The Wrestling Connoisseur: The Fluctuating Quantum State of Pro Wrestling, or Murphy’s Law and WWE
In is out. Up is down. Left is right. Retro is…you get the idea. It seems that these days in the wrestling world there’s nothing but organized chaos, like the cliché herding cats. Let me just make this statement. Matt Hardy is relevant in 2017. At 42 years old. And became relevant in TNA.
That is the state of the wrestling world today. And while we have such great things like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, and more in WWE we also have this new world where anything can and will happen. Wrestling has become a living Murphy’s Law. No, not Buddy Murphy’s Law either.
I’m talking about anything that can happen will happen in wrestling now. Did you ever think Kenny Omega would be thee guy in Japan? Did you think AJ Styles would be treated so well in WWE? Did you think Matt Hardy would somehow get this character over and be not only more relevant than Jeff, but trending in the wrestling world? Did you think in 2017 that the Undertaker, Goldberg, and Brock Lesnar would be in the Royal Rumble? It’s down right crazy. Did you realize that the President of the United States is the only one in history that’s a WWE Hall of Famer?!
It’s like a WWE writer has taken control of the world. And not one of those good writers either. So what does that have in store for the rest of 2017? It’s hard to say. The Royal Rumble is the go-to builder for the rest of the season. Tiring storylines get whipped into high gear. New storylines are created. It really is the starting point for the “Road to Wrestlemania”. This time of year is all WWE, especially while New Japan does a proverbial reboot after Wrestle Kingdom.
But, while anything can happen it doesn’t mean it will. In actuality, it really won’t. I will go out on a limb and guarantee that Heath Slater will not win the Royal Rumble. Some Rumble facts. Barring the first two Rumbles, every concurrent one was won by a main eventer. The first two winners were Jim Duggan and Big John Studd respectively. Stone Cold Steve Austin holds the most wins with three. John Cena, Hulk Hogan, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Batista hold two wins in the Royal Rumble. It is fairly safe to assume Hulk Hogan, HBK, and Batista will not enter and win the 2017 Rumble. Could we see a new three-time winner to tie with Austin in Cena or Triple H? It’s plausible if not possible.
Of course, the Rumble winner depends heavily upon where the main event of Wrestlemania sits, or at least the WWE World Championship. (Yes, the main event isn’t always the world title, unfortunately.) Can we assume that Cena, Styles, Reigns, and Owens won’t be in the Rumble match itself? We have seen challengers lose and enter the Rumble before. Anything is possible with booking. Again, if it can happen…
At the end of the day, I care less about who wins this Royal Rumble than I have the last three or four years. In a sense, WWE killed the importance of the Rumble by bad booking. Now we’re at a ground level. Have they learned their lesson or have we just become complacent with their bad choices? Or do we now stand at a point where (near) any one main eventer could potentially win the Royal Rumble and go on to Wrestlemania? And that wouldn’t be a bad thing. So I’d like to see this year’s 2017 Rumble dedicated to Murphy’s Law.
