6. Royal Rumble
Card: Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. The Miz for the United States Championship Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. The Big Show in a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) (c) vs. Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow) for the WWE Tag Team Championship. 30-Man Royal Rumble Match (1. Dolph Ziggler, 2. Chris Jericho, 3. Cody Rhodes, 4. Kofi Kingston, 5. Santino Marella, 6. Drew McIntyre, 7. Titus O'Neil, 8. Goldust, 9. David Otunga, 10. Heath Slater, 11. Sheamus, 12. Tensai, 13. Brodus Clay, 14. Rey Mysterio, 15. Darren Young, 16. Bo Dallas, 17. The Godfather, 18. Wade Barrett, 19. John Cena, 20. Damien Sandow, 21. Daniel Bryan, 22. Antonio Cesaro, 23. The Great Khali, 24. Kane, 25. Zack Ryder, 26. Randy Orton , 27. Jinder Mahal, 28. The Miz, 29. Sin Cara, 30. Ryback) CM Punk (c) vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship When The Rock declared on Raw 1000 that he would challenge for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, it quickly became painfully obvious that he would win the bout and that at the same time, John Cena would win the Royal Rumble match to set up a rematch of their so-called once in a lifetime encounter from Wrestlemania 28. Despite this, the match between reigning champion CM Punk and the 'people's champion' was solid enough, even if The Rock's ring rust was apparent in places. As it always is, the Royal Rumble match itself was the highlight of the event and was a highly enjoyable affair, even if it Cena's victory was inevitable. Having it precede the Rock/Punk match was a mistake, but solid performances from the likes of Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, Goldust and even perennial jobber Heath Slater gave fans their money's worth, even if the now traditional 'retro entry', this time taking the form of Attitude Era midcard pimp The Godfather, was an uninspired one. Meanwhile, whilst not bad by any sense of the word, the other matches on the card weren't particularly memorable, consigning the year's first pay-per-view event to sixth in the rankings.