I’m not going to stop watching WWE TV. But after the Royal Rumble, I’ve never been so close as to, at the very least, taking a break.
Over the years we’ve all sat through a lot of gumpf on RAW, SmackDown and numerous main events. We’ve seen Triple H pretend to have a sex with a dead person; Mae Young give birth to a hand; The Big Bossman steal The Big Show’s dad’s dead body…
In all these scenarios, though, WWE had one thing at the core of its ideals: it was trying to entertain.
Admittedly they failed miserably, but, as you would expect, once the failure was apparent the direction of events steered to pastures new. After all, when no one showed even the slightest interest in the fact Kane was a murderer, the narrative sharply deviated.
They tried. The failed. They moved on.
Last night’s Royal Rumble did not treat us with the same respect.
The decision to, once again, ignore the love for one Daniel Bryan and continue to stick a rocket up Roman Reigns’ ass was a slap in the face to everyone who decided to tune in for the event. Not because WWE’s chosen boy won.
But because it was so painfully obvious that Vince McMahon and friends were aware of the public perception of Reigns but decided to plough ahead with its choices regardless.
This was no more evident than how the leader of the ‘Yes Movement’ was eliminated.
Hurled out of the match far earlier than anyone would’ve thought, WWE tried to take any heat off Reigns (if Bryan and the former Shield member had battled to the end, there was only one person the crowd was going to get behind), and ensure Bray Wyatt took the brunt of the elimination and continued his renewed push to being one of the organisation’s top heels.
Neither worked.
The Philadelphia faithful were well aware of what was about to transpire and proceeded to voice their disapproval to those situated behind the curtain. Much like in 2014, the WWE Universe had no interest in jumping on the ride the company’s brass had mapped out. They’d chosen their hero – Daniel Bryan – and weren’t ready to accept anyone else being shoved down their throat – Roman Reigns.
It’s a huge shame as up until this point the Royal Rumble was everything you could’ve hoped for from the card.
The lower and mid-card bouts were booked for the venue and crowd in attendance, and the triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship is an early contender for one of the best we’ll see this year.
Excellently executed, thrilling and suspenseful, it was one of those encounters that has you guessing till the very end.
The fact that Brock Lesnar proved once again he’s, arguably, the best ‘big man’ of all-time and that Seth Rollins booked himself as main event player for years to come was just more icing on the clichéd cake.
The first half of the Rumble carried on this momentum, too. The Miz and R-Truth starting proceedings may’ve been a little underwhelming, but the following run of entrants justified it somewhat, Bubba Ray and DDP proving to be hits all around.
But then Bray Wyatt sent Daniel Bryan hurtling to the floor with numerous faces still to walk the aisle, leaving us all with a sinking feeling that the rest of the match was nothing more than a courtesy. The result was obvious.
While it’s a fair point that the crowd last night was ‘smart’ (it’s unlikely Reigns will receive such a bad reaction elsewhere), you have to be doing something incredibly wrong to cause The Rock – a genuine WWE legend and A-List movie star – to also get jeered out of the arena.
The run-in itself made absolutely no sense – our new ‘hero’ can’t fight for himself? – and could’ve done far more damage with The People’s Champ than we currently know.
If nothing else, it’s already done serious damage to the WWE Network…
There’s certainly nothing wrong with WWE trying to elevate a new star, and some respect is deserved given their unwavering belief in Reigns.
The problem is, this unrelenting crowning of its ‘new face’ is soon turning into stubbornness. If no one is accepting it on the level that was planned, there’s nothing wrong with actually listening to the fans and following the trend.
Alas, it seems like the future is all but written. And it’s a future no one wants.
