The WWE’s Royal Rumble Many standout moments were deliveredTo fans and a A few surprises folks didn’t see coming. For all the fun that the pay-per-view delivered, there were complaints about various parts of the show, and that doesn’t just Include angry fans on the Internet. A new report alleges several talents involved in the Royal Rumble weren’t too pleased with how the main event went down.
The latest news out of the Men’s Royal Rumble comes from Fight for the BestThis article cited many participants in the Royal Rumble, with differing opinions on how the match was organized. One person described it as the “most stressful”Their WWE career, and noted that the match was chaotic. Due to numerous changes to the match made on the fly, some wrestlers did not know what they were doing before they stepped onto the ramp to enter the match.
Vince McMahon was believed to have caused some of the chaos by changing the order in which wrestlers entered the match. A few times, a wrestler was sent into the match without knowing who or if they were supposed be eliminating. That’s not ideal for a match that involves so many wrestlers and a lot of coordination to go on without a hitch, so any frustration from talent might feel justified.
Others complained that the Royal Rumble failed to resolve feuds and disputes between tag teams. This was a common complaint, which many people felt would promote pay-per-view. Street Profits and the Mysterios were two examples of feuding teams that fought all the way to the final match, but had very little interaction.
One wrestler reportedly remarked that they felt the Royal Rumble would’ve benefitted from more main roster or contracted talent for the match, rather than a bunch of veterans, which led to “complete chaos.” My assumption is this wrestler was involved in the Women’s Royal Rumble match, which featured several returning former superstars like The Bella Twins, Michelle McCool, and current TNA women’s champ (and former WWE employee) Mickie James. The Men’s match didn’t have many returning talents in its match, Shane McMahon outside.
One last note: The report refuted claims that the Riddle was initially wanted by WWE to win the men’s Royal Rumble and that Brock Lesnar’s win was a last-minute decision (as was the case With the Day 1 pay per-view). Allegedly, several top talents, creatives, and folks from Riddle’s team disputed that was the case and noted that Lesnar’s win was believed to be in place as early as two weeks before the Royal Rumble.
Even so, it seems like there’s a lot of discontent with how the Rumble was handled overall, which could lead to concerns from talent about how they’ll be incorporated in WrestleMania 38. If this is true, the WWE may be able to redress some disgruntled talents with the Elimination Chamber payper-view.
The WWE’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view will stream on Peacock on Saturday, February 19 at 12 p.m. ET. Get a Peacock premium subscriptionYou can watch it here.