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The WWE Universe is all set to witness the Royal Rumble once again this month. Despite having one of the most impressive legacies in the WWE pay-per-view scene, the Rumble has been struggling in recent years.If there is anything to blame for the same, it has to be the booking decisions made by Vince McMahon. Over the past few years, Vince has lost track of what Rumble was all about and it reflected big time on the shows they produced.This year it will provide the company with a chance to get back on track and here are some of the things that they should stop repeating if they are to make the fans cheer.
#5 The unwanted comedy entrants
The comedic relief moments are indeed a necessity for the Rumble matches however, the company has taken this luxury a bit too far in recent times. Instead of just limiting such entries to one or two, they just waste valuable spaces by putting in unwanted names.
No one would like to see Michael Cole, JBL or Jerry Lawler getting into the match and get eliminated quickly. Rather than that, the WWE should employ some smart booking to make use of their resources.
There are a lot of names down in NXT who could make a much bigger impact and give some depth for the match at the same time. It will clearly be an improvement from a wrestling point of view which is the aim after all.
#4 Headline what?
The whole point of Royal Rumble is to let one superstar reach the epitome of his dreams and headline WrestleMania. Along with this opportunity there will also be the title shot which is supposed to make Rumble more important.
However, the booking team has been ignorant of these two factors. Last year Batista won the rumble and had to share the spotlight with Daniel Bryan.
In 2012, Sheamus won the match and went on to open WrestleMania against Daniel Bryan in a twenty-second match. 2011 had a similar fate for Alberto Del Rio, So what happened to the headlining WrestleMania part? It’s definitely something that the company should address in 2015.
#3 Losing battle for heels
This is not a problem associated with the past few years but with the pay-per-view’s entire history. A majority of the Rumble winners are baby faces. If the champion is a heel by the time Rumble rolls in, then that makes the result a bit more predictable.
WWE hasn’t being always eager about letting heels win the Rumble match. The first full blow heel to win the Rumble was Randy Orton back in 2009 and the second one was Alberto Del Rio in 2011, who could be considered a half heel.
That is two heels wins from twenty seven rumbles in case you were wondering. It is a habit that needs to be changed and if they could pull off a turn before the PPV, then Dean Ambrose should be the third in that list.
#2 Feeding the part timers
The debate about WWE giving more preference to part timers has been a going on for so long now. Royal Rumble has been a casualty of this habit which is one of the reasons why it is declining in the first place.
All those superstars in the roster bust their rear through year and one day, someone comes across and defeats twenty nine such hard workers. Forget the believability; it is utter unfairness to the wrestlers even though they have less drawing power.
John Cena taking the route to Rock and letting Batista win the rumble last year were striking examples of WWE’s love with part timers. Hopefully someone deserving would get the chance this time around.
#1 The winners
Admit it; the last credible winner of the Royal Rumble was Edge. The Rated R superstar won the Rumble back in 2010 and though the result was a bit predictable, it was good to see Edge make his return and go all the way.
After that, the castle of cards came down crashing for WWE. They tried to introduce the 40-men idea in the year that followed but choosing Alberto Del Rio as the winner turned out to be a big botch. 2012 saw Sheamus winning when Chris Jericho could’ve made a better winner.
No one loved Cena’s win in 2013 which landed him a match against The Rock and neither did anyone love Batista’s run last time around. Picking the right winner is always a big headache and Vince McMahon hasn’t being able to do that in recent times.
