Douces Wild: Is The WWE Royal Rumble No Longer Important?

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Having watched the Royal Rumble PPV from this past Sunday, it is becoming more with each passing day that the Royal Rumble just might be losing its appeal. Now, there are multiple reasons for this occurring and I will highlighting a few of them here but to give my thoughts on the Rumble match itself……I would almost be bold and say, based off just Sunday night’s experience and until I watch both back to back to see which one I didn’t like the most, I believe that the 2015 Royal Rumble has surpassed 1999 as the worst Rumble match of all time!! I know a lot of people have zero love for some Rumbles (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 are the common ones) but the one thing I could say about those Rumble matches was that, at the very least, they were entertaining to watch. Stuff happened in them, there was a ton of fun re-watch value to be found in these Rumble matches. Whether it’s looking back at some of the stupid gimmicks from the mid-90s, Macho Man’s “so bad, it’s good” elimination from the ’93 Rumble, Mil Mascaras eliminating himself in ’97, Austin running wild in ’98, the Taker/Shawn finale in 2007, the Del Rio/Santino finale in 2011, Ryback’s rise in 2013 and CM Punk’s run/Reigns’ performance in 2014……..I found none of that in this match.

Sure, maybe I should give it time and re-watch it again but in my initial reaction, it’s one of the worst. Even 1999, one that is HORRIBLY booked and one that is COMPLETELY ridiculous, is actually pretty fun and stupid to watch to this day and at the very least, there were interesting storylines and characters in the match that SHOULD have gone somewhere. This match had nothing. If there is such a thing as a formulaic Rumble match, one full of Rumble clichés that swallow it up to the point where it’s just numbing to watch and just leaves you with no entertainment factor because you’ve seen it all before, this one was it!

But the Rumble has been in a steady decline over the past few years, though. 2009 wasn’t a great Rumble match but at least Randy Orton looked like a true star and it was nice to see a heel win the match. 2010 was easily one of the last great Rumble matches with 2012 not far behind. 2011 was bogged down with the 40-man format and overlong run time, 2013 was overly predictable and 2014 pissed people off. But the Rumble match has now reached an all-time low because, let’s face facts: for the first time in a while, we have had back to back horribly booked Rumble matches. 2014 had some redeeming qualities but I won’t call it a good match at all but this Rumble outdoes it in that regard. ’95 & ’96 were considered bad at the time but over the years, they have developed re-watch value and thankfully, the Rumbles afterwards were getting better to take the shine away from them. But these past two Rumbles have been horrible……and not just for who won and who did not win.

This past Rumble was, I’ll say it again, uncreative. No special surprises (it was nice to see Bully Ray and DDP but we knew they were going to be in the Rumble and Rock was already going to make an appearance), no amazing almost eliminations, no real story outside of Reigns…..it was just a Rumble on autopilot. People still do love the Rumble because it leads into Wrestlemania season but the past two Rumbles have been horrible and it’s getting to the point where the WWE needs to do something to fix up that formula. They have to go back to making the Rumble unpredictable, like everyone has a shot to win this thing……we knew who was winning this Rumble and there were not a lot of other options believable enough to make us think otherwise. The Rumble has to be exciting and that means that the WWE needs to realize that they need to stop booking the Rumbles they want to do it and book them in a way that they don’t lose the fans. These past two years……the WWE lost the fans during both matches and that needs to stop. More action needs to be happening, less Show and Kane dominating for 20 minutes while everybody else just lays on the mat. Treat the eliminations of the bigger stars like a big deal (I hated Bryan’s elimination, Bray Wyatt’s and Dean Ambrose’s because they were treated like nothing). And if you’re going to build towards matches at Wrestlemania……use the Rumble to your advantage. The word is that they want to run Sheamus/Bryan at Mania again (not a popular idea, I know) but they had a great chance to really get some major heat on Sheamus. Have him run out, get into a tussle with Bryan and have him eliminate Bryan……that way the heat is on Sheamus and not Reigns. Want to build Orton/Rollins at Mania? Have Orton enter the Rumble and have Rollins help in eliminating him, maybe have Kane actually eliminate Orton since Kane’s in the Authority.

How about Bray Wyatt/Taker if that match is REALLY going to happen? Have Wyatt be standing alone or on top at one point, the lights go out, GONG!!! Then Wyatt gets thrown out…..simple stuff to build to that match. The WWE is waiting too late to start building towards Wrestlemania season. They are doing a solid job with Sting/Triple H, they just started Lesnar/Reigns and Cena/Rusev……use the Rumble to build up those other matches! If the WWE is not going to put much thought in the Rumble, then why keep it? It’s the ROYAL RUMBLE!!! It has been around for 27 years!! Quit treating it like a secondary show or a secondary match. Make it the “make or break” match that it was in the past, make it IMPORTANT again. That’s the biggest problem: the Rumble is starting to not be important anymore in the eyes of the WWE. They are just focusing solely on Wrestlemania and not giving the Rumble its fair shake and that…….is the most disappointing notion of all.

Wrestling fan for over 15 years........and I'm ok with that. Currently tinkering with wrestling reviews website.