Here it is, folks! This will probably go down as one of the most infamous Royal Rumble Pay-Per-Views of all time. The fans took over here and it wasn't just because Daniel Bryan didn't win the Rumble or appear in it! That's quite relevant but the other reason people hijacked this show is because they knew, or it was at least rumored that Batista would win and be in the main event of WrestleMania, which did happen. Fans were upset that Batista could just come back and suddenly be thrust back into the spotlight. CM Punk sure felt that way, but that's neither here nor there. While I agree that the booking wasn't great for this Rumble, it's still unfair to Batista the way the fans treated him. He did nothing wrong!
Part of the problem is that everything is on the Internet. I doubt people would have been as unhappy if they had no idea Batista would win or was coming back. In order to avoid the inevitable boos that were to take place, it might have been smart to not even have Batista come back until the Rumble. If they really wanted fans to take to Batista, this is how I would have gone about it. My idea wouldn't have been guaranteed to work necessarily, however. Have Bryan actually participate in the Rumble, maybe even start with CM Punk at the beginning. Bray Wyatt or someone costs Bryan the Rumble, that way there are no expectations for him to show up. Later on, let's say it's people in the Authority or someone else the fans hated left at the end and the surprise return of Batista. That might get fans excited and happy that he wins. Otherwise, it might have been wise to simply have Bryan win in the first place.
Tag Team Titles - The Brotherhood vs. New Age Outlaws
The Outlaws returned to much fanfare after years away but weeks into their return, they sold out and joined The Authority. Meanwhile, the Rhodes Brothers got on the same page, united with each other and their father Dusty, and finally dethroned The Shield of their Tag Team Titles. This was a pretty good match and the Outlaws won their sixth set of Championships together. It was actually great to see the Outlaws back and to be the Champs one more time.
Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan
The storyline leading up to this match was built pretty well. After months of the Wyatt Family attacking Daniel Bryan with Bray's intention of having Bryan join them, he finally gave in. He started dressing like them and he did have the beard to match. While most fans hated, I knew it wouldn't last long and Bryan would revert back to his normal self. In an awesome Steel Cage Match against the Usos, Bryan turned on Bray and the "Yes Movement" continued. This was probably Bray's best match with the company. Bryan missed a suicide dive to the outside when Bray moved out of the way. After a "Sister Abigail" into the guardrail, Bray rolled Bryan into the ring and pinned him. For those that were angry Bryan wasn't in the Rumble later, to be fair, it was never announced he would be. Should he have? Yes, but that's not the point! I also think Bray should have been it it as well. I think a good story would be for Bryan to lose a match at the Rumble, only to win the Rumble in the end; similar to Bret Hart's night at WrestleMania X when he lost to his brother Owen at the beginning but defeated Yokozuna for the WWF Title in the main event.
Brock Lesnar vs. The Big Show
When Brock Lesnar returned in 2012, he was unstoppable! His time in UFC made him better than ever! It also never hurt to have Paul Heyman by his side. Brock decimated John Cena and then defeated Triple H later that year. In 2014, his intentions were clear but the seven foot giant stood in his way. What was intriguing about this match was would it go down the way their match at the 2002 Survivor Series did? In that match, Paul Heyman turned on his client Brock Lesnar and sided with the new WWF Champion, the Big Show. Could Brock still trust Heyman? It was an okay match and a good use of Brock Lesnar to make him look strong. Ultimately, Lesnar defeated the Big Show and attacked him after the match to send a message to the entire roster that the Beast was ready for some competition.
Undisputed WWE Title - Randy Orton vs. John Cena
A month earlier, WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated World Champion John Cena to unify the Titles and become the Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This rematch didn't click with fans as much as some of their other battles and the fans pretty much booed the entire time, shouting for Daniel Bryan. That right there should have made Vince McMahon and creative rethink the way the Rumble match would go down. I'll agree that it wasn't the best performance of either man. The Wyatt Family cost Cena the match and set the course for Cena/Bray going into WrestleMania.
Royal Rumble Match
The Rumble match started with two performers who fans knew could go for a long time, CM Punk, and Seth Rollins of The Shield. In fact, they did just that and both spent over 45 minutes in the match. Rollins, of course, had his Shield brothers Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns eventually. Authority member Kane entered at number 5 and targeted Punk, only to be eliminated by Punk minutes later. Little did we know, it wasn't the last we'd see of Kane that night.
Other superstars joined in, including both Rhodes Brothers, NXT superstar Alexander Rusev, Dean Ambrose of The Shield, Kevin Nash, and Kofi Kingston. Speaking of Kofi, it's time for Kofi's spot of the year! Just after Rusev was eliminated, Kofi was thrown out of the ring. Rusev caught Kofi and viciously slammed him on top of the barrier at ringside. Kofi was in a tight spot yet again. He composed himself, ran along the guardrail, and was able to jump across to the ring, much like his predecessor John Morrison.
Soon, The Shield was at full capacity when Roman Reigns entered the ring. Reigns cleaned house and eliminated many people. All in all, he beat Kane's past record of most eliminations in a Rumble match, 11, with an astounding 12. At this point, CM Punk found himself all alone with The Shield. The buzzer rang for number 17 and fans erupted when they saw it was the returning Sheamus. My, how the fans would turn on him later on! Sheamus helped even the odds.
The ring started to fill up again with superstars, including The Miz, Fandango, and JBL, who was seated at ringside commentating. JBL did what Jerry Lawler, Booker T, and Michael Cole did a few years before and joined in. After all, with the prize of being in the main event of WrestleMania, why wouldn't he? Batista entered at number 28 with, and I'm being generous here, a mixed reaction! At this point, Daniel Bryan was nowhere to be seen and fans were getting restless. When Big E Langston came out at number 29, many fans assumed Bryan would be number 30. When it turned out to be Rey Misterio, people lost their damn minds! Poor Rey! I've never seen him get booed the way he was, and he certainly didn't deserve it! I will say this, if their intention was to not have Bryan in the match at all and get tremendous heat, number 30 should have been Bad News Barrett. I'd go one further actually! I'd have Bryan's music play so people get excited, only for Barrett to come out instead to boos and recite his "I'm afraid I've got some bad news" routine, specifically directed towards the absence of Bryan in the match. Just as CM Punk was on a role, Kane showed up again and dragged him out of the ring, eliminating him from the Rumble. Since Punk was feuding with The Authority, many concluded he'd defeat Kane at the next PPV and ultimately defeat Authority leader Triple H at WrestleMania. Punk walked out on the company the night after, never to be seen again in WWE.
The last three men left were Batista, Sheamus, and Roman Reigns. Fans were already booing Batista and soon they turned on Sheamus as well. Both were perceived babyfaces but were getting booed. Soon, Sheamus was eliminated and the fans starting siding with Roman Reigns, who was a heel. Roman was red hot, though, as he was the last man standing at Survivor Series, and they just witnessed him beat Kane's record. At the point, it was anyone but Batista for the fans. Incidentally, the lessen wasn't quite learned the next year either, as Reigns himself would end up falling victim to that.
Unfortunately for the fans, Batista won the Rumble anyway as predicted. But maybe that was their plan all along! Maybe they knew this would happen and put obstacles up for Daniel Bryan so that the "Yes Movement" would continue and get even bigger, and he would finally go on to defeat three quarters of Evolution to win the big one at WrestleMania. Or, maybe they just called an audible and underestimated Bryan's popularity! The 2015 Rumble was not without controversy either, but I'll get to that tomorrow, as we're just days away from the 2018 Royal Rumble, which will include the historic first ever women's Rumble match.
If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments. Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans. Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/
https://tagmeadate.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment