The Royal Rumble is approaching, and the details of the event are coming into shape. Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Charlotte and Rich Swann will all be defending their belts, but for once, those matches aren’t really the feature of the night.
Each year, the Royal Rumble match is one of the most anticipated and analyzed aspects of the WWE calendar. The betting odds are tracked, and fans and experts alike make their picks for who will win the match. But beyond all that build, this Rumble could be one of the most important ones in years for the success of the WWE, and here’s why the WWE creative team needs to make sure that it is a memorable one for the right reasons.
Fans look forward to it
Other than WrestleMania, perhaps no event creates the buzz among the WWE fans that the Royal Rumble does. Fans across the WWE Universe begin talking about who will be in the Rumble match and who has the best chance to win weeks or even months before it begins.
In the arena, counting down to the next entrant and anticipating the surprises has become quite a tradition, but that fan anticipation and participation can work in the wrong direction, too. One shaky booking decision, and the fans’ own excitement can stoke their disappointment later.
Three straight duds
There’s no real way to sugarcoat it. For three consecutive years, the WWE creative team has dropped the ball with their choice of Royal Rumble winner, at least from a long-term booking standpoint. On top of that, from Batista in 2014 to Roman Reigns in 2015 to Triple H in 2016, the fans have largely rejected or at least been lukewarm about the winner.
That’s bad for the WWE, but the fans have mostly remained excited about the Rumble match. The creative team can’t count on that always being the case, though. They absolutely have to start producing well-received and exciting winners, or the Rumble may not always be so popular.
WrestleMania needs a big match
Because of those three unpopular winners, the world title matches at WrestleMania have suffered in one way or another. In 2014, the WWE saved that by added Daniel Bryan into the match for a truly memorable WrestleMania event, and they did something similar with a Seth Rollins cash-in the next year. In 2016, fans just had to sit through the Triple H-Roman Reigns bout that no one was really excited to see.
This WrestleMania, with all the talent expected to be involved, could be one of the best in years. That said, it won’t reach that possibility if the Royal Rumble winner doesn’t set up a truly memorable match for one of the top titles to anchor the card.
Wide-open field
Another major issue with each of the last three Royal Rumbles, at least, has been that the winner was fairly predictable either coming in to the match or at least well before the end of the match. This year, that doesn’t have to be the case.
Of the dozen or so men who have entered so far, most of them have been booked in such a way that they would be believable winners. Fortunately, many of them would also be fairly popular winners for their own reasons, like The Undertaker, Baron Corbin, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler or any of the New Day members.
Lots of potential
Because of all those believable and likely popular choices as Royal Rumble winner, there’s lots of potential for a great Royal Rumble match with a memorable finish. This match could either set up a new star like Strowman or Corbin for their first major title push, or a win for The Undertaker could deliver a dream match regardless of who wins the title matches at the Rumble. Him facing John Cena, AJ Styles, Roman Reigns or Kevin Owens are all enticing matchups for WrestleMania.
Beyond that, with the men already entered and those we expect to be added later like Sami Zayn and Apollo Crews, this field is full of men who could put on an exciting Royal Rumble event. Now it’s up to the creative team to put it all together.
