The Royal Rumble

The results of the Royal Rumble have outraged some fans and Daniel Bryan was seemingly buried again, despite being the most over performer on the WWE roster. At this point, you have to wonder, did the WWE realize anything after the Batista debacle? One thing is clear, the audience doesn't want to be told who they should want to see and any attempt to tell the audience who they should cheer usually sours fans on the product. Part of the draw of pro wrestling is that the fans get to decide who they want to cheer and some of the most successful scenarios in the history of the business were started after the fans decided who they wanted to see in the top spots. Keep in mind, the WWE originally tried to make Stone Cold a heel, but the fans turned him into the biggest star in the business. So, why didn't the WWE book Daniel Bryan to win the Rumble?

I wrote in a previous column that I think Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan would be a great storyline because Bryan is the ultimate under dog and the injury sidelined him before he had a legitimate title run so the angle could go full circle if he returned to win the title. Obviously, the WWE had other plans, but the reaction from the crowd in Philadelphia and on social media shows that the fans want to see Daniel Bryan main event Wrestlemania. At this point, I have no idea why the WWE wouldn't book Bryan to win the Rumble, especially after the crowd reaction since he returned and the hostile response after the Rumble last year. I said it after Batista won the Rumble, what does Bryan have to do to get a top spot in the WWE? What else could he possibly do? He's great in the ring and he's the most over competitor on the roster so what else does he have to do to get a spot in the main event?

If I had to guess, I would say that the WWE is trying to push their brand of sports entertainment and Bryan doesn't fit the mold for what they want to present for the product. Roman Reigns was touted as being the next top star and it seems like he's more of the performer that the WWE wants to use to promote sports entertainment. As I said previously, it's somewhat unfair to put the pressure of being the next top star on Roman Reigns this early in his career, but that seems to be the direction for Wrestlemania.

The fans were booing Reigns after the conclusion of the Rumble match, but I don't really think the reaction was directed at him, as it was probably just the disappointment that Bryan didn't win it. Reigns doesn't exactly seem ready to main event the biggest show of the year either, as he has struggled with promos in recent months and his matches are usually just average matches. After the event, #CancelWWENetwork was trending on Twitter, but most fans probably won't cancel it and even if they actually cancel, they will subscribe again before Wrestlemania.

The WWE should also be careful that they don't make Reigns the next John Cena so to speak, in terms of the perception of some of the fans. Reigns only really has a few trade mark moves, which is fine, but they have been extremely over used. How many times is Reigns going to spear his opponents in a match? How many super man punches are there going to be in a match? In many respects, there are a lot of finishers that get over used in the WWE, which doesn't make sense, but the point being, Reigns' move set is already getting stale with the audience.

Ultimately, if the response to Reigns in the main event of Wrestlemania remains hostile, it has less to do with him and more to do with the fact that the WWE is trying to tell the fans who they should want to see in the top spots. However, as long as there are ratings for Raw and fans subscribe to the Network, why shouldn't the WWE book what they think the fans should want to watch? There's no competition in the wrestling business and to put it into perspective, if WCW was still running events, would Bryan not be in the main event of Wrestlemania?

On a better note, the WWE World Heavyweight title match was a great match and all the competitors deserve a lot of credit for it. Specifically, Seth Rollins made himself a star and he proved that he can be a legitimate main event performer. It will be extremely interesting to see if Rollins cashes in the title shot at Wrestlemania and if he wins the title.

Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan

This past week on Raw, Seth Rollins was added to the WWE World Heavyweight title match that will take place at the Royal Rumble to make it a triple threat match along with John Cena and the champion, Brock Lesnar. It certainly makes for an interesting dynamic for the title match up, as Lesnar has yet to compete against any of the younger stars during his most recent run with the company. It also sets up a scenario where Lesnar could lose the title at the Rumble without getting pinned and thus, it keeps him strong for a big money match at Wrestlemania, but why would the WWE have Lesnar drop the title prior to the biggest event of the year?

It's fairly well known that Lesnar's current deal is set to expire after Wrestlemania and considering the millions the WWE invested to sign him, and the still lackluster network numbers, it seems doubtful that the company would offer Lesnar another deal similar to the current contract. If Lesnar exits directly after Wrestlemania, the WWE might not want a performer that won't be on Raw the next night to main event the biggest show, but they booked a similar match with The Rock so it's possible. However, Lesnar's possible exit brings up an interesting question, was Lesnar worth the millions he was paid for the limited schedule he worked? All things considered, the answer is probably not because the WWE is using all their resources to push the WWE network and Lesnar as champion didn't boost the number of subscriptions. That being said, you can't blame Lesnar for the stagnant numbers, as the WWE didn't really effectively book him as champion. I mentioned in a previous column that Lesnar as champion could be used as a "network exclusive" so to speak and it could help boost the numbers, but the WWE didn't book Lesnar for any PPV matches for three months in a row so how exactly did Lesnar as champion help the promotion? He wasn't on TV and he hasn't on PPV so is the pay off going to be a major surge in subscriptions for his match at the Rumble?

Granted, Lesnar didn't have to be on Raw every week, but he didn't have to go into the witness protection program either. The argument could be made that the WWE had to choose his appearances wisely because of his limited schedule, but if there weren't enough appearance for a logical title run, why book Lesnar as the champion? Don't get me wrong, this isn't a jab at Lesnar because you can't blame him for taking the money on the table, especially for working a lighter schedule. Depending on the perspective, if you look at Brock's nearly three year run since he returned to the WWE, the buzz generated around him has somewhat declined, which could be why the PPVs he wrestled at didn't provide an increase of network subscribers. Despite his somewhat disapproving demeanor towards pro wrestling, Brock always puts in the effort to have big time matches so why did the hype around him decline?

If I had to guess, I would say it's the lack of storylines around most of his PPV matches and the lack of storyline is probably because of the lack of TV appearances to actually build up the PPV matches. The other aspect is that Lesnar has only wrestled a few key opponents during his current run and after a few rematches, it's somewhat stale for some of his appearances. That could be another reason why Rollins was added to the title match as the Rumble, as it will be the fourth Cena-Lesnar match on PPV in the past few years.

After the Rumble, if Lesnar is still champion, who challenges for the title at Wrestlemania? Some fans and seemingly even the WWE are still banking on Roman Reigns to main event at the top spot, but I don't think Reigns is ready for it. As I've said previously, it's somewhat unfair to put the pressure of being the next top guy on Reigns when it's still fairly early in his career and in some respects, you can't automatically try to make a competitor the next top star, as much of it depends on who the audience wants to see as the next face of the promotion. John Cena is a rare breed and he will probably continue to carry the company as the top star until he retires, which makes sense because even with the great roster at NXT, there's no guarantee that there's another performer already there that could step into Cena's role as soon as he retires.

This is just my two cents, but if Lesnar goes into Wrestlemania as champion, Daniel Bryan would be a great challenger for the title because the story writes itself. The beast vs. the ultimate under dog could set the stage for a classic title match and Bryan's return from injury could go full circle, as he really didn't get to have a run as champion after he was sidelined almost immediately after winning the title. Regardless of what happens at the Rumble, it will be extremely interesting to see how Lesnar is booked and the opponent for Wrestlemania.