Hello everyone. I had every intention to come out with this piece on Monday. Unfortunately, a stomach bug knocked me out for all of Monday and I used yesterday to catch up on things. So I know I’m a couple days late with the complaining about the Royal Rumble, but here are my thoughts.
To put it simply, the WWE got it wrong again. You want Roman Reigns to win? Fine. But there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. And the WWE went about the wrong way with everything. There’s a time and place for Roman Reigns. I have no doubt that he will be a big part of the future for the WWE. He has the look the WWE wants. And in time, once he develops into a more well rounded performer, he will be a main event player for the WWE.
But forcing Roman Reigns down our throats right now is what has caused the backlash. Just look at how the Royal Rumble was booked. To start off, Daniel Bryan comes in early and is eliminated quite quickly for someone at his level. Daniel Bryan was eliminated in just over 10 minutes. Looking at the results, Jack Swagger, Big E and Stardust all last longer than Bryan. How the hell would you not expect a huge backlash from the people in attendance? You bring Daniel Bryan back for the Royal Rumble, push his return as a big deal, then have him eliminated in the first half of the match? If that was the case, why not just hold off on Bryan’s return until after the Royal Rumble? Or even Wrestlemania? The WWE got the idea of a Bryan win in the audience’s head, and his booking in the match itself was awful. Even if you keep him around until the end, at least your ENTIRE Rumble isn’t crapped on. You would’ve kept the crowd interested for the majority of the match.
And how about Kane and the Big Show? In 2015, Kane and Big Show are being treated as serious threats in the Rumble. Here are two guys that some would argue shouldn’t even be wrestling anymore. And what are they doing? Eliminating top stars and fan favorites with ease. They got rid of Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt and made them look weak in the process. Not only that, but the booking of Kane and Big Show throughout the match made it a forgone conclusion that Roman Reigns was coming out on top. Kane and Big Show should be role players at this point in their careers, not people who should be in the Final Four of the Royal Rumble.
Now lets get to The Rock. The simple fact that the WWE even had to use The Rock to get Roman Reigns over should be a warning sign. The guy you want to main event Wrestlemania, the man you want to be the next star of your company, shouldn’t need ANY help to get over. If Reigns was truly ready he would be over on his own. And you could tell from the look on The Rock’s face that he didn’t know what he was getting himself into. Guys get over naturally, not from getting a rub from a former past star. And I’m not talking about losing a match to a former star, I’m talking about what happened at the Rumble.
There are other things that the WWE screwed up during the Rumble match. The Rusev tease at the end was done worse than the Santino one in 2011. The Miz/Mizdow tension was teased poorly. I already talked about the handling of the eliminations of the likes of Ziggler, Ambrose and Wyatt. The best part of the Rumble shouldn’t be the surprise entrances. Those are suppose to be a nice added touch, not the highlights.
So where does this leave Wrestlemania? I think the WWE will stick with Roman Reigns/Brock Lesnar no matter what. And they don’t care about the backlash this time. Outside of a double turn, I don’t find myself that interested. And I still believe Seth Rollins is cashing in at either Mania or the RAW after. And I could easily see the WWE giving the fans the finger again and having Rollins lose. I’m intrigued in Sting/HHH because I’m a Sting mark. Undertaker/Bray Wyatt? Now that The Streak is over I just want him to retire. The only way Cena/Rusev works is if Rusev goes over, and I don’t think that will happen. Then you have Daniel Bryan/Sheamus? Seth Rollins/Randy Orton? And where does that leave Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler? So much for this Wrestlemania being about the future of the WWE. And the one guy they are putting over as the future simply isn’t ready yet.
The WWE really had me interested in this year’s Wrestlemania season. But once again, the WWE failed to deliver at the Royal Rumble. And this time it seems like they won’t let anything change their mind. So can they make Wrestlemania interesting this year? I don’t think so, but only time will tell.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
