Why the 2015 Royal Rumble might have been the worst ever.
The 2015 Royal Rumble sucked.
The whole world in Bray Wyatt’s hands knew that Roman Reigns was going to win, but that doesn’t mean that it had to suck. There was absolutely no drama in the Rumble. When Daniel Bryan was eliminated halfway through, Reigns’ victory became that much more obvious. Instead of trying to get the crowd into it by keeping around favorites like Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose and building a dramatic exit, they were tossed outside like garbage by The Big Show and Kane aka Team No Heat. Bray Wyatt was put in a strong position, lasting 46 minutes and eliminating six other wrestlers, but even he was tossed like trash at the end. Roman Reigns didn’t even overcome the odds to win. He won because The Big Show and Kane inexplicably started fighting near the ropes, allowing Reigns to easily toss them, and Rusev just isn’t the guy, brother. Oh yeah, The Rock appeared because WWE desperately wanted the crowd to cheer near the end of the match. It would’ve made more sense if Rock came out to save Reigns from Rusev, who he had a previous segment with, but making sense isn’t a WWE strong suit right now.
The whole thing lasted just under an hour and I wish I had watched the first run of Total Divas instead.
But was it the worst Rumble ever? Let’s investigate.
1988: The inaugural Rumble, won by Jim Duggan, gets a slight pass just because it was a new concept. The timing was off (there were two minutes between entrants, but the match only lasted 33 minutes) and there were only 20 competitors. For a first time effort with no high stakes and a mediocre at best group of wrestlers (in terms of star power), it was fine.
1989: Still an early edition of the Rumble, but Big John Studd winning made a lot of sense and the fact that Hulk Hogan didn’t win was a pretty big deal at the time. Not great, but given a pass due to it being the first 30-man Royal Rumble.
1990: This is when the Rumble match really took off. 1990 had a Hall of Fame line-up and was capped off by Hogan winning, even though he probably shouldn’t have. Ted DiBiase’s performance was outstanding and we had the Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior face-off that we were all clamoring for. This is actually a forgotten classic thanks to the 1992 Rumble.
1991: Hogan won for a second straight year, which only happened because Warrior lost the title earlier in the show and WWE had to send the crowd home happy (funny how they rarely do that anymore) and set-up Hogan vs. Slaughter at Wrestlemania. Rick Martel had a strong performance (52 minutes) that ultimately led to nothing for him. An average Rumble with a satisfying conclusion.
1992: Widely heralded as the best Rumble in history. Ric Flair’s amazing run, the fact that the title was on the line, and a lot of star power.
1993: Our first truly bad Rumble, although Yokozuna winning made sense. The guy was huge, how was he going to be tossed out? Randy Savage pinning him at the end was stupidly funny. The storytelling here was pretty good as well with Flair entering number one after winning from number three the prior year and Bob Backlund setting the new “longest time in the Rumble” record. Historically, it’s also the first Rumble with the “winner gets a title shot at Wrestlemania” billing.
1994: The ending to this sucked with Lex Luger and Bret Hart being named co-winners, but you have to give them props on the execution and the Rumble itself wasn’t all that bad up until that point. The big story here was the emergence of Diesel, tossing out seven wrestlers and needing multiple guys plus Shawn Michaels to eliminate him. Good Rumble with a bad ending.
1995: We all knew Shawn Michaels was going to win, but him winning from the #1 position was at least something of note. In fact, him and The British Bulldog entering #1 and #2 and lasting until the end was a pretty big deal. The whole Rumble only lasted 38 minutes, so there’s that as well.
1996: Just as predictable at the 1995 Rumble only without the drama of Michaels entering #1. Besides Shawn’s performance, this one was pretty bad.
1997: The ending to this one was a mess, but the emergence of Steve Austin can’t be forgotten. He went 45 minutes and eliminated 10 competitors. His reactions, especially when the first chord of Bret’s music hit, were phenomenal. An average Rumble boosted by Austin.
1998: Austin was the predictable winner, but there were some great moments, including his entrance from the crowd and the final sequence with The Rock. The Three Faces of Foley also showing up were a nice touch. Average Rumble with a strong ending.
1999: An overbooked, but still fun, mess centered around Austin and Vince McMahon. This Rumble also featured Chyna, which was a big deal at the time. If it weren’t for Austin and McMahon being who they were, this would go down as one of the worst.
2000: The aftermath of this Rumble was pretty bad, but the actual Rumble was really good. A lot top Attitude Era acts and a really hot final four sequence made this a top-notch Rumble.
2001: A top-notch Rumble. Kane’s dominant run (when Kane still meant something), Austin’s redemption, and the final three of Kane, Austin, and Rock were all fantastic pieces of storytelling. Easily a top 5 Rumble.
2002: MAVEN ELIMINATED THE UNDERTAKER! If nothing else, that’s one of the more memorable spots in Rumble history, even if it is for all the wrong reasons. A really strong final four with Austin, Triple H, Angle, and MR. PERFECT! In hindsight this probably gets a worse score because no one, including myself, really cares for Triple H, but this was a fine Rumble.
2003: The Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels stuff was good to start and Jericho’s entire run in this Rumble was strong, even though Test eliminated him. The final four had some star power, but the work sucked. Brock Lesnar winning was a good moment though. About the same as the 2002 Rumble.
2004: Right up there with the 1992 Rumble as Chris Benoit carried this thing from start to finish. WWE can try to erase it from history, but we all know that it exists and we all know that it was awesome.
2005: Instead of going with the Luger/Bret route and having two winners, they had two winners and then did an overtime session after Vince marched out and tore his quads. Some good talent in this Rumble and the emergence of Batista made this a perfectly fine match.
2006: Two really good performances by Triple H and Rey Mysterio in this Rumble, capped off with Rey setting the all-time length record and winning it for the #2 position. Without them this was a pretty forgettable Rumble.
2007: Undertaker winning from the #30 spot was a pretty big deal and the final sequence with him and Michaels was one of the best in Rumble history. Really the entire final four with those two and Edge and Randy Orton was great stuff.
2008: The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels at #1 and #2 was a great way to start things and John Cena’s return at #30 was the most shocking Rumble entrance ever. In terms of action, this Rumble wasn’t great, but it had enough going for it that it wasn’t terrible.
2009: Randy Orton won because WWE wanted to push him to the moon again. The final four wasn’t good and this was all about Triple H and Orton, which is fine if you like Triple H and Orton. At least Orton was rewarded for lasting nearly 50 minutes.
2010: Easily the best Rumble in the last five years. A strong roster, a really good final four, a surprise return, and a deserving winer. Probably doesn’t get enough love as it should.
2011: This is when things start to get ugly. They had 40 men this year, which they’ve never done again because it was dumb. Santino sneaking back in was fun at the time, but we all knew he wasn’t winning. No one cared about Alberto Del Rio winning either. CM Punk and Daniel Bryan being #1 and #2 helped things.
2012: The ending sequence between Sheamus and Chris Jericho save this from being terrible. The Rumble roster was pretty bad and they really relied on comedy and nostalgia acts.
2013: Very predictable with Cena winning, but at least there was Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho at #1 and #2 to make things interesting.
2014: Another predictable ending and the crowd wanted no part of Batista winning. CM Punk’s run from #1 and Roman Reigns breaking the elimination record were pretty significant though.
Even the really bad Rumbles (93-96, 99, 11-14) had some type of significance to save them from being as bad as 2015.
Here are the things people look for in Royal Rumble matches:
*Iron Man: This year the Iron Man was Bray Wyatt. He lasted 46 minutes before being easily dispatched by Big Show and Kane. The elimination of the Iron Man should be dramatic because he’s been in the ring the longest and has somehow survived. Bray’s wasn’t.
*Dominant Wrestler: Along with being the Iron Man, Bray was the dominant wrestler, eliminating six guys and cutting the “bring out anyone” promo. Once again, his elimination should feel like a big deal.
*#1 and #2: You always want to start the Rumble off right and build the suspense of #1 or #2 lasting to the end and winning. The Miz and R-Truth were #1 and #2 this year. They lasted a combined eight minutes.
*Memorable Moments: Bubba Ray Dudley’s return was a pretty big surprise and it was nice to see Diamond Dallas Page, but otherwise did anything memorable happen in the actual Rumble? Obviously Rock appearing is a big deal, but it’s not like he was actually in the match.
*The Final Four: You want a Final Four that consists of four guys who all have a shot at winning. That wasn’t the case this year thanks in large part to Daniel Bryan being eliminated far earlier in the match. Once he (and Ziggler to a lesser extent) were gone, Reigns winning was a lock.
*The Ending Sequence: A strong end can save a bad Rumble, even if the ending is predictable. Whether it’s guys hitting their finishers and surviving eliminations or just really strong teases, people always remember the end. Not even The Rock could save the end of this Rumble and the sequence with Rusev was way too short to mean anything.
Maybe it’s a knee-jerk reaction, but if you want to call the 2015 Royal Rumble the worst ever, you wouldn’t get much of an argument from me.
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