What Was Wrong With The Royal Rumble?

Most WWE fans wait eagerly for months for this event. A event that was specifically designed to shake things up in the company. A event that is the launching pad for the show of shows. A event that  shapes the WWE landscape  for many months to come. Unfortunately for The WWE Universe, tonight, The Road To WrestleMania 30 kicked off with much less than a bang.

With The Rhodes Brothers losing their tag team titles to The New Age Outlaws during the kickoff show, Bray Wyatt defeating Daniel Bryan in the opening contest, and John Cena losing to Randy Orton once again. one could only hope that The annual Royal Rumble match would be able to salvage the night from its dreadful predictability it had suffered early on.

unfortunately, the night would end just as predictable as it began, with Batista overpowering Roman Reigns in the closing seconds of the Royal Rumble Match, and throwing him with one arm over the top rope for the honor of headlining WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans. despite the result of the royal rumble match, there are still five much bigger disappointments that took place  in tonight's Royal Rumble Pay Per View.

 

5. The Brotherhood drops the tag team titles to The New Age Outlaws: case in point, another example of The WWE giving part time wrestlers a bigger push then their full time counterparts. Yes, The Rhodes brothers held the titles for three months after defeating The Shield back in October, but seriously why would The WWE waste its time putting championship belts on two guys with limited contracts, when there are many  amazing tag teams in the company  that deserve to be put over. It has to drive fans crazy to think that The New age outlaws would not only get the spot, but also win the championship match over guys like The Uso's, Big Show and Rey Mysterio, The Real Americans and The Prime Time Players. WWE is so worried about what to do once the likes of CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton and Triple H retire for good, but refuse to put over new talent, and give them the push they need to succeed in the company.

4. Lack of matches on the card: I know that a 30 man Royal rumble is a daunting task for many WWE superstars, but would it have killed the WWE to have a intercontinental title match on the card, or maybe  a Divas title match? In all, The Royal Rumble only featured five matches for the night. The WWE literally threw every storyline out the window for the midcarders and just piled them into the Royal Rumble match to make it exciting. It would have been nice to at least see a Number One Contenders match for The WWE World heavyweight title at Elimination Chamber next month, but no a six minute squash match between Big Show and Brock Lesnar was just what the fans needed, Not!

3. Another meaningless title defense by Randy Orton: Don't you just hate it when The WWE try to  throw a few good twists and turns into a already dead beat storyline that was done years ago, only to watch it sink completely come match time? Fans saw John Cena face Randy Orton at "TLC" in November for The Undisputed Title, Why would they want us to see it again two months later? The rivalry and buildup was really subpar, despite a brutal beat down of John Cena's dad after losing to Kofi Kingston, and Cena chasing Orton through the arena just days before The Royal Rumble. A stipulation should have been added to the match to maybe spice things up for the Pittsburgh crowd Sunday night, but in the end, nothing short of Daniel Bryan could of saved Orton and Cena from having a bad match at The Royal Rumble. Many fans probably went to bed Sunday night praying that this rivalry would never happen again. I hope it doesn't either!

 

2. Lack of star power in The Royal Rumble. Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Nash, and "JBL"  all made surprise returns to the squared circle in The Royal Rumble. Despite a few pops for Big Daddy Diesel and "JBL" , The WWE Universe as a whole had to have felt cheated by the lack of surprise in the big match last night. With returns like Chris Jericho and Goldust in years past, it is hard to imagine why WWE wouldn't have stockpiled the remaining entrants with stars of years past. It would have been nice to see stars like The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Hulk Hogan, Jake The Snake Roberts, and Roddy Piper in the nights main event, even if just to set up a cheap pop from the crowd, or a feud down the line at WrestleManina. Instead the only plot point the WWE seemed eager to shove down The WWE Universe's throat was, that Batista would win the Royal Rumble in dominating fashion, and go on to headline WrestleMania 30

