do there.

Aww, poor Santino getting pushed down by Mark Henry. I almost feel bad for him but Henry doing it is hilarious so I don't care. : Kane killing Cena makes sense considering you'll need to do an eventual blowoff...please don't make it an Ambulance Match. Del Rio getting really angry is a good sign, perhaps there's some life to his character yet?

Rumble was great and the winner was even better. I particularly enjoyed both Brodus being entered and Henry tossing him out. I wonder if that's a possible move for a Brodus face turn? NAO coming in was great too, even though they tossed out the No Days Off Crew.

ROFL @ Triple H and Yoshi Tatsu's little segment too, poor Yoshi.

In the end I can see where you may be going with some things but Cody is a real wildcard here. Can't wait to see who he challenges, or for that matter, Elimination Chamber, since I know its coming soon.

 

[Castiel]

Yeah I don't think anyone should be surprised by me giving Hawkins & Reks the titles, I'm a huge fan. Lol, spoiler on Santino, he is someone I'm not a fan of. Basically the way WWE is booking him now is the opposite of how he'll be booked here. When Road Dogg entered the actual Rumble I was hoping for Billy Gunn so bad but it didn't happen... would've been cool, right? I figure since Dogg & Trips are already working there bring in Gunn get in a little reunion and it also helps create the storyline of Triple H screwing R-Truth at the same time.

Del Rio is a guy I've been extremely bored of for quite some time. I'm trying something with him... not sure how it's going to come off yet though. Cody was the star of the real Rumble, I couldn't overlook him and when I was trying to figure out a winner an idea sprung to mind when I came to him! He's the IC champion, challenging a world champion at 'Mania! Worked for Warrior / Hogan, right? Lol

 

[Mitch Buchannon]

I love this so far and see a lot of potential so I'm gonna sticky this.

 

[Castiel]

Wow, thanks a bunch boss! I really appreciate it. Now, on with the show!

LEAD UP TO

The Elimination Chamber was on the horizon! The last big stop heading to WrestleMania! CM Punk survived the Royal Rumble still WWE Champion, Alberto Del Rio however didn't seem to be hanging on by very much... it was obvious when he entered the Rumble match last minute that he had a few screws loose. He was sure that he was going to get his WWE Championship come Elimination Chamber! Something that was missing for these past few years was qualifying matches! John Laurinaitis didn't want to just give anyone a spot in the Chamber match... Del Rio failed him once already, so this time he had to earn his shot!

Del Rio would meet Chris Jericho in what may have been there first encounter. Jericho would come out the victor with Del Rio being noticeably clumsy in this match. He would throw a tantrum after the match leaving more to wonder just what was going on with him... R-Truth who had been screwed out of the Rumble in front of the world by his boss Triple H was put up against The Great Khali as an obvious "unbeatable opponent" but I'll be darned, he somehow beat him! W-W-W-WHAT?!

When Dolph Ziggler got his victory Vicki Guerrero was nowhere to be seen. Vicki apologized for not being there and told him that she had recruited Ted DiBiase to her stable! An unexcited Dolph told her that she was recruiting too many losers with Swagger now Ted! He was doing fine without her, better even! So with that he dropped her like a... hot potato? (sorry, I'm not as witty as Dolph...) Dolph was finally free!

But Vicki still had a role to play, she had to focus on her new clients! Mr. Laurinaitis let Vicki choose one of her clients to enter into the Chamber as the other available spots were taken by the champ (Punk) and The Miz. Vicki put her (now) longest client in, former World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Swagger!

Cody Rhodes wasn't one to brag but... wait, he was! And that's exactly what he did when it came to his Royal Rumble win! He told everyone that he was going to leave WrestleMania the Intercontinental Champion AND WWE Champion! There was no waiting until post Chamber or so, Rhodes made his choice known right away that he was going after Punk's (for now) title!

Cody Rhodes seemed to inspire another mid card champion... Zack Ryder had made the final four in the Rumble, and now he had a new outlook on his career! The fans had got him this far but now he had to make it the rest of the way! Ryder let it known that he was set on challenging Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania for the second mid card vs world championship match! John Laurinaitis decided that the United States Championship would be better fit on someone like.... I don't know... David Otunga! Otunga got his title match on an episode of Raw and with the distraction of not Johnny L. but instead Cody Rhodes Otunga pulled a sneaky roll up for the 3 count! #OtungaLaw #AreYouSeriousBro?

The reason Rhodes distracted Ryder later became known that he believed Ryder was simply copying him and he wouldn't allow it! Rhodes continued to gloat all the way to 'Mania... Ryder proved he wasn't that easy to keep down however as he continued to pester Rhodes until he agreed to a match at Elimination Chamber!

