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Royal Rumble Rewind 2012: SWERVE!

In this series, we look back on every Royal Rumble event to date. Now to the final match before this year: Royal Rumble 2012, featuring a swerve that wasn't much of a swerve.

Event: Royal Rumble 2012
Date: January 29, 2012
Location: Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri
Time: 54:55
Winner: Sheamus
Last Eliminated: Chris Jericho
Iron Man: The Miz
Quickest Out: Epico
Most Eliminations: Big Show

Some men just like to watch the world burn. And some men just like to swerve the Internet.

That's reportedly what happened with this Rumble match, as Chris Jericho was all set to win to go on to challenge CM Punk for the WWE championship at WrestleMania 28 before the decision was made to have Sheamus knock Jericho out. "The Great White" would go on to defeat Daniel Bryan for the world heavyweight championship in 18 seconds in the opening match at 'Mania, changing the fortunes of Bryan forever.

To that end, thanks!

The fact that this Rumble featured only a couple entrants who were legitimate threats to win hurt it. Essentially, it was going to be Sheamus, Jericho, or Randy Orton winning in his hometown. So it felt like a waste of time for much of the match, especially when all three ringside announcers came in at various points, including Michael Cole.

There were a few great moments, though, like Mick Foley and Santino Marella having a stand off with Mr. Socko and the Cobra, respectively. Or Kharma making a surprise return and delivering an unbelievable Implant Buster on Dolph Ziggler.

So it wasn't all bad.

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