5 Worst WWE Royal Rumble Winners of All-Time
By Tim Sherry
WWE.com
2. Roman Reigns – 2015
Just when you thought 2013 and 2014 enraged the WWE Universe enough, along came the 2015 Rumble. 12 months prior, Roman Reigns was the guy that every fan in attendance at that year’s event was screaming for to take out Batista. But oh how things can change in just 1 year. After being eliminated last by Batista, Roman spent the rest of 2014 slowly but surely turning into one of the most hated superstars in the WWE.
But let’s not blame all of this on Roman. The WWE’s creative team needs to take if not all the blame for what’s happened to his character, then at least the brunt of it. Why they would try and turn Reigns into Cena 2.0 after how badly that first experiment ended up is anyone’s guess but it would be outright shocking if his career can be salvaged after what’s been done to him. It seems the more the fans resist, the more Reigns is toted out there as an unstoppable force and that was never more obvious than at the 15 Rumble.
And if Batista’s potential win was obvious, Reigns win was that times 10. From the second he emerged from the locker room at number 19, the boos were deafening. And to make matters worse, this was an absurdly bad Royal Rumble. Anytime you have Kane and The Big Show determining the outcome of one of the biggest matches of the year, you’re asking for mediocrity. And there was no more mediocre moment as the ending, as the two washed up giants lay prone on the ropes while Reigns dumped them over. Not even The Rock could save this pathetic hour as he was soundly booed as he saved his relative from a post-match attack.
Now unlike the year before, the WWE didn’t do anything to correct their mistake, placing Reigns in consecutive Wrestlemania main events. Reigns eventually took a step back to the mid-card in the middle of 2016 but with the 2017 Rumble looming, here we go again as he steps right back into the title picture with a shot at Kevin Owens and The Universal title on the line. WWE fans, cross your fingers. This could be another long year.