Here's my new mantra when it comes to the what used to be the best pay per view on the WWE calendar; excited about the Royal Rumble this year? Then stay well the hell away from it and flick on a Rumble from the turn of the millennium instead.
For the second year in a row the WWE crowd in attendance and at home launched a chorus of boos and boo-urns, voicing their disgruntlement at the outcome of the match, made all the worse by the fact that final three included Roman Reigns – the eventual winner – and two wrestlers with a combined age of 113, namely the Big Show and Kane.
Fans had wanted Daniel Bryan to win but he was eliminated early on, making it blatantly obvious that Reigns would end up the eventual winner because the company had pushed pretty much no one else as having the faintest hope of victory.
Not even a surprise appearance from The Rock or the fact Rusev emerged from under the ring was enough to appease the live crowd as they went into abuse mode, with Twitter following suit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_oktHodgic
That Rumble match was so bad im actually looking forward to work in 4 hours. Once again fuck you WWE #WWERoyalRumble
— Paul Cashin (@ThePauer27) January 26, 2015
@ThePauer27 prob worst rumble match ever ! — John Whelan (@thewhelan) January 26, 2015
Worst rumble ever??
— Michael Hennessy (@mheno2020) January 26, 2015
Not up to speed AT ALL with the Rumble PPV that happened tonight. I'm curious.. From a fan's perspective, why is #CancelWWENetwork trending? — Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) January 26, 2015
i could have put together a more entertaining royal rumble match in my bath tub with my action figures
— jawnny (@johnblud) January 26, 2015
You'd think WWE would've learned their lesson last year after the negative reaction to Batista winning Royal Rumble. Reigns? Even WORSE. — Robby The Brain™ (@RobbyTheBrain) January 26, 2015
92% of you gave tonight's WWE Royal Rumble a thumbs down.
— WrestlingINC.com (@WrestlingInc) January 26, 2015
If you remember last year's Rumble, Reigns was in final two and heavily cheered for against Batista. How poor booking can change so much. — Jim Ross (@FGCJimRoss) January 26, 2015
A dude at the bar is so mad about the rumble that he is literally calling WWE
— gabe of moans (@gabetwee) January 26, 2015
"The Rumble match was more deflated than a New England Patriots football" Good one @prowrestlingnet — Bill Pivetz (@BPiv_Sports) January 26, 2015
The biggest heel turn of the night was the Royal Rumble match itself. #RoyalRumble
— Evil Mr McMahon (@Evil_Mr_McMahon) January 26, 2015
I've honestly never watched something I would legitimately consider a complete disaster until that Royal Rumble match. — Mark Wilder (@seethekidwin) January 26, 2015
"For those of you watching on the WWE Network, stay tuned for the Royal Rumble Fallout, where we try to work out what the fuck went wrong!"
— Faulerro (@Faulerro) January 26, 2015