WWE Royal Rumble 2016: 5 Things that we wish happened at the PPV

A scapegoatThe 2016 edition of Royal Rumble was by far one of WWE’s best pay-per-views in recent past. A combination of surprises, solid matches, and some good storytelling allowed the show to stand out and the tone is set perfectly for WrestleMania. The show was a good one but it could’ve been much better if WWE had resolved some gaping plot holes that were projecting.Now, this is not some list to say that Royal Rumble was a horrible show; this is just a list which says how WWE could’ve made it even better. With that made clear, here is a look at some of the things that we wish had happened at the pay-per-view.

#5 A win for Alberto Del Rio

Del Rio is weak, and Kalisto didn't get a huge pop

Kalisto’s win was a good moment for the fans. It’s the underdog story all over again and if we isolate the match that happened at Rumble, it was a success story. However, if we look at the larger picture and the entire storyline, it was a mistake from WWE’s side. First of all, if they were planning to give Kalisto his big moment at Royal Rumble, they shouldn’t have made him the champion at Raw a couple of weeks back.

That win completely took away the shock factor and this apparently cooled down the reaction that Kalisto got at the Rumble. On the other hand, Del Rio is undersold yet again. This is his second loss against Kalisto and the absence of the League of Nations was a surprising one, considering the faction’s involvement in remaining parts of the show.

#4 Good telecast

Too much action outside the ring

Royal Rumble is not an easy show to telecast. As the Royal Rumble match is a multi-superstar affair and showing everyone on screen is not possible. And maybe it was because of this difficulty that WWE messed up during the telecast at times. During the portion where Roman Reigns was taken out by the League of Nations, WWE was focusing more on the action outside the ring rather than the action inside it.

WWE was so hell bent in selling the injury of Reigns that they forgot about the handful of superstars who were inside the squared circle. Kofi Kingston’s elimination was one of the most notable things that WWE missed out on in a slipshod manner.

#3 Better booking for Reigns

Got the worst booking

While there was a desperate effort from WWE to make Roman Reigns look strong, the entire attempt crashed and burned. Reigns looked weaker than ever throughout the match and WWE is to blame.

Reigns, who has a history of taking an immense amount of punishment, was taken out by Rusev with a splash through the announce table. Reigns then refused to take the stretcher and was able to walk into backstage.

He sat out for most of the Rumble and returned in the dying moments. Now, does that sound like the booking of a hero or a coward? On the other hand we had Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens. After their epic match earlier, they came back and stole the show at the Rumble match. A simple comparison shows how badly Reigns was booked.

#2 More surprise entrants

The return of Triple H became obvious after one point

The excitement regarding the Royal Rumble entrants is what makes the match a big success. Over the years, surprise entrants have been a major stay in the match and this year, WWE only managed to pull off two. The entry of AJ Styles received the biggest pop of the night when the return of Sami Zayn garnered some attention as well. And Triple H’s return was obvious after a particular point.

Apart from these, we did not get any other surprises. There was no entrant to take us back to the good old days. Nostalgia is something that sells big time in the wrestling business and WWE should’ve made better use of it at a match like the Royal Rumble.

#1 A new generation winner

Lack of confidence in young stars could prove to be costly

The biggest problem that WWE is facing right now is the lack of new generation superstars that they could trust. Apart from Roman Reigns, WWE does not have any other name that they could market. They are still relying on names like John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson to an extent. WWE cannot build up young stars unless they give them the spotlight.

If they had allowed anyone like AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, or Kevin Owens to walk out of Rumble as the winner, it would’ve been a historic moment. Instead, WWE went back to their Attitude Era glory and gave Triple H another title run. On the longer run, this is going to hurt WWE as they are heavily reliant on the past rather than focusing on the future.