WWE sets major main event at Royal Rumble

January 5, 2016

The WWE scripted and set up one of its major events of the year, declaring the Royal Rumble will be for the WWE title and another obstacle for Roman Reigns.

The Royal Rumble is on a collision course with the Amway Center on Jan. 24. One of the biggest events on the WWE calendar and one of the most unique and entertaining matches — a 30-man battle royale where the only way to win is to eject your opponent from the ring over the top rope.

The match is a somewhat arbitrary method to determine much of anything. But since WWE is scripted (sorry to ruin the magic, guys), it works. And the winner gets the ultimate prize — a WWE Title match at WrestleMania, the promotion’s premiere pay-per-view event.

This match has a lot riding on it and is always entertaining — with the usual wrestling chicanery, rule bending and controversy.

This year’s main event though will have a little bit more riding on it. The WWE Title itself.

For just the second time in the Royal Rumble’s history, the WWE Title will be awarded to the winner of the stand-alone match. Thirty superstars will enter the ring and one will come out as champion.

This is a monumental story leap, adding tremendous stakes to the match and giving WWE Creative plenty of flexibility leading up to WrestleMania.

That has been a lot of the WWE’s issue since Seth Rollins injured his knee in November, forcing the WWE to have a tournament at Survivor Series to determine a new champion and continuing the dragged-out storyline of Roman Reigns seeking his shot at a championship.

Reigns won that tournament and held the title, defying the Authority by attacking Triple H after receiving the title, only to be ousted by Sheamus, cashing in the Money in the Bank contract (he won a match which gave him a title shot any time he wanted it). Reigns won the title at last year’s WrestleMania only to have Seth Rollins take the title using this tactic.

WWE continues to push Reigns as this underdog, fighting for his family and his spot atop the promotion. He lost to Sheamus at the Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay per view and then got an immediate rematch the following night on Raw.

Facing some slacking ratings, Raw did something really unexpected. The show brought back all-time villain and actual WWE chairman Vince McMahon and had the title change hands with Reigns pinning Sheamus to win the title — for good this time.

Of course, the morality play continues on. McMahon and the Authority (the bosses, if you will) continue to put everything in Reigns’ path. And that went double on Monday’s episode of Raw.

Reigns again fought Sheamus with McMahon as a biased special guest referee. In true WWE fashion, he quick counted for Sheamus and slow counted for Reigns, once feigning he had lost a contact as he was bringing his hand down for three.

Reigns eventually attacked McMahon, got a replacement referee from the back and pinned Sheamus to retain his title. A disgusted McMahon as he was being helped back up the ramp to the locker room then declared Reigns would have to defend his title in the Royal Rumble match itself, setting the stakes high for this one pay per view.

The other Royal Rumble that was for the WWE Championship occurred in 1992 and is considered to be one of the greatest Royal Rumble matches of all time. These are big shoes to fill.

And there has been some disappointment with WWE in filling those shoes and pushing the right characters.

It seems Reigns is still the clear favorite to retain the title, even if he enters the Royal Rumble as entrant one (although, it would not surprise me if he somehow wins some type of match against Sheamus or someone to get spot 30, foiling the Authority’s plans to stand in his way). The championship match gives WWE time to figure out a good storyline to push for WrestleMania as the promotion has dealt with a slew of injuries to popular stars — Randy Orton and Cesaro join Rollins on the current injured list.

The Royal Rumble match should definitely have some entertainment value now that the title is squarely on the line. Regardless of plot points or poor pushes or characters failing to get over with the crowd, the Rumble always is a fun match to watch — inevitably we will see 10-15 stars in the ring at one time just going off on each other and the teamwork it will take to eliminate Braun Strowman will be interesting to say the least (if they are smart, they will find a way to create a rivalry for Strowman where they prove his strength over some other superstar, or create some fallout within the Wyatt Family).

There are still lots of intriguing storylines for the WWE to explore. Reigns and his saga will likely not reach an end in January. But he will face the biggest challenge thrown at him as champion in the Amway Center later this month.

Other Storylines to watch

Do not sleep on the Divas division. Once overlooked in WWE, there is a ton of talent among the women wrestling in the WWE. Often these matches and characters can be better than the men. This has made Charlotte’s heel turn the last month or so even more intriguing. Once portrayed as the wholesome face of the Divas, she has begun to act more and more like her father, Ric Flair. She is not winning clean anymore. She plays the character well and it has been shocking watching her win matches through nefarious methods and turn on her friend, Becky Lynch. Someone has to challenge her and the WWE may be setting up a big battle between here and Sasha Banks for WrestleMania. For now the two friends will fight for the title Thursday. Do not expect the title to change hands, but for the friendship to strain leading to Royal Rumble.
Kevin Owens will continue to build up his gravitas and pedigree as his rivalry with Dean Ambrose continues. Ambrose is not old by any means, but he feels a bit like the establishment with Owens as the new young force in the WWE. Owens has already won and lost the intercontinental championship and is just a really good heel. These two are great performers and should put on another great match at Royal Rumble if that is booked.
The Road To Wrestlemania means some more established stars take their turn. Monday marked Chris Jericho’s return to the stage, undoubtedly setting something up for WrestleMania. He interrupted a New Day promo. Next week’s Raw will also mark the return of Brock Lesnar, who could figure into the WrestleMania main event even if he does not win the Royal Rumble.