Boos, Bryan & Batista: How WWE should have booked the last 5 Royal Rumble matches

#4 Royal Rumble 2014

Fans were furious that Daniel Bryan didn't feature in 2014

The winner: Batista returned to WWE in January 2014 as a baby face, despite the man behind the character wanting to play a heel. In his first match in almost four years, he outlasted 29 other men to win the Royal Rumble.

Fan reaction: It’s never a good sign when fans are chanting “Roman! Roman!” and actively wanting Roman Reigns to win a match instead of you. The reaction from the Pittsburgh crowd was less than favourable, with fans turning against Batista – and even 30th entrant Rey Mysterio – once they knew Daniel Bryan wasn’t going to be in the match.

Alternative winner: Who else but Daniel Bryan? At the time, “The Leader of the Yes Movement” was the most universally liked WWE Superstar since the days of The Rock and Steve Austin. In the end, he was given his fairy tale moment when he defeated Batista and Randy Orton to become World Heavyweight champion at WrestleMania XXX, but the Rumble would have been so much better had he won that, too.