1. Misuse of Daniel Bryan in The Royal Rumble: Give the people what they want WWE! You have a superstar, a top talent in your company, and you continue to bury him just so you can push old Evolution members! You had him lose the title to Orton at SummerSlam and the fans still chanted yes. You had him win it again, only for it to be taken away due to a fast three count from a rogue referee. The fans still chanted yes! You knocked him out of the title picture, and had him feud with Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt family, and the crowd still chanted yes at the top of their lungs! You had him join Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt family on the last Raw of 2013, effectively trying to turn him heel. Guess what? The fans still chanted yes for their hero! Then, two weeks later Bryan turns on The Wyatt's and brutalizes Bray at the end of a steel cage match, and the fans chat yes louder than ever! So why would you take a talent that is completely over with the fans, and continue to bury him with a loss at The Royal Rumble to Bray Wyatt. You have a superstar that's drawing power rivalries  that of CM Punk, John Cena and Brock Lesnar, and you just continue to ignore the thousands of fans chanting yes in ever arena! Not only did you have Bryan lose to Wyatt in the opening match at The Royal, you had to keep him away from the Main event as well! God forbid you at least tease fans a little and have Bryan as the 30th entrant for the Rumble! The plan was obviously for Reigns to put Batista over, by having Batista fling him out of the ring for the win, but wouldn't it have been a much bigger spectacle to see Bryan mix it up with Batista and then have Bryan lose in a valiant effort in the end? At least give The WWE Universe something to cheer about during the match!  Now with Batista guaranteed a spot in the main event at WrestleMania, there's only one thing to do now if you're a Daniel Bryan fan. Wait until The Money in The Bank pay per view, and hope that WWE has him win the briefcase!

 

CM Punk To Retire In 2014?

It's hard to imagine the WWE without certain superstars paving the way. Back in the day, it was probably  impossible to imagine where the WWE would be without the likes of Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels, or even The Undertaker. But now The WWE may face a even more frightful future without their longest reigning champion of the modern era, CM Punk.

Punk stated earlier this week in a article with MMAfighting.com, that "everything is up in the air" regarding  his contract expiring this July, and that he doesn't know if he will stick or around or not. Punk also stated in the interview with the site that he has gone through a lot of highs and lows with the company, even saying that some days he enjoyed going to work, while other days he didn't.

The confusing part for the WWE Universe is, this has actually happened before. Back in 2011, CM Punk dropped his infamous "Pipe Bomb" on a unsuspecting Las Vegas crowd on Monday night Raw. The promo was riddled with insults towards the company, including Punk's statement that maybe the WWE will be better off once Vince McMahon is dead. "The Straight Edge Superstar" then went on to vent that the company would then be taken over by Vince's idiotic daughter, and his doofus son-in-law, continuing to add to the tension of the promo.

The storyline later dubbed, "The Summer Of Punk" had more truth to it then what fans originally thought. It turned out that Punk's contract was due to expire on the night of that years Money in The Bank Pay Per View, and that personally, Punk was not happy with the way he was being underutilized within the company, even stating that "the fact that Dwayne (The Rock)  was in the main event at WrestleMania next year and Punk wasn't, mad him sick!"

fast forward to 2013, and it was the same thing. WWE again failed to utilize Punk following his 434 day run with The WWE title, only giving him one title shot that year (Elimination Chamber) , and then continuing  to throw him in pointless storyline feuds throughout the rest of the year. (Ryback and  Curtis Axel)

Despite two greatly booked feuds with The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar in 2013, Punk remained out of the Main event spotlight Always seeming to have the best storylines and best matches week after week, but never really given the main event to showcase it in.

The lack of faith the company apparently has for Punk isn't the only problem the Chicago native faces with trying to decide to stay with the WWE. He is also reportedly suffering from a laundry list of injuries including broken ribs, a concussion, and a back injury he sustained during a recent episode of Monday Night Raw.

Punk even posted a tweet regarding his injuries posting that "For those wondering (nobody), yes, it's extremely painful and difficult (humbling as well) to dead lift with busted ribs. #whocares?" this tweet alone should be troubling to any CM Punk fan who may be wondering if "The Second City Saint" will be hanging up his boots for good come July.

the fact that Punk's contract expires the same month as the WWE Pay Per view "Payback," which will be taking place in Punk's hometown of Chicago, should add a extra layer of mystery to fans. If this is indeed Punk's last time wrestling in front of his hometown crowd, wouldn't every that make the Pay Per view must see TV for every wrestling fan in the world? Even if Punk was to fake his retirement, the sentiment alone of Punk's last match ever on WWE Television would create huge drawing power, both at the event itself, and in Pay Per view buys.

It will be interesting to see how both CM Punk, and the WWE play out the final months of his contract with the company. On one hand, The WWE could try to keep Punk happy by having him win the Royal Rumble on Sunday and going on to the Main Event of WrestleMania. Or they can choose to keep having him put over younger talent in the company before he leaves for good.

personally, I would love to Punk have another match with Brock Lesnar, with Punk's chance to headline WrestleMania 30 on the line. The feud would then culminate with Lesnar defeating either John Cena or Randy Orton at Elimination Chamber for the WWE Title. Punk and Lesnar would then complete in a rubber match in the Main Event at WrestleMania with the title on the line.

How would you choose to use CM Punk during the final months of his WWE contract? Would you put the title on him to make him happy? Or would you have him put over younger talent on his way out? Let me know in the comments below!