Royal Rumble (2012) was the twenty-fifth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE. It took place on January 29, 2012 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri and featured talent from both the Raw and SmackDown brands. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania (in this instance: WrestleMania XXVIII) for his choice at either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship.

Six professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The main event was the annual 30-competitor Royal Rumble match which featured wrestlers from both brands. Sheamus, the twenty-second entrant, won the match by last eliminating Chris Jericho, the twenty-ninth entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand was between CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship, which Punk won to retain the title. The primary match on the SmackDown brand was a Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship between the reigning champion Daniel Bryan, Big Show and Mark Henry, which Bryan won to retain the championship. The featured match on the undercard was between John Cena and Kane, which ended in a double countout.

The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced every January by professional wrestling promotion WWE. The event was created in 1988 with the inaugural event held on January 24, 1988 at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. The event however was not a pay-per-view but was originally shown as a television special on USA Network. The following year's event was the first Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. The first Royal Rumble match was won by Jim Duggan. The event's main feature is a Battle Royal-type match, entitled the Royal Rumble. The pay-per-view is a part of WWE's "Big Four", along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series. The Royal Rumble has been classified as being one of WWE's most popular pay-per-view events.

The match is based on the classical Battle Royal match, in which a number of wrestlers aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor. The winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated.

Brian Gerard James (born May 20, 1969) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works as an agent, producer and occasional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as "The Road Dogg" Jesse James or simply Road Dogg. He is a former member of D-Generation X and the tag team partner of Billy Gunn, with who he joined with the New Age Outlaws in the WWF and The James Gang and Voodoo Kin Mafia in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

In WWE, James is a one time Intercontinental Champion, a one time Hardcore Champion, and a five time Tag Team Champion with Gunn. The company also described him as "one of the most popular Superstars of WWE's "Attitude Era". In TNA, he became a two time NWA World Tag Team Champion with Konnan and Ron Killings. James is also a one time world champion after becoming the first-ever WWA World Heavyweight Champion in 2001.

James is the son of retired professional wrestler Bob Armstrong, and one of the Armstrong brothers.

Robert Alexander Szatowski (born December 18, 1970), better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (RVD), is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment, and Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Szatkowski has held 22 championships between ECW, WWE and TNA, as well as several regional titles in various promotions during his career. He is a former WWE champion, ECW champion and the TNA World Heavyweight champion once each. On the independent scene he has also won the World Heavyweight Championships for both American Wrestling Rampage and World Stars of Wrestling once each. He is the only man to achieve both WWE and ECW's version of the Triple Crown. Part of ECW's Triple Crown included the ECW World Television Championship, of which RVD's 700 day reign was the longest.

Szatkowski grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan and graduated from Pennfield High School. Rob made his first appearance on WWF television in 1987 in a skit with "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. At the time, DiBiase was selecting plants from the audience and offering to pay them to perform degrading acts and offered the 16 year old Szatkowski $100 to enter the ring and kiss his foot, which he did. This early appearance was later included as a bonus feature on WWE's Before They Were Superstars DVD and on WWE's Rob Van Dam: One of a Kind DVD.