Royal Rumble Outlook: When It Reigns, It’s Poor
We all saw it coming. We knew it was going to be the finish. So why are we still angry?
As I predicted, last night’s Royal Rumble in Philadelphia became the anomaly reminiscent of last year apart from an absolute classic of a Triple Threat Match. When it comes to the Rumble match, it was clear as day that Reigns was going to be the victor, but it was the means of how it happened that got much of the wrestling fanbase alienated and insulted. Once again, WWE refuses to learn from their mistakes and would rather push the inevitable down our throats instead of letting it come organically.
Up until the WWE Title match, Rumble was another run-around show with a solid pre-show and a bunch of filler throughout. It reached its peak with show-stealing performances from Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar in the 3-Way (which also featured John Cena), delivering a Match Of The Year Candidate that was unfortunately overshadowed by the debacle that followed.
To be fair, the Rumble match was looking pretty fun at the start. ECW alumn Bubba Ray Dudley made his WWE return for the Philly faithful and used R-Truth as his D-Von replacement, only to be eliminated shortly thereafter. Bray Wyatt was looking very strong early, despite a teased Wyatt reunion being soured when they didn’t reunite at all. Things picked up with Daniel Bryan coming in at #10 and the crowd exploded in support for him. Still, it was an uneasy feeling going into that finish and the audience was feeling the same way too.
WWE knew what they were getting themselves into placing Bryan into the match and the repercussions of eliminating him before Reigns. It was either between the man the people has been supporting since Day One or the handpicked chosen one who has taken a mighty downfall. Obviously, they didn’t learn from last year as not only he was eliminated before Reigns’ entrance, but he was taken out before they got halfway through the field.
And boy, that crowd was PISSED. From the onset, Bryan’s elimination was the catalyst in the crowd turning on the match and the Rumble itself unraveling to atrocious proportions. Everyone was placed in a bad position, Roman Reigns was set up to fail, and all crowd favorites were treated like complete goofs.
Dating back since its inception, the Royal Rumble Match (much like King of the Ring and currently Money In The Bank) became a platform to launch WrestleMania programs and highlighting the future of the company. Around that time as well, Pat Patternson was booking the matches and was the main factor of making those matches special. Ever since he stopped working on the Rumble, shit went downward with pacing, layout, and great moments. I remember in 2005, Cena and Batista were the last two and it was clear they were going to be the top guys heading into the next decade. Now, you have Kane and Big Show in the final four against Reigns to “make him look strong”.
Now there’s a lot of things that could have made the outcome of the Rumble match better. Bryan winning is definitely one, but the booking of this match as well was building Reigns more properly would have worked wonders. Before The Shield breakup and even pre=hernia, Reigns was a badass silent killer with good looks and the crowd liked. His presence and explosive offense made him a sight to see, but he was still green in big match situations. He has a natural charisma, but it doesn’t translate well into the microphone.
To make matters worse, he’s given these promos full of cartoonish material that reeks of Cena that doesn’t fit with his gimmick. They’re forcing a personality on a guy that’s being forced on the crowd that isn’t well-received and it is ruining him in the process. Then in the Rumble match, they had him overcoming the odds against two giants and Rusev with the help of The Rock. He looked so fucking weak in the finish that I really do believe Vince is out to sabotage any NXT/underdog success story that poses a threat to the status quo.
The best possible example is Big Show and Kane eliminating everyone the crowd cared about and further infuriating them. Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt, and Dean Ambrose couldn’t have looked like bigger dorks and it was absolutely flabbergasting that Show and Kane are still being pushed as main event enforcers. Kane and Big Show, both voted for MOST OVERRATED in the 2014 Wrestling Observer Awards doing what they do best in ruining everything. Amazing how they made Wyatt’s early run in the Rumble mean nothing and Ziggler’s #30 entrant absolutely pathetic.
It was like WWE was deliberately making this match as awful as possible trolling the audience with each early exit of the crowd’s favorite. It wasn’t just a Bryan thing after his elimination; the crowd was getting frustrated with each outing of a cult favorite and here comes Roman to make the save.
And Reigns didn’t even look as ‘strong’ as he did last year. He was beaten down by two old geezers who should have retired years ago, eliminated them in a fluke fashion, and looked like a chump after being saved by another nostalgic figure. It was a complete 180 from last year’s dominate performance from him and I’m like, “Wow, this dude is a complete joke now. NO WONDER THEY STRUGGLE TO MAKE NEW STARS~!!”
How the fuck am I expect to take Reigns seriously against a monster in Brock Lesnar after watching last night? The disparity between the two can’t even be further apart as everything Lesnar is doing is completely different from what the rest of the roster does. From his antics to his in-ring work to his unadulterated physicality, Lesnar is leaps and bounds above anyone as a superstar and a champion is carried in WWE. And guess what, the crowd reacts to that and that’s why they’re going to cheer for him instead of Reigns.
I feel bad for how this has all turned out for Roman and it’s just as disappointing that The Rock is upset with what’s all that going on, but that’s what happens when history repeats itself in the worst way.
- Credit to Maffew for the title and check out his great Botchamania series. As far as I can tell, there’s gonna be a lot of highlights on the next vid.
- I just spared you guys from wanting to watch that terrible post-show promo with The Rock and Roman. Even Dwayne’s mic skills went to the shitter or maybe he was still flustered from that botherly love from the crowd.
