Dumb Decisions: 2012 Royal Rumble

I’ve been far too positive on this blog, it’s time to complain. Because if there’s one thing wrestling fans love, it’s complaining about wrestling on the internet (hey I do it too) so with that being said, welcome to Dumb Decisions, where we look back at some of the dumbest decisions in all of wrestling, today, we’re looking at WWE’s decision to have Sheamus win the 2012 Royal Rumble over Chris Jericho.

So let me make it clear that I have nothing against Sheamus and I actually love him as a wrestler and have no problem winning a Royal Rumble, I do however, have a very big problem with him winning the 2012 Royal Rumble, because in my opinion, Chris Jericho was the obvious choice to win.

Yes, I’m well aware how it looks for me, a hardcore Chris Jericho fan to be saying this, but let me explain why Jericho was the objective best choice for the 2012 Royal Rumble. So Chris Jericho was fresh off his 2012 return to WWE, it was hyped up in cryptic video packages for weeks and it culminates with Chris Jericho making his return on Raw, and trolling everyone in the world by showing up, making everyone think he was going to give a signature great Jericho promo, but instead, he didn’t, as you can see here in the god awful quality YouTube video I posted when I was 13 when this happened, Chris Jericho showed up, got in the ring with a microphone in his hand, said nothing, walked away, and everyone watching was completely confused. This precisely is what WWE needed to build on.

So Chris Jericho returns, and for once in his career, he remains silent, nobody knows why he came back, nobody knows what he plans to do, nobody even knows if he’s a heel or a face, he’s a complete enigma, a charismatic enigma, hey someone should use that as a nickname. You have Jericho as a complete mystery, and what a better way to continue the intrigue of this mystery than by having him win the Royal Rumble. The actual match saw Jericho come out at number 29, and make it to the final two before being eliminated by Sheamus. The way I see it, you have this wrestler whose intentions are shrouded in mystery, and when he loses a big match so quickly after returning, people stop caring as much, part of the intrigue of a mysterious wrestler is the threat that he will eventually present. By having him lose in the final two of the Royal Rumble, you tarnish the mystery the second his feet touch the floor.

Just think what we could have had if Jericho had won the match. Imagine, Chris Jericho wins the Royal Rumble, the next night on Raw, John Laurinatis (god remember when he was on Raw, that was brutal) comes out and congratulates Jericho on his win, hen then invites him to come out and formally announce which championship he has chosen to challenge for at WrestleMania. Jericho’s theme music hits and he walks out with a micro in hand, he stand at the top of the ramp as his theme cuts out, but instead of talking, he just stands there, everyone is getting anxious as they anticipate what he’s going to say, and then, Jericho drops the mic, and heads to the back without saying a word.

Later on in the main event, WWE Champion CM Punk is wrestling, I don’t know, Jack Swagger, when Jericho shows up, he doesn’t say anything, just stands there, looking all enigmatic, if you want, you can even have Swagger or whoever, pick up a surprise victory here with the distraction Jericho causes. Regardless of the match result, again without saying a word, Jericho leaves.

Here’s where things get really fun, on the next episode of SmackDown, World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan is wrestling, It doesn’t matter, Santino Marella, why not, when all you hear, is Jericho’s music, out comes Chris Jericho, the commentary team is losing it at this point, they can’t believe Jericho is there on SmackDown. As I’m assuming you’ve guessed by now, Jericho says nothing, then leaves.

After saying literally nothing, all of a sudden, Chris Jericho and his WrestleMania decision is the most compelling thing in WWE. Now as far as who he actually challenges, if you want to keep WrestleMania the same you can have him wrestle CM Punk like he did in real life, you can keep the same excellent story behind that match too, all you have to do is have Jericho attack CM Punk, if you want to keep WrestleMania the same, with Punk vs Jericho and Sheamus crushing everyone’s dream by squashing Daniel Bryan, that’s all well and good, but you make the same match, infinitely more compelling by building Jericho properly by having him win the Royal Rumble. Or if you want me to go full fantasy booking mode you can have Jericho pick Daniel Bryan, and build a feud around those two, the point of it all is, Jericho needed to win the Royal Rumble to keep the intrigue around him up to create a memorable WrestleMania feud, Sheamus can still challenge for the title at WrestleMania, however he absolutely did not need to win the Royal Rumble at Jericho’s expense.

Wrestling Trivia: what wrestling stipulation is Chris Jericho credited with coming up with?

DM @JackDownVSRaw on Twitter for the answer