There have been some bad moments in recent Royal Rumble matches, so here’s what WWE needs to avoid doing this time around.
The Royal Rumble is arguably the most anticipated match of WWE’s year. It takes place in January and sets up a world title match at WrestleMania for the victor. Recent winners have included John Cena, Batista, Roman Reigns and Triple H, all of whom are big names. So, on January 29, someone else will join these top-tier Superstars of the past and present.
However, in all of these Rumble matches, there have been moments that made fans scratch their heads or boo mercifully. This includes the ending to 2014 and all throughout the 2015 bout due to the winner and how he was booked.
What will WWE need to avoid doing this time around?
5. Anything involving James Ellsworth
Throughout the fall and into the WWE TLC pay-per-view, James Ellsworth may have been one of the most over Superstars on the roster. He predictably cost Dean Ambrose the WWE Championship at TLC, and proceeded to fade away within the next three weeks. It now has him involved with Carmella in a managerial or lackey role.
If this was maybe two months ago, putting Ellsworth into the Royal Rumble match would have provided an entertaining moment. Now that we’re well past the Ellsworth-Ambrose-AJ Styles content, it would be wise for WWE to keep the Chinless Wonder far away from one of their biggest bouts of the year.
Even if he would provide comedic effect, there’s no need for someone else’s spot to be taken that would provide a slightly bigger threat of winning in the fans’ eyes. Even a legend being part of the match would be more interesting than Ellsworth, who lost any steam he had.
Putting Ellsworth into the Royal Rumble seems like a Vince McMahon special. He would enter the match, take one step in, and get eliminated within 1-3 seconds. There’s no need for this to happen.
Credit: WWE.com
4. Someone from commentary entering the match
Jerry Lawler made his return to WWE programming for a storyline, not on commentary. He hosted an edition of “King’s Court” on the January 17 episode of SmackDown and ended up getting superkicked in the chest by Dolph Ziggler. This could be an angle to set something up for WrestleMania 33.
Afterward, Lawler would be confirmed as a member of the Royal Rumble match commentary team with Michael Cole and Corey Graves. While there’s no issue with the King doing some announcing for one night, bringing him into the 30-man bout would be a waste.
With Lawler on commentary and Ziggler in the Rumble, all signs point to these two having some kind of interaction. Having both of them competing in the ring would be the easy way to go, but it’s lazy and takes away a spot from someone else on the roster. This is somewhat similar to the potential James Ellsworth dilemma.
If WWE wants to have Ziggler and Lawler interact, save it for when the Showoff is eliminated. He could cross paths with Lawler as he passes the announcer’s table, and proceed to start a physical altercation. Then they can build to something for the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Credit: WWE.com
3. Roman Reigns being in the Royal Rumble
The past three Royal Rumbles have been all about Roman Reigns. He’s a talented WWE Superstar, but has become a staple of these matches with his predictable booking.
In 2014, Reigns received more of a spotlight by WWE as the “leader of the Shield.” This carried into him setting a Rumble match record for eliminations with 12 and lasted until the final two with Batista.
2015 may have been the most predictable of the three. Reigns came in with an absurd amount of protection from WWE’s recent booking, defeating just about everyone along the way. He then entered the Rumble around midway through, surviving for a final four of him, Big Show, Kane and Rusev. 15 years ago, a final four with Show and Kane involved wouldn’t have been a bad thing, but in 2015, both were well past their primes. Reigns eliminated both of them at the same time and got Rusev out at the very end to win.
In 2016, just about everyone knew that Triple H would return in the Royal Rumble to confront Reigns. This turned out to be the case, which saw the Game win the Big Dog’s title. Then the WrestleMania 32 main event happened, and the rest would be history.
The idea here is simple: keeping Reigns out means the match will be focused on someone else or multiple people. It would be a refreshing take on the Royal Rumble after years of predictability and negative crowd reactions overflowing the hour-long contest. This is best for the Rumble and the overall WrestleMania season, which was a letdown in 2016.
Credit: WWE.com
2. A predictable final four
One of the most exciting parts of a Royal Rumble match is the final four participants. It’s usually a narrow field with plenty of interesting faces, all of whom have realistic chances of winning.
In 2016 we saw Sheamus, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Triple H as the final four. Even though the Celtic Warrior had a miserable WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign, he still was a somewhat credible superstar to have in the last moments. Ambrose looked like he had a chance too if you suspended your belief in the final few minutes. The Cerebral Assassin eventually eliminated him to win.
With the stacked field of competitors for the Rumble, there should be a good chance of WWE making the final four interesting. Superstars like Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Undertaker, Braun Strowman, the Miz, Sami Zayn, potentially John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar could be mixed and matched to make for an intriguing ending.
This is a year that may actually be difficult for WWE to put together a predictable final group of Superstars. That’s unless they have someone like Strowman with Curt Hawkins, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. WWE have ruined things that had little chance of going wrong before, so let’s see how they handle this at the Rumble.
Image via WWE.com
1. Having the Undertaker win
Having Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker in the Royal Rumble is great for the match’s depth. Even though they’re part-time stars, they add star power and will fill a number of seats at the Alamodome. That doesn’t mean any of them should or will win, though.
Goldberg and Lesnar probably don’t have a great chance of this happening given their paths to WrestleMania 33, but the same can’t be said for the Dead Man.
It’s a rare occasion for the Undertaker to enter the Royal Rumble match, something he hasn’t done since 2009 by finishing fifth. So, why after eight years would he be part of the Rumble?
The odds may be in favor of Braun Strowman winning it all, but the Phenom likely doesn’t stand far behind. If he wins, he would be an obvious draw for WrestleMania 33 and make a world title feel important. However, if this isn’t Taker’s last year, then having him win the Royal Rumble, only to lose a title match and proceed to go away for another eight months and return again, makes little sense. The future of WWE should be given a chance here to win, someone like Strowman, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and others.
Giving the Undertaker the win this year would make for a fan-favorite moment, but it’s better served for 2018, if that’s going to be his last go-around with WWE. For now, fans will have to see what he does during the match and how it leads to his opponent in less than three months.
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