WWE Royal Rumble 2012: Full Order of Eliminations
Last night's annual WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view from St. Louis, Missouri was a memorable show with Sheamus being the most unexpected victor in years.
Sheamus being the most unexpected victor in years. Sheamus last eliminated Chris Jericho to win the Rumble and he will now go on to face the Champion of his choice at WWE WrestleMania 28. Elsewhere, there were many surprise entrants and a few of which we predicted. Entering at number 8 was Alberto Del Rio's personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez, with his car and similar attire. Though unlike how we predicted it, there was no Del Rio on hand earlier in the show to pitch to John Laurinaitis to give Rodriguez a slot in the Rumble representing Del Rio (so i.e. if Rodriguez won, Del Rio would headline WrestleMania in the title match) and instead it was just a surprise entry. Rodriguez got a huge pop from the ground, actually dwarfing that of Santino Marella who was the big comedy spot at the same time and was engulfed by Rodriguez. The other two surprises we called was Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the first appearance in a WWE ring for Road Dogg in over a decade. The former WWE Intercontinental and 5 time WWE Tag Team Champion came in at number 23 and likewise got a major pop, before being eliminated by Wade Barrett after spending a good five minutes or so in the ring. Another major surprise we didn't call was Kharma making her return and again she got a major pop and actually eliminated Michael Cole and Hunico impressively before being eliminated by Dolph Ziggler. Booker T, Jerry "The King" Lawler and Michael Cole also made appearances in the Rumble which two of those names somewhat devalued the lack of depth the company have. Here's the order of Superstars as they entered; 1) The Miz 2) Alex Riley 3) R-Truth 4) Cody Rhodes 5) Justin Gabriel 6) Primo 7) Mick Foley 8) Ricardo Rodriguez 9) Santino Marella 10) Epico 11) Kofi Kingston 12) Jerry Lawler 13) Ezekiel Jackson 14) Jinder Mahal 15) The Great Khali 16) Hunico 17) Booker T 18) Dolph Ziggler 19) Hacksaw Jim Duggan 20) Michael Cole 21) Kharma 22) Sheamus 23) Road Dogg 24) Jey Uso 25) Jack Swagger 26) Wade Barrett 27) David Otunga 28) Randy Orton 29) Chris Jericho 30) Big Show And the order of eliminations and by who: 1) Alex Riley (by The Miz) 2) R-Truth (by The Miz) 3) Primo (by Mick Foley) 4) Justin Gabriel (by Mick Foley & Ricardo Rodriguez) 5) Ricardo Rodriguez (by Santino Marella) 6) Epico (by Mick Foley) 7) Santino Marella (by Cody Rhodes) 8) Mick Foley (by Cody Rhodes) 9) Jerry Lawler (by Cody Rhodes) 10) Jinder Mahal (by The Great Khali) 11) Ezekiel Jackson (by The Great Khali) 12) Hacksaw Jim Duggan (by Cody Rhodes) 13) Booker T (by Cody Rhodes) 14) The Great Khali (by Cody Rhodes) 15) Michael Cole (by Kharma) 16) Hunico (by Kharma) 17) Kharma (by Dolph Ziggler) 18) Kofi Kingston (by Sheamus) 19) Road Dogg (by Wade Barrett) 20) Jey Uso (by Randy Orton) 21) Wade Barett (by Randy Orton) 22) David Otunga (by Chris Jericho) 23) Cody Rhodes (by Big Show) 24) Jack Swagger (by Big Show) 25) The Miz (by Big Show) 26) Dolph Ziggler (by Big Show) 27) Big Show (by Randy Orton) 28) Randy Orton (by Chris Jericho) 29) Chris Jericho (by Sheamus, winner)