It happened again.
All the signs were there, yet somehow WWE didn’t see it coming.
At the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Sunday night, the rabid, passionate fans in Philadelphia completely turned on what is generally a very popular, fun, 30-man annual match.
Things started off just fine. The momentum was great coming out of what was an excellent triple-threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Brock Lesnar, John Cena and Seth Rollins. Everything was in place. One left turn when WWE should have gone right, however, and everything could potentially fall apart.
WWE went left.
The match began like every other year. Out first comes The Miz, followed by R-Truth.
Whatever.
But then the countdown clock hit, the fans counted from ten to one and we had our first surprise of the night. Bubba Ray Dudley, the former “Bully Ray” in TNA Wrestling, was our first unexpected entrant of the match.
The fans were hot in Philly for their former ECW original. Dudley borrowed R-Truth for a few minutes, turning him into his own personal D-Von Dudley replacement, and the fun began.
“Wazzupp?!”
“Truth! …Get the tables!”
“3-D!”
The match was going along smoothly.
Dudley was eliminated a few minutes after popping up in WWE for the first time in ten years.
That was their first big mistake.
Seven entrants later — enter the leader of the “Yes! Movement.” Straight out of the gate it was clear — Philadelphia came to see Daniel Bryan win the match that he wasn’t even entered in last year.
It was going to be an ugly night.
Daniel Bryan was only in the match for a few minutes before being eliminated by Bray Wyatt. He was the eleventh Royal Rumble entrant to be eliminated this year. From there, the rest of the show completely fell apart.
WWE clearly had a game plan. Get Bryan’s elimination out of the way early, give the fans time to get the “boo’ing” out of their system, and then hopefully we’ll go along with our business.
Well, that didn’t exactly happen, did it?
What in the world did WWE expect to happen? Did they learn nothing from 2014?
Apparently not.
I’m assuming WWE was under the impression that once Bryan was out of the way, they would get behind Roman Reigns, and if they didn’t, when The Rock came out to endorse him and help him win, surely at that point the sheer excitement of seeing a big movie star for a few minutes would make them forget that they’re favorite wrestler had been screwed for the second year in a row.
Right?
Wrong!
Of course that wasn’t going to work. There were many other options WWE could have tried that would have saved the show from completely falling apart. For those who missed it, from the point Bryan was eliminated, throughout the rest of the entire match, except a couple of pops here and there, the rabid Philly fans boo’d the living crap out of everything that was happening.
Bryan was only cleared to return to the ring a few weeks ago. Knowing the Royal Rumble was coming up, if you’re not planning on having him win the match, why even have him return? Why not wait until after the Royal Rumble to bring him back?
Well, they had already brought him back, so that’s out. Knowing he’s back, however, why not save him for the final two? If you’re hell bent on having Reigns win the match, at least you have the fans turn on him at the very end of the match. They boo the finish. It sucks, but it’s better than 20-30 minutes of guttural boo’ing and madness.
Going forward, Roman Reigns is expected to be “the guy.” The next John Cena, if you will. If this is his launching off point, they better have their writers quickly figure out a way to turn him heel and capitalize on momentum that is already in place, because if they think that was a one time thing, they’ve got a rude awakening coming in their future.
Fans don’t forget. Reigns’ push had already peaked and started going down several weeks ago. His promo work isn’t there yet. His matches, while good, are not so good that fans will overlook the rest of the missing pieces of the puzzle. He’s simply not going to work as the top babyface superstar in the company. It’s not going to happen. Not yet, at least.
Regardless, another Royal Rumble is in the books. Another year of fans completely turning on WWE and crapping on their choice for a top guy, or a top match for WrestleMania, and they let it be known. Now, all that’s left is to wait and see if WWE smartens up and finds a way to give them what they want.
WrestleMania 31 — Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan.
Personally speaking, I don’t like the sound of that. Another triple-threat main event for the title? I’m not into it. But it’s pretty clear that the fans are choosing Daniel Bryan as their guy. Why WWE is so dead set on fighting it is completely beyond me.
But hey, I guess there’s always next year!
What are your thoughts on this year’s Royal Rumble and the fan reaction to the match? Let us know by posting your feedback below. You can also add me on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or follow me on Twitter @MBoone420.