Okay, okay. I know you read the title and are ready to throw your computers/phones/tablets out, but please, let me explain.
The 2017 Royal Rumble could have gone down as one of the greatest of all time; so many potential winners were tossed up. Everyone from Chris Jericho to a returning Kurt Angle were rumored to be coming out on top. It was eventually won by Randy Orton who eliminated Roman Reigns to win his second Rumble. Reigns who lost a Universal Championship match with Kevin Owens not long before the Rumble. Roman entered at 30 and the reaction of people both live and watching at home was initially one of shock, then of blinding rage. Even I, a huge Roman Reigns fan, was beyond angry when his music hit.
Of all the people that could have come out, it was Roman Reigns. No Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin, Jeff Hardy. Instead we got Roman Reigns. As I said, I am a massive fan of Reigns, but was angry when he came out at 30. Until I saw Samoa Joe’s debut on Raw the night after, and had some time to think about it. I quickly realised that what WWE had done was utterly perfect. Let me give some background.
Randy Orton turned Heel by RKOing Kane and joining the Wyatt Family on October 25, 2016. After that, he and Wyatt briefly won the Smackdown Tag Team Championships before losing to American Alpha. Wyatt had turned on Luke Harper, and the team of Wyatt and Harper were set to enter the Rumble as an inseparable, and unstoppable force. Orton was booked to win the Rumble, Wyatt would win the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber and they would face off at Wrestlemania. Sounds good right?
Well, WWE creative very quickly realised that people were going to be expecting a big name to enter the Rumble at 30. Balor and Shelton Benjamin were still injured, so not them. Kurt Angle was working a show in England so, not him. Jeff Hardy was still contracted to TNA at the time, not him. And Samoa Joe’s long awaited main roster debut would have been completely destroyed if he had entered the Royal Rumble. People were expecting at least one of these people to be there, and WWE could not deliver.
So instead of everyone raining crap down on the match (like 2015), WWE decided to send one of the most hated men on the roster out there to soften the blow. By having Roman Reigns come out and be eliminated by Orton, it distracted from the fact WWE had no stars to bring out, thus saving 6 months worth of booking.
Had Roman Reigns not come out, people would have no interest in one of, if not the hottest feuds in WWE right now (pun very much intended). That is why Roman Reigns’ entry to the Royal Rumble was perfect booking.
Enjoy this? Like us on Facebook for more.
Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.
