Why the Royal Rumble was a major letdown

Most WWE fans wait eagerly for months for this event. An event that was specifically designed to shake things up in the company. An event that is the launching pad for the show of shows. An event that shapes the WWE landscape for many months to come. Unfortunately for The WWE Universe, tonight, The Road To WrestleMania 30 kicked off with much less than a bang.

With The Rhodes Brothers losing their tag team titles to The New Age Outlaws during the kickoff show, Bray Wyatt defeating Daniel Bryan in the opening contest, and John Cena losing to Randy Orton once again, one could only hope that the annual Royal Rumble match would be able to salvage the night from its dreadful predictability it had suffered early on.

Unfortunately, the night would end just as predictable as it began, with Batista overpowering Roman Reigns in the closing seconds of the Royal Rumble Match, and throwing him with one arm over the top rope for the honor of headlining WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans. despite the result of the royal rumble match, there are still five much bigger disappointments that took place in tonight’s Royal Rumble Pay Per View.

5. The Brotherhood drops the tag team titles to The New Age Outlaws:

Case in point, another example of The WWE giving part time wrestlers a bigger push then their full time counterparts. Yes, The Rhodes brothers held the titles for three months after defeating The Shield back in October, but seriously why would The WWE waste its time putting championship belts on two guys with limited contracts, when there are many amazing tag teams in the company that deserve to be put over. It has to drive fans crazy to think that The New age outlaws would not only get the spot, but also win the championship match over guys like The Uso’s, Big Show and Rey Mysterio, The Real Americans and The Prime Time Players. WWE is so worried about what to do once the likes of CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton and Triple H retire for good, but refuse to put over new talent, and give them the push they need to succeed in the company.

4. Lack of matches on the card:

I know that a 30 man Royal rumble is a daunting task for many WWE superstars, but would it have killed the WWE to have a intercontinental title match on the card, or maybe a Divas title match? In all, The Royal Rumble only featured five matches for the night. The WWE literally threw every storyline out the window for the midcarders and just piled them into the Royal Rumble match to make it exciting. It would have been nice to at least see a Number One Contenders match for The WWE World heavyweight title at Elimination Chamber next month, but no a six minute squash match between Big Show and Brock Lesnar was just what the fans needed, Not!

3. Another meaningless title defense by Randy Orton:

Don’t you just hate it when The WWE try to throw a few good twists and turns into a already dead beat storyline that was done years ago, only to watch it sink completley come match time? Fans saw John Cena face Randy Orton at “TLC” in November for The Undisputed Title, Why would they want us to see it again two months later? The rivalry and buildup was really subpar, despite a brutal beat down of John Cena’s dad after losing to Kofi Kingston, and Cena chasing Orton through the arena just days before The Royal Rumble. A stipulation should have been added to the match to maybe spice things up for the Pittsburgh crowd Sunday night, but in the end, nothing short of Daniel Bryan could of saved Orton and Cena from having a bad match at The Royal Rumble. Many fans probably went to bed Sunday night praying that this rivalry would never happen again. I hope it doesn’t either!

2. Lack of star power in The Royal Rumble:

Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Nash, and “JBL” all made surprise returns to the squared circle in The Royal Rumble. Despite a few pops for Big Daddy Diesel and “JBL” , The WWE Universe as a whole had to have felt cheated by the lack of surprise in the big match last night. With returns like Chris Jericho and Goldust in years past, it is hard to imagine why WWE wouldn’t have stockpiled the remaining entrants with stars of years past. It would have been nice to see stars like The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Hulk Hogan, Jake The Snake Roberts, and Roddy Piper in the nights main event, even if just to set up a cheap pop from the crowd, or a feud down the line at WrestleManina. Instead the only plot point the WWE seemed eager to shove down The WWE Universe’s throat was, that Batista would win the Royal Rumble in dominating fashion, and go on to headline WrestleMania 30

1. Misuse of Daniel Bryan in The Royal Rumble:

Give the people what they want WWE! You have a superstar, a top talent in your company, and you continue to bury him just so you can push old Evolution members! You had him lose the title to Orton at SummerSlam and the fans still chanted yes. You had him win it again, only for it to be taken away due to a fast three count from a rogue referee. The fans still chanted yes! You knocked him out of the title picture, and had him feud with Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt family, and the crowd still chanted yes at the top of their lungs! You had him join Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt family on the last Raw of 2013, effectively trying to turn him heel. Guess what? The fans still chanted yes for their hero! Then, two weeks later Bryan turns on The Wyatt’s and brutalizes Bray at the end of a steel cage match, and the fans chat yes louder than ever!

So why would you take a talent that is completely over with the fans, and continue to bury him with a loss at The Royal Rumble to Bray Wyatt. You have a superstar that’s drawing power rivalries that of CM Punk John Cena and Brock Lesnar, and you just continue to ignore the thousands of fans chanting yes in ever arena! Not only did you have Bryan lose to Wyatt in the opening match at The Royal, you had to keep him away from the Main event as well! God forbid you at least tease fans a little and have Bryan as the 30th entrant for the Rumble!

The plan was obviously for Reigns to put Batista over, by having Batista fling him out of the ring for the win, but wouldn’t it have been a much bigger spectacle to see Bryan mix it up with Batista and then have Bryan lose in a valiant effort in the end? At least give The WWE Universe something to cheer about during the match! Now with Batista guaranteed a spot in the main event at WrestleMania, there’s only one thing to do now if you’re a Daniel Bryan fan. Wait until The Money in The Bank pay per view, and hope that WWE has him win the briefcase!