The Royal Rumble has been an event that has either ended in disaster or a collective groan for the past few years. In 2014, Batista returned and wound up winning the Royal Rumble match. The crowd booed relentlessly and this was because Daniel Bryan didn’t win. In fact, Daniel Bryan wasn’t even a part of the Royal Rumble match itself. The entire crowd booed the hell out of Rey Mysterio when he came out at number 30 and they booed even louder when Batista won the whole thing.
Things got even worse in 2015. Daniel Bryan won the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania, but had to relinquish the title due to injury. However, he had finally made his comeback and the fans wanted him to win the Royal Rumble match. Unfortunately, that was not the case as Daniel Bryan was eliminated very early by Bray Wyatt. The Philadelphia crowd completely turned on the event and booed the rest of the match. Roman Reigns took the worst of the crowd’s scorn as it became quite obvious that Reigns would wind up winning the match. The Rock even came down to the ring to help Reigns after the match but the crowd didn’t care. For the second year in a row, the Royal Rumble went off the air to a chorus of boos.
Then we get to last year’s Royal Rumble. The Authority was abusing their power and forced Roman Reigns to put his WWE Championship up for grabs in the Royal Rumble match. Triple H winning the match was completely predictable but the crowd mildly applauded anyway. The problem with that is that the WWE was hoping that the crowd would boo Triple H because he cost Roman Reigns the title. That didn’t happen and it ultimately led to a forgettable Wrestlemania match between Reigns and Triple H.
In 11 days, the 2017 Royal Rumble will take place. It is a star-packed event with names like The Undertaker, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. There are also plenty of new stars in the match that could be taken to the next level if they emerge victorious. WWE Superstars like Braun Strowman and Baron Corbin would become household names if they were win the Royal Rumble match. There is no Daniel Bryan in this year’s Royal Rumble. There is not one Superstar that the WWE Universe collectively believes must win. Roman Reigns is fighting for the Universal Championship at the event, so he might not even be a part of the match.
Discussion: Would you rather see a big name like The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar or Goldberg win the Royal Rumble match this year? Or would you prefer to see someone that is on Raw or Smackdown every week win and headline Wrestlemania? Share your thoughts on who should win the Royal Rumble match in the comments below.
