WWE Royal Rumble: 26th January 2014 - Superstar ratings

Batista

The WWE somewhat wiped off their bad run in pay-per-view business by pulling off a great show at the Royal Rumble. After giving a match of the year contender in the undercard, the company then went on to showcase a marquee 30-man battle royal which had all the shares of twists and turns.

From openers to main events, all got a share of the pay-per-view time, and while some stood out with the least time given, other went on to be buried at the expense of others.

However, more storylines seems to be in blooming in the background which is good news for everyone because the superstars fighting over some meaning would be better than random booking.

So the near future clearly looks bright but for now let’s take a look at how the big stars made their impact at Royal Rumble with the superstar ratings.

Big Show – 2

Big Show

We knew that Big Show was going to be buried but we never expected it to be this worse. Show was destroyed by Lesnar without any mercy and even a man who doesn’t know anything about him might have felt sorry for him for the beating he took.

The scene of Lesnar bending the chair on Big Show’s back served the purpose of making Lesnar look monstrous but Show suffered a big blow that will need a lot of time to get back from.

Brock Lesnar- 5

Brock Lesnar

The match between Big Show and Brock Lesnar was hyped like it was the main event between Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. But we had nothing to see in the match other than a monster beating the hell out of a giant.

Lesnar sure looked dangerous but the lack of fight back and nature of his attack took the sting of everything. He looked more like a coward who attacked from the back than someone who would destroy fair and square.

Kofi Kingston- 5.5

Kofi Kingston

Simple as that, Kofi Kingston produced more pop than what Lesnar could do at the pay-per-view. His ability of pulling of memorable moment was more than visible this time around also.

He wooed the crowd with a flying move which yet proved that you don’t need to be a main eventer to make a big moment in the Royal Rumble.

Rhodes Brothers – 5.5

The Rhodes Brothers

Another solid match from the tag team champions before they dropped the title. However, the drop didn’t make headlines because something bigger happened after that as Goldust eliminated Cody Rhodes.

Something bigger might be coming out for the brothers after the title but for now they deserve the rating for an exciting match.

Alexander Rusev- 6

Alexander Rusev

There wouldn’t have been a better way to introduce yourself to the WWE universe than giving a muscle buster to CM Punk.

The Bulgarian Brute, Rusev might have had a short stay at the Rumble but he gave glimpses of what he is made of. He looked dominating in the ring and it took a lot of hands to eliminate this guy. To sum up he made a slightly bigger impact that Bo Dallas did last time around.

Randy Orton- 6

Randy Orton

Like always Orton looked ungraceful in the win he got against John Cena. The crowd’s reaction told the whole story as they were chanting “This is awful”.

At the moment Orton has no credibility as a champion and with many superstar behind the only title in the promotion, the WWE needs to produce some magic moments if they have to save Orton’s career.

John Cena- 6

John Cena

Cena suffered an unfair defeat at the hands of Orton but the Cenation leader stood out for being the victim of the creepy guys. There wasn’t anything special about his match with Orton as it had all the things that we see in a typical Cena match.

The feud between Wyatts and Cena will be a treat but the Rumble didn’t give Cena anything memorable than that.

Antonio Cesaro- 6.5

Antonio Cesaro

It’s a tough task to stand out from a 30 man battle royal but not for Cesaro. The man’s great swing was the only thing that was expected in the Rumble but instead he gave more than what we bargained for.

The amount of energy and power that he bought into the ring is appreciable and Cesaro will be someone to watch out this year.

Dean Ambrose- 7

Dean Ambrose

Ambrose was the one who exposed the cracks in the Shield at the Rumble. The best microphone worker in the trio, he even looked impressive in the ring and was a menace to everyone that came across.

He did enough to stand out from the 30 man bout and like all the other members of the Shield it’s only the start of big things to come.

The New Age Outlaws- 7

The New Age Outlaws

One month back who would’ve imagined that two degenerates from the Attitude Era would return to the WWE roster and be the tag team champions?. Well that’s the story for you.

There is no doubt on whether they deserve it or not because they do. The six time tag team champions are now entitled with the steering wheel of the tag division and it will be exciting to see how long they hang around.

Batista – 7

Batista

Reality check: Batista is old. The old Batista that used to rip opponents apart in the ring was not the one we saw at the Royal Rumble.

Even though he won the match, he was embracing the boos from the fans due to the nature in which he won it. There were no major impacts in his in ring appearance after three years as he was clearly looking battered up by time. The win came only because of his star power and there were nothing more than that.

Sheamus-7.5

Sheamus

Finally after being laid out for months, Sheamus made his return and ended up in the last four of the Royal Rumble. He produced a great pop among the fans with his appearance and then went on to back it up with some great in ring work.

He had great chemistry with Batista and Cesaro but the Cesaro bout stood out more as we could see that in the near future. It’s a win situation for both WWE and Sheamus as his return was spot on.

Seth Rollins- 8

Seth Rollins

When CM Punk became the Iron man of the match, he simply overshadowed the feat that Rollins achieved. The most underrated star in the Rumble, Rollins proved once again that he deserves a big push like Roman Reigns.

Hopefully he will be used more purposefully in the Shield Breakup angle because he got a lot coming up in the future.

CM Punk- 8.5

CM Punk

The Iron man of the match, CM Punk proved once again that he belongs to the warrior clan of professional wrestling.

There is no need for the fans to be unhappy about the way he was eliminated from the rumble as he has bigger things waiting for him in the future. Punk deserves the iron man tag and the company was spot on giving him the first position and making him go all the way to the last four.

Daniel Bryan- 8.5

Daniel Bryan

One cannot argue about the fact that Daniel Bryan is the most over star in the roster at the moment. And that was more than evident when the fans started to boo when they find out that Bryan was not even going to be the 30^th entrant in the Rumble.

He shone in the match against Bray Wyatt as well even though he lost the match. There is no superstar in the current roster that could bring such intensity into the ring like Bryan so the WWE needs to be more careful when they book the flying goat.

Roman Reigns- 9

Roman Reigns

Even though Batista won the Rumble, if anyone enquired about the standout performer of Royal Rumble, then the name has to be Roman Reigns.

The Big Samoan become the superstar with most elimination and put over some big names in the process. The most notable was his tag team partners who he eliminated in one go. He became the runner up this time but it won’t be late before we see this man win the whole thing.

Bray Wyatt- 9

Bray Wyatt

The only complaint that the WWE Universe had about the Wyatt family was about Bray Wyatt not being inside the ring for a credible time. Well that complaint will have no base after the Rumble as Bray produced a magnificent performance in the match against Daniel Bryan.

The two gave everything for the match and Bray looked more than ruthless. The creative should think about giving him some more in ring time as he proved that he is among the best in the current roster.