5 reasons why the WWE needs this Royal Rumble to be a hit

Three straight duds

Batista was not a welcome choice as the winner of the 2014 Royal Rumble match.

There’s no real way to sugarcoat it. For three consecutive years, the WWE creative team has dropped the ball with their choice of Royal Rumble winner, at least from a long-term booking standpoint. On top of that, from Batista in 2014 to Roman Reigns in 2015 to Triple H in 2016, the fans have largely rejected or at least been lukewarm about the winner.

That’s bad for the WWE, but the fans have mostly remained excited about the Rumble match. The creative team can’t count on that always being the case, though. They absolutely have to start producing well-received and exciting winners, or the Rumble may not always be so popular.