WWE revealed the Royal Rumble poster for the upcoming pay-per-view, a graphic that is somewhat interesting.
In less than three weeks, the 2017 WWE Royal Rumble match will take place. The big names set for the show have pretty much been confirmed with Undertaker, John Cena, AJ Styles, Goldberg, Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, and others all set to be in action.
Given how things are coming together for the January 29 show, WWE released the event’s official poster. This is something the company usually unveils before every pay-per-view, but with the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania ones usually being a bit bigger than the normal poster.
There are a few takeaways from this image, though, which can be seen below:
OFFICIAL: #RoyalRumble 2017 poster. pic.twitter.com/rv9WPVk94Y
— pwstream (@pwstream) January 10, 2017
If you can’t see him in the back right corner, that’s WWE Champion AJ Styles. Everyone has noticed as well, pointing out that one of the top champions could not make it to the forefront of this photo. This is along with other parts of this that fans are not taking too kindly to.
The WWE Champion just casually in the background. Urgh. pic.twitter.com/YDHWnReteF
— PWM – WWE COVERAGE (@ProWrestlingMag) January 10, 2017
Poor WWE Champion pic.twitter.com/Mu1zY2Qroy
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubItal) January 10, 2017
WWE Champion AJ Styles is all the way in back in this poster, smh pic.twitter.com/iV6oLf3mjU
— JEFF (@JeffTuffner) January 10, 2017
The Royal Rumble official poster is nice but why is @AJStylesOrg in the back?
— Drew Hernandez (@Drewknights17) January 10, 2017
Only 6 superstars of sd and no alexa bliss in the royal rumble poster , aj in the corner , wtf i hate you @WWE
— Notorius Ben (@Greeniglesias) January 10, 2017
@ProWrestlingMag Nothing says WWE like having three part timers in the front of your Royal Rumble promo poster and WWE champ in the back
— Matt (@lolwhyamihere) January 10, 2017
Part-timers front and centre on the Royal Rumble poster… Way to promote the New Era @WWE #RoyalRumble
— Kev Rutherford (@kev4815162342) January 10, 2017
@WWE @StephMcMahon and making horrible the royal rumble poster
— Cecilia | ILW (@CeciliaIlw) January 10, 2017
I liked the Royal Rumble poster from last year better because at least you are shining the spotlight on the top champion in your company #AJ
— Pro Wrestling DH (@DHNATIONSPORTS) January 10, 2017
Royal Rumble poster…
…
…
-Part timers in the front
-AJ Styles lost somewhere in there we… https://t.co/gQylE8BdI9— Lea (@leapayet) January 10, 2017
Brock Lesnar and Goldberg are at the forefront of the Royal Rumble poster and AJ Styles, the current WWE Champion, is at the back. pic.twitter.com/gyrLrH8rei
— Gerard. (@DeathByDevitt) January 10, 2017
Styles is stuck in the back of the photo with non-champions like Sasha Banks, Dolph Ziggler, the Miz, and Kalisto. This is in comparison to five of the front seven of the image not holding a belt in WWE.
The counter to this is the name recognition of the Superstars standing in the front. Styles is a top figure in WWE, but Undertaker, Goldberg, Lesnar, Cena, Charlotte Flair, and Reigns being used as the marketed names for the show could have a better pull with fans given the branded value that WWE has given them.
Another one of the tweets above mentioned the lack of SmackDown Live women, with none being on the poster. If anything, the lack of Blue Brand stars in general in the forefront is interesting. Mostly Raw-branded stars (except John Cena and whatever you determine Undertaker as) are at the center of the photo.
When in doubt, though, this is just a poster. It may not be indicative of anything we see at the Royal Rumble.
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