As most viewers of the WWE know, the 2015 edition of the Royal Rumble went over the Philadelphia crowd like the Hindenburg disaster. This was due to two things. Poor/outdated booking, and the mindset of the modern fan. I'm going to provide a brief synopsis of how the two are tied together, leaving WWE creative in a corner regarding who they want to push, and how history may repeat itself after last year's, and the 2015 Rumble.
For some background, it's January 2014. Daniel Bryan, who is the darling of fans within the IWC (internet wrestling community), and perhaps outside of it, was way over with the fans. At the 2014 Rumble, many of them had expected he'd be competing in the Rumble match. As the competitors came and went, only one more had yet to come out, the 30th entrant. With much anticipation, the fans counted down with the clock...5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The buzzer sounds and it's Rey Mysterio. The boos became deafening as not only Bryan wasn't in the match, but it became obvious that Dave Batista was going to win it.
After the Rumble, and leading up to Wrestlemania, fans online gave Batista a lot of flack for headlining Wrestlemania, and rightfully so, at the beginning at least. Batista had been away from the ring for quite some time, and had returned after filming Guardians of the Galaxy (which he was great in). His matches after Rumble saw him get gassed quickly in the ring, and it was apparent from both a conditioning and wrestling standpoint he was not ready to main event the 30th edition of Wrestlemania.
The WWE stuck to their guns...for awhile, but they eventually changed the main event at 'Mania. Bryan feuded with HHH in a very good underdog vs. authority storyline, culminating in a match-up at 'Mania. The winner would go on to wrestle in the headlining match, making it a triple threat. Despite the great match that two of the greatest technical wrestlers of their respective eras put on, it seemed obvious Bryan would get the win, which he did. He proceeded to win the Bryan/Batista/Orton triple threat match. His presence in the match certainly helped elevate it from the disaster it appeared to be on paper, but it wasn't something that they would've done prior to the rise of the internet. The fans actually had a say on booking decisions, and it was something I thought I'd never see.
Let's fast forward to the 2015 Rumble. Bryan, still darling of the fans, had recently returned to competition from an injury. While he was gone for sometime, he certainly was missed. He came out at #10 to his signature "YES" chant. The crowd was very loud, and added energy to what had already been up to that point an entertaining Rumble, then something happened. He was eliminated about ten minutes later by Bray Wyatt at the approximate halfway point in the Rumble match. All of a sudden, viewing this on the network, you could feel the air popped right out of the zeppelin. The crowd suddenly turned on the match, booing, and chants of "bullshit" lingered for the rest of the match.
After Bryan's elimination, Roman Reigns enters the match. Though most of us had a feeling he'd win it, it became obvious at that point by his placement after the Bryan elimination he was going to come out the victor. The live crowd knew this, and nothing was going to draw them back into the match. The WWE lost them, and things only got worse...
The apparent final four of the 2015 Royal Rumble were Reigns, fan favorite Dean Ambrose, Big Show and Kane. Yes, Big Show and Kane. Big Show and Kane easily eliminated Ambrose, then, to a very, very loud chorus of boos, Reigns took out the two long-term big men. However, there was one participant who was not eliminated - Rusev. He came back into the ring, and was quickly dispatched by Reigns. Show and Kane get back into the ring, when the Rock comes in, assisting his cousin in getting them out for good. Reigns points to the Wrestlemania sign hanging in the arena to a loud chorus of boos by fans who, some of them, were probably cheering for him just one year prior.
So what happened? First, bad, or outdated booking happened. The WWE has some popular stars in Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Bray Wyatt. All three were eliminated by two big men well past their prime with ease. This isn't a knock on Show and Kane, but this would have made more sense back in 1999 when they were at their peak. Wrestling fans don't believe in unstoppable giants anymore (another topic for another day). Creative went to the old time formula of having two of their biggest guys looking strong, only to be dumped out by an unstoppable force (Reigns). This backfired big time, as the fans voiced their displeasure. After the match, #cancelwwenetwork was one of the top trending twitter handles.
I firmly believe that most of the fans weren't necessarily booing Reigns, but rather how the match was booked, the predictability of it, and the relative ease of how other favorites besides Bryan were eliminated. To be honest, I don't blame them. While there have been worse Rumble matches, the 2015 installment of the event has to be one of the worst booked Rumbles in the history of the event to this point. Back twenty years ago, fans wouldn't have been pleased if this had occurred, but they would take it for what it is and move on. Not any more. With more ways than ever to get their voices out, fans aren't afraid of letting it be known how they feel. In turn, the WWE no doubt reads some of the negative thoughts and let it influence booking decisions, as it did for the Wrestlemania 30 main event. Time will tell how the main event for this year's 'Mania will turn out.
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