Ah, the Royal Rumble is upon us. There is a case for this PPV as being the most anticipated PPV of the year, next to the big wrestling bonanza in April of course. The Road to WrestleMania begins at the Royal Rumble, but I can’t help but feel that the road has lost some of its luster. There’s that something that has been missing from the Royal Rumble the past couple of years. It’s simple.
Last year, John Cena won the Royal Rumble, making it the second time he has won the traditional 30 man main event. But here’s the issue. He was expected to win. Everybody who had predicted the main event, no matter how bad they wanted Cena to lose knew that he was going to win. There were some sleeper choices such as Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan and Ryback but it was all in vain in the end. The Royal Rumble has been missing that surprise factor. Somebody that no one expected to win at all came out victorious. Why don’t we take a look at this year’s Royal Rumble.
The top three names that have come up in regards to who will win the Royal Rumble have been CM Punk, Daniel Bryan or the returning Batista. There is more than a case for each one of these superstars. Daniel Bryan must get his way back to the mountain top after being royally screwed by the authority. CM Punk hasn’t had a singles title match since the Elimination Chamber PPV last year against The Rock. As for Batista, i highly doubt that WWE would make so much anticipation for his return at the PPV just to lose. It’s highly likely that one of these three will win the event. But where is the sleeper? What were to happen if Roman Reigns were to win, giving him the separation from The Shield that he needs to begin his singles career? Or what about a man like Antonio Cesaro, giving him a face run to finally being champion once again. Would Wade Barrett get away from his current horrible gimmick to becoming a top heel with a Royal Rumble career? Could Damien Sandow start to become a great threat?
I believe the biggest swerves in WWE can always come at the Royal Rumble. Someone who no one is expecting win all of a sudden sees themselves main eventing WrestleMania. Wouldn’t it be cool once in a while to see something such as that? Now I get that WWE probbably won’t entertain going down that road simply because they are expecting big matches to have at WrestleMania and that they simply must have household names to be in the championship matches (well now it’s only going to be one.) But this is where the WWE creative team needs to take a good look in the mirrors and see why those names aren’t big. Ever since Barrett’s failed Nexus run, he has succumbed to embarassing IC title reigns and now reduced to a character that no one would ever want. Talents are not being pushed the way they should and it’s for that reason why a good amount of the roster has little to no credibility. That’s why its hard to predict an underdog to win the entire thing. It is always the big stars who are going to win it.
I just feel that if WWE wants to create stirs amongst wrestling fans, they should take advantage of the Royal Rumble and give us a swerve that no one would see coming. If that were to happen, then who knows how WWE will continue to develop in the future. It doesn’t have to always be John Cena winning the royal rumble. Give the Antonio Cesaro’s a chance.
