Three Times WWE Got the Royal Rumble Winner Wrong – Following the culmination of a shocking Survivor Series, the next stop on the WWE calendar is the Royal Rumble. Airing on Saturday, January 27th from Florida’s 42,000 Tropicana Field, the event promises to be a must-see, not least for the 30-man over-the-top-rope extravaganza, but also as it marks the start of the Road to WrestleMania.
And as of right now, there are a number of potential avenues that the Head of Creative Triple H can take, should he so wish.
Who Will Win the 2024 Royal Rumble?
The obvious choice to win the big one would be Cody Rhodes. The American Nightmare won the match last year as an odds-on favorite, before going on to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles state of the art SoFi Stadium. Unfortunately for him, however, his story wouldn’t yet be finished, losing in shocking fashion to the Tribal Chief.
He remains steadfast in the mission to finish his story, and he is expected to face the Head of the Table once again in Philadelphia at WrestleMania XL next April. But it remains to be seen as to whether he will become the first man in 25 years to win back-to-back Rumble matches.
Another option however is the recently returning CM Punk. The Second City Saint was made a +400 underdog by UFC betting odds providers for his Octagon debut against Micky Gall, but he will certainly not be an underdog by the time the Royal Rumble odds list is posted. Many expect that it will be him, rather than Rhodes, that wins the matchup. But rather than challenging Roman Reigns, he will instead opt to face off against current World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins,
The pair have gone back and forth in recent years in a very real and very public feud, and it is inevitable that the two will now take that feud into WWE programming, culminating in a matchup that will probably headline night one of WrestleMania XL.
If either of those two wins the match, then it will be the correct call by WWE. But they haven’t always managed to get it right when the pressure is on. Here are five times WWE got the Royal Rumble winner wrong.
2016: Won By Triple H, Should Have Been Dean Ambrose
In 2016, one of the biggest Royal Rumble surprises came when Triple H returned to win the match. However, many eagle-eyed fans had already predicted that The Game would be returning as he had been off of WWE TV for months and then WWE Champion Roman Reigns was embroiled in a feud with the McMahon family.
But Triple H vs Roman Reigns wasn’t the WrestleMania main event that fans wanted to see. No, this was Dean Ambrose’s time and it should have been the Lunatic Fringe’s night. No one was more over than the Shield’s loose cannon at the time and with Seth Rollins out injured,
Ambrose vs Reigns was the way to go. But unfortunately for Ambrose, WWE was determined to make Roman Reigns their biggest star, regardless of fan sentiment. The result? Trips and Reigns delivering the worst main event in WrestleMania history.
2015: Won By Roman Reigns, Should Have Been Daniel Bryan
The WWE Universe was anticipating Daniel Bryan’s return after he missed the previous year’s Rumble due to a baffling booking decision (more on that later). But when he was eliminated early, the fans were disappointed and took a right royal dump all over the rest of the match. Instead, it was Reigns who won the Rumble with assistance from his cousin The Rock.
But even the Great One couldn’t get his family member over, with the pair being roundly booed by everyone inside Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. D-Bry had just returned from injury and it seemed like the stars had aligned perfectly for him to win the Rumble and head to WrestleMania to battle it out with Brock Lesnar.
Instead, fans were treated to Reigns vs Lesnar, a match where Seth Rollins would steal the show as he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and walked out as champion. Unfortunately for Reigns though, he never recovered and his babyface run was met with a mixed reaction at best throughout.
2014: Won By Batista, Should Have Been Daniel Bryan
If fans thought not booking Daniel Bryan to win the Rumble was bad in 2015, then making the same mistake barely 12 months prior was a travesty. The World’s Toughest Vegan was by far and away the most over superstar in the company and he had carried both Raw and SmackDown on his back for the better part of a year.
He had a main event feud with Randy Orton, but by the time the Rumble rolled around, he was in a program with the late Bray Wyatt, a man that he would lose to in the opening match of the night.
“No worries, at least he’s going to win the Rumble at the end of the night,” fans thought. How wrong they were. Bryan didn’t even enter the match and Rey Mysterio received the worst boos of his career when he entered the match at number 30.
Instead, a returning Batista would secure the victory much to the dismay of everybody in attendance. And once more, the fans were not accepting, showering the Animal with boos to end the show.
Three Times WWE Got the Royal Rumble Winner Wrong