David Otunga would find a challenger for his belt fast, it seemed WWE had finally gotten fully behind Justin Gabriel's South African popularity and he was going to get his first big singles break at Elimination Chamber!

Smackdown was going to have it's own Elimination Chamber at the aptly titled PPV as well of course! Daniel Bryan was in as the World Heavyweight Champion, Wade Barrett & Sheamus got spots as a reward for surviving so long in the Royal Rumble match. Randy Orton defeated Hunico in a surprisingly good match. Mark Henry inducted someone... Zeke? Sure, into the Hall Of Pain! Unlike Del Rio, Big Show earned his spot in the Chamber as a former number one contender! There was a battle royal for the final spot, Brodus Clay with his new Funky gimmick came so close to getting into the Chamber but Big Show overpowered him and put him out. Big Show had kept down Funkasaurus for now but he was obviously doing well in this new gimmick!

Daniel Bryan was involved in more then just the World Heavyweight Championship match this month though, he promised his girlfriend AJ, who was recovering from her injury at the hands of "Paul The Gravedigger" (because he buries people), a Divas championship match! Beth Pheonix didn't see her as a threat at all but AJ began to rack up wins with the world champion in her corner and was ready for the big task of taking on Pheonix!

What about John Cena? That's got to be what everyone is wondering, right? Did he want more of Kane or did he decide to look ahead to Rock? Well Cena would call out Kane but he was nowhere to be found. He disappeared. Cena tried to continue calling Kane out in hopes of getting another shot at him but Kane wouldn't come out, instead he got a surprise visit from The Rock! Rock would drop in and tell Cena to stop calling out "Kane" because it was pointless! Kane was never going to come, but Rock was ready for him at WrestleMania! Rock was at home ready, anxiously waiting for their match with his head already in the game but meanwhile John is looking for Kane? That's not how things are supposed to work!

Cena spent the rest of the build passing time with random matches and such until Kane's music hit and he was seen on the titantron laughing at Cena! He couldn't believe he was back.... Kane told Cena that he wanted to see him at Elimination Chamber this time in a be a good ol' fashion Hardcore Match! Cena knew he had to accept.

THE CARD THUS FAR

Raw Elimination Chamber - WWE Championship
CM Punk (C) V The Miz V Chris Jericho V R-Truth V Dolph Ziggler V Jack Swagger

Smackdown Elimination Chamber - World Heavyweight Championship
Daniel Bryan (C) V Sheamus V Wade Barrett V Randy Orton V Mark Henry V Big Show

WrestleMania Hopefuls
Cody Rhodes V Zack Ryder

Hardcore Match
John Cena V Kane

United States Championship
David Otunga (C) V Justin Gabriel

Divas Championship
Beth Pheonix V AJ Lee w/ Daniel Bryan​

 

[Fuji Vice]

Wow, qualifying matches for the EC? That's definitely better than just letting certain people in (as happened this year), so I'm happy with that. Wonder why Del Rio has been acting so clumsy lately? So Vickie adds DiBiase but loses Ziggler? ROFL!

Rhodes challenging Punk seems like a good move and damn, Ryder/Bryan would be good too, though it can't be for both titles now that Otunga's the US Champ. Awesome that Rhodes and Ryder are going to go at it at EC, though I'm pretty sure who's coming out on top.

Randy Orton defeated Hunico in a surprisingly good match.

I'd actually like to see it. Their clash of styles might work well and Orton is as good as anyone on the roster right now.

That was an interesting way to run the Kane/Cena feud and to include The Rock in the mix as well. The Hardcore match should be good, hell anything other than an ambulance match is good to me! So far the EC card looks great, certainly more appealing than the real one. I'm heavily rooting for Gabriel in the US Championship match so I hope he at least makes a good showing.

Great stuff as usual Cas.

 

[Castiel]

THE BUILD TO

​

After Johnny Curtis threw William Regal out of the Royal Rumble match at the PPV of the same name Regal came out to NXT not happy at all. He told Johnny Curtis that he would start getting booked after all! Though he made it sound like something that was a bad thing rather then what Curtis had wanted... Curtis came out telling Regal how happy he was that he had come to his senses! This is when Regal introduced Johnny's opponent... or rather opponents. Curtis was put up against The Uso's in a handicap match, obviously he lost to the duo. Afterwards he would go on the search for a partner in case something like this came up again, not seeing many options on the NXT roster he looked to the Rookies! The first to jump at the opportunity was Nick Rogers, the man that never stopped smiling. They would both lose to The Uso's even with the odds even but Rogers wouldn't be phased by this and would keep on smiling! This lead to Johnny Curtis telling Rogers "You're weird..." and leaving him.

Curtis made it clear that he didn't want to waste time on The Uso's anyways! His business was with Regal.

AirBoom, Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston wandered over to NXT in their hunt to regain the WWE Tag Team Championships. NXT is the home of tag team wrestling after all! There seemed to be tension between Bourne & Kofi after Evan accidentally eliminated the other half of AirBoom in the Royal Rumble match. Whenever Bourne would hit a flashy move he would be seen shaking his head on the apron as Bourne taunted afterwards. He would tell WWE.com in an exclusive interview that he was "worried" about Bourne, he thought he was getting too cocky because he eliminated him from the Rumble. These two would still be able to work well though as they earned a Number One Contenders match quickly against The No Days Off Crew.

Michael McGuillicutty & Darren Young (No Days Off Crew) had been furious about Road Dogg & Billy Gunn costing them an opportunity in the Royal Rumble match so they were demanding they step into the ring with them every week following those events! Road Dogg told them how Billy Gunn wouldn't be coming back and how he was simply the NXT commentator these days so it wouldn't happen. Young & McGuillicutty thought of a new way to get back at Dogg though, they would become better Tag Team Champions then the New Age Outlaws ever were! Obviously Dogg was offended by this. During the number one contenders match Road Dogg left commentary and tripped up the Fortunate Son as he came off the ropes ready to hit his signature neckbreaker! As he got up he was taken out by Trouble In Paradise! Darren Young was distracted by Road Dogg and AirBoom received the win!

Sons Of Change, Hawkins & Reks, aka your WWE Tag Team Champions still managed to keep busy while following who would be challenging them at Elimination Chamber however. Puerto Rican Magic, Primo & Epico had decided to cash in on their rematch clause almost immediately! Even with Rosa Mendes being super hot at ringside the whole time after a great competitive match Hawkins & Reks retained!

The NXT rookies were given multiple matches to prove themselves, the results usually involved Jake Carter losing losing and not having any reaction one way or the other, he was just that damn average. Mike Dalton, Seth Rollins and Richie Steamboat all impressed the world with their in ring ability. Corey Graves stood out due to his ruthlessness, he would come out, destroy his competition and leave. Never bothering to try and promote himself with promos or anything. Brad Maddox was the total opposite however! He would always take time out of his matches to show off and toy with his opponents and used any chance possible to grab a microphone and blab away.

Derrick Bateman was still dreading being with Maxine yet he was certain it was love for some reason. That crazy Bateman... Kaitlyn in hopes of helping Bateman enjoy life (Kaitlyn must not have noticed he's getting with Maxine, his life can't be that bad) confessed her true feelings for Mr. Sweet Meat! Bateman however would reject Kaitlyn! That crazy Bateman! He already told you Kaitlyn, him and Maxine are in love!

So where was Maxine during all of this? Well she caught eye of Mason Ryan who had dropped by on an episode and destroyed Heath Slater... wait! Let's get to Heath Slater first!

Due to yet another loss Heath Slater turned to drugs.... he began to become a huge stoner (even though the WWE does not commend drug use and did not show the use of any drugs on the program) and began wearing a cap... yes, he became just like Slater from Dazed and Confused! Whenever he would encounter anyone backstage he would ask them "You cool, man?"

But back to Maxine and Mason Ryan, she saw this beast and immediately saw what she always wanted! No, it wasn't more NXT love, it was her way off of NXT! She did however fake her love once again allowing Mason Ryan to take her on as his valet! Maxine would convince Regal to get Mason Ryan booked on one of the televised shows, Regal wanted Maxine who was known to make unwanted advances on him off the show so he granted her wish. Ryan did well on an episode of Smackdown and was taken on full time!

Bateman would confront Maxine after seeing her with Mason Ryan and ask her what happened to them! They were in love! But Maxine had already forgot about Bateman and told him she just wasn't getting what she needed from their relationship.

William Regal was prompted to step back into the ring knowing it was the only way to shut Johnny Curtis up! Curtis at this point was using the song "I Told You I Was Freaky" by Flight Of The Conchords as his new theme song of course. Being Regal he schooled Curtis in the ring but Curtis would eventually get the win with his swift Falcon Arrow with great surprise to... everyone!

An overexcited Johnny Curtis celebrated backstage came up on Kaitlyn who was still saddened over being rejected by Bateman, Curtis using his signature line asked her if she wanted to "get weird" and to his and everyone she said yes! Oh what drama will follow next?!