The Royal Rumble is just around the corner, and it feels like a redemption year for the annual WWE event. 2022’s pay-per-view was underwhelming in the eyes of fans, which includes yours truly, and allegedly involved so many behind-the-scenes issues that it led to Shane McMahon’s firing. Suffice it to say, the WWE might want to have a better showing this year, especially with a potential sale on the way.
Thankfully for the WWE, the Royal Rumble has a history of greatness, with 2022 being one of the more rare off years, so it’s not like spinning gold out of 2023's event is an unattainable goal. All the organization has to do is keep in mind some of the mistakes that were made last year, and steer clear of them going forward.
Too Many Athletes With No Chance Of Winning Were Involved At The End Of The Men's Match
One of the downsides of the Royal Rumble match itself dis that once the number of remaining Superstars gets down to three or four, it starts to feel obvious who is going to win. Of course, not everyone scours the dirt sheets and online rumor mills for speculation purposes, but even the most spoiler-weary fans can generally pick up on the storytelling direction if they’re dedicated to watching Monday Night Raw and SmackDown.
The best way to mitigate such presumptions is to give only legitimate title contenders slots in the final stages, which would help keep the mystery alive for as long as possible. Having someone like Shane McMahon or Bad Bunny in the mix late in the Royal Rumble, which has definitely happened before, isn’t really keeping the mystery alive of who will win. Hopefully 2023 can do a better job of keeping fans interested until the end, and that’s totally possible given past Rumbles.
Some Major Superstars Spent A Long Time In The Ring Without Really Doing A Lot
If you look back at the times clocked in the ring in both Royal Rumble matches, you’ll see a number of superstars spent quite a while in the ring without doing anything so memorable. This is especially a problem with the women’s match, in which competitors like Bianca Belair and Liv Morgan both spent an illogical amount of wasted time in the ring. Belair at least made it nearly to the end of the match after 40 minutes in and one elimination, but Morgan was in there for 37 minutes only to be dumped unceremoniously by Brie Bella midway through.
For the men’s match, I think the most egregious exit was AJ Styles. The Phenomenal One, who won’t compete at this year’s Royal Rumble due to injury, spent nearly 30 minutes in the ring before being sent out midway through by Madcap Moss. Of course, Styles was in no serious position to win that match, but being eliminated by Moss was certainly random, and didn’t amount to any meaningful feud between the two. Much of the Rumble's hype is about creating storylines for the midcarders to carry into WrestleMania, so hopefully WWE creatives remember that going into 2023’s Royal Rumble.
The Winners Of Both Royal Rumble Matches Were Painfully Obvious Beforehand
While the outcome of a pay-per-view is never 100% known to fans, it was hard to envision any other winners for the 2022 Royal Rumble matches beyond Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey. Sure, there were hopes from some that Big E might get a chance to get a major WrestleMania moment, but the feud between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar was well-documented. Fans might not have predicted that he’d lose the WWE championship to Bobby Lashley ahead of winning the Rumble, but the Rumble win happened all the same.
The same inevitable nature largely held true for Ronda Rousey, and both wins were indicative of a larger problem. Both Royal Rumble winners were “free agents” and part-time talents (with UFC pasts), but also physically imposing figures with reasons to be included in WrestleMania. With the rumor of another legend like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson now rumored to appear at this year's Royal Rumble, as well as a rumored match at WrestleMania, I can’t help but feel a little worried his win is already being telegraphed, but we’ll see.
The Best Match Of The Night Shouldn’t Have Kicked Off The PPV
Not to sound like a fan complaining about a good thing, but the biggest issue I had with the 2022 Royal Rumble in hindsight was that the event as a whole really struggled to overcome its stellar opening match: Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal championship. And I think anyone who's watched wrestling for the past decade could’ve predicted it would set the crowd on fire. Rollins had the crowd rolling from the start by donning his classic ring gear from The Shield and even walking to the ring from the audience with their old entrance music, so it was a good move to kick things off with that kind of energy.
It’s not Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns’ fault the match was the highlight of the night, either, since that lands on the WWE for setting the bar so high for the night with such a major match. Obviously, the scheduling was always going to be tough, since the Men’s Royal Rumble is always meant to close out the night. But there were probably better slots for this match, and other ways to make the opening exciting as well. Hopefully the creative team does a better job at pacing the 2023 event, or at least ensures that its final match can be just as good, if not better, than anything else on the card that night.
There Weren’t Enough Surprises
In the age of the internet, where wrestling insiders are lurking around every corner, and it’s become harder than ever to legitimately surprise hardcore fans. With that said, in the rare instances in that the fandom has been shocked in recent years, those surprises have stood the test of time as some of the best moments of the decade. Brock Lesnar breaking the streak, the Hardys returning, AJ Styles’ debut? These are the types of highlights that stick with fans for a long time. The Royal Rumble is arguably the easiest time of the year to shock fans, so hopefully 2023 can deliver some expectation-bucking moments on that kind of level. One would think with all the rumors of The Rock returning, they can pull it off.
The WWE’s Royal Rumble is streaming for anyone with a Peacock Premium subscription on Saturday, January 28th. Now would be a great time to revisit past Royal Rumble matches, though I’d suggest watching anything prior to 2022.
