Every January, WWE rolls out one of the biggest pay per views of the year with the Royal Rumble. Tonight in Phoenix, the 26th annual Rumble event comes your way live at 7 PM eastern.
Prior to the event, WWE will hold a special pre-show event on all of its social network sites. Featured on the pre-show will be Antonio Cesaro and The Miz for the United States Title. At the recent Raw 20th Anniversary in Houston, Miz was interviewing "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, when they were interrupted by the US Champ. Unfortunately for Cesaro, his interruption landed him in a figure four leglock.
Miz looks to add a third United States Title reign to his resume, while the upstart Cesaro seeks revenge on the "most must-see WWE superstar of all time." That will be an entertaining start to what is shaping up to be another great Royal Rumble event.
The actual pay per view will also feature three title matches. The WWE Tag Team Titles will be on the line as Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) will face the Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow). These two teams have been battling back and forth for the last couple of months, with both sides getting big individual wins in singles competition. A win for the Rhodes Scholars could solidify them as a dominant force, while a successful defense from Team Hell No could keep them from spiraling out of control after their recent "anger management" classes.
The World Heavyweight Title will be on the line tonight, as Alberto Del Rio puts his title up against former champion The Big Show. Del Rio shocked the WWE Universe a couple of weeks ago on SmackDown when he upset Big Show in a Last Man Standing Match to win the title. Tonight, Show has the chance to get the gold back as he and the Mexican Aristocrat face off in another Last Man Standing confrontation. Was Del Rio's first win a fluke, or does he really have Big Show's number?
The most anticipated match in recent WWE memory takes place tonight in Phoenix, as WWE Champion CM Punk faces off against Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Since returning to WWE last year to face John Cena at WrestleMania, The Rock has been adamant about once again becoming WWE Champion. This match has been set for several months, and The Rock has vowed to end Punk's reign of terror. Can the People's Champion add to his legacy and become champion, or will Punk show him why he is "The Best In The World?"
Punk has reached 434 days as WWE Champion, and has shown no signs of slowing down even through recent injuries. But this will no doubt be one of his toughest challenges to date.
And finally, the Road To WrestleMania starts with the Royal Rumble. A 30-man over-the-top-rope elimination match, where the winner will receive a guaranteed title shot at WrestleMania 29 on April 7 in New Jersey. Several "suprise entrants" are rumored for tonight, but the toughest road to victory will be traveled by Money In The Bank winner Dolph Ziggler.
Ziggler won a Beat The Clock match on Raw this week, allowing him to pick his spot for the Rumble match. But after a confrontation with Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero, his choices were narrowed down to the first two spots. He took to his Twitter page and hyped his involvement:
The world knows i can go all night long, now its time to show the @WWE #1 #RoyalRumble #ZigglersBetter.
One addition will be the debut of NXT star Bo Dallas. He was victorious on Saturday during the Royal Rumble FanFest, during a one-day tournament. The winner would receive a spot in the Royal Rumble match, and Dallas was declared the winner. Also involved in the match were Leo Kruger, who has been appearing at several recent WWE live events, and Xavier Woods, who was better known in TNA Wrestling as Consequences Creed.
The Royal Rumble pay per view starts at 7 PM eastern and will be live on pay per view. You can check out their website for full details. There is a possibility of the Divas Championship being defended, but that has not been confirmed as of this writing. If that were to happen, Houston native Kaitlyn would likely defend the gold against Tamina Snuka.
